Martial Arts of the Middle Age

Martial Arts of the Middle Age

Interactive Qualifying Project Report

Submitted to the Faculty

of the

Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA

in partial fulfillment of the requirements for graduation

by

Andrew Aveyard

___________________

Jason Cardwell

___________________

Brad Davison

___________________

Daniel Haggerty

___________________

IQP JLS-0072 May 6, 2014

_______________________________ Professor Jeffrey L. Forgeng, Advisor

1

Table of Contents

Table of Contents.......................................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract......................................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 5 History of European Martial Arts ................................................................................................................ 10

Medieval Time Period ............................................................................................................................. 10 Environment of the Medieval Age ...................................................................................................... 10 Knightly Combat.................................................................................................................................. 12 Masters and their Manuscripts........................................................................................................... 13

Renaissance Time Period ........................................................................................................................ 16 Broken Swords: The Rise of Guns ....................................................................................................... 18 Masters and their Manuscripts: Continuing the Tradition ................................................................. 20

Post-Renaissance Time Period ................................................................................................................ 23 The End of Traditional Martial Arts in the Military ............................................................................. 24 Remaining Practice: Survival of Martial Arts ...................................................................................... 25 Traditions Struggle On ........................................................................................................................ 26

Revival Time Period................................................................................................................................. 27 History Survives................................................................................................................................... 28 Internet Revolution: Revival of the Martial Practices......................................................................... 32

Physics and Principles of Human Movement.............................................................................................. 36 Physics..................................................................................................................................................... 36 Psychology .......................................................................................................................................... 41 Japanese Martial Arts ............................................................................................................................. 42 Training ............................................................................................................................................... 42 Weapons ............................................................................................................................................. 44 Chinese Martial Arts................................................................................................................................ 47 Filipino Martial Arts ................................................................................................................................ 52 Development....................................................................................................................................... 52 Sinawali ............................................................................................................................................... 53 Training and Practice .......................................................................................................................... 54

Swords......................................................................................................................................................... 55 One-Handed Swords ............................................................................................................................... 55

2

Two-Handed Swords ............................................................................................................................... 63 Rapier and Small Sword .......................................................................................................................... 69 Non-European Martial Sword Arts.......................................................................................................... 74 Staff, Dagger, and Wrestling ....................................................................................................................... 79 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 79

Importance and Acceptance ............................................................................................................... 79 Base for All Weapons .......................................................................................................................... 79 Common Styles ................................................................................................................................... 80 Grappling................................................................................................................................................. 81 Use in Combat vs. Sport ...................................................................................................................... 82 Similarities to Jujutsu .......................................................................................................................... 83 Similarities to Filipino Wrestling ......................................................................................................... 83 Self-Defense - Unarmed vs. Dagger ........................................................................................................ 84 Necessity ............................................................................................................................................. 84 Techniques .......................................................................................................................................... 84 Improvised Weapons .......................................................................................................................... 85 Dagger ..................................................................................................................................................... 86 The Weapon........................................................................................................................................ 86 Common Techniques .......................................................................................................................... 86 Japanese Daggers................................................................................................................................ 87 Filipino Daggers................................................................................................................................... 87 Staff Weapons......................................................................................................................................... 88 Historical Impediments ....................................................................................................................... 88 Common Techniques .......................................................................................................................... 89 Classification of Staff Weapons........................................................................................................... 90 Weapons of Weight ............................................................................................................................ 90 Weapons of Perfect Length ................................................................................................................ 91 Weapons Above Perfect Length ......................................................................................................... 91 Filipino Staff Weapons ........................................................................................................................ 91 Japanese Staff Weapons ..................................................................................................................... 92 Conclusion................................................................................................................................................... 93 Team Bios.................................................................................................................................................... 97 Bibliography .............................................................................................................................................. 100

3

History of European Martial Arts .......................................................................................................... 100 Physics and principles of Martial Arts and Martial Arts as a Global Practice ....................................... 104 Swords................................................................................................................................................... 106 Non-Sword Weapon.............................................................................................................................. 114 Appendix ................................................................................................................................................... 120 Introduction Storyboard ....................................................................................................................... 120 Cut-and-Thrust Sword Storyboard........................................................................................................ 123 Rapier Script.......................................................................................................................................... 126 Principles Script..................................................................................................................................... 128 Wrestling Script..................................................................................................................................... 129 Staff Weapon Script .............................................................................................................................. 130 Notes on video production ................................................................................................................... 131

4

Abstract

This project researched and developed an instructional DVD on the martial arts of medieval and Renaissance Europe. The DVD was created to accompany the Higgins Armory collection in its new home at the Worcester Art Museum and will assist future instructors and students in the Higgins Swordplay program. The DVD provides a general introduction to the history and principles of combat, as well as an introduction to cut-and-thrust swords, rapiers, daggers and wrestling, and staff weapons.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download