The inception of our exciting new program is close at hand. Saturday the 21st will mark the first of Academie Duello’s Bartitsu program, which will focus on the “New Art of Self Defence” created by Edward William Barton-Wright in 1899. Barton-Wright was the founder of the first Mixed Martial Art designed to beat the fearsome street gangs of Edwardian London and fin de siècle Paris at their own dastardly game. If you attended Tony Wolf’s workshop in March and want to continue in that vein of study, this is for you! If you’ve been regretting that you missed it, weep no more; now’s your chance to learn!

Students of this discipline will focus on:

• Victorian cane and umbrella fighting
• Unarmed strikes and grappling
• A unique blend of jiujitsu, savate and pugilism

The program will run on Saturday afternoons from 3pm-5pm and is part of the class options that your monthly Academie Duello dues cover.

Because this is a new class, everyone is encouraged to come try it out for free! Tell your friends!

There will be purely historical techniques, as well as modern variations for realistic self-defense. Drills are designed for accuracy as well as the ability to think while fighting. To test your skills, part of the class time will feature sparring. This is really the first western mixed martial art, combining kickboxing with jiujitsu and cane fighting… not for the ring, but for ultimate self-defense.

Where? Academie Duello, 420 W. Hastings St., Vancouver, B.C.
When? Saturdays, 3pm-5pm
How much? Academie membership varies by package. You can take 1 class per week, or other combinations up to unlimited classes. Drop by Academie Duello to find out more.

Workshop January 23

Learn the fighting style of Sherlock Holmes in this unique one-day workshop at Academie Duello.

England in the 19th century was replete with instructors in martial arts from the world over. E.W. Barton-Wright had returned from Japan and opened a school to teach the English gentleman how to defend himself against ruffians using only the most effective techniques whether unarmed or carrying the accessory of the time: the walking-stick.

The Bartitsu system worked so well that Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle wrote that Sherlock Holmes used it to defeat Moriarty.

Learn:

• English boxing, French kickboxing and the English interpretation of Judo
• Stick fighting and self-defense with an umbrella
• Modern urban self-defense evolved from the principles of Bartitsu

Whether your interest is in history or practical self-defense, this workshop will give you the skills and knowledge of 19th century fighting.

Only $60 (15% discount for members)

Register Now: Call 604.568.9907 or Drop by Academie Duello

412 W. Hastings St.

Check out the new trailer for the upcoming documentary:
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Here’s a vintage karate demonstration:
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And here’s a jujitsu one:
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Not to be outdone, the ninjas of To Shin Do show chair techniques at 1:15 of this video:
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What I find interesting is the Bridgeman Savate actually have a method to hold the chair and use it as a weapon, as opposed to the foregoing videos which show defenses from a seated position.

With your right hand, grasp the right side of the back of the chair just above the seat. Whilst lifting the chair grasp the right forward leg with your left hand. From this position snap the chair up to assume on-guard facing your assailant. This is done by stepping forward with your left foot so your feet are about shoulder width apart with knees flexed. The tip of the left forward leg of the chair is the thrusting point and plays a critical part in aligning the chair.

This is an excellent topic for exploration of the Advanced Actor-Combatant in their Found Weapon portion of FDC certification. A chair is completely unlike other weapons, and offers many possibilities. An umbrella can be used like a sword and a ladder like a staff, but a chair is a three-dimensional volume with legs pointing out one end, and really takes some time to figure out. I’m looking forward to trying some experiments for myself (since flying to Australia for a chair workshop is a little extravagant).

Highlander TV SwordMaster

His pledge to the producers was that he would provide an original move or way of using a weapon in every episode. “Original” meaning that the technique would not have been previously seen in film or television. He was also given the artistic freedom to decide on the weapons used in each fight.

He talks about that time, when they filmed an episode every five days, as a fight director’s dream. Always learning and implementing new weapons and styles.

Intimidating By Reputation Only

McAsh is a tremendously nice guy with a strong hand-shake. He smiles a lot and has an avuncular manner that is easy to like. Barrel chested and deep-voiced, it is odd to hear him talking about the book he is writing or the hours he spends in the library doing research. You expect him to be brawling with ruffians. Even to hear him talk about the history of swords is a little unnerving.

He has a deep knowledge of swords, military history, and the use of weapons through time. To understand a particular sword shape and its proper use is intimately tied to the armour used, and both exist in a context. To truly master any individual weapon, Braun recommends researching every aspect of its circumstances. And he exemplifies that advice, a veritable encyclopedia of arms and armour.

Head of the McAsh Clan

Yes, he has a castle or two. We talked about our Scottish ancestry and the fact that he is the eldest of his clan.

Stage Combat and Stunts

We talked for a while about the sad state of stage combat in Vancouver. (More on that in another rant – I mean article). Suffice to say that he echoes a sentiment I’ve heard before: that Vancouver is dominated by stunt coordinators who can get away with injuries and breaking weapons, leaving no room for the safe fight choreographer. He is careful not to cast stones and never mentions names, but can barely contain his contempt for movies that have 300 accident reports.

Sword Research Yields Practical Hilt

At the end of the evening, he showed me his custom hilt with a thumb ring. The image to the right is a thumb-ring on a different sword, just for illustration purposes. The thumb-ring on his side-sword was not a closed loop, but a U-shaped side ring on the thumb side of the hilt. He said that all kinds of cuts are improved by taking advantage of this shape.

I did a couple of moulinets to see what he was talking about. To be able to suspend the sword on the thumb at the bottom of a vertical circle gives a lot of mechanical power to bring it back around the rest of the circle. I was sold.

He theorizes that it developed from the scimitar, and other curved swords used by mounted cavalry. It is most often found in German swords. From its usefulness in completing big circles, one can see how horse riders would love it, but also understand why it fell out of use for infantry. It is useless for thrusting.

Keeping Up

As I alluded to, he is in the middle of writing a book, though computer problems have interrupted his process this week. He is still working on films, and spent this week on set. I met him at Academie Duello, where he organizes their Stage Combat Study Group, and drops in for other classes as often as he is able. Come by on Friday evening for free sparring, and you might meet him yourself.

The Cone of Learning

This image is from an article called Learn Anything on Litemind.com

Why People Put Down Book Smarts

Learning from a book is often frustrating precisely because it is limited. You know that you can’t fully learn a skill from a book, especially if it is only described in words. Many classic books on slight of hand have few images, they’re all description. It’s up to the illusionist to interpret the words, and work in front of a mirror to achieve their version of the trick.

Fortunately, producing images in books has come a long way since the first magic manuals. New books have lots of pictures and diagrams. But if you’ve tried to learn a complicated skill from a book, such as a martial art, you know that you still need description, because you can’t get a good sense of movement from still pictures.

Video Training

So, knowing that people are frustrated with books, a huge video market has sprung up. This is not just a “money grab” by marketers… learning by video really is better. They teach all kinds of skills by video, even accounting and psychology. And that works because of the learning pyramid: the combo of hearing and seeing (and reading slides if they use that) means that you remember things better, and for a longer time.

The biggest value comes from learning physical skills from a video because you can see the movement. You don’t have to follow picture 1A, 1B, 2, 3… and read the descriptions of each one to get the flow of a technique. You watch the expert and listen to the voiceover simultaneously. What an excellent way to learn!

But that’s not the best way…

Teaching

It has been said that to truly be a master at anything, you must teach it. That’s because you actually learn by teaching. If you’ve never taught your skill to a student, try it. You’ll find that you have to explain things in more than one way to get them to truly understand it. You may have to invent a metaphor by saying “It’s like painting a fence… up, down.” And by trying different approaches, you solidify your own knowledge.

Just Do It

If you like the shiny books, put them into practice with a training partner. Better yet, take a class. Your instructor will be able to correct your form… the book just sits there. Video instruction is obviously better, given this learning theory. Still, the video can’t correct you. Only an expert instructor with a good eye can tell you if you’re doing it properly.

When you think you’ve got a combat skill down pretty good, try simulating a real fight scenario. It will teach you where your skill might be weak, and solidify the motion into your body even better.

Warning:
Never start learning a skill in a high stress situation or when tired. You’ll learn it wrong and teach your body to do it badly. It will be difficult to correct yourself later. When learning a new skill, warm up (not to exhaustion), then slowly perform the movement. If you have a teacher, get corrected on your form before you try to go faster. If you have a book or video, watch yourself in the mirror and see if you match the image. When you think it’s right, go faster. Then do it with a partner slowly. Then faster and controlled. Only after going through these steps should you try to do it “for real”.

In our quest for accurately representing violent encounters on the stage or screen, it is sometimes important to look at statistics. In the case of suspects resisting arrest, we can study the techniques that police use, and imagine scenarios, but we probably won’t know the most frequent patterns without accurate reporting and study.

The Study

Let’s look at the 1997 ASLET “Use of Force Training Seminar: Future of Non-Lethal Force Training–Reality Based and Integrating Techniques for Non-Lethal Force Training”, which you can find at the Journal of Non-lethal Combatives, Jan 2007

The report concluded: “Nearly two thirds of the 1988 altercations (62%) ended with the officer and subject on the ground with the officer applying a joint lock and handcuffing the subject.” Given this, it is better put that the LAPD data says when officers physically fought with suspects (versus simply encountering minor resistance or non-compliance which required a minor use of force, but did not escalate into an altercation), 95% of the time those fights took one of five patterns, and 62% of those five types of altercations ended up with the officer and subject on the ground with the officer locking and handcuffing the suspect.

Five scenario patterns accounted for 95% of the altercations: “Within each of these five patterns, a description of the most frequent first, second, and final combative action was generated by the computer… Four combative actions by suspects accounted for almost two thirds (65.8%) of injuries; the officer was kicked 23.4 percent, punched 16 percent, thrown/tripped 15 percent, or was bitten 11.4 percent.” The thrown/tripped statistic includes injuries sustained from wrestling on the ground.

5 Scenarios, 95% of The Time

As for the five patterns, they were:

1. Subject pulls away from an officer’s attempt to control the subject’s arm. “33.7% Officer grabbed the subject by the arm and the subject pulled his arm away; the most frequent second act was the officer applying a joint lock (32%) and the most frequent final subduing act was the officer taking the subject down to the ground (46%)”
2. Subject attempts to punch or kick the officer. “25.4% Subject ran at the officer and swung punches and kicks; the most frequent second act was the officer evading the subject and striking him with the baton (26%; a close second was taking the subject to the ground 22%) and the most frequent final subduing act was taking the subject to the ground (35%).”
3. Subject refuses to assume a searching position. “19.3% Subject refused to assume a searching position as verbally ordered by the officer; the most frequent second act was the officer applying a joint lock (35.5%) and the most frequent final subduing act was taking the subject to the ground (36.5%).”
4. Subject flees and officer pursues. “10.5% Subject ran from the officer, officer chased the subject; the most frequent second act was the officer taking the subject to the ground (40%) and the most frequent final subduing act was also taking the subject to the ground (39.5%).”
5. Subject takes a combative posture, but does not attempt to strike the officer. “6.8% Subject assumed a fighting, martial arts, or boxing stance but did not attack the officer; the most frequent second act was the officer striking the subject with the baton (38%) and this was also the most frequent final act (41%).”

I love that last one: subject takes a fighting stance, officer strikes him with a baton, game over.

Injuries

The study also included the percentages of injuries based on targeting of the attacks. For example: kicking resulted in injuries to the legs (36%), the head (27%), the rib cage (22.5%), and the groin (14%). Although several fractures occurred, the most common injury was a bruise to the legs, head, ribs, or groin. The most common injury suffered in ground fighting was a strained lower back.

How Often

Let’s take a step back and look at some of the basics. Television and movies have probably skewed our perspective on how many times this happens each day.

• During 1988, there were 316,525 arrests made by LAPD. 2,031 (0.6%) altercations developed from these arrests. “Of the 5,617 reports examined, only 2,031 incidents contained a sufficient level of aggressive resistance by the suspect toward the officer to qualify as an altercation.”

  Thus, the study confirms what every police officer knows: most arrest situations involve little or no use of force, and minor resistance does not qualify as a “fight” (or in this case, altercation). Semi-compliant persons are often stopped by a mere order to comply or with a firm control of an arm or wrist for handcuffing.

• During 1988, there were an average of 867 arrests and 5.6 altercations per day. Eight hundred fifty six officers reported injuries from such altercations. These 856 officers missed a total of 2,095 days from work due to injuries sustained in altercations.
• In 1988 the average officer in uniform and assigned to the field was in less than 3 altercations.
• Altercations were most likely to develop from the following field activities: disturbances of the peace (33.8%), traffic stops (18.5%), and observed narcotics activity (14.8%).
• Over 90% of the subjects involved in altercations were male; only about 9.5% were female.

How To Depict An Arrest

If your goal is to depict an exciting arrest scene, and you can make up any story, you should start with one of the three activities that lead to altercations. Then, choose one of the five scenarios that you like.

If you have a scene that’s already written, and the director hires you to build an exciting fight, remind him of these realities, and discuss how realistic you want the scene to be.

And brush up on your judo and jiujutsu, because 62% of those altercations end with the officer handcuffing the suspect after going to the ground.

Why? Is it biological or cultural?

Do our ancestors share our violent tendencies?

The Violent Time Machine

We can look at chimpanzees to see what our evolutionary forebears would have done. Jane Goodall watched the chimps, and noticed that they had clear territories, and when they got near another tribe’s border, they would shout at each other and occasionally charge, but don’t actually fight very often. So although they intimidated members of other groups, they were relatively peaceful according to these early observations.

By the 1970s, the view of chimps changed. Researchers witnessed a kidnapping of an infant chimp by a neighboring tribe. The baby was murdered, and then brought back to the center of their range. Then in 1974, a small party of chimps invaded the adjacent territory and found a male eating alone. They sneaked up to him and ambushed him, beating him so badly that he died within two days. Further study revealed that this was not a rare behaviour.

Human hunter-gatherer tribes seem to behave in similar ways. It makes sense. The best way for most animals to have healthier lives is to have more food. For territorial animals like chimps and humans, that means expanding territory. In order to do this, the larger males must intimidate or overcome the neighbors. And this leads to a systematic killing of males. Each male killed is a significant shift of power in small tribes.

Have we evolved away from this behaviour?

Bipedalism: Not Just For Walking Anymore

The standard anthropological argument was that we developed bipedalism because it was better for walking on the ground, as compared to using all four limbs in the trees. When it became apparent that we aren’t great walkers, some researchers changed their theories and claimed that humans are optimized for running long distances.

There are no clear advantages to walking or running bipedally for an organism that is already adapted to walking on four legs. Just try to outrun a dog sometime, you’ll quickly find who has the energy advantage. But what makes sense is that if you fight with your fore limbs rather than your mouth, it’s better to be able to balance and move well on two legs.

The longer your legs, the better walker or long-distance runner you are. For examples, look at the olympic champions in the marathon and the walking races. If we were evolving bipedalism in order to walk, we should have evolved longer legs. However, we kept short legs in Australopithecus because walking wasn’t the point: you fight better standing on two short legs.

Modern Humans Can’t Fight

But we don’t look like we’re built to fight. Humans do not have claws or fangs. We’re not as strong as gorillas, or even chimps (pound-for-pound). But we have big palms, big thumbs, and shorter fingers. Good for tool use? Yes, but longer fingers would be better. You know what our proportions are good for? Making a tight fist. Other primates can’t do it. All apes can grasp objects and hold them tightly, but only the human can form a fist to punch with.

But anatomy is versatile, and we can’t infer that any structure was designed for a purpose, only that it evolved and natural selection didn’t find anything better. So what other evidence can we find?

Know Thy Enemy

Most social animals can assess fighting ability in others of the same species without actually fighting. They may dance or display or just observe, and the weaker party walks away. Do humans have the ability to assess fighting ability without fighting? Yes. A recent study demonstrated that subjects who were shown an image of a face only (even the neck was digitally removed), they could accurately rate how strong the person was.

It is likely to be due to the effect of testosterone on the facial structure. High testosterone gives you more muscle mass, more aggression, plus that “caveman” look: big eyebrow ridge, wide jaw. It’s what we try to imitate when we make an angry face. Even people blind from birth make this face when angry: eyebrows flexed downward and together, corners of the mouth down-turned. This pushes more flesh into the areas that would be bigger if you had more testosterone. It’s just like a cobra’s hood, or your dog hunching his shoulders and raising his back-hair. It makes them look scary.

Do our brains work differently than those deadly animals?

Aggression Is Its Own Reward

Mice enjoy punishing other mice. You can make a mouse learn a trick by rewarding them with food. You can also train them to perform the same trick by making the reward an opportunity to attack another male mouse. No extra food, just aggression. They get a feeling of satisfaction from a release of dopamine in the brain when that happens. It’s the reward center of the brain, the same thing happens with heroin.

When men are shown violent videos, they get the same rush of brain chemicals as when they’re shown sexy videos as observed in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). So that means that, like the mouse, adult humans get a dopamine reward and feel pleasure from watching violence just as much as sex.

Recent Developments in Peace

The good news is that things are actually improving in our daily lives. Many people believe that the 20th century has been the bloodiest ever, marked by more wars and more death than ever before. In raw numbers, this is true. However, the proportions of violent deaths has been declining rapidly. Each war has seen fewer casualties.

The best part is that our daily lives are devoid of violence for most of the population. I don’t mean to marginalize those unfortunate people who live in warzones, but the truth is that those that fear for their lives on a daily basis are very few. Not long ago, the human race was living like those chimpanzees: raiding neighboring tribes, and losing fighting men every year. So maybe watching MMA and great stage fights is an acceptable alternative to the human losses we suffered in the past.

Angelo's School of Fencing

The School of Fencing
With a General Explanation of the Principal Attitudes and Positions Peculiar to the Art
by Domenico Angelo
Edited and Presented by Jared Kirby
Notes by Maestro Jeannette Acosta-Martinez

Angelo’s legacy is one of the greatest in the history of fencing. He started a lineage of fencing-teachers in England that would continue for ever a century. L’Ecole des armes became a resource for swordsmen throughout all of Europe. Its concise and well-presented manner made it the most popular treatise on fencing for many years. It is quite rare for any fencing book to be reproduced four times in one decade as well as in two countries, and the longevity of Angelo’s treatise is matched by very few others. It remains an invaluable resource in the history of fencing.
—Jared Kirby

• Superbly illustrated, highly influential eighteenth-century fencing treatise
• Essential reading for historical swordfighters and students of martial arts and military history
• Fully annotated to render the text accessible to the modern reader

Domenico Angelo’s The School of Fencing was first published in 1763 as L’Ecole des armes. It remained the most popular book on fencing for more than fifty years, being translated and republished five times in two decades. Before taking the throne as King George III, the young Prince of Wales and his brother, Edward, Duke of York, were both students of Domenico Angelo. Angelo’s text was so influential that it was chosen to appear under the subject of Fencing in the famous Encyclopedie edited by Diderot and d’Alembert.

Buy it from Amazon

Aside from a brief list of terms and definitions in the Pallas Armata(1639) this is the earliest published historical fencing glossary I have seen. Please make best use of it that you can.

YoungBlood » Sword Geek: Smallsword Glossary 1784

Tim Klotz has sourced an excellent piece of sword history here. A full A-Z glossary of terminology and advice on smallsword duelling from a very early source. McArthur’s manual, which he published at the age of 24, is based on his understanding of Master Oliver. The reader may compare this work with Oliver’s Fencing Familiarized, and contrast with Angelo’s The School of Fencing.

According to Klotz, “McArthur’s dismisses many distinctive and flamboyant characteristics of Angelo’s style (such as thrusting in Tierce, the Fan Parade (Modern Parry 6) and complex disarms).”