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Are there any MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fans on this forum?
If so, what do you think of the Nick Diaz/GSP/Carlos Condit love triangle we've got going on in the UFC?
edit: Since we don't seem to have a thread about Mixed Martial Arts in general, feel free to discuss any other related topics as well.
edit: Since we don't seem to have a thread about Mixed Martial Arts in general, feel free to discuss any other related topics as well.
Comments
I guess I'm a fan of MMA as a concept and in application; breaking down martial arts to their core logic and then finding ways to put the pieces back together is a favourite mental and practical process of mine when the mood takes me. I don't follow any of the entertainment surrounding it, though, being more than content with my own studies and training.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on it from that angle, Madass.
What's interesting is how it extends to the unarmed combat methods. KdF's unarmed combat consists almost entirely of grapples meant to set up a submission, KO or lethal finisher. There are some strikes, but those only exist to create openings for the grapples. One of my favourite things about grapples in a tactical sense is that they flow so easily from defending oneself. A standard, thrusting punch is just asking to be intercepted, crossed and then the open balance points abused.
I also do a little karate on the side due to the convenience of the dojo placement, especially compared to my medieval martial arts fightschool. One of the interesting things about some karate blocking positions is how they correspond to the KdF sword guard positions. At first, I considered these blocking positions a little inefficient in unarmed combat, especially considering the advantages in defending directly into a grapple, but I've started to consider another angle. From a karate blocking position with the hands held closer together than usual, I can solidify my strength in one "quadrant" and use either hand as a defense while the other strikes out in single time. This idea is pretty recent, and I haven't yet had an opportunity to test it out properly, but in theory this could produce a striking style that works more powerfully in single-time, despite striking styles more generally working in double-time.
If I can make it work, however, this would increase the effectiveness of my unarmed combat quite a bit. Instead of using other systems I have a lesser understanding of for striking, I could use the same logic I apply to sword combat. Mind you, the logic in unarmed KdF and armed KdF is consistent, as are many of the biomechanics, but that particular style does leave me out in the rain when it comes to advanced striking.
While I've got the opportunity, I'm going to bring up what is probably my biggest failing: kicks. In KdF, one's legs are only used for movement, balance and to provide a fulcrum contact point in grapples. So it's not just using kicks, but defending from them that can spin me out, and more specifically, kicks to my lower openings. This is endemic to KdF because grappling systems tend towards seeking out centre mass, but also because it's a system built around using two-handed weapons, which are awful for strikes below the belt. Even with a sword in hand, I rarely have the need to defend my legs, and I only have to defend my legs from a grapple if I'm already halfway a victim of it.
Forgive my ignorance, but can you explain what you mean by single and double time?
A few background bullet points:
* From c.1350, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
* Started by Johannes Liechtenauer, Grand Master of the Art and German swordmaster
* Seems to have been taught to a couple of knightly orders, but mostly handpicked students
* Survives through combat manuals published starting c.1390
* The second oldest European martial art we can accurately practise and become proficient in, the first being the Latin MI.33 manuscript of German origin with an anonymous author teaching an unnamed martial art.
Click here for some further reading. I was serious about it being "obscure", it being very much a young revival effort of those medieval martial arts beginning in the mid 20th century. As of yet, it's failed to reach any sort of mainstream representation, although it's more subtly a part of some works of media. For instance, the fight choreography of Aragorn in the LotR films was influenced by KdF and, if not entirely accurate, accurately represents the intensity and temperament of the martial art.
As for single-time against double time:
Single-time is a term used for when multiple results can arise from a single action. For instance, a diagonal sword strike covers two axis of movement (horizontal and vertical), defends me from incoming strikes and present a threat or strikes true. By defending me and presenting a threat, it accomplishes two or more things; ergo it is single-time.
Double-time describes when when a single action only accomplishes a single task. Its name is derived from the doubling of requirements when separating offensive and defensive actions. If I move my sword aside only to parry without presenting a threat, I am fighting in double-time.
It's not terribly effective language, is it? Either term could describe either way of doing things. But this is how it's discussed in martial circles.
Since KdF is so obscure, may I ask how you got your start in practicing it?
While it's obscure, it's slowly growing in popularity. There are various places across Europe and the USA in particular which can teach you this stuff. As an Australian, I'm very lucky to have found any places at all. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA) is the biggest USA-based organisation, although they have some perspectives and practises I disagree with. They're not bad as such, but they're dominated by a school of thought that I think runs contrary to a couple of core elements of KdF.
USA-based organisation, although they have some perspectives and
practises I disagree with. They're not bad as such, but they're
dominated by a school of thought that I think runs contrary to a couple
of core elements of KdF.
How so?
Eastern martial arts tend to be fairly strict about using the flat, but Eastern martial arts are not European, and their weapons are constructed differently. ARMA argues in favour of using flat as much as possible as influenced by the living tradition of Eastern martial arts. That runs contrary to a few bits and pieces, though:
- Archeological evidence shows weapons with impact nicks along both the flat and the edge of weapons.
- Many techniques from the German system (such as the Master Strikes) necessitate edge-on-edge contact.
- The edge of a weapon produces more force than the flat, giving one a leverage advantage when weapons collide.
- The German system is also based heavily on the bind -- where two weapons collide and jockey for position. In unarmed combat, the equivalent would be grappling or wrestling. In any case where two weapons are jockeying for position, the edge and flat are going to be transitioned between for the purpose of leverage.
Mind you, there are benefits to using the flat of a blade, such as allowing the force of an enemy's strike to move through, power your weapon and thus your follow-up strike. But the evidence seems pretty clear to me: both the edge and the flat made contact with the enemy's blade edge, and each kind of parry was used for different reasons.
That's the biggest debate, and the one ARMA is most stubborn about. It's a very important issue within the auspice of teaching this martial art because it has a huge impact on how one strikes, defends and enters the bind.
^ Oh hush. :<