View Single Post
Old 08-24-2007, 07:41 PM   #8
fredtheobviouspseudonym
 
Join Date: May 2007
Default Early-modern Europe martial arts -- not out of line

A friend of mine studies German "fechtbuchs" of the 1400-1600 era.

Much of the text & many of the illustrations show what a later generation would call "unarmed martial arts" -- how to seize an opponent & throw him, how to inflict serious damage with the bare hands, etc.

Now, of course, we know far less about these than about the later Asian martial arts, but their presence indicates that such techniques were known and fairly widely known, given how many "fechtbuchs" comment on them.
fredtheobviouspseudonym is offline   Reply With Quote