Western
Martial Arts...
and Cutting Practice
We started teaching our
Western Martial Arts cutting seminars back in 2002 after we were
invited to one of the early Schola St. George Western Martial Arts
Symposiums in California. Over the years we have been asked
to teach cutting classes at a number of events, including the 2006
WMAW, and we have met some fantastic Western Martial Arts instructors,
equipment makers, and students. It has been our extreme pleasure
to discuss the similarities and differences between the Western
Martial Arts and the Eastern Martial Arts with some of the top
instructors in the WMA and "compare
notes".
One of the things
that was brought up early on was the issue that, even though
the study of treatises and
the re-introduction of the WMA's has been going on in earnest
since the early 80's, there is little or no teaching tradition
that has been passed down along with the literature to educate
and train students. This is one of the reasons that we are asked
to teach seminars on cutting technique. Something that our years
of training in the EMA has taught us well.
After quite a bit of
enthusiastic conversation at these WMA events we have all come
away with the same idea; that the use of a sword in the two different
styles has much more in common than it has differences. Body
mechanics and sword mechanics only work in so many ways, and,
even though they may be given different names, the way the techniques
are put into practice is very much the same for both the Western
and Eastern Martial Arts.
We also discussed the
value of cutting practice in the WMA. Opinions varied some but
the overall feeling was that cutting is a valuable tool for anyone
wanting to seriously practice a martial sword style, and a necessary
part of a well-rounded training regimen. If you would like to
read some of the specific comments by the WMA Instructors, Sword
Makers, and Students, please look
here.
So that leaves the big
question of what to use for cutting practice. This is a topic
that is highly subjective, as much so as whether or not cutting
practice itself is necessary. We will try to present different
cutting materials as objectively as possible.
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