Tai Chi?

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I threw a guy in a street fight when I was 19 and proceeded to grapple with him. He was bigger so I rolled to my guard and got an arm for an armbar. I used my head to bridge off the concrete and scrapped my forehead from one side to the other and just as I was about to finish the technique his friend booted me in my eye socket. It was a mess. I still dislocated his shoulder so it wasn't a complete loss. We were badly out numbered and shouldn't have gone to the ground.

On the other hand...I threw a guy who tried to hit me with a hockey stick and knocked him out cold.

[both fights were self defense situations, we lived in a bad area so fighting was something we just did...all the time]
 
Chris, is it easy to find a WMA gym? It's been my experience they are more like reenactment clubs then martial arts clubs.

It really depends on the club. True WMA clubs are not reenactment clubs. Regrettably many "historic" fencing clubs tend to be more reenactment than martial arts. Though some WMA clubs look like "reenactment clubs" because they dress traditionally. AEMMA, ARMA, or MEMA style clubs are martial art clubs. Some of the schools go for armored combat with blunted swords. People still get wounded though. One in Massachusetts or Maine teaches jousting. I think AEMMA & ARMA have links to various clubs throughout the world. Many of them style themselves after the historic Schools of Defense with tourneys that would be very realistic even by Renaissance standards. However, they are mainly on the west and east coast and in Europe. The benefit of the books from the time period is that they give you all the basic exercises. You can learn the art from them with a sparring partner if nothing else is available. I would recommend following AEMMA's training program and equipment list if you go this route. And if possible then travel to a School for a few lessons. But expect bruises and bloody noses at the school and always wear protection. Ringschule.org has some videos out demonstrating German Medieval Wrestling.

Here's a good one:

[video=youtube;9Ge6l_bMLcs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Ge6l_bMLcs&feature=related[/video]

Some of the other links at youtube will take you to the freestyle fights.

The German Longsword website has some good info. Even though it mentions stage reenactment, it is based on Ringneck's work and others. And it can be used in the real world. The only difference is you aren't going to "pull your punches."

A good example of this is seen here:

[video=youtube;Kj4Ng6DBfrg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj4Ng6DBfrg&feature=rellist&playnext=1&lis t=PL5F88CC939C91CFD4[/video]

This one looks like a "reenactment club", but they merely dress in the clothing to demonstrate the style. It's like the gi in karate.

[video=youtube;-0ninIXOkWg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0ninIXOkWg&feature=related[/video]
 
Alright... I have to admit the German Bruce Lee thing is pretty cool looking!

I studied arnis for a while. Loved it. Miss it.
 
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