I understand it propably would be a bit outside myArmoury's area of focus, but has creating a forum for discussing historical weapon-related martial arts ever been considered? Such discussions don't quite seem to fit within Historical Arms Talk, and Off-Topic isn't exactly centered around the subject either.

I believe some fairly interesting discussions might ensue, especially between practioners of Japanese martial arts and those practising European ones. Also, given the usually very academic nature of the discussions that take place here, it might even be possible to cover some of the old questions (edge vs. flat parries and whatnot) civilly, if they were to rise again.

As far as I know, all of the similar forums out there deal primarily with swordplay, so it'd be very interesting to be able to discuss the techniques of other weapons as well.


Best wishes,
Rabbe

I´d like to see these discussions at the Historical Arms forum!
It would be very interesting to read about the study of the use of these weapons alongside threads of the weapons themselves.
I do not think it would distract, rather invite reflections from both "sides": collectors/makers and collectors/practitioners (may be even the odd maker/practitioner as well...)

Personally I would much welcome discussions reflecting the various functional aspects of historical swords(and weapons) from an martial arts perspective.
That would provide a reference when aspects like Functionality and Performance are discussed. Without a historical perspective of the actual use and intended function of the weapons, these aspects are easily taken out of context.

A good point. However, the description of Historical Arms Talk goes like this: "Discussions of reproduction and authentic historical arms and armour from various cultures and time periods". Martial arts -related discussions seem to be a bit off-topic, at least to me. Of course, if the description could be changed somewhat... *g*


Rabbe

I agree with Peter, and in fact, there have been a few small discussions of martial arts related questions in the past.

I personally like that we have so few forums here. It really brings the knowledge pool together. I know on other forums I tend to only go to cerain areas because that's where my main interest lies, but here I read the majority of posts and I learn a lot more.

If you've got martial arts questions, I'd say just post them! That way we can start encouraging those kinds of topics! (I'm a WMArtist myself, and would love to get some good discussions going!)

I agree!

There are several such fora around, and while the inclusion of a martial arts forum has been discussed within the myArmoury team, it is up to Nathan whether such a forum should be added. So far, we have agreed that the focus should be on the weapons and armour themselves, and not interpretations of their use. Nothing is set in stone, though.

Nathan and I discussed this in detail before adding these fora to myArmoury.

Our opinion was, and still is, that there are other sites dedicated to the martial aspect of our hobby. We felt that there was a void in the on-line community, in that there really wasn't a site that focused specifically on the collecting of modern replica arms. This is the area that we decided to set our sites on and so far we've maintained that focus. While most of us have at least a modicum of interest in the martial side of our hobby the reality is that there are far more collectors out there than there are practioners. (Although I personally feel that it's vital to have at least a basic understanding of a swords use, otherwise a true understanding isn't possible.)

Other sites have tried to be a catch all to the community and have simply lost their focus. This is something that we're committed to avoiding. I agree with Peter when he says that these martial related discussions are important. As myArmoury now stands these discussions are very welcome, and depending on their scope and detail they belong in either the Historic forum or the Off Topic forum. (I think a lot of people see the OT forum as some kind of trash pile that doesn't have relevant conversation. untrue)

So post your discussions on either one of these forums. Since we don't have a plethora of Fora they all get about the same amount of traffic, so your post won't get lost. If we think it needs to be moved we'll move it. And don't worry, nobody gets banned for that kind of stuff around here ;)

Rabbe,

You may also want to check out www.swordforum.com for another site with WMA subjects.

I agree with Patrick. Just read the "About myArmoury " link to get a good understanding of this site
I'm not so much a practioner as a collector and for me that's what makes this place so grand. Do dabble a bit, but gaining knowledge of the weapons and their history is of great importance. I always leave here feeling that I've truly "learned" something, which I think says a lot for Nathan & crew and the forumites.

Just my 2 pennies worth.


Cheers,

William
aka Bill