[Garrett Hazen]

I have always been vastly interested in both weapons and armor of the Middle Ages, and a lot of it has mostly been that boyish desire to wack at things aimlessly and natural duty of testosterone to be a warrior, even if this historical warrior is no longer called for in modernity.
Which brings me to my question.
Why do you all study the sword, collect weapons, and become a connoisseur of such archaic tools? And for those involved in Western Martial Arts, I have another question. I believe the martial practices of Europe were every bit as effective and complex as those in Asia, and based off of my admittedly meager study I have still come to this conclusion. However, many of the practices today of that derived from Japan are modernized forms of Bushido, basically. But many practice these arts very traditionally and can still make them apply to modern life, and use the skills to protect themselves. Can the same be said of Western Martial Arts? I feel inclined to think the answer is yes, but I'm assuming many of you out there are higher authorities on this subject and have more experience to back you up.
So, why do you study these arts? Is it for sport or for acquisition of applicable skill?
What do you gain from them?
I think the latter question is my biggest question of all.
Please post your thoughts, I feel many would appreciate perhaps a better understanding on a deeper level our desire to uphold the martial practices of our western ancestors. I know I would.

[J. Scott Moore]

In all honesty, concerning the practice of martial arts, any fighting form that increases reflexes, and teaches you how to analyze your opponent in a swift, and expedious manner translates to all forms of self defense. put simply, certain holds / throws that you learn to use to disarm an opponent holding a dagger *can feasibly* be used to disarm an opponent using a gun. all it takes is adaptation, which any good art form will teach. also, while similar to many eastern martial arts, most WMA forms are completely foreign to many modern fighters. even if it is for a brief moment, a second of insecurity in your opponent is a mile-wide opening for you. (
as for the question of why be enthused about something that kept our ancestors alive and safe (or not safe as the case may be) for centuries, and then was lost due to malpractice, and disinterest, I ask you, why not be enthused about it? it was a very engaging time in our world history! So much is presumed to be known, but much, much more is found EVERY day! there is just so much to learn!

[Craig Shackleton]

In terms of direct application, I don't think that HEMA/WMA is as beneficial as a modern self-defense course. However, I don't think that most martial arts classes are a lot more directly applicable. In addition to my swordplay, I study Jiu-jitsu, and I think that there is maybe a bit more direct self defense application, but not a lot. And, without getting into specifics, there are things that are taught as self-defense that I personally doubt the validity/usefulness of.

That said, I agree that any activity that teaches you how to judge an opponent, understand timing and distance etc. is beneficial for self-defense.

But that's not why I do swordplay, and it's not why I do Jiu-jitsu.

I do them because they are fun.

I do them because they keep me fit, and I cannot fathom just going to the gym to work out.

I do them because I like to learn new things. I do HEMA because I like to analyse source materials and figure things out. It is all a beautiful puzzle.

I do them because they give me confidence. Not confidence that I can beat someone up, confidence that I can excel at a physical activity. I can't throw or catch a ball worth a damn, but I can do martial arts. I wish I'd known that when I was younger and started then.

I do HEMA because I like to teach. This is something that I can teach, and not many can.

I do martial arts because I am competitive, and this is an activity that is competitive physically, mentally, and spiritually/emotionally.

I do martial arts because I like to be co-operative. Training requires cooperation physically, mentally and spiritually/emotionally.

Basically I get out HEMA what most people get out of whatever sport, martial art or similar activity they like. This is just the one I like. I get more self-defense application than most sports, and maybe a little less than most modern martial arts.

Frankly, self defense is something I'm glad to have a bit of, but I'm more glad that I've never really needed it.

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well basically everything Craig wrote plus fascination with the aesthetics, history and the design of weapons.

Just looking at them in pics or in person is one aspect but there is also the tactile feel and handling ...... well all the senses can be engaged in getting to know a weapon.

The practice of longsword ( Although I have done a bit of 1:33, quarterstaff/polearm and dagger/wrestling ) is very meditative to me and much like quiet meditation even when bouting or friendly duels. ( Some react differently and get nervous, self-conscious or get very competitive but I generally disengage my conscious mind and try for an empty mind state ..... when it works it's a great feeling ).

[Chad Arnow]

There are quite a number of existing threads that cover why people collect and use swords that can be found via the Search function.

[Thom R.]

I am not trying to downplay your question ........... but ..... this has been discussed many times before. What happens is that about every 18 months, someone asks this question anew about "why". and that is good, there is certainly nothing wrong about that, but honestly i think i can speak for many that it gets a little tedious after the third or fourth time. so if you want the full range of responses from a wide spectrum of the membership, both old and new, i would encourage you to use the search function a bit.

i studied classical fencing as a kid and continue to work on my martial arts 35 years later. i also love history. i also like working in my shop making things by hand because its a nice change of pace from typing on a keyboard and staring at a monitor. there are lots of details hidden in those three statements but that is the basic gist for me. tr

[Jean Thibodeau]

Well doing a search is always a good idea for these generic type questions that have probably been asked and answered before, as suggested ...... but, there is really no " great " harm in asking ....... again.

[Chad Arnow]

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Thom R.]

I go further than Chad.... I think there is actual potential for "harm" to the quality of the content on a site like this by re-hashing issues again and again. not in this particular thread, but certainly in others. i recently saw a study that showed that 99.8% of google searches do not go past page two of the search.

i think we do need to be vigilent as a community about replacing older, higher quality information with newer, lower quality information. its sort of a natural tendency (i term it "informational entropy") with internet forums like this one.

[Chad Arnow]

[Garrett Hazen]

Haha, well my bad then. I could have searched, but I didn't think to. I wanted to ask the question in my own way. The question wasn't geared specifically toward collectors, but mostly the martial arts. Still, I'm sure its been talked about. So forgive me for being a tedious nuisance and irking your nerves.

[Thom R.]

its a great question and the conversation should continue but thread necromancy is a wonderful dark art

[Nathan Robinson]

Debating the manner in which a topic is to be handled is really not something I ever want to see within somebody's topic. If you want to have such a debate, then create a separate topic dedicated to that issue.

There is absolutely no harm in posting topics that have already been covered. This is bound to happen. We also cannot expect people to automatically know the information is already on this site or expect each person to be able to find it. However, there are effective and non-effective ways to respond to such topics.

I will say definitively, since I'm the person who made this site, that the way that I'd prefer a new topic to be handled that involves the rehashing of things already covered with quality content is to direct the topic author to the previously-posted topic(s) in question and to have those discussions continued in their original topics when necessary.

This does many things:

1) It provides effective information to the author and gets the question answered (Thus meeting a goal of this site)

2) It avoids what Thom R termed "informational entropy" in that it prevents us from diluting the original content's value

3) It provides valuable context over time: meaning that information and understanding often improves and evolves over time. Keeping old knowledge grouped with new understanding is an important piece to educating (consider a person only finding the original topic and not the new one with updated information: they are suddenly left with an outdated set of knowledge and we all have failed in our goal of educating)

Any discussion of such theory can be directed to me privately or, if you must, put into a topic of its own.

Thanks.

[Garrett Hazen]

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Larry R]

I collect swords and daggers because of there absolute beauty. If the right steel is meshed with the right design---absolute gold!

[Marko Susimetsa]

[Christopher Valli]

I have to say for me there is definitely s huge fun factor in western martial arts. I love getting into some light harness and crossing steel with a friend. The sound of steel winding against steel is just plain cool

As for modern self defense application, I think a lot of people under-estimate WMA. Yes, people don't carry around longswords and axes, and judicial duels aren't a part of our legal system. However, the wrestling and dagger systems in the art are all still applicable today. In all the years I have studied martial arts, the western is the most direct and brutally effective (and its not that silly MMA cagefighting people think is real fighting).

I used to work in a restaurant and one of my coworkers wanted to scare me so he snuck up behind me with a dull knife and pretended to stab be from behind. I caught the motion out of the corner of my eye, jammed his attack, locked his arm, and disarmed him on instinct and it looked like a plate straight out of Talhoffer or Kal. I can't guarantee that I could ever pull that off again...