Western Martial Arts

'Martial Arts Originating from Celtic
Greco Roman and Germatic Warrior Traditions'

Western Martial Arts, Do such things really exist?

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If so, then what exactly are the western martial arts?

First, let us examine what western martial training isn't..

It is not a eclectic combination of asian martial arts

Nor is it a mixed martial art

It is generally not steeped in philosophical rituals

So, what is it then? Let's start answering that question by looking at what is considered western.

Western concept is best understood by examining the cultures stemming from the western martial arts traditions of..

Celtic Warrior Arts
Greco Roman Warrior Arts
Germanic Warrior Arts

The lands these warrior cultures historically occupied also adds to the definition of the western concept. Traditionally western martial arts stem from cultures of Europe and into North America.

I have personally been fascinated by western martial arts since I was a boy. Growing up in the 1970's and 1980's not only help drive my love of traditional martial training, but also for ancient warrior training.

There has been resurgence of public interest in the Western Martial Arts this is primarily due to public interest in such things as;

Renaissance Fairs
the Society for Creative Anachronism

and through interest in historical tales and action/adventure fantasy films such as;

The Lord of the Rings
Zorro
The Princess Bride
Braveheart

Fantasy role-playing game depicting pseudo-medieval combat, (ex. Dungeons and Dragons) have also contributed to an increasing interest in western martial training.

According to the Journal of Western Martial Arts the major difference between a western style martial art and other martial art styles is the western mind set.

Western thinking and expect ions are such that the time to train and learn a new warrior martial arts training skills is optimized and shortened.

Basically, an instructor of a western martial art has a somewhat different training and philosophical midset, in that the western instructor is not as concerned with deep ritual or ceremony that is often, an integral part of other martial arts styles.

As such, western students tend to expect their teachers and/or instructors to provide systematic and effective knowledge that has immediate and practical applications.

There is a growing numbers of western martial groups and schools forming across the world.

Some have said that this is an evident indication that specialized martial arts techniques and ability to learn these new skills quickly is the biggest draw for western martial arts schools today.[1]

Western arts are often overlooked in favor of Asian martial arts . When in reality western martial training has a rich history of..

warrior weapons
hand to hand combat
close combat

..training and methods that trace back to ancient western warrior civilitation Below is a short clip of western martial training in action.

A western art can include a multitude of forms rooted in western concepts, yet drawn from ancient martial arts styles and training concepts. These can include, but are not limited to:

bare-knuckle boxing
fencing
wrestling
sword fighting
unarmed combat training
savate
ruff and tumble
jousting
quarter staff fighting
Panikration

As stated above, western arts are typically from cultures originating in Europe and North America, so you may also want to examine following articles:

some material from the Wikipedia article "Western Martial Arts"

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Western Martial Arts

'Martial Arts Originating from Celtic Greco Roman and Germatic Warrior Traditions'

'Martial Arts Originating from Celtic
Greco Roman and Germatic Warrior Traditions'