Indigenous Ability

In this conversation Craig Gemeiner and I talk about his domain of expertise, Savate. Craig Gemeiner began his martial arts training in 1975, and began coaching in 1982.   He specialises in the study of traditional Western fighting arts, particularly Savate and its associated disciplines, and adapting them for modern use.   Craig was a founding member of the Australian Savate Federation Inc., which was recognised by the Federation Internationale de Savate, and served as its first president and technical director from 2002 to 2010.   Craig won a gold medal at the 2005 Asia Pacific Open Savate Championships, captained the first Australian team to compete at the World Savate Championships in Paris in 2008, and won a gold medal at the 2016 Savate Open Tokyo competition at the age of 53. Gemeiner holds the rank of Silver Glove Technique Level -1 in Savate -French boxing.   He currently coaches Savate on the Gold Coast, Australia. Gemeiner Academ...

[This entry likely appeals only to the deep-diving combat thinker. It is best read in conjunction with   Combat Archeology: Surface Mining & The Amber Problem.  That link also has freebie video.] We open with an anecdote to illustrate one of today’s two points. Two trappers, one old one young, wound up hunting and travelling together for a season. The younger respects the elder’s wisdom and know-how and keeps an avid eye on all that he does. He treats this season as one of intensive study. He watches how the old man cuts for sign, where he places traps, where he skips traps in areas that seemed fertile ground at first glance. He even subtly tries to imitate the old man’s series of odd rolling movements that he performs after he alights from horseback and just before they head off to trail game. In short, whatever the old man does, he does. He has a thirst for knowledge. But in the beginning, he asks few questions, a bit of pride and all that.  As ...

[The following is part of a loose series on Rough ‘n’ Tumble combat kicking starting with “Kicking in the Wild West .” Look for physical demonstration on upcoming RAWs.] The Americas, particularly what were to become the United States, were a true melting pot of peoples, cultures, ideas, cui sines, manners, morals, mores, quirks and, to our facet of focus—combat stylings. In any port-city you had vast influxes of all of these comingling into a motley stew and, of course, those intrepid enough to push further into rugged frontiers were likely, in many cases, hardy enough [or disreputable enough] to have more than a passing familiarity with the native cultures’ ways of throwing hands, feet, people, and weapons. Along the way they met other like-minded lusty, hearty, and ofttimes violently active souls. This is how author Joseph Alexander Altsheler, writing in 1911 described the atmosphere of the port city of New Orleans, just after the War of 1812. “ The basis of the...

Lest we forget, mixed martial arts, mixed matches, and combination fights are not a new development. Whether we reference Greek pancratium and its long lineage through the fearsome hybridization-melting pot of American Frontier rough & tumble, fights that were more than mere boxing, more than mere grappling have been of great interest. The fascination often lies in the comparison of style vs. style as opposed to athlete versus athlete. We must never mistake that a kicker knocking out a grappler means that kicking holds utmost superiority, or that when a grappler chokes out a striker that grappling is the be-all-end-all. It merely means that in that particular instance the specific victorious athlete held sway or that luck had its way. With that preamble out of the way, we must admit no matter what is “proven” by mixed matches that they hold appeal. Let’s look to one such historical mixed match. Heavyweight boxing champion Jim “The Boilermaker” Jeffries was coming off ...

For today’s historical-combat exercise let’s follow a weave of martial endeavor that moves from the American Frontier Rough & Tumble strategy of “ Attacking the Buckler ” to a bit of Viking archeology, to some “chicken or the egg” bragging rights for which came first between a French martial art and one of the Emerald Isle, and end with what all this historical and archaeological speculation has to do with modern day approaches to self-protection. Let’s start our journey in the wilds of the American Frontier. A rough and tumble land that sparked a fighting style of the same name. A fighting style that was all -encompassing and vicious in war, and a bit more restrained [but still mighty vicious] for “friendly” competition. The early days of frontier survival called for ready skill with musket, tomahawk, and whatever else was close at hand. When nothing was close at hand, the violence fell to the hands themselves plus other natural weapons of the body. The rough and tumbl...