fighting matches, a favorite village pastime, both
combatants often were severely injured.
Russians also have a long history of indige-
nous wrestling traditions. Accounts from writers in
the 1700s describe wrestling matches that lasted a
great portion of the day, ending only when the vic-
tor had his opponent in a joint lock. We also know
that as the Russian Empire expanded into Central
Asia, the officers would write of native wrestling
systems. Local wrestling champions from these con-
quered areas sometimes would be pitted against sol-
diers from the invading armies. Joint locks and
choke holds were commonly mentioned as ways
that such fights ended.
As they began the exploration and conquest of
the globe, Western Europeans carried their martial
systems with them. The Spanish, for example, main-
tained their own venerable method of fighting, La
Destreza(literally, “dexterity,” “skill,” “ability,” or
“art”—more loosely used to mean “Philosophy of
the Weapons” or “The Art and Science” of fight-
ing). Spanish strategic military science and the per-
sonal skill of soldiers played a major role in the de-
feat of their opposing empires in the Americas and
in the Philippines. It has been suggested in fact that
the native fighting systems of these islands and
Spanish techniques are blended in the modern Fil-
ipino martial arts.
Also during this time, new Western unarmed
combat systems were being created and refined.
Two examples that are still with us today are French savateand Brazilian
capoeira.Since both systems developed as street combat styles rather than
among the educated and literate classes, the origins of both are subjects of
speculation and the oral traditions generated by such conjecture.
According to popular tradition, capoeira is a system of hand-to-hand
combat developed by African slaves transplanted to work on the Por-
tuguese plantations of Brazil. The style of fighting involves relatively little
use of the hands for blocking or striking as compared to foot strikes, trips,
and sweeps, and it often requires the practitioner to assume an inverted po-
sition through handstands and cartwheels. One of the most popular expla-
nations for these unique characteristics is that with their hands chained, the
African slaves took their native dances, which often involved the use of
Europe 115This “art of fighting”
also included the art
of wrestling and
ground fighting
known as Unterhalten
(“holding down”) and
close-quarters take-
downs and grappling
moves, shown here in
this Albrecht Düerer
illustration.
(Courtesy of John
Clements)