Is there any historical validity to the reconstruction of ancient martial arts, such as seen in the HEMA/WMA movement?
>>481056
a bit off topic but what's with that bald spot haircut? why was it so common? fashion? I thought it was only a monk thing, are those battlemonks?
>>481056
Is there some sort of chief world history organization that decides whether a reconstruction of something historical is valid?
>>481070
They are quite likely monks yes.
>>481070
Maybe it's not really a haircut. Maybe that one guy just can't grow hair on top.
>>481070
One is a monk, the other is a woman.
>>481056
Some of the HEMA movements have been very successful at recreating ancient techniques, and in many cases have provided historical data we would not otherwise have had. Guy Windsor has made some pretty impressive leaps forward in that area.
Plus on a more practical level, modern Pankration has been informed by vase-paintings of all things.
>>481056
>Is there any historical validity to the reconstruction
Not really. Reenactment is a form of constructive archaeology. When the archaeologists sign off on it in the peer reviewed press, then we generally start looking at it.
>>481073
>Is there some sort of chief world history organization that decides whether a reconstruction of something historical is valid?
Yes. Disciplinary consensus.
>>481076
>it ain't gonna clean itself
>>481056
They're using manuals that were created to teach people how to fight with swords and other medieval weapons. I fail to see how anyone could claim it's not historically valid. It would be like saying you can't use the Forme of Cury to make medieval food, because reasons.
>>481298
Well there's always the question of the validity of those manuscripts as more than ye olde McDojo resumes.
>>481362
Validation that can easily be gained by doing what it says and seeing if it works as it should. The same way as historical recipe can be tried and confirmed to work.
>>481377
>Validation that can easily be gained by doing what it says and seeing if it works as it should
That doesn't mean however, that these are the right or proper methods of the period, or work outside the context of the techniques shown in the manuscript.
>>481544
When you have half a dozen manuscripts showing the same thing, from different authors, it's probably safe to suggest that it's something that they were all really doing.
To return to the cook book analogy, if you have ten medieval cooking manuscripts and they all have a recipe for a sauce to put on goose, it it safe to say they ate goose, with sauce on it.
Hema includes extensive research, papers are now published in peer-reviewed papers (ie, Acta Periodica Deuellorum).
There is significantly more validity to it, than oriental martial arts, for example.
There are some which do not have validity; glima, the "viking wrestling" for instance, has no documented sources. but i.33, lichtenaur tradition, vadi, the rapier schools for the 16th C, etc? Absolutely valid historical research.
>>484295
This, we do peer reviews on transcriptions, translations and also on interpretations.
Now finding manuals, putting them into historical context, transcribing the source, and translating it is serious historic research, many a thesis has been written about such documents.
Putting the techniques back to live is not always scientific, but still there is a peer review and it is a nice hobby that keeps the lard off your butt.
>>484295
TBQH the rapier/sidesword stuff is clearly in the best position in that it's an andecedent of a quasi-living tradition (that is, fencing) so we can be reasonably certain that nothing vital has been lost.
As for glíma, that's actually traditional Icelandic wrestling, it's just the asaboos who want to make it out to be "viking" wrestling. Since they should always be disregarded, feel free to disregard them.
