Martial Arts and Fencing
I have been involved in martial arts and combat sports for a great many years now. My endeavours can be subdivided into 'sword-related' and 'non sword-related' categories. This helps avoid unnecessary discussions about whether fencing is a martial art or a sport, and the same argument about various unarmed martial arts.
Thus information on fencing-related activities and organisations can be found under 'fencing' and unarmed combat can be found under 'martial arts'. These distinctions are not 100% accurate and there is some overlap. The British Federation for Historical Swordplay in fact covers all aspects of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) which includes unarmed elements such as catch wrestling and military combatives. However, the swordy/non-swordy distinction will suffice for most purposes.
Thus information on fencing-related activities and organisations can be found under 'fencing' and unarmed combat can be found under 'martial arts'. These distinctions are not 100% accurate and there is some overlap. The British Federation for Historical Swordplay in fact covers all aspects of Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) which includes unarmed elements such as catch wrestling and military combatives. However, the swordy/non-swordy distinction will suffice for most purposes.
Myself, Mark and Chris giving a demonstration of practical swordplay at a wargames event. This would be the 'swordy' end of our activities.
