![Vikings fight](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Vikings_fight.JPG)
Combat reenactment is a side of
historical reenactment
Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspect ...
which aims to depict historical forms of
combat
Combat ( French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict meant to physically harm or kill the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is sometimes resorted to as a method of self-defense, or ...
. This may refer to either
single combat
Single combat is a duel between two single warriors which takes place in the context of a battle between two armies.
Instances of single combat are known from Classical Antiquity and the Middle Ages. The champions were often combatants who repres ...
,
melee
A melee ( or , French: mêlée ) or pell-mell is disorganized hand-to-hand combat in battles fought at abnormally close range with little central control once it starts. In military aviation, a melee has been defined as " air battle in which ...
s involving small groups, or nearly full-scale
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
s with hundreds of participants.
Depending on the intended effect, performances may have the aim of presenting
historical martial arts reconstruction
Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms.
While there is limited surviving documentation of the martia ...
, or just offer
entertainment
Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...
, and different groups have different standards of authenticity.
Historical martial arts demonstrations
Demonstration of historical fencing begins with
Alfred Hutton
Alfred Hutton FSA (10 March 1839 – 18 December 1910) was a Victorian officer of the King's Dragoon Guards, writer, antiquarian, and swordsman. He originated the first English revival of historical fencing, together with his colleagues Eger ...
in the 1890s.
The
Association for Renaissance Martial Arts
Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA) is a US-based non-profit organization dedicated to the study and practice of historical European martial arts of the 15th to 17th centuries. distinguishes the following modes of historical martial arts demonstrations:
*
Theatrical Fencing
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet ...
(stage-combat, performance fighting) in the sense of a performance art, not a martial art, although relying on a foundation of martial techniques and principles, serving the end of dramatic entertainment.
*Arranged Performance Fighting, as distinct from both theatrical fencing and
historical swordsmanship practiced as a martial art, having the purpose of demonstration and education. Such performances are offered by a number of museums, including the
Higgins Armory Museum
The Higgins Armory Museum is the name of a collection in the Worcester Art Museum. It was formerly a separate museum located in the nearby Higgins Armory Building in Worcester, Massachusetts, dedicated to the display of arms and armor. It was " ...
, Worcester, MA, US
and the
Royal Armouries
The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from ...
,
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
,
*Mock-Fighting & Martial Sports, including simulated battle presentations and tournament bouts in
living history
Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...
or
live-action role-playing
A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of two unique feature ...
games with special "combat rules".
Competitions
In the 2000s, several competition events for choreographed historical martial arts demonstrations were originated, combining the judgement of aspects of
historical fencing
Historical European martial arts (HEMA) are martial arts of European origin, particularly using arts formerly practised, but having since died out or evolved into very different forms.
While there is limited surviving documentation of the martia ...
techniques,
stage combat
Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet p ...
qualities like acting and entertainment value, as well as historical accuracy of costumes and equipment.
Furor et Ferrum Pavone Canavese,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
(since 2004)
Stage WarriorsOsterburken
Osterburken () is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 28 km southwest of Tauberbischofsheim, 50 km northeast of Heilbronn, 90 km east of Heidelberg, 60 km southwest of Würzb ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
(since 2004)
International German Championship in Stage FencingBerlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, Germany (since 2006, includes a category "Antiquity to Middle Ages")
Joust
Today,
tent pegging
Tent pegging (sometimes spelled tent-pegging or tentpegging) is a cavalry sport of ancient origin, and is one of only ten equestrian disciplines officially recognised by the International Equestrian Federation. Used narrowly, the term refers to ...
is the only form of jousting officially recognized by the
International Federation for Equestrian Sports
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (, FEI) is the international governing body of equestrian sports.
The FEI headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland. An FEI code of conduct protects the welfare of the horses from physical abu ...
. Ring jousting became the official state sport of
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
in 1962 and was the first official sport of any American state.
The Italian town of
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
continues to hold an annual jousting tournament, which dates to the
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
.. Modern theatrical medieval-style jousting competitions are popular at American
Renaissance fair
A Renaissance fair, Renaissance faire or Renaissance festival is an outdoor gathering open to the public and typically commercial in nature, which purportedly recreates a historical setting for the amusement of its guests. Some are permanent the ...
s and similar festivals, and feature riders on horseback attempting various feats of skill with the lance, which may not always have a basis in history.
"Society Equestrian Marshal"
retrieved 2007
Battle reenactment
Reenactment of battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
s is a major and popular component of historical reenactment
Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspect ...
.
Due to the number of participants involved, most reenacted battles cannot be choreographed in any detail, and safety guidelines or "combat rules" are imposed on participants instead, prohibiting most realistic actions. Some reenactment battles take the form of a competition, where the two "armies" try to defeat each other within the actions permitted by the combat rules.
Battles in film are not inhibited by such restrictions, due to the possibilities of cutting and closeup. They are fully choreographed, and are not performed in a single go but divided into individual sequences.
Combat as interactive martial art
The Society for Creative Anachronism
The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA) is an international living history group with the aim of studying and recreating mainly Medieval European cultures and their histories before the 17th century. A quip often used within the SCA describes ...
fighting is based on Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
fighting on foot, in the spirit of tournament fighting with wooden swords. The armor is handmade and based on historical artifacts. Unlike most reenactment events, the events are not pre-determined. It's a participatory sport; the fighters win or lose a bout, much like Karate
(; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...
or Judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
.
Combat rules
*Codex Belli {{Short description, Set of rules for medieval combat reenactment
Codex Belli is the name of a set of rules for medieval combat reenactment first issued in 1999 and then revised by the German umbrella group Kämpferliste in 2002.
The Codex Belli, ...
* Early Medieval Alliancebr>
Equipment
Since the 1990s, an increasing number of companies offers replicas of historical arms and armour. Blade weapons used for combat reenactment are unsharpened, and specialized sparring weapons (e.g. Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...
's "Maestro Line") also have rounded points. Blunt, flail and staff weapons are more problematic since the replica essentially has the same effectiveness as the "serious" version, unless rattan or latex weapons are employed, which in turn lack the characteristics of the originals and induce handling techniques inconsistent with the weapons they are supposed to represent.
Societies
References
Historical Fencing Studies – the British Legacy
by John Clements
Defining Historical Fencing
(thearma.org)
{{Reenactment
Military reenactment
Historical reenactment by type
Mock combat