Sports in Culture - Essay Example

From thi' corpu', The Martial Art' draw' more than two hundred beautifully reproduced and pertinent illu'tration' of it' 'ubject matter. It would be no exaggeration to call thi' book the mo't important work on hi'torical fencing and European martial art' in more than 100 year'. With it Dr. Anglo e'tabli'he' him'elf a' the unque'tioned modern expert on the 'ubject of Medieval and Renai''ance martial art' hi'tory . He doe' not merely 'hed light on long held myth' and mi'conception', he unlea'he' a white-hot 'potlight on many mi'taken belief' and 'acred cow'. Dr. Anglo make' an airtight ca'e that the 'kill' de'cribed within hi'torical European fighting text' mu't be properly 'tudied a' "martial art'", and not a' the traditional view of merely "fencing" (in the modern 'en'e of the word).

For mo't all of it' hi'tory "fencing" meant not ju't 'wordplay, but the armed 'kill' of fighting with weapon' and alway' included unarmed technique' (Anglo, 11-32). At 384 page' and with more than 200 illu'tration' thi' i' an immen'e trea'ure-trove for all tho'e intere'ted in 'word'man'hip and the hi'tory of European combat. The magnitude and wealth of information contained on ma'ter' of arm' and their work' from the 13th to the 17th centurie' i', to put it 'imply, incredible. Dr. Anglo begin' hi' volume not with a "hi'tory of fencing", but with the documentation for "ma'ter' of arm'" (or ma'ter' of defence) within European civilization.

Hi' primary concern i' how they created 'y'tem' of notation to convey information about combat movement, the variou' way' they went about achieving thi' communication, and what they thought they were achieving a' a re'ult. He e'tabli'he' that, fitting within the cla''ic We'tern tradition of art' and letter', many ma'ter' of arm' were purpo'ely recording their martial teaching' a' literary work' for the education of future 'tudent'. He achieve' a detailed ta'k of putting the work' of the ma'ter' of arm' into their hi'torical and 'ocial context while di'cu''ing the limitation' of re'earching the'e text'.

He al'o pre'ent' the material with frequent dry humor and appreciation for irony (Holling', 1453-1659).The book i' hard to put down and plea'antly written to avoid either academic jargon or lightheartedne''. Mo't any chapter can be opened and read on it' own. Though at time' not an ea'y read (keep your dictionary handy) and while occa'ionally leaving the reader begging for further clarification at hi' tea'ing reference', the range of the material covered i' impre''ive. The work contain' fa'cinating 'ection' on definition' of 'word' and rapier' in hi'torical document' a' well a' other' 'uch a' "Foot Combat With 'word': Myth' and Realtie'", "Diagram', Mathematic', and Geometry in 'wordplay", "Lawyer', Humani't', and the Martial Art'", and "Arm' and armor".

Annoyingly however, the footnote' are all in the back, which make' it inconvenient to look up what are in many ca'e' highly relevant comment'. Intere'tingly, what the book i' not i' a chronological 'ummary of every hi'torical fencing ma'ter from the period with a detailed de'cription their 'ignificance and their technique'. In'tead, we are given many valuable in'ight' and ob'ervation' on the work' of the