No, seriously, get a grip...as in grip up your opponent and grapple them to the floor!
Today we're going to be taking a look at Ringen and why we believe it is an absolutely vital part of any HEMA school, an invaluable part of anyone's personal HEMA practice, and a must if one wants to fully embrace everything HEMA is meant to be.
Right off the bat, I want to offer something of a disclaimer. Our club takes what is basically a temporal slice and practices the arts that a German knight or other fighting man of the late 1300s would know, so Ringen fits into that nicely. However, I know full well not every club practices HEMA in that time range, with many clubs choosing to focus on skills from later eras. So throughout this piece, I'm going to be referring to Ringen given that that would be our perspective, though I realize that term might not be fully accurate given the arts your club practices.
But I also don't think that really matters. Regardless of whether your club focuses on the same time frame we do at the Black Wolf or you are interested in the weapons of a far later time period, there was still some native wrestling system natural to that time and place. So even if you wouldn't be studying "Ringen" per se you still should be studying the grappling equivalent of the time and place.
So what's the ultimate relevance of Ringen, or Abrizare for our Fiore friends, or whatever other grappling style you might incorporate into your practice? Why bother when one of the main reasons most folks get into HEMA is the desire to practice with weapons. Well, as is usually the case there are a variety of good reasons.
First of all practicing Ringen honors the historical traditions of the time, and this is true of almost any time period from which one might study grappling. Using our club's time frame as an example, the first martial art to which young boys -- future kights, nobles, and peasants alike -- was grappling. At first, obviously, it was just rough and tumble play with friends, but at quite an early age they were taught proper footing, proper technique, speed, aggression hued by clear tactical thinking, and perhaps most importantly of all a keen sense of kinesthetics.
But even in later eras, when the warrior fighting for a lord had become the soldier fighting for his nation, kids still started with grappling and it still taught them profoundly important martial skills that would come up again and again in their fighting career.
So put quite simply, one vitally important reason to study Ringen is that it is part of the historical tradition of the fighters at the time, and since we've committed to studying historical martial arts it only makes sense we would want to connect to that.
But even if for you individually that historical part is just an irrelevant detail and you couldn't care less about connecting to any traditions at all, Ringen is still vitally important to your HEMA practice. There is a reason that Ringen literally formed the basis of all later weapons arts these young nascent warriors would learn -- it teaches everything you need to know.
All of the things I referred to earlier -- proper footing, proper technique, speed, aggression hued by clear tactical thinking, a keen sense of kinesthetics -- can be thought of as the must-have list for a good fighter. Practicing Ringen can help you develop these in what I would think of as a "clean" way, meaning you won't get distracted by the weapon; you can focus on pure fundamentals. I don't think there is anything that makes you more aware of your body, your balance, and your movement more than Ringen, and these kinesthetic aspects are vital for any weapons-based fighting.
But what if someone is dead set on not studying Ringen for whatever reason and instead only want to focus on their weapons? Well, then, in all honesty, you're only going to be studying a part of that weapon system because closing and gripping up your opponent is almost always an option (again, I'm writing from our club's temporal slice; I'm assuming closing to grapple is a reasonable tactic in, for instance, Polish sabre).
If you are interested in practicing Longsword then you would also do well to study Ringen; after all, there is a whole section of the weapon art called Ringen am Schwert, or wrestling at the sword. If you never study Ringen you will usually fail as soon as you and your opponent pass within the fighting reach of the Longsword, something we know happens all the time. Your opponent will throw you while you cling to your now useless Longsword. If you are learning dagger then you are almost by definition forced into knowing grappling due simply to the distances involved. Same thing for Messer, same thing for sword and buckler. As one of our instructors, Clint, is fond of saying, "It isn't sword fighting, it's fighting with a sword."
To take this argument out of HEMA for a moment, studying Ringen could prove useful in a real-life situation. There seems to be some debate right now how much the overall study of HEMA could serve someone in a actual self-defense; I'm not going to comment on that now (I will in another post) but I would say knowledge of grappling could definitely serve you well in many potential situations. After, putting an unsuspecting assailant in a quick armbar and throwing them to the ground could easily give you the time to get out of whatever unpleasant situation you find yourself.
And one final reason we recommend everyone in HEMA study grappling of some sort is the delightfully intense and satisfying workout it gives you. It is possible to fight with a sword and actually not move very much, throwing well-timed and distanced attacks that don't prove overly taxing to your body. You simply can't do that when grappling. You are forced to use your entire body at once, and quite forcefully at that. So if you want a physical challenge while practicing HEMA do please consider adding Ringen to your regular practice.
If I've peaked your interest in Ringen there is a great online resource you can check out, the United States Historical Ringen Association (USHRA). This relatively new group was, according to their website, "formed to foster the growth of Historical Ringen by providing training and curriculum resources, promoting research into the art, and sponsoring events that share our vision." Though the site is still under construction, it will in time offer a complete curriculum for studying this noble art as well as acting as a clearinghouse for Ringen-based information. You can check out the group's Facebook page here.
So, bottom line: grab a partner and get a grip!
Do you practice Ringen? How often, and do you favor a particular Master? If your group studies later weapons systems is there some later historical version of grappling your club works with? What are your regular practice routines?
Stay loose and train (Ringen) hard!
-- Scott
Today we're going to be taking a look at Ringen and why we believe it is an absolutely vital part of any HEMA school, an invaluable part of anyone's personal HEMA practice, and a must if one wants to fully embrace everything HEMA is meant to be.
Right off the bat, I want to offer something of a disclaimer. Our club takes what is basically a temporal slice and practices the arts that a German knight or other fighting man of the late 1300s would know, so Ringen fits into that nicely. However, I know full well not every club practices HEMA in that time range, with many clubs choosing to focus on skills from later eras. So throughout this piece, I'm going to be referring to Ringen given that that would be our perspective, though I realize that term might not be fully accurate given the arts your club practices.
But I also don't think that really matters. Regardless of whether your club focuses on the same time frame we do at the Black Wolf or you are interested in the weapons of a far later time period, there was still some native wrestling system natural to that time and place. So even if you wouldn't be studying "Ringen" per se you still should be studying the grappling equivalent of the time and place.
So what's the ultimate relevance of Ringen, or Abrizare for our Fiore friends, or whatever other grappling style you might incorporate into your practice? Why bother when one of the main reasons most folks get into HEMA is the desire to practice with weapons. Well, as is usually the case there are a variety of good reasons.
First of all practicing Ringen honors the historical traditions of the time, and this is true of almost any time period from which one might study grappling. Using our club's time frame as an example, the first martial art to which young boys -- future kights, nobles, and peasants alike -- was grappling. At first, obviously, it was just rough and tumble play with friends, but at quite an early age they were taught proper footing, proper technique, speed, aggression hued by clear tactical thinking, and perhaps most importantly of all a keen sense of kinesthetics.
But even in later eras, when the warrior fighting for a lord had become the soldier fighting for his nation, kids still started with grappling and it still taught them profoundly important martial skills that would come up again and again in their fighting career.
So put quite simply, one vitally important reason to study Ringen is that it is part of the historical tradition of the fighters at the time, and since we've committed to studying historical martial arts it only makes sense we would want to connect to that.
But even if for you individually that historical part is just an irrelevant detail and you couldn't care less about connecting to any traditions at all, Ringen is still vitally important to your HEMA practice. There is a reason that Ringen literally formed the basis of all later weapons arts these young nascent warriors would learn -- it teaches everything you need to know.
All of the things I referred to earlier -- proper footing, proper technique, speed, aggression hued by clear tactical thinking, a keen sense of kinesthetics -- can be thought of as the must-have list for a good fighter. Practicing Ringen can help you develop these in what I would think of as a "clean" way, meaning you won't get distracted by the weapon; you can focus on pure fundamentals. I don't think there is anything that makes you more aware of your body, your balance, and your movement more than Ringen, and these kinesthetic aspects are vital for any weapons-based fighting.
But what if someone is dead set on not studying Ringen for whatever reason and instead only want to focus on their weapons? Well, then, in all honesty, you're only going to be studying a part of that weapon system because closing and gripping up your opponent is almost always an option (again, I'm writing from our club's temporal slice; I'm assuming closing to grapple is a reasonable tactic in, for instance, Polish sabre).
If you are interested in practicing Longsword then you would also do well to study Ringen; after all, there is a whole section of the weapon art called Ringen am Schwert, or wrestling at the sword. If you never study Ringen you will usually fail as soon as you and your opponent pass within the fighting reach of the Longsword, something we know happens all the time. Your opponent will throw you while you cling to your now useless Longsword. If you are learning dagger then you are almost by definition forced into knowing grappling due simply to the distances involved. Same thing for Messer, same thing for sword and buckler. As one of our instructors, Clint, is fond of saying, "It isn't sword fighting, it's fighting with a sword."
To take this argument out of HEMA for a moment, studying Ringen could prove useful in a real-life situation. There seems to be some debate right now how much the overall study of HEMA could serve someone in a actual self-defense; I'm not going to comment on that now (I will in another post) but I would say knowledge of grappling could definitely serve you well in many potential situations. After, putting an unsuspecting assailant in a quick armbar and throwing them to the ground could easily give you the time to get out of whatever unpleasant situation you find yourself.
And one final reason we recommend everyone in HEMA study grappling of some sort is the delightfully intense and satisfying workout it gives you. It is possible to fight with a sword and actually not move very much, throwing well-timed and distanced attacks that don't prove overly taxing to your body. You simply can't do that when grappling. You are forced to use your entire body at once, and quite forcefully at that. So if you want a physical challenge while practicing HEMA do please consider adding Ringen to your regular practice.
If I've peaked your interest in Ringen there is a great online resource you can check out, the United States Historical Ringen Association (USHRA). This relatively new group was, according to their website, "formed to foster the growth of Historical Ringen by providing training and curriculum resources, promoting research into the art, and sponsoring events that share our vision." Though the site is still under construction, it will in time offer a complete curriculum for studying this noble art as well as acting as a clearinghouse for Ringen-based information. You can check out the group's Facebook page here.
So, bottom line: grab a partner and get a grip!
Do you practice Ringen? How often, and do you favor a particular Master? If your group studies later weapons systems is there some later historical version of grappling your club works with? What are your regular practice routines?
Stay loose and train (Ringen) hard!
-- Scott
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