Oldman
I think you make a really interesting point.
Hard if not impossible to seperate an art from its social context.
A number "gentlemen" in Victorian and Edwardian England studied jujutsu/baritsu etc for self defense as street crime was rampant then.
But they didn't focus much on ground fighting--they certainly taught it--just was not the focus.
One reason might be that it was that gentlemen of the period often carried sword-sticks, sturdy canes etc that could be used as very overt weapons or pressed into service as weapons of opportunity.
A entire section of savate training was devoted to the cane, once a common and indespensible item for man in public.
Then it pretty much disappered for many decades---and recently you now seeing article after article in various MA mags about "cane defense."
It all comes around again--sooner or later.
Previous Topic
Index
