“He who cannot protect himself or his nearest and dearest or their honor by non-violently facing death, may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor. He who can do neither of the two is a burden.”-Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Even today Mohandas Gandhi remains an icon for those who believe all human beings can live together in peace and harmony, and that violence is a bad habit that we all need to abandon to save the world.  While we should all strive to get along with our fellow man at least until we get away from them it isn’t always practical, and there will always be wolves out there that prey on the sheep.  Take Nathuram Godse for example who killed Gandhi a fellow Hindu, because he believed Gandhi was working to hard to appease Muslims in India.  It’s a safe bet that Gandhi would have been more than willing to talk with the man, and explain his position, but instead Godse fired three shots from a semi-automatic pistol into him while he was praying.  Some people you can’t reason with, and when that is the case you have to be ready to defend yourself, and even the great man of peace understood that.

Now Gandhi was a wise and great man for a number of reasons, and his efforts to end British Colonial rule in India should be applauded, but like all great men he wasn’t perfect. During his time in South Africa when he fought for full citizenship he had no problem stepping on the native African population to do so, and his racist views at the time are well documented. Granted racism was the norm around the world, and he did come from a society that has a rigid caste system, but it’s a chapter many of his supporters would like to forget.

During his time in Africa though he supported the British in their war against the Zulus, and lobbied the government to create all Indian units to fight in the conflict.  The British only allowed Indians in support units though and Gandhi served in an ambulance unit, because it was the only assignment available, not because he wasn’t willing to fight.  It seems though his views did change and by World War I he was willing to recruit Indians to fight, but made it clear he wasn’t going to take part in any of the fighting which puzzled friends and colleagues.

During the dark days of World War II Gandhi only pledged "non-violent moral support," to the British who were in a life and death struggle with the Axis powers.  If there was ever a time to fight it was than, but even in the face of slaughter Gandhi held firm to his principals, but it is safe to say he learned from his experiences, and  changed his views accordingly.

Sure Gandhi preached non-violence, but even he knew that wasn’t always practical, and said, "Non-cooperators are under prohibition as to political violence. Those, therefore, with whom non-cooperation is not their final creed, are certainly free to defend themselves or their dependents and wards against their assailants.” Even those who did follow him were allowed to protect themselves, and said of the British firearms laws, “Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest.”  These quotes and others make it pretty clear that violence in politics isn’t a good idea, but when it comes to self defense everyone has the right to protect themselves.

Now maybe you wish to follow Gandhi’s example and practice non-violence, but you shouldn’t expect others to do the work for you, “Cowardice is impotence worse than violence.  The coward desire revenge, but being afraid to die, he looks to others, maybe to the government of the day, to do the work of defense for him. A coward is less than a man. He does not deserve to be a member of a society of men and women.”  So even as you strive for a better world you should still learn how to defend yourself and that is where the Self Defense Company comes, because we teach people how to protect themselves from the worst.  There will always be people willing to use violence to get what they want, but if more people are able to deal with them the sooner we all can go back to our peaceful lives.

What You Can Learn About Modern Combat from the Medieval Tournament

The medieval tournament was a contest of knightly valor, a training experience for future warriors, and a ruckus party that would rival any modern sporting event.  Beer would be served, merchants would pedal their wares, and the common man and noble alike would look on as knights battled it out for money and bragging rights.  More you look back at these events the more you realize sporting events really haven’t changed that much accept maybe for the fact no noble was enjoying added revenue from the cable TV rights.  One lesson though that the participants of these jousts did know what many seem to have forgotten is that a tournament was only preparation for war, and actual combat was a whole different animal.

Medieval tournaments first began appearing in France around 1066 the year when William the Bastard of Normandy crossed the English Channel to conquer England.  The young Duke was of Viking stock, but his army was modern for the time and consisted of infantry, archers, and armored cavalry.  Tactics and his armored knights helped William win the battle of Hastings and the kingdom, and after that knights became the ultimate weapons system o the battlefield for centuries.  Knights would be part European martial combat until the 1600’s, and during that whole time jousting tournaments would develop.

Early tournaments had few rules and no referees, but a knight was supposed to respect the boundaries of a set area and allow his opponent a break if equipment broke.  This didn’t always happen and knights were known to chase down opponents and continue fights in the streets of nearby towns.  Sometimes knights and princes would fight together in four man teams, and like professional wrestling it wasn’t odd for someone to change sides in the middle of a fight.  Some knights would join the fight while other knights were exhausted, and what few rules there were varied by nation.  In France only knights fought, but in Germany a knight was allowed to bring his men-at-arms and some brought as many as a 100 foot soldiers.

There was also a lot of money involved, because when a knight defeated another knight and captured him he would ransom him.  The ransom could be as simple as exchanging horses to remember the victory or as harsh as taking virtually everything he owned. William Marshal of England started his career as a knight in the 1160’s broke, but he was brave and had skills.  It is believed that he won over 500 of the brutal matches, and amassed wealth and respect.  He would serve four monarchs and become a respected statesmen and warrior.

Keep in mind all of the fighting was done with real weapons, and resulted in so many deaths that tournaments were banned in England, so if an English knight wanted to test his skills he would have to travel to Europe or join the Crusades (killing infidels wasn’t a sin).  The nobles had to develop rules for a tournament or they would continue to be little more than street fights.  The civilized jousts that we see in works like Geoffrey Chaucer’s A Knight’s Tale were the result of rules and traditions started in Germany that would spread throughout Europe, and turn tournaments into combat sports.

Tournaments would become more organized and there would be referees to control the action, and weapons would be blunted and there would be scoring.  Wood barriers would prevent horses from crashing into each other, and only knights were allowed to fight, so foot soldiers couldn’t change the fight in another knight’s favor.  Even the melee a mass combat event where two groups of knights fought it out to start the tournament was controlled. Coats of Arms would be used to identify knights, and because people could identify their favorite knight people would begin rooting for them (and bet on them).  Women would give an article of clothing (usually a scarf, perverts) to her favorite knight, and like professional wrestling there would sometimes be a story with a knight taking up the cause of a young maiden and would oppose another knight.

As tournaments became safer knights didn’t forget where they came from, and success on the tournament fields was never respected as much as it was on the battlefield.  Still though tournaments gave knights a chance to learn like no other form of training, and gave us many of our romantic ideals when it comes to that period in history.  In reality though combat was bloody, muddy, and knights would have to take on hordes of experienced fighters who all wanted to knock them off their horse.  On foot a knight would employ a sword, axe, or mace, and do his best to hack through armor and survive.  Grappling wasn’t unheard of and some knights would simply bash the other to death.  As in any century combat wasn’t fun, but knights knew the difference between the games and the reality, and those involved in combat sport today have to realize the same.