Sound kinda gay to me..;>)
Posted on 08/27/2010 8:09:39 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Two American tourists, kitted out in glinting helmets and handsome tunics, grapple with each other, swords clanging, as if their very lives depend on it... Just a stone's throw from the Colosseum, on the ancient Appian Way leading from the Eternal City to Brindisi, they boarded the time machine of the Rome Historical Group (GSR) and whiled away an entire afternoon in the Rome of 2,000 years ago... Like the 140 other members of the association of history buffs, Hermes -- who sells real estate during the week -- became a gladiator trainer because of his "passion for Rome. Being Roman doesn't just mean living in Rome but making 'Rome' live," he said. The course can cost up to 100 euros (120 dollars) per person for two hours, but slides down to 25 euros for groups of at least 10. The 2000 Hollywood film "Gladiator" starring Russell Crowe led to a surge in interest in the course.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
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To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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How much to train old fat guys?
Sword ping!
What fun... I really like that the western forms of martial arts are getting more attention. It’s about time.
Old fat guys can learn to sword fight. I did. :-)
Remember the line in Gladiator, “you need both I think”? Suffice to say, I’m avoiding this like the plague. ;’)
Sound kinda gay to me..;>)
‘Thirteen’ ping, my little Roman.
My old friend One Eye thinks so too, really gung ho.
I wonder if there are any existing Roman fighting manuals? I haven’t heard of any. I would expect, though, just by virtue of it’s size, shape, and the limitations of body mechanics, that fighting with the gladius would have been similar to (or at least an earlier expression of) the later medieval “I.33” or the “Walpurgis” manual, which dealt with the single-hand shortsword and a buckler.
“One Eye”?
Sounds like he needed a fencing mask. :-)
A couple of critiques right off the bat... and it’s too bad there isn’t video. Would be easier to see what sort of real intent they’re teaching. But anyway:
Thing one: The pic with the guy jumping in the air... nope. Don’t do that. Keep on the ground at all times. Take a step one foot at a time. Keep your stance wide and stable. No jumping. No spinning. That’s only for the movies.
Thing two: At least one of those pics shows some edge-on-edge parrying. Just don’t. You keep doing that and your favorite swordsmith is going to give up and cut your hands off. It puts notches (and therefore weak spots) in your sword. Parry with the flat, not the edge. I’m pretty sure even the Romans would have agreed. This is one of the most grievous errors we get from the movies.
Really want them to get the full experience?
Make them slaves, beat them, train them a little, tell them they have to fight to the death and fight hard for a good show, or they will be killed. Also that if the crowd doesn’t like who won they could be killed.
Not all matches had to be fought to the death, but in Rome, many more were, where the crowds demanded more death and the better fighters came to fight.
Gee and after this 'fun' filled 'course', graduates can move on and 'learn' how to become good Roman soldiers and their fine art and skill of crucifying Christians properly. Once that 'skill' has been achieved 'students' can then move on to the more 'participatory' class of actually deciding who lives or who dies in the Colosseum. This has been declared by former students to be the most 'satisfying' out of all the courses offered by 'We want to be God' college.
Remember: A wide variety of additional courses are offered including: How to butcher babies and laugh about it and one of our top requested classes: How to starve Jews and others who 'don't fit' to the brink of death and then finish them off in gas chambers (all the while learning how to effectively convince them that they are going to enjoy a nice satisfying warm 'shower').
WooooHooooo. Sounds like such fun to me. /s
My 2 teenage sons did this last summer when we were there for a week. They really enjoyed it and it was a nice, fun break from all the must-see tourist sights.
Next comes “reality” TV and then for-real TV with call-in votes as to whether a losing gladiator should be spared or killed.
You are forgetting that it later became the Holy Roman Empire and embraced/preserved Christianity.
I believe that can be debated. No, I’m not prepared to do so right now but clearly ‘Holy’ can be applied as well as ‘Christianity’ to most anything or anyone but that does not make it so. The Roman Empire (imo) falls into that category.
Christianity was no longer persecuted by the Empire in the 300s, and became the official state religion of the empire (to the exclusion of all others) in 380 under Emperor Theodosius I. To this day, the Nicene Creed, created at the behest of the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 325 at the first ecumenical council, is the most common creed in all of Christianity.
No, it can’t be debated. You need to go brush up on your history.
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