Wardrobes and swords

You can have this one back. I like it too much to leave it out.

I bought an flat-pack wardrobe recently.

My wife and I were assembling it together and it caused quite a row. You see I am a man, I don't do instructions. She on the other hand is not a man and so she likes to follow the instructions to make sure she does it properly.

I tried to explain that I already understood how it worked and I didn't have to follow instructions written by some mindless cretin in an office somewhere, but she was having none of it.

This of course got me to thinking about swords and HEMA.

Why is it that men the world over are incapable of following instructions when building a piece of furniture, but when it comes to recreating a historical system of combat they will do nothing but repeat what the manuscript tells them?

Let me put that another way.

How many seminars have you been to where the instructor explains what a source says and then proceeds to take you through the techniques as they are described in the manuscript?

A lot I suspect.

How is this a martial art?

It's not. It is re-enactment. It's not even good re-enactment. There are no well endowed women in dresses that are too small, there are no large bits of pig hanging over fires built in oddly unhistorical metal trays.

What makes a martial art different is that it involves understanding of the underpinning concepts. Not just a rote learning of x technique against y technique. A true understanding of exactly why x technique works against y technique, and conversely why z technique would not be appropriate.

There are plenty of Re-enactors masquerading as HEMA instructors out there, but there are precious few martial artists. Next time you go along to your salle ask your instructor why a technique works. Ask them how it fits within the big picture of the system and ask them about what exercises and drills you can practice at home to help you develop your own understanding of the body mechanics behind the system. If they're a martial artist they'll answer without any hesitation. If they can't then you might want to ask yourself why you're paying someone to teach you when they are simply reading instructions from a book.

Any idiot can follow instructions, it takes a real man to throw them away because he understands it already.

It's just a shame my wife disagrees. I have to admit that the wardrobe looks lovely though.