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Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

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Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#111

Post by mastazi »

mastazi wrote: post #79
throwawayboise wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could support kids learning boxing if it was limited to body blows. With what we are learning about concussion, it seems to be more and more understood that blows to the head are never OK. Maybe you still need to teach defense against head blows, but they should probably not be allowed in competition. Getting battered in the head until you cannot stand up or respond should be right out.

The problem is that out of this concern, some martial arts disallowed head blows in competition, only to fall out of grace due to how "unrealistic" they are in terms of self defence. A large number of people who start practising martial arts, does that out of a self defence concern, maybe they have been bullied at school etc. I don't have a solution to this problem (possibly head gear, but recent studies seem to indi…

Replying to myself: in striking arts, one great solution is promoting a culture where light sparring (e.g. Thai style sparring) is preferred to hard sparring (e.g. Dutch style sparring). In most combat sports, competition is not that frequent and more than 99% of the time a practitioner would be doing either technical training or sparring.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#112

Post by madengr »

throwanem wrote: post #92
kiernanmcgowan wrote: post #15

I'm just thinking back to my time in scouting and can only imagine what it would be like to teach a bunch of 14-16 y/os the 1920s equivalent of MMA. Probably about 30min of fun until kids just start hitting each other as hard as they can with sticks. Still sounds more fun than the basket weaving merit badge though.

> Probably about 30min of fun until kids just start hitting each other as hard as they can with sticks. BB gun fights were a regular feature of childhood where and when I grew up. I never took part myself - my mom had already instructed me in the correct use, care, and safe handling of actual firearms, for one thing, and for another I knew she'd take my own Daisy air gun away if she heard of me doing anything so fool…

No post body was provided.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#113

Post by FooBarBizBazz »

Dlanv wrote: post #23
irrational wrote: post #19

1925 in Great Britain? So, this was published just a few years after the end of World War I. I presume it was written by people who actually fought in the war. I wonder how much of this reflected the skills they had learned or used as soldiers in that war?

I'm not sure they fought with quarterstaffs or rapiers in WW1. The boxing and jiu jitsu perhaps.

Not exactly the same, but this guy made a longbow kill in WW2:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Churchill

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#114

Post by bane »

Isamu wrote: post #94
jvanderbot wrote: post #48

I really love this. I am a firm believer in everyone studying _some_ martial art (player's choice). For the following reasons: - It teaches an insane amount of respect when two people have to hold themselves back to practice - It teaches self-discipline, mostly in the long-forgotten art of keeping yourself from becoming so angry you cannot function with form. - It gives a crazy amount of confidence to know you are at…

Does anybody have a recommendation for learning two-handed longsword technique? Not that I made my daughters full size wooden practice claymores or anything. I’m asking for a friend.

For people wanting to have a bit of fun and handle things that feel like weapons, I'd highly recommend searching out a contemporary Wushu (Kung Fu) school. It's the modern sport martial art of China, is sort of a combination of traditional Chinese Martial Arts, Kickboxing, and Gymnastics and weapons are a very big component. It's very close to becoming an Olympic sport even though it's not incredibly well known.

For reference, it's what movie actor Jet Li was trained in and performed when he came to the White House in the 70s as part of the U.S.-China opening up.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#115

Post by micromacrofoot »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #64
micromacrofoot wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the liberal complaint about scouting?

From one side its overt religious bias. From the other it's being too inclusive by admitting girls.

Hmm yeah, one of those seems a lot more rational than the others... but I suppose if I were to say which one someone would claim that it's just my partisan bias.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#116

Post by soylentcola »

Isamu wrote: post #94
jvanderbot wrote: post #48

I really love this. I am a firm believer in everyone studying _some_ martial art (player's choice). For the following reasons: - It teaches an insane amount of respect when two people have to hold themselves back to practice - It teaches self-discipline, mostly in the long-forgotten art of keeping yourself from becoming so angry you cannot function with form. - It gives a crazy amount of confidence to know you are at…

Does anybody have a recommendation for learning two-handed longsword technique? Not that I made my daughters full size wooden practice claymores or anything. I’m asking for a friend.

Ex-gf of mine did HEMA (https://www.hemaalliance.com/) for a bit. Gear isn't cheap, but it seemed fairly serious and welcomed all skill levels.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#117

Post by jvanderbot »

mastazi wrote: post #111
mastazi wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is that out of this concern, some martial arts disallowed head blows in competition, only to fall out of grace due to how "unrealistic" they are in terms of self defence. A large number of people who start practising martial arts, does that out of a self defence concern, maybe they have been bullied at school etc. I don't have a solution to this problem (possibly head gear, but recent studies seem to indi…

Replying to myself: in striking arts, one great solution is promoting a culture where light sparring (e.g. Thai style sparring) is preferred to hard sparring (e.g. Dutch style sparring). In most combat sports, competition is not that frequent and more than 99% of the time a practitioner would be doing either technical training or sparring.

You've perfectly described every martial arts gym / training session that I've been part of. Touch / light sparring is reserved for intermediates, and reflex / defensive drills are a strong prerequsite, and under no circumstances is anyone allowed to go "full speed".

Even in the grimiest of boxing gyms, unless you are explicitly training for a competition, I have never seen this rule violated.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#118

Post by kod »

Sparring with quarterstaff is a bad idea, regardless of age. A 7' lever is no joke.

Anyone who thinks that's a hot take, infantilization of kids, politically motivated, or whatever else has been going on in this thread should probably watch e.g. https://youtu.be/3bmcpjBO4a0?t=270

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#119

Post by aerostable_slug »

ilamont wrote: post #10

Some merit badges involve strenuous physical challenges, such as hiking (multiple long-distance hikes including a 50-miler). The canoeing MB requires learning how to get back on an overturned canoe while in deep water, which is bloody hard. They still have badges for shooting and archery, too. There are also some badges that were unexpected - plumbing, fixing farm equipment, computer game design.

>unexpected

I had a habit of collecting unusual merit badges that few had seen before: Animal Science (hey, it's got a cow on the badge, and besides I had cows), Atomic Energy, etc. I got my Entomology merit badge at the National Scout Jamboree from a team of highly motivated active duty Soldiers who had the job of eradicating potential disease vectors from areas where our troops would live and work, even during wartime. They were so happy I stopped at their little booth — I'm guessing the majority of Soldiers treated them like the bulk fuel folks (or other unsung jobs) rather than the people who keep you from contracting some horrific tropical disease.

The head of the team was a full bird colonel with a PhD from IIRC Cornell who revelled in the fact that .mil is exempt from EPA regs. They got to use the heavy artillery of insect control means. He flatly stated, with no small amount of pride, that not a single Scout at the National Jamboree that year would get Lyme unless they went into the (untreated) woods. My father was a staff physician for the Jamboree, and as best as he could tell the colonel was right — now, they did have Lyme infections from kids going decidedly "off piste", this being Fort AP Hill, VA, in the summer.

Re: Master at Arms Badge for Boy Scouts (1925) [pdf]

#120

Post by giantg2 »

leephillips wrote: post #71
throwawayboise wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saw that too and it made me smile. I think it can still be done. Just cut out the brain damage.

Totally agree. And some other sports, especially soccer (football outside the US) are also risky for the brain, because practice involves repeated heading.

I was not allowed allowed to head until I reached high school. I was definitely made fun of for it. Who knows it if made any difference though.
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