#ringen

[francisscadbury]

[codex-archive]

GENERAL — 62/262 — Ringen

A type of unarmed combat known as Ringen (from the German Ring Kunst, meaning art of wrestling) is one of the oldest martial systems widespread in medieval Europe.In an effort to defeat the opponent, the wrestler did not rely so much on brute strength as on a combat strategy that used the whole body, aiming to throw the opponent off balance and bring him to the ground. Kicks, holds and strikes with fists or the edge of the hand were often aimed at the joints. Attacks on the eyes or finger-breaking were also not uncommon.Ringen was taught in swordfighting schools, where medieval masters placed great emphasis on comprehensive schooling in combat. One of those who wrote extensively about refining Ringen techniques was Johannes Liechtenauer, the master of one of the most prominent swordfighting schools of the late Middle Ages, located in Nuremberg.

TRIVIA

— Throughout the whole medieval period, wrestling was an integral part of military education. 15th century fencing masters, such as the Pietro Monte, considered Ringen the “foundation of all fighting”, both unarmed and armed. Accounts of duels show that combatants would often resort to grappling as they closed in on each other, tournament regulations listed wrestling “in all manner of ways” as a perfectly acceptable method when needed. In most cases, the art and teaching of Ringen was tightly interwoven with other styles of combat, and were included in manuals on armoured fighting, swordplay and even mounted combat. There were also books dedicated entirely to wrestling and fencing masters who specialised in its art. Amongst the most influential of them was Ott Jud (Ott the Jew), a 15th century German wrestling master, teacher to the princes of Austria, and member of the Fellowship of Liechtenauer. None of his original manuscripts survived, but they were copied, translated, rewritten (even in the form of poems), and cited by almost every great fencing master of the time, in an amount unparalleled by most other works of the Liechtenauer corpus, speaking for its grave relevance. According to master Ott's teachings, three elements were central to the Ringkampf: the skill of the art itself, speed, and a proper application of strength. A weaker opponent should be attacked first using speed, while a stronger opponent was best to be countered with attacks to his knees, and an equal opponent should be approached at the same time using balance. Apart from that there was only one rule that mattered: To bring the opponent down, in every way possible – whether it was by stabbing him in the eyes or throat, kicking his ankles, dislocating his joints, or by reaching around his waist or between his legs and lifting him off his feet.

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[tomofberlin]

Winner

[operationhammond]

Hello and good morning from Benedict's Big Day, our first event of the year!

Operation Hammond is on-site all day, and happy to be working with our friends at Black Cat Historical Fencing again!

[christliche-kunstwerke]

Jakob ringt mit dem Engel von Rembrandt van Rijn 

[varanusniloticus]

I need some help identifying the book where these came from. The illustrations are pretty sweet! EDIT: it's "The Martial Arts of Medieval Europe by Ryuta Osada" 中世ヨーロッパの武術 (by 長田 龍太) https://www.amazon.co.jp/-/en/%E9%95%B7%E7%94%B0-%E9%BE%8D%E5%A4%AA/e/B08JVK5R9W/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

[daintyus]

[c0rvidfagg0try]

Are you telling me NO ONE ships Ringo and Taigen in Blue Eye Samurai??????