In Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair, authors Knight and Hunt make their contribution to the endeavor that Mair began so many centuries ago. Working from both the German and Latin versions of Mair’s Opus, they present chapters on combat with the poleax, halberd, spear and shortstaff, and lance and longstaff, with text in the original German and Latin, along with the English translation. The illustrations, taken from the Dresden codices, C93 and C94, have been meticulously restored to give a clear view of the techniques. This amazing volume, a labor of love of the arts of combat, belongs in the library of everyone with an interest in fencing, Asian stick or staff fighting, or Renaissance martial arts. Available exclusively from Paladin Press. Order your copy today!

Paulus Hector Mair's Ars Gladiatoris and Modern Military Combatives
By David James Knight

The purpose of this article is to educate mainstream martial artists on the Renaissance martial arts (RMA) by cataloguing techniques from the 16th century combat manual Opus Amplissimum de Arte Athletica (or Ultimate Book of Athletics, written circa 1542 CE by Paulus Hector Mair) that also appear in the official US Army and Marine Corps hand-to-hand combat manuals.

An article such as this was long overdue. Many martial artists are unaware of the highly advanced combat grappling (kampfringen) systems of late medieval and Renaissance Germany (which Mair called the ars gladiatoris, "Art of the Gladiator"). Worse, those who are vaguely aware often assume that the German systems are useless in the modern world or inferior to overhyped styles from the Far East.

When discussing RMA with non-practioners, it is not uncommon to hear the same tired myths:

"RMA seems unsophisticated compared to Kenjutsu or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu."

"RMA has little or no applicability to modern fighting. I mean, who carries a sword around nowadays?"

And so on. Thanks to the inaccuracies perpetuated ad nauseum by Hollywood films, role-players (including the SCA), sport fencers, video games, and the like, and given that the effort to resurrect RMA as a viable system began barely a decade ago, such misconceptions are understandably common. But of particular annoyance are those sweeping generalizations that go beyond a reasonable standard of ignorance, such as the following (actual quote):

"[RMA is] nothing like Ninjitsu or Jiu Jitsu, which make up the bulk of all Special Forces hand-to-hand training because they are superior to all other martial arts in their brutal effectiveness."

Granted, current military combatives consist largely of Jui Jitsu (not Ninjitsu) techniques, and they are certainly effective. But that is not the issue. The issue is whether the combat grappling in RMA is indeed "nothing like" Jiu Jitsu. Without so much as a basic knowledge of RMA, armchair experts tend to nevertheless answer this question in the affirmative. When challenged to produce evidence supporting their views, many––especially those on the Internet––will sidestep and claim something to the effect of (actual quote) "I have spent years in contact with Special Forces groups." Then, thoroughly impressed with their supposed credentials, they expect the debate to end.

But, ironically, it is with these very claims of elite military training that they expose themselves as insecure at best, fraudulent at worst, and remarkably ignorant about not only RMA, but also what the US military actually teaches its Soldiers and Marines.

What the mainstream martial arts community does not realize––but what the US Army Combatives School, for example, already knows––is that a brutal system of fighting nearly identical to current Army and Marine Corps combatives was practiced throughout ancient, medieval, and Renaissance Europe until technological advances in warfare rendered close-quarters battles largely obsolete.

From 3,000-year-old vases depicting Greek pankration to the detailed fechtbucher of Mair and his contemporaries, the historical record abounds with examples of European techniques, both armed and unarmed, that have direct equivalents in modern warcraft.

In fact, it is no coincidence that an image from Hans Talhoffer's 1467 Fechtbuch aus dem Jahre appears on the United States Combative Arts Association's home page; the NCOIC of the US Army Combatives Program and developer of the Army Rangers' Close Quarters Combat system (CQC), SFC Matt Larson, is an ARMA member, and his website plainly states that CQC integrates self-defense techniques from across the globe, including "training from... the western martial arts."

The following images are taken from all three editions of Mair's Ultimate Book of Athletics, the Army's FM 3-25.150 (written by SFC Larson), and the USMC's MCRP 3-02B. While there may be subtle variations between the figures' positions in each image, the concepts are undeniably the same.

I. Standing Techniques

A. Strikes

1. Forearm Block vs Lead Arm Punch

"Raise the left arm and block or deflect the opponent's lead hand with the palm of the hand or the meaty portion of the forearm" (USMC, 4-13).

2. Front Push Kick to Opponent's Knee

Mair lists poples uterque, "either knee", as one of the six weakest parts of the human body and a target that "it is particularly necessary for any fighter to know" (Cod. Icon. 393, 15v, 10-19).

"The front kick... is effective for striking below the waist... Raise the left knee waist high, pivot the hips into the attack, and thrust the left foot toward the opponent" (USMC, 4-10).

3. Chin Strike vs Bear Hug

Mair lists the mentum, "chin", as one of the six weakest parts of the human body and a target that "it is particularly necessary for any fighter to know" (Cod. Icon. 393, 15v, 10-19).

"If the enemy attempts to grasp you under your arms, step back into a strong base and... push his chin upwards to break his grasp. If he is exceptionally strong, push upwards against his nose" (ARMY 8-2), Note that Mair's figure is actually striking the opponent with his elbow.

B. Throws

1. The Clinch

"The clinch position is the optimum way to hold an enemy after you have successfully closed the distance, but have not yet executed a successful takedown. While in the clinch, you have control of the enemy's far side arm at the elbow, with the arm also tucked into your armpit. Your... hand is around his waist, controlling his hip. Your legs are sufficiently back to prevent him from getting his hips under you to attempt a throw." (ARMY, 5-2)

2. Hip Throw

"With the leg that is behind the enemy, step through until you are standing in front of him with your legs inside of his. Your hip should be pushed well through. Using a scooping motion with your hips, lift the enemy and throw him over your hip. You should land in the knee mount or side control." (ARMY, 5-3)

This throw is found throughout the fechtbucher. Below, the author, at right, demonstrates a ringen am schwert ("grappling at the sword") hip throw from the manual of 15th century master Sigmund Ringeck.

3. Turning Throw

"Step forward with the right foot, place it against the outside of the opponent's right foot... hook the opponent's right arm... [and] pivot to the left on the ball of the foot" (USMC, 5-2).

4. Leg Hook

"If the enemy attempts to pull away, use your leg closest to his back to hook his leg. When he begins to fall, release the leg and finish as before" (ARMY, 5-3)

5. The Elevator, or Captain Kirk

"Maintain control with your arms and let your feet slide naturally down until they are on his hips. If his weight gets too far forward, pick him up with your legs and throw him over one of your shoulders. Ensure that you move your head to the opposite side to prevent him landing on you. Finish mounted" (ARMY, 4-5).

C. Takedowns

1. Single Leg Shot

"You may also choose to attack only one leg... From the single leg position, with your shoulder tight against his thigh... pressure from your head and shoulder will dump him on to his buttocks" (ARMY, 5-6)

2. Double Leg Shot

"Going under the enemy's arms and straight to the legs is a very useful type of attack. There are several ways to finish depending on the enemy's actions, but the initial attack is the same. When you find yourself relatively close to the enemy, change your level by bending both of your knees and drive into his midsection with your shoulder... Continue to drive and control the legs to end in side control" (ARMY, 5-6).

D. Chokes

1. Front Guillotine Choke

Mair lists the collum, "throat", as one of the six weakest parts of the human body and a target that "it is particularly necessary for any fighter to know" (Cod. Icon. 393, 15v, 10-19).

"Many times this technique may be used as a counter to the double leg takedown. As the enemy shoots in toward the fighter's legs, the fighter should ensure that the enemy's head goes underneath one of his arms. The fighter wraps his arm around the enemy's head and under his neck. The fighter's palm should be facing his own chest. With the other hand, the fighter grasps the first hand, ensuring that he has not reached around the enemy's arm, and pulls upward with both hands" (ARMY, 3-6).

2. Side Choke

"Reach with the left hand around the back of the opponent's neck and clasp the hands together. Exert pressure on the side of the opponent's neck with the forearm" (USMC, 6-3).

E. Joint Manipulation

1. Arm Bar

Mair lists the cubitum brachiis, "elbow", as one of the six weakest parts of the human body and a target that "it is particularly necessary for any fighter to know" (Cod. Icon. 393, 15v, 10-19).

2. Arm Control

"Pull up on the low end of the [weapon] with the right hand. At the same time, push down on the top end of the [weapon] with the left forarm... Continue exerting downward pressure with the left... while pulling back on the opponent's biceps... This places the opponent in a position where he is controlled and can be moved" (USMC, 8-13). Mair includes several variations of this technique, with and without weapons.

3. Wrist Control

Mair lists the iunctura manuum, "joints of the hands", as one of the six weakest parts of the human body and a target that "it is particularly necessary for any fighter to know" (Cod. Icon. 393, 15v, 10-19).

"Hook the fingers... around the fleshy part of the opponent's palm. Step into the opponent and apply pressure downward onto the back of his hand to bend the joint, and rotate his wrist away from the body to twist the joint" (USMC, 8-3).

4. Wrist Control

"Trap the opponent's hand with the palm of the other hand... Apply downward pressure with both hands until the opponent is taken to the ground" (USMC, 8-3).

 

F. Weapon Defenses

1. Dagger Control

"The attacker strikes straight downward onto the defender with a stab. The defender reacts... by parrying or checking and redirecting the attacking arm" (ARMY, 8-4). If armed, Mair suggests a simultaneous counterattack.

II. Ground Techniques

A. Offensive Positions

1. Control from Inside the Opponent's Guard

Mair describes several offensive techniques from inside the opponent's full or half guard. The following excerpt from the spear and shortstaff chapter in Polearms of Paulus Hector Mair typifies Mair's brutal groundfighting system:

"Once you have thrown [your opponent], put your right foot between his legs, knee him in the groin, hook your left leg under his right leg, seize either his hands or his throat, and hold him down by putting pressure on every part of his body. "If [your opponent] throws you down and tries to pin you, then make sure from the start that your hands are not captured, quickly seize his face with one hand (hook your thumb under his chin and press the other fingers into his eyes, gripping firmly), forcefully strike his groin with the other, kick out whichever leg is freer, and quickly draw it back, thus kneeing him in the groin." – Cod. Vinob. 10825, 162v; C93, 191v

Such techniques appear in both the armed and unarmed chapters of Mair's Opus. In the image below right, taken from the ringen chapter, note the bottom figure's full guard with triangled legs.

2. Striking from Mount or Side Control

When in these dominant positions, fighters "are in a better position to control the opponent and execute ground fighting techniques" (USMC, 7-2). Note Mair's hammer-fist strike to opponent's face.

This is only a small sampling of the myriad similarities between modern and Renaissance battlefield ringen. Many of these techniques appear in other fecthbucher. A more comprehensive article is forthcoming, in which I will also examine combatives in the Codex Wallerstein (an anonymous 15th C. manual by which Mair was strongly influenced), Gladiatoria (anon., 15th C.), Goliath (anon., ca. 1500), Fiore di Liberi's Flos Duellatorum (ca. 1410), and other sources, including Classical artwork (to entertain Mair's theory that the fighting systems of Renaissance Germany were Greek in origin, inherited from the Romans after Julius Caesar's campaigns in Germania).