The fist1 is the very first “weapon” humanity ever used. Before we picked up a rock or a stick, we used our hand, open or closed, to smack the crap out of someone. Hell it’s what our closest evolutionary cousins do too!2 Of course, the first hominid that hit someone with a closed fist probably immediately said “Ow! Screw this, I’m picking up that rock over there next time!” Weapons are force multipliers; they extend and expand the power of your fist. Despite this amazing physics discovery, I maintain that the fist is the Mother of Weapons.
One of the confusing things about this hobby is that “martial arts” have, for the majority of history, been the “arts of war”. And that meant weapons took primary importance. Which makes sense – during battle I want every available advantage. During battle if things have gotten down to empty hand and I am alone then things are BAD. I should have allies, friends, who will help me out either by killing the person trying to kill me and/or give me a weapon. There’s a great story Mike Cherba related to me of someone in the Georgian highlands interviewing elders trying to get more information about empty hand fighting systems:
In the Georgian lowlands grappling and boxing are extremely important but not so much in the highlands. So the interviewer was asking this one elder “What do you do if you got in a fight without your weapons?” In increasing frustration and incredulity at the idiot who would walk about so unarmed, the elder proceed to outline using: your gun, your sword, your short sword, your big knife, your small knife, and your fighting ring. Finally, it’s reported the interview ended with the elder yelling “Just grab a rock!”.
And when you are in battle or when the shit hits the fan this is the exact right attitude to have. Most of us will never experience that kind of situation. And legally in most self-defense situations weapons, melee and firearm, lack one major thing – they lack force thresholds. You can’t “softly” hit someone with a baton. Nor can you shoot someone softly or stab someone “lightly” in order to de-escalate things. In these situations understanding how to fight with your empty hands, either striking or grappling, allows you to maintain your safety while still maintaining the ability to move through the force threshold. Heck, it’s likely something our bodies have honed in on the ability to do over a long period of time3.
Even in contexts and cultures where weapons were primarily used though, wrestling and boxing was something all children engaged in. In many cultures it even became a way of training for weapons use or even hiding your weapon art from view. There is a great podcast I know I’ve recommended a lot, The Hero with a Thousand Holds4, where the author researches and discusses forgotten or hidden grappling traditions the world over. And the majority of them are culturally used to train, settle disputes, or just plain rough and tumble play.
Training with weapons provides a lot of benefits to martial artists. There is a heightened sense of danger which ups the need for control. You develop a better sense of measure, timing, and body control training with weapons. They can also be a good introduction to martial arts for people who have trauma related to violence – the introduction of a weapon creates a buffer between their experiences and the Art. In truth, there should be no division between weapons training and empty hand training – the body mechanics and the Universal Principles remain true. And if possible they should be done at the same time. Many of the martial arts people train today began as weapons-based arts and needed to adapt to a modern world when weapons became less day to day. Xing Yi for example is based on spear combat; once you grasp that the empty hand skills make more sense. Fiore bases his art in wrestling, but you quickly realize that the mechanics you learn there are present no matter what weapon you use. In a similar way when training Mendoza and Wylde I use similar mechanics when throwing a straight punch as I do when thrusting with a sword.
In addition, your fists can never be taken from you and you can use them for training anytime you please. The gear requirements are a lot lower than for weapons – especially if you “just” wrestle or slapbox. You can practice your empty hand skills in a lot of environments that wouldn’t be possible with weapons. Hells, thanks to colonization, many communities around the world have hidden their martial arts as dances so you can even practice your boxing at the club!
Ultimately, what I mean by the fist being the Mother Of All Weapons is that when you learn and use empty hand skills you train your body to be able to pick up any tool and utilize it as a weapon. Or in the words of Thulsa Doom:
Footnotes
- I’ll be using “fist” throughout this post in a general sense to mean your hands (open and closed), your feet, knees, elbows, shoulders, etc.
- https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna43085666
- https://bigthink.com/the-present/men-evolution-punching/ The Actual Study: https://journals.biologists.com/jeb/article/223/2/jeb212365/223648/Sexual-dimorphism-in-human-arm-power-and-force
- thousandholds.net