home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Newsgroups: rec.martial-arts
- Path: sparky!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!qt.cs.utexas.edu!yale.edu!yale!gumby!destroyer!cs.ubc.ca!news.UVic.CA!spang.Camosun.BC.CA!camins.camosun.bc.ca!comptec92024
- From: comptec92024@camins.camosun.bc.ca
- Subject: Re: Beating S*** out of Celts (long)
- Message-ID: <1993Jan20.013415.1@camins.camosun.bc.ca>
- Lines: 40
- Sender: news@spang.Camosun.BC.CA (Network News)
- Nntp-Posting-Host: camins.camosun.bc.ca
- Organization: Camosun College
- References: <1993Jan14.220014.28300@massey.ac.nz>
- Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1993 09:34:15 GMT
-
- In article <1993Jan14.220014.28300@massey.ac.nz>, M.J.Wright@massey.ac.nz (M.J. Wright) writes:
- >
- > Sorry to rain on your parade of the mightly Celts, but.......
- >
- > bull@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au writes:
- >
- >> Greenoch is a Celtic martial art that supposedly dates
- >> back to the time of the Roman Empire. When the Romans invaded Britain,
- >> they pretty well overran the southern 2/3's without too much trouble.
- >> They were stopped by the Celts though, who lived in the areas we now
- >> know of as Scotland and Ireland (and a few spots on Britains west coast).
- (stuff removed)
- > I agree that western martial arts traditions are under-rated, but I don't
- > think you need to look that far to find them. The ancient Greeks recall
- > great wrestling matches won by techniques such as a fatal spear hand strike
- > to the armpit. The use of the rapier was incredibly developed, with the
- > average exponent practising 2-3 hours a day. The Knights Templar were noted
- > for their skill and could not retreat unless outnumbered more than two to one.
- > And the Romans didn't rule for 1000 (west) + 1000 (east) years by
- > being slouches.
- ===============================================================================
- Your right, the Romans beat the Celtic peoples of europe. I don't think
- that you can argue that it was becouse the Romans were better Martial Artists
- then the Celtics, you do not have any information Roman period Celtic martial
- arts. You can argue that the Romans were better soldiers and that is why they
- won. I guess that I should say that I do make a difference military arts and
- martial arts. Military arts being the skills that lead to winning wars while
- martial arts being the skills of personnal combat.
-
- Even from a military point of view the celts were nothing to sneeze at. In
- 279 BC Celtic tribes pillaged Thrace and Macedonia killing the heir of Alexander
- the Great, the king of Macedonia. This group of Celtics later beat the Greeks
- at a battle in the pass of Thermopylae, the same place where the Greeks had
- defeated the Persians. In 390 BC Celtic tribes extracted tribute from Rome
- herself. Note that Caesar himself used Gallic (celtic) cavalry, in the conquest
- of Gaul. So I don't think that you can make any argument if Celtic people were
- or were not good martial artists. You can only say that that they were beaten
- by the Romans then later used by the same Romans.
-
- Mackenzie
-