The First Thanksgiving

You’ve probably read a number of heartwarming Thanksgiving posts over the last day or two. I’ve decided to go a different direction with this tale of the first Thanksgiving and Pilgrim/Native American relations. Enjoy this account from Lossing’s History of the United States (1909).

Boy Scouts in War

You may know Robert Baden-Powell was the founder of the Boy Scouts and you may consider the Scouts a para-military organization. But did you know the Scouts was formed in the crucible of the Boer War?
Baden-Powell used the Mafeking Cadet Corps (12-15 y.o. boys)

Chinese Martial Arts in 19th century China

The following are English language accounts of Chinese martial arts practice in 1800s China.

Old Soldier Ancestors

The other week I posted about the database where you can search muster rolls from the Hundred Years War (1300s-1400s).
It looks like wildcard searches are the way to go, because I found soldiers in the database that share the surname of both sides of my family by searching on the first couple of letters [...]

Guy Fawkes and Blowing Stuff Up

In celebration of Guy Fawkes Day, below is a recipe for gunpowder* from the Universal Receipt Book. Don’t know what Guy Fawkes was all about? In short, he and his cronies almost blew up Parliament and the king of England in 1605. TO MAKE GUNPOWDER:

Kin you dig it?

Did you have an ancestor that fought in the Hundred Years War? Find out with this database that searches approximately 90,000 service records from muster rolls for the years 1369 – 1453.

Robin Hood and Shaolin Gongfu

They just held a four day conference at the University of Rochester on Robin Hood, with this year’s theme being Robin Hood: Media Creature. Now if they’ll just hold a conference with the same theme for Shaolin gongfu.
Earlier this year, there was another

Quarterstaff vs. Rapiers: Peeke’s Three to One

The tale of Richard Peeke, an English sailor captured during a raid on Spanish coastal towns in 1625, was popular during his own time, but showed renewed interest during the Victorian era for Peeke’s display of manly virtue. Today, the tale is often told honoring the efficacy of the traditional quarterstaff, which, common weapon though [...]

A Female Boxing Match (1876)

A blow-by-blow account of two women boxing at Harry Hill’s concert saloon in 1876. To give this tale some context, Harry Hill was an Englishman (born in Liverpool, 1819) who opened his saloon in New York city in 1854 and operated it until 1888 when the reform politicians finally gained control of both the liquor [...]

Will President Bush Pardon Jack Johnson?

Folks, we’re getting down to the wire and I for one am excited to see if this pardon will be granted. As a rule, modern presidents tend to issue a whole slew of pardons right before leaving office rather than doing so earlier. That way, they don’t have to hear a bunch of grief about [...]

Reach Out and Zap Someone

Reach Out and Zap Someone: The Patent History of Electric Stun Weapons
 
Zaap…zaaap-clack-clack-clack…zaaap. Just the sound and spark of an electric weapon triggers something from childhood that makes you step back when you see and hear the electricity arc through the air between the leads. The two most common forms of today’s electric "stun" technology, [...]

Myth: Canes Required Carry Permits

You may have never happened across this particular myth, and I just saw it for the first time myself, but a number of sites that discuss the history of the cane perpetuate a myth that around the early 18th century, licenses were required to carry canes in England.
There are variations on the theme, but the [...]

The Cane as a Weapon (1912)

In 1912, A.C. Cunningham published The Cane as a Weapon, which even today remains the best book I have ever seen on fighting with a cane. It is amazingly succinct and conveys what is as nearly a complete system of cane fighting as a reader could desire, all within 25 pages.

A Woman’s Self-Defence for Women

Health & Vim, May 1912.

A highly interesting and vivid account by PERRY PEAKE, of a young girl whose jujutsu methods of self-defence are arousing widespread comment.

In common with most men, I suppose, I had always held the opinion that the athletic feat-performing woman was of the Amazon type—a heavy, fleshy person of powerful build and unattractive appearance [...]

“Physical Culture and Self Defense” by Fitzsimmons (1901)

Our indefatigable friend Kirk Lawson recently finished transcribing another martial classic. This one was on my list, but he saved me the trouble with this faithful reproduction. Here’s his description:

As with all other retranscribed antique manuals that I republish, the text is available for free. You can download it at no charge. The treeware version [...]