The Weapons / Empty-hand Divide
I have previously written on the “martial-civil” dichotomy. In short, it describes the distinction between “martial” and “civil” fighting arts:
“martial” (aka, “military”) defines fighting systems developed specifically for the battlefield (used by either warriors or soldiers). Performance aims are dominance, defeat, or death of an enemy combatant.
“civil” describes those systems that have been developed specifically for “civil” use by civilians for civilian purposes. The performance aims of civil fighting systems range from sport-and-recreation to self protection. Civil systems can also range from empty-hand to the use of a variety of weapons and weapon-usable implements (e.g., staff, axe, chopper, baseball bat, etc.), or even a mixture of weapon and empty-hand techniques.
(Above video “martial” training)
There is a related divide between weapons fighting arts and empty-hand systems. Weapons use has predominated throughout our history for both hunting and combat. In the evolutionary context, humans have never been an empty-hand hunter or warrior. By contrast, we primarily see empty-hand fighting used in social group contexts, such as sports, e.g. wrestling, boxing, MMA, etc., or in social dominance display, e.g. young men in a “fist fight.” In both of these examples, the use of weapons would be considered “against the rules.”
These distinctions between weapons and empty-hand have been evident from evolutionary times through historical and current day.
Not surprisingly, the distinction between weapons combat and empty-hand fighting has historically followed the martial-civil division. In other words, martial (military) systems are overwhelmingly based on weapons use. In contrast, civil systems range from empty-hand combat sports and weapons sports to empty-hand and/or weapon self protection systems. Other important defining characteristics that distinguish martial training systems and civil training systems and which can tell us a lot about the intended outcomes:
Martial training systems, particularly, modern military training, put a strong emphasis on training on real ground. A large portion of combat training is aimed at developing situational awareness. In real world combat, one must be fully aware of the ground and surroundings and its relationship to the target.
Civil training systems typically train in dedicated indoor training facilities, often with built-in protective surfaces. This can be a limiting factor for the development of situational awareness.
Martial systems - strictly limit the use of protective gear, generally to only what is necessary to prevent serious injury when working with weapon strikes. In adversarial practice, if protective gear is worn, it is generally to be donewith full power striking. Periodically live weapons are incorporated in training to better ensure trainees are mentally prepared for the threat-stress of real world combat.
Civil systems - Due to the empty-hand nature of many civil systems, protective gear ranges widely depending upon the nature of sport and or self-defense system.
Martial systems - Historically, martial systems were formulated to deal with multiple adversaries as well as single opponents. Typically beginners start with a single adversary, but progress to the combat reality of multiple adversaries. This is absolutely necessary to develop the mental skills to deal with high risk, multiple adversary combat.
Civil systems - Sport systems are virtually universally aimed at single opponent engagement. As well, the majority of self-protection systems work only with single opponents.
Real World - Real Weapons
Until very recently, humans have predominantly been weapons wielders. In our prehistoric development both as hunters and fighters, humans completely lacked the built-in weapons and physical capabilities of other hunting animals: no fangs, no claws, and, compared to other hunting mammals, we are dramatically slower and weaker. To compete in the wild against stronger and better adapted predators, our only choice was to even the odds through the development and use of weapons. In the wild, “empty hands” simply wasn’t an option for the hunter, warrior, protector. With a weapon, our pre-modern human ancestors became apex predators.
For us, Homo sapiens, it is undeniable that for battlefield combat the most functional choice is the weapon. There is very little application for empty-hand fighting capability in battlefield combat. Even in the most dire circumstances, a soldier or warrior will pick something up, an entrenchment tool, knife, whatever is at hand. We are literally wired for using a weapon. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that training for weapons use also trains the mind and body to more effectively use virtually any suitable implement as a weapon.., including empty-/hands.