This article may be of interest regarding Spanish - Filipino MA http://www.thearma.org/essays/influence.htm I practice/use the training equivelent of the broadsword which is Single-stick, a 3ft Ash wood stick with a leather or whicker basket guard to protect the hand. Much of the guards/cuts are similar to FMA. It's interesting to note that some early pictures of FMA have sticks with a hand guard similar to those used in Single-stick training by British & American navy of the same period. Louie
I think I've posted this before on this forum, but I hope it doesn't matter if I post it again :Angel: Rumous has it that portugese sailers that came to japan in the 16th.century had a certain influence on japanese swordplay. Acording to those rumours, the japanese were so impressed with the rapier/dagger combination in duels that they evolved a katana/wakisashi-combo to exploit the possebilities. A friend of mine has supplemented my love for this rumor by informing me that fighting with a katana/wakisashi-combination was by some scools called "To fight the barbarian way". This is pure speculations, but isn't it quite realistic that where different refined combatcultures meet, they tend to compare? I think this happened wherever open minded and truely dedicated younger european officers met with local cultures in the east.
