Purring - A Traditional British/US Kicking Art

Purring was also known as shinning, shindy, shinty, clogging, clog-fighting, cutlegs, etc. - it lasted as a rough schoolyard game long after it went out of fashion as a sport for adults.

BTW, it wasn't just an English thing - purring matches were a serious gambling sport in the USA during the late 1800s.

I don't know if it was ever specifically used a self defence technique, but the value of a solid kick to the shin or knee is well proven.

If you wanted a safer version of the sport, you might try wearing hockey or cricket leg guards to take the edge off ...

 

Purring

Hello all,
I know woody personally and am one of his instructors in the English martial arts so I know that he is a genuine person and dedicated martial artist and good for him that he entered the competition and experienced what it actually felt like.

When at the Cotswold games apart from the company of maisters demonstrations the shin kicking is one of the major events. It has champions, prizes, and challenge matches and this makes for a really good laugh. looking at it from the self defence angle I can see the practicalities of shin kicking after all we teach these kind of kicks within the company syllabus but the shin kicking at the Cotswolds is purely a sporting event, no one really gets injured badly and makes for a great day out.

But I used to attend bare knuckle fights at a location in essex at a travellers farm, now compared to the shin kicking these were both brutal and hilariously funny. Brutal because when you got two men who could fight and the options were all in or a straightener there would be clarat, teeth etc everywhere. and the winner would be as badly bashed up as the loser but for between £700 and a £1000 per fight for the winner some thought it worth it until afterwards. Hilariously funny because you would sometimes get two men who obviously couldnt fight and missed with every punch and kick so that they fell over or just didnt have the power to hurt each other so the fight went on until they dropped.
But I wouldnt advise anyone to do this as you lose even when you win. Disfigurment isnt pretty and when you have children and wives the last thing you want is to go home scarred permanently just for money or pride.

 

Interesting. Actually next to Muay Thai or Sanda I think this type of kicking would actually be just as useful outside of competition regarding kicks that boxing is to punching. I mean the legs are the main targets of good kicking anyhow so I think specializing in these kicks would be really helpful for someone trying to get good kicking technique just as anyone wanting good punching techniques should take boxing. Plus the empahsis on the shins probably toughens up the shins for both defense and offense, helps you take it since you use shins to block kicks and helps strengthen the kicks since shins are the least vulnerable part of the leg.

 

This here is not shinkicking bu it's worth a look...
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBEMQb4McV4&search=kickboxing"]kickboxing - YouTube[/ame]