A la baionnette! III.

This is coolbert:

Jukendo!!

Again, more amazing stuff.

Here is a web site about jukendo . Bayonet fencing for both health [Swedish professor Ling would be proud!] and sport purposes.

As currently practiced in Japan. A popular [?] form of martial art.

"it is an exceedingly rare sport in Japanese primary schools, but not unheard of. In the minds of many Japanese it is still not considered a proper sport."

"Jukendo is a relatively new [post-WW2] martial Way developed out of the bayonet fighting tactics of the Toyama Gakko, the special military training school of the Imperial Japanese Army."

"a healthy activity for physical, mental and spiritual health apart from actual fighting methods."

"A mokuju, or wooden rifle and simulated bayonet, is used in different kata (forms)."

"Besides kata, there is a competitive side to jukendo which utilizes protective armor similar to that found in kendo."

[in the small video accompanying the web site, the man on the left appears to not be wearing body armor, the man on the right is wearing the kendo [Japanese swordsmanship] style body armor and dress!!]

Here too is the wiki entry on jukendo.

"The thrust is the only form of attack in jukendo. Targets are the throat, the left upper chest (heart), the left side, and the back of the left hand."

As in fencing, thrusts only. NO butt strokes, kicking, punching, etc., as you would find in the Russian form of bayonet fencing or commonly taught military bayonet combatatives!!

coolbert.

A la baionnette! VI. [Conclusion]

This is coolbert:

"'He must have seen his blood flow, have his teeth
crackle under the blow of his adversary, have dashed to earth with such force as to feel the weight of his foe, and disarmed twenty times. He must twenty times retrieved his failures, more set than ever upon the combat. Then will he be able to confront actual war with the hope of being victorious' - - 14th century - - Rodger of Haveden"

Here is the saga of a man who DID get himself stirred up.

Anthony J. Drexel Biddle.

"Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, USMC CQB Pioneer"

An American aristocrat and proponent of the manly arts. Boxing, fencing, bayonet fencing, and martial arts period.

Biddle was from a very old, wealthy, aristocratic American family. Long time resident of the Main Line area of Philadelphia. When you see the names of Drexel, Biddle, Duke, etc., you are talking about old time money and lineage NOT often seen in American culture or society. Persons variously referred to as "blue-bloods".

As I have said in a previous blog entry, the children of wealth and privilege in American society generally are often useless persons. NOT having drive, initiative, desire to succeed. Why would they need to? They already have the measure by which success is usually measured within American culture, money!

Biddle was NOT by any means a useless person. Quite the contrary. Served his country in an admirable fashion in both World War One [WW1] and World War Two [WW2] Became a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps first [WW1] at the rather advanced age of forty one [41], being recalled to duty during WW2 at the even MORE advanced age of sixty six [66]!!!

[in this regard, Biddle greatly resembles such persons as Selous, Steichen, Fairbairn, Munro [Saki], and Corbett. Men of vigor, honor, and valor. Men of older age, sometimes advanced age, who desire to contribute to the war effort, and do so in a manner few others can EVER hope to emulate.]

Biddle was responsible for training U.S. Marines in hand-to-hand fighting techniques and bayonet fencing. I would have to think primarily the USMC had in mind the trench raid type of combat very common during WW1 when Biddle was assigned the task of teaching combatatives to the Marines.

"Colonel Biddle taught them the use of the machete, saber, dagger, bayonet, and hand grenade. He taught them also the techniques of jiu-jitsu and the French punch-and-kick man-killing attack known as savat [sic] [savate']."

"Biddle . . . then convinced Headquarters Marine Corps to make boxing part of Marine Corps recruit training . . . Although said to closely resemble rifle-bayonet fighting methods, the boxing was useful mostly for increasing recruits’ physical self-confidence."

Here is a news article about some Scotsmen in Iraq who have that physical self-confidence. DID use the bayonet and engage in close quarters combat with Iraqi Shia militia. The Scots emerging triumphant!! Bloody good show!!

Biddle had a strong interest in bayonet fencing even AFTER WW1 ended.

"In 1919 he exhibited rifle-bayonet fencing before the Willard-Dempsey prizefight"

[combat bayonet fencing was a military competitive sport even up unto the period of the 1940's and 1950's?? Slowly died out as a "sport"? NOT practiced anymore with the exception of jukendo??!!]

Anthony was a helluva man. Even fought a match as an amateur boxer against the World Champion of the period, Jack Johnson!!

"‘Now, you boy, there; don’t get yourself stirred up.’" - - Jack Johnson.

I just don't think they make them like Anthony J. Drexel Biddle anymore!!

coolbert.

A la baionnette!! I.

This is coolbert:

Regarding the use of the bayonet in both historical and modern terms, here are various excerpts from the web site:

[my comments in BOLD!]

"An Introduction to Training in Rifle-Bayonet Fighting in the US Military"

"During the 1590s the Republican Dutch started developing military musket drills. Mostly a form of industrial safety – accidental discharges pose a serious threat to closely- packed ranks of armed men"

Right. NOT necessarily to teach how to fire the muskets quicker or more accurately. WAS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE TROOPS, IN RANKS, MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE, DID NOT KILL ONE ANOTHER!!

[in the PBS series about Vietnam, an American soldier stated that half of his squad became casualties EVEN BEFORE THEY HAD MADE CONTACT WITH THE ENEMY!! Weapon accidents was the main culprit!!]

"During the eighteenth century bayonet training continued to be mostly a form of industrial safety. Most soldiers drank a gallon of beer or wine a day, and fought and moved in closely packed squares. Unsurprisingly, accidents were common and considerable effort was expended to keep soldiers from cutting, sticking, or shooting one another."

Several comments here. AGAIN, THE TRAINING WITH THE BAYONET WAS NOT NECESSARILY TO TEACH PROFICIENCY WITH THE WEAPON AS MORE TO TRAIN TROOPS IN CLOSELY PACKED FORMATIONS NOT TO KILL OR INJURE ONE ANOTHER. That enormous consumption of wine or beer on the part of the troops was usually part of the enlistment contract the soldier would sign. Prevent water-borne diseases from killing the troop and also at the same time providing calories for a person who generally at an early age HAD NO TEETH LEFT IN THEIR MOUTH!!

"Eighteenth-century musketry training was equally rudimentary . . . [more than anything else] it had to do with safety. First, the flash from a flintlock's pan was so fearsome that soldiers were taught to close their eyes and turn their heads away to prevent eye injuries. Second, not all accidental shootings on the battlefield are accidental, and for the safety of officers and NCOs, supply sergeants only issued ball and powder after ranks had been formed and the enemy sighted . . . most European armies considered it good shooting if a battalion could consistently put half its shots into a target six feet high and a hundred feet long from a range of fifty yards."

"Originally, the British and the Japanese were the main proponents of rifle-bayonet fencing."

"While the Japanese turned to their own martial art traditions for fighting methods, the British turned to a Florentine system designed by Ferdinando Masiello."

Right, each culture adopts methods and techniques that are appropriate and familiar. NOT slavishly copying what someone else is doing!!

"in 1904, a Japanese Army rifle-bayonet fencing team that kicked, shouted, and screamed trounced a Royal Marine team in Shanghai."

This had to be an traumatic experience for the British. The Japanese were using a form of bayonet fencing recognized today as jukendo!!??

"During World War II the Detroit journalist and Army historian S.L.A. Marshall found only a couple of documented uses of Americans using their rifle-bayonet combination in combat – and all of those involved soldiers killing unarmed prisoners."

Right, the American infantryman in training for combat in WW2 was probably told he had to be ready to use that bayonet in an instant!! BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED EXCEPT IN THE MOST EXTREMELY RARE OF INSTANCES!!

"During the Vietnam and post-Vietnam eras, the US military generally kept bayonets in supply rooms . . . the reason was fear that troops would use the knives against one another during interracial brawls."

Please recall what I have said previously about troops having in their possession unauthorized weapons. Departing oversea from the Oakland Army Terminal [OART] in 1966, Army troops were cautioned not to carry unauthorized weaponry with them. An amazing number of troops DID turn in firearms and a LOT of edged weapons of all varieties. YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR OWN TROOPS IN ENCAMPMENT CUTTING THEMSELVES UP IN BRAWLS AND "DISPUTES"!!

"It is also my belief [that of the author] that in most combat situations US soldiers would be better off carrying an extra canteen of water or an extra 30-round magazine for their M-16."

There it is in a nutshell. Get rid of the bayonet and carry extra ammo or water. This is not, however, what folks want to hear.

coolbert.