Bullsherdog
Orange Belt
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2017
- Messages
- 71
- Reaction score
- 7
Inspired by a post I saw. And as a SouthEast Asia (though not Filipino) who comes from in a country where Catholics are a minority and lives with Muslim neighbors who practise Silat as well as expat Pinoys of various backgrounds including Eskrimadors and other FMA practitioners, I've been provoked to ask after reading the below link.
Many fighters in the Philippines (and not just local styles but even boxers) frequently ask for intercession of Archangel Michael daily and some practitioners take it another level with novenas, etc.
Despite the fact that Eskrima and other FMA styles barely even say anything about Catholicism. While most surviving HEMA texts often mention Saints and traditions like rosary, etc. Even by the 19th century after the French Revolution brought a steady decline of the Church's power in Europe, manuals still mention prayers every now and than.
Despite that, it seems people who practise reconstruction of extinct European system not only completely ignores all these stuff but even are openly against the very Catholic sacraments that Medieval knights would have done!
Why despite the oldest texts of FMA in particular Eskrima lacking Catholic devotions and most organizations completely avoiding demanding the traditional Catholic sacraments, plenty of FMA practitioners make it a norm having Catholic practises in their schools esp having statues of Saint Michael? How come HEMA and other European reconstruction systems seems to be anti-religious in comparison despite the frequent mention of saints and Mary in texts even "magical Catholicism"?
I find it extremely ironic that a country so far away from Europe (being the only truly colonized territory of a European superpower in Asia for a long time) actually does the old traditions that the forefathers who wrote HEMA manuals would have done! And not just that but even across Latin America despite lacking a wide culture of organized fighting systems in the vein of Eastern martial arts, they also do keep the mysticism and spirituality that the European Knights who made these systems would have practised when they were alive! That modern people who say they practise HEMA absolutely avoids spirituality while colonized peoples in South America and the Philippines practically for the most part ironically keep a lot of HEMA's tradition more authentically!
And as a SEA Catholic this is what I observed with nearby neighbors from the PH in my country.
Why is this?
Many fighters in the Philippines (and not just local styles but even boxers) frequently ask for intercession of Archangel Michael daily and some practitioners take it another level with novenas, etc.
Despite the fact that Eskrima and other FMA styles barely even say anything about Catholicism. While most surviving HEMA texts often mention Saints and traditions like rosary, etc. Even by the 19th century after the French Revolution brought a steady decline of the Church's power in Europe, manuals still mention prayers every now and than.
Despite that, it seems people who practise reconstruction of extinct European system not only completely ignores all these stuff but even are openly against the very Catholic sacraments that Medieval knights would have done!
Why despite the oldest texts of FMA in particular Eskrima lacking Catholic devotions and most organizations completely avoiding demanding the traditional Catholic sacraments, plenty of FMA practitioners make it a norm having Catholic practises in their schools esp having statues of Saint Michael? How come HEMA and other European reconstruction systems seems to be anti-religious in comparison despite the frequent mention of saints and Mary in texts even "magical Catholicism"?
I find it extremely ironic that a country so far away from Europe (being the only truly colonized territory of a European superpower in Asia for a long time) actually does the old traditions that the forefathers who wrote HEMA manuals would have done! And not just that but even across Latin America despite lacking a wide culture of organized fighting systems in the vein of Eastern martial arts, they also do keep the mysticism and spirituality that the European Knights who made these systems would have practised when they were alive! That modern people who say they practise HEMA absolutely avoids spirituality while colonized peoples in South America and the Philippines practically for the most part ironically keep a lot of HEMA's tradition more authentically!
And as a SEA Catholic this is what I observed with nearby neighbors from the PH in my country.
Why is this?
