guest

Nov 12, 2016

I immediately thought of LaFond when stumbling upon this:

Icelandic Wrestling Johaness Josefsson

archive.org/stream/IcelandicWrestlingJohanessJosefsson/Icelandic_Wrestling_-_Johaness_Josefsson_djvu.txt

"When we read about combats between Icelanders of olden time and giants, outlaws, Ethiopians (slaves belonging to the reigning kings) and warriors of the heathen age, we see always a sure victory for wrestlers when they took part, even though their strength differed considerably from that of their formidable opponents. As a matter of fact, the essential idea of Icelandic wrestling is to enable the weaker man to hold his own with the stronger. Most of the “grips” are formed with the feet and legs, so that though one’s hands are tired, - a thing most common in days gone by, - a fair resistance might be made, no matter from what side the enemy attacked. Self-protection was the first thing which led to Icelandic wrestling, and today the motive is the same, though there is now much less need for it."

That's a great book title, just imagine:

James LaFond - Warriors of the heathen age

More from the book:

"When he toured America, he didn’t visit martial art schools or attend Karate tournaments as a guest of honor. In that era, there were no martial art schools, save the boxing gym or wrestling club, and the idea of a “tournament” where the competitors paid for the privilege of competing was unheard of (unless it was for a purse to split). Josephsson and his troupe played vaudeville houses doing demonstrations of his art against boxers, knife fighters, and multiple assailants - all as sports entertainment, mind you. One publicity photo even shows Josephsson wearing a long cape and a winged crown! Though I could not find written documentation, it would seem likely that Josephsson would have continued in the tradition of having an open “challenge” to the audience to wrestle for cash, as they did in England.

One piece the troupe performed was called “The Pioneer”, and was billed as a story “Based on the Early Days of California” and “A Dramatic Novelty Act with a Thrill”. In it, Josephsson used his Glima against “savage Indians” who tie him to a stake before he escapes, beats them, and saves the girl. Though politically incorrect by today’s standards, it was perhaps accurate to the “Wild West” image of America, one that many Europeans had when Josephsson was growing up."

guest

Nov 12, 2016

One more, from Prisons Bloody Iron Deadly Knife Fighting Tactics Revealed Harold Jenks And Michael Brown

archive.org/details/PrisonsBloodyIronDeadlyKnifeFightingTacticsRevealedHaroldJenksAndMichaelBrown

On sitting arrangements:

"Knives were used so often for sending kings and powerful men into immediate, forced, and fatal retirement that the seating arrangements in today’s large corporations are an instinctual carry-over from those days. Observe the fellow sitting to the right of the “big cheese” in any corporate meeting; he’s usually a minor flunky. The fellow on his left is usually his successor. The reason for this has always been that for a right-handed man to stab a fellow to his left from a seated position in a crowd- ed room is relatively easy but to stab a man seated to his right involves all sorts of half turns of the body, getting the weapon in position, and not enough leverage to achieve a fatal wound before the alarmed victim scrambles out of the way. "

guest

Nov 12, 2016

The PDF of that one is also on archive org:

Put 'Em Down, Take 'Em Out! [Knife Fighting Techniques From Folsom Prison].pdf (PDFy mirror)

archive.org/details/pdfy-Q7Kv7FhWha9UCuZY

But the author is one "Don Pentecost"