mardi 20 janvier 2009

Martial Arts Chronology, from 2,000,000 BC to Present.

I found this an interesting document "A Chronological History of the Martial Arts and Combative sports". It contains some inaccuracies, and misses a few important facts in a Frenchman's eyes - such as 52 BC, Gauls King Vercingetorix surrenders to Julius Caesar in Alesia - this victory of Caesar changed the face and fate of the Western World (*), or 732 AD - Charles Martel stops the Muslim invasion of France in Poitiers - this is how far North they would go, they were quickly pushed back South of the Pyrrhenees Mountains.
It is nevertheless a very interesting compilation, which not only covers warfare and martial arts, but also cultural, spiritual and economical topics which proved to be very important for the evolution of societies.
A very long document. Have fun !

(*) Note about the Conquest of Gaul by the Romans : There were numerous reasons why the Romans easily settled in Gaule. One of them was Wine. Romans could make Wine, and the Gauls liked it much better than the mild grain "Cerevisia" they knew how to brew.
However, the Romans only knew how to build terra cotta amphorae to store their wine, whereas the Gauls were excellent at making wooden barrels.
So here we had a win-Win situation, the Romans brought the wine, the Gauls the barrels that let it age so much better than the amphora. This was the beginning of French Wine, Pommard, Chassagne Montrachet, Petrus... I told you, it changed the fate and face of the Western World...

1 commentaire:

Shelton & Tims Rants a dit…

Are you living in Headland?