Military Parades - Melee Weapons and Unarmed Combat

Melee Weapons and Unarmed Combat

The most familiar form of melee weapon and unarmed combat drill in the modern world is the Kata and the Hyung in Eastern martial arts. However there were once similar drills in the martial training of warriors in all cultures worldwide. They all had exactly the same purpose, to make instinctive an appropriate reaction to an attack or opening by conditioning the mind and body, through repeated and constant repetition of a series of actions (building up muscle memory). Probably one of last survivors of such drills in the Western martial tradition are the reaction drills and rhythm exercises in the modern sport of fencing.