Monday, September 10, 2007

Formations in Ancient Warfare

Scott at Weakness with a Twist has posted on something in which I have a great deal of interest in his excellent "Rooting, the Spear, and the Phalanx." Actually, several things that he somehow ties into a single post: rooting techniques, the use of the phalanx, cavalry, and ancient Roman battle gear, then ties it to American Football, billiards, and push-hands!

Photo: Warfare in the Ancient Greek World

"American style football and the game of pool are both leftovers from the days of the Phalanx. Few armies have ever been as well organized as Julius Caesar’s were, so the Phalanx continued to have play in the fields of battle until the gun.

Rooting techniques have some application in stand-up styles of wrestling, but their main application is being able to hold a long spear, shoulder to shoulder with other men, while you are facing a solid wall of on coming spears."

Great fun. Read!

3 comments:

Mathieu said...

Interesting!

We often forget that most of what we do today is because of choices made by people before. :)

Patrick Parker said...

Been missing you lately. Is everything settling down as you are settling into your new abode?
Looking forward to seeing you post some more...

Unknown said...

Thanks to you both for the comments.
Mat - Good point. Unfortunately, we've been fighting as long as we've been around as a species! Only, we're more dangerous now.

Patrick - I've been missing you all, and somewhat despondent, to tell you the truth. After being "out of the groove" for so long, I was considering hanging it up. But who was I kidding. I love this job! I just wish I was paid for it!