Today on Martial Arts Radio we have an interesting guest, unlike anyone we've had on before. Over the last 10-20 years, we've seen a growing diversity in the martial arts world. We can no longer consider martial arts to simply be the arts of Korea, Japan and China (as well as their derivatives). We now see arts coming out of nearly every country and region on the global stage. Historical European Martial Arts (HEMA) is in that mix, too.
One of the challenges for these "other" arts is our ability, as a community that is mostly rooted in Asia, to understand them. Which is why today's guest is so exciting. Sir Gemini Asonte is not only a skilled practitioner of Historical European Martial Arts, but he has an extensive background in Asian martial arts, including taekwondo, various styles of karate, aikijutsu, boxing, savate... and more. This gives him context for what most of us, as Asian art practitioners, are thinking when we see someone engaged in HEMA.
[For the record, this is not meant to say that this show is only for those practicing Asian martial arts. It's just a question of numbers and, if we're honest, most martial artists today are practicing something from that region.]
Sir Gemini gives us a wonderful look inside his world and shows us that, while there are major differences, there's a lot more common ground than you may think. Listen as we get a glimpse into martial arts from a time and place that is very different from what most of us think about when we're practicing.