Social Media Hoax: Alexandria Ocasio Cortez

[UPDATE FROM MARCH 9,2020]


Arguably not history, but it's been a while since I posted here, and when I created this blog, I had hoped to do more here to expose the problem of pseudo-history, pseudo-archeology, and other false claims about history. (And while I'm on the subject, please check out the work of Jason Colavito . He's got a great blog, a free e-mail newsletter, he sends out each week like clockwork and lots of good stuff. Honestly, one reason why I skipped several proposed posts on false historical claims was that Jason Colavito has already done them.) This was originally posted on my other blog, peterhuston.blogspot.com , a less focused blog where I post about many subjects on an intermittent schedule. You can see it here, if you wish: https://peterhuston.blogspot.com/2019/02/social-media-hoaxes-alexandria-ocasio.html

So . . . with no further ado, a post on what will some day be a minor historical hoax. (Hmmmm. When do current events become history?  Heavy thought.)

I like to think the truth has a value. I like to think that misrepresentation is grounds for suspicion and looking carefully at the motivations of the people making them. And having said that, I think it's obvious that a lot of people out there are very, very scared of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also known to many as "AOC." At least scared enough to knowingly spread lies about her. In these pages, I hope to expose some of those lies and misrepresentations.

For the record, I am actually not a fan of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her views. Honestly, in most cases, I don't claim to know enough about many of the issues she talks about and the economics surrounding them to hold an educated view. I do think she's making following the news more fun, and that it's great to see the field of discussion expanded when it comes to suggesting solutions to societal problems. (For instance, while I do not feel qualified to discuss whether a 70% tax on the extremely rich is a good idea or not, I think it's great that the idea has been not just proposed but also put in historical context as something that has been done in the past.)

I support truthful discussion and even attacks on her proposals and political views. This is what American politics should involved. I do not consider dishonest attacks on her character to be good, helpful, or conducive to a healthy political climate in our nation.

So, with that said, let's look at a hoaxed AOC photo, I found on FB.

First, here's the photo:

[UPDATE --OBVIOUSLY THE PICTURE IS GONE. WHY DO THEY DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT? IF SOMEONE KNOWS PLEASE EXPLAIN IN THE COMMENTS SECTION. WHILE I AM VERY PROUD THAT I DID MY OWN "DETECTIVE WORK" AND FOUND THE ORIGINAL PHOTOS MYSELF, THEY ARE NOW GONE FROM THIS BLOGPOST. WHY? WHY? WHY?
REGARDLESS, SOMEONE ELSE DID IT TOO, AND HERE'S THEIR WEBSITE:
https://www.truthorfiction.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-splits-image/  THANKS GUYS.]

While not my original work, this gives the basic idea of what I discovered. 

Obviously, not very flattering. Also, perhaps equally troubling, it offers no political insight or commentary and contains zero discussion of any issues. Which makes it even more problematic.

But looking into it a bit more, I found this.

Clearly one of these photos is an alteration of the other. Same young man holding a woman with spread legs, same room, even the same news show in the background. Obviously one is a photoshopped alternation of the other. And I think it's safe to say the upper photo is the reworked one. There are several reasons for this. The clothes on the upper photo do not look real to me. 

Not sure what to make of that "flaming fart" spewing forth from her bottom, but then again, that's not really the point of the thing, is it?

I also think that on the one above, AOC's head looks reattached. My guess is that the head shot used came from here:  

So . . . cheap smear job. Nothing more. Bad photo job. Again, if you want to attack OAC, and do it in a fair and fact focused, mature manner that contributes to mature political discussion, be my guest. I encourage it. But cheap smear jobs are nothing but cheap smear jobs and only weaken our nation and lower the level of political discourse.

Book Review Donald Featherstone's Wargamers Handbook of the American War of Independence

Recently I purchased this book from Amazon. Quick review after giving it an evenings examination, partial reading, lots of skimming, is that while it's not awful it's not really that great either. I would not recommend it, except to the completist. The work is basically a reworking of a book he wrote in 1977, although with editing and new portions added by a gentleman named John Curry (hence the 2010 copyright date on this.)

Donald Featherstone was one of the classic publicizers and promoters of the hobby. In 1977, the year after the American bicentennial when interest in the period was high, he released the early edition of this book. Therefore the bulk of the information in this book is "state of the art" but for the 1970s. Much has changed since then, and not just with the death of disco.

Today's wargaming guides usually contain much more detailed information on uniforms, unit sizes, and troop types than this book contains. The author's ideas on what a set of rules should or should not contain are a key part of the book and some of these, for instance, the use of "chance cards" are less popular now than they were then.

A picture from an AWI Wargame I recently played using a friends figures and terrain.
Rules used were first edition Black Powder from Warlord Games and the conflict was hypothetical.

In some portions I caught what I feel are errors.

For instance on page 28, he refers to "Rogers' Rangers" as the most famous of the "ranger units" of the war. I would question this. It is my understanding that while Robert Rogers, head and founder of the famed French and Indian War Roger's Rangers, did found a second rangers unit during the revolution, he soon left it to do other things having been forced from military service due to "poor health" (he suffered from alcoholism at this time) and it became much better known as "the Queens Rangers" under the command of  John Graves Simcoe.

Another photo of the same game as described in the above photo.

On page 31, he states that the Brunswick and Hesse-Hanau line regiments had not just a grenader company, but also a light company. This seems to be false. I have looked into the issue and they did not. Of course, in fairness to Featherstone, I am writing 40 years later and have the benefit of access to 40 more years of research on the matter, much of it done by decades of obsessive wargamers trying to answer this very question. While on one hand, it seems to be unfair to attack this book, judging it by modern standards, on the other hand, it is being sold on Amazon with a 2010 copyright date.

The battle guides are also not up to modern standards. For instance, most modern day gamers when reading of a battle wish to know exactly which units were there and how large each unit was. Instead the gives the number of troops on each side and hints at this with large sweeping numbers. While this information is generally available elsewhere it is the sort of thing expected in a modern wargamers guide to a conflict.

Another photo of the same game. British troops assault the American line.

Some parts, however, have been updated. For instance, there is an update, useful list of figure manufacturers included at the end. The modern day editor, John Curry, also added a set of wargame rules for the period, written by Featherstone as well. So it is an updated text. On the other hand, in my opinion, the primary value of this book for a modern wargamers who games the American War of Independence is as a historical document, a look at the earlier days of the hobby. If takes as such, it should be a fun read and purchase, a stroll down memory lane. But if one expects an up-to-date guide to the period of modern standards, you are likely to be disappointed.

If one wishes to buy this book and support this blog, please feel free to do so by using the link below. 

If interested, these are three of my books written by me. Please feel free to purchase them and support this blog that way as well.

    

Pulp Fiction Asian Bandits

People seem to like seeing pictures of nicely painted figures so here's a recent project. If anyone asks these are "modern day Pulp-fiction Asian fantasy Bandits" and should not be seen as representations of any historical or modern day people. The figures are actually 28mm Montagniards from Westwind Productions Vietnam War range and while nice figures, they don't resemble any photos of Montagniards from the period that I've ever seen. As for the Buddha in the tree trunk scenery piece that came from the aquarium decorations section of the pet area of a particularly large Walmart. Again, I refuse to comment on whether or not it's actually representative of anything anywhere.

Close ups of some of the figures. What's with the guy in the gasmask? No idea.
If someone has ever heard of SE Asian people donning gasmasks please let me know. 

Again, no idea if it's historically accurate but it'd make a great pulp fiction character. 

   

Updates on the blog

Greetings!! 

It's been about six months since I've started the blog.

It seems time for a round-up, a few thoughts and lessons learned, and announcements on coming changes. The original plan for this blog was to provide new content regularly in the areas of history, wargaming, historical and non-historical miniature gaming, media reviews, and media reviews.

I'm surprised that more people have not used the tags and scrolled through the older posts. There's some good stuff there. If you like history, use the tags. If you like photos of miniature figures, use the tags.

You may wish to know, I have books on several subjects for sale
 -- Books by Peter Huston at Amazon.

Current projects that I am working on include:

1. Bloody Sands, Cheering Stands --Miniature Wargame Rules and Wargamers Guide to the Roman Gladiators and Arena

2. 18th Century North American Wargaming Miniature Rules (working title is "Flintlocks and Funny Hats" but I hope to find a better one)

3. Chop Sockey!! Kung Fu Miniature Wargaming Rules

The above three will influence the content of this blog.

4.  Holidays at the Ambulance, 1986 --a novel that has been completed but remains in search of a publisher.

Recently released projects include 

Put Your Favorite Picture Here: Awesome Tales of Space Aliens, Vampires, Pop-Stars, Human Beings, And Other Truly Strange, Amazing, Amusing, And Disturbing Things as Written by the Award Winning, World Travelling, Life Saving Author Peter Huston

Since its founding, some of the pieces have gotten hundreds of hits.

For those interested, the top five posts were:

1. Smallpox in China

2. History and the Current Uighur Unrest

3. Elephants in the Arena

4. Updates on the Roman Arena Model

5. Mary Dyer, Quaker Martyr, and Troublemaker Supreme

Two of these I'd classify as well-researched pieces (the Smallpox in China and the Uighur Unrest pieces ). The Mary Dyer piece, I'd classify as light but little known history, something else I'd hoped to provide here. The pieces on the Roman arena were both gaming pieces and I suspect they attracted interest because they had nice pictures of interesting models and were shared in popular internet forums.

In the next few months, I hope to include more content. This will include straight pieces on historical subjects, wargaming photo pieces, and media reviews (especially book and film reviews.). These last pieces, the media focused pieces, will include links so that interested people can purchase the items and thus bring provide money and encouragement for the blog. Movie reviews are something I have no included in the past.

A Sampling of Other Blog Posts

In the meantime, should you wish to check out the past blog posts, there were several others that I either consider well done or wish had gotten more attention. You can check them out here. :

1. Iroquois housing and architectural shift at the time of the American Revolution (plus some gaming stuff)

        This one contains some well done research on an interesting question on a little known topic --Iroquois adaption of western housing styles. It also contains information on the subject for miniature wargamers.

2. Ancient Rome - What was the arena and what were “the games”?

3. Confucianism, Communism, and their Intersection in North Korean Symbolology.

4. Did the Chinese discover America? Is Gavin Menzies a genius? Hell, no. Smallpox shows they did not.

5. Did Marilyn Monroe get a rib removed to appear more slender?

        This one, interestingly, is getting a lot of hits at one of my other blogs, but not here.

6,  "Ambulance Dogs" in the German Army, circa 1900

7. Pseudohistory, Creationism, and Dinosaursl

8. South East Asian Cultural Boundaries of the Pre-Modern World and their Continuing Effects on the Modern World

9.  Historical European Martial Arts (H.E.M.A.), the Rondel or medieval dagger, and the Fiore Dei Libri manuscript

10. General Tso's Chicken and Jennifer 8. Lee's Chinese food presentations

Finally, for those interested, here is the least viewed post.

1. Great People of History, Tommy Page

          Fourteen people read this one. I don't know why. I think it's very interesting. It even has links to music videos. How can anyone be unhappy with piece that includes music videos? And personally I think more people should learn the story of Tommy Page. Check it out. Be number 15. Learn who Tommy Page was and why I consider him worth mentioning.

Indians in the American Revolution and Depictions of Iroquois from Fort Stanwix and Oriskany

The American Revolution ( American War of Independence) produced many changes in North America. One of these was the end of the Iroquois Confederacy as an important political entity. 

An exhibit from the Fort Stanwix visitor center showing two Iroquois and a trader from the period.

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The war in the Mohawk River Valley, then a frontier region of New York, was a civil war. The Whites fought each other, loyalists against those favoring independence, and among the Iroquois Six Nation Confederacy, the nations split, some favoring the American cause, others preferring their traditional loyalties with the British, particularly as the British had promised to help them curb the spread of the aggressive, land-hungry American settlers, and others struggling to remain as neutral as possible in what they considered a White man's war. 

Many Iroquois, particularly the Mohawks, left their home region soon after the war. 

Many of these events focused on a fortification called Fort Stanwix. It is now a National Historical Park and located in Rome, New York, a small city located between Syracuse and Utica. ( see: the National Park Service Website for Fort Stanwix. ) 

The Oriskany Battlefield, perhaps the most important battle of this part of the war, is located a little bit to the East. 

I have a strong interest in the history of the American Revolution (War of Independence) and wargame the period. Among my current projects are a large number of half-painted 25mm Old Glory "woodland Indians with rifles" that I intend to use as Iroquois. I'll try to include some photos of them when they are finished, but here's what the looked like a couple weeks ago. Clearly, there's a great deal of detail and color left to be added. 

Therefore, for those with similiar interests, I offer the following photos from the Fort Stanwix visitors center. Apologies for the poor quality of some of the photos. I have come to the realization that if I wish this blog to be its best, I must improve my photography skills and hope to spend some time on that soon. 

Let's begin with some close ups of the above exhibit. After we will follow up with period and later depictions of some of the key Iroquois involved. 

The life size Iroquois models from the exhibit.
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Notice the bead work on the straps and the knife.
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Detail on the bag.
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This and the one below show the headdress detail on the models.

awful picture but does show some more detail from another angle
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Same poor quality but the other Iroquois model in the display.
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 Important Iroquois of the Time depicted in the Museum

This is a fuzzy photo (apologies) of the Seneca leader Cornplanter ( Gy-ant-wa-chia )
You can find a better image of this painting, plus a full biography at either of these two pages Cornplanter on Wikipedia or Indigenous People Net 

OH MY!! An even worse photo of the exhibit on Red Jacket. Although he reportedly fled the battle of Oriskany early in the fighting he went on to become an important Iroquois statesman. See these sites for better depictions and more details: wikipedia or Indigenous People Net

Iroquois housing and architectural shift at the time of the American Revolution (plus some gaming stuff)

If you have looked at this blog much, you will know that I enjoy miniature wargaming, model building, and studying history, among other things. Currently I am looking into local history from the American Revolutionary War era and reading "The Iroquois in the American Revolution," a classic work by Barbara Graymont (1972, Syracuse University Press.) Please note the link to purchase this book and support the blog below.

Which got me to thinking, what sort of houses did the Iroquois live in at this time and what sort of fortifications did they have?

Traditionally, the Iroquois lived in multi-family longhouses in walled villages. Many illustrations of them exist.  I've included several below, but before you look at them, let's think a bit. Did the Iroquois live in the longhouses at the time of the American Revolution?

For the record, Iroquois still live today and today they do not live in longhouses. Even at the most traditional Mohawk and/ or Iroquois settlements today, you are not going to find people living in longhouses. (In fact, my father once helped with a construction project at Ganienkeh, a radical, Mohawk / Iroquois separatist community with both a Mohawk language school and a stubborn insistence that they are part of the sovereign Mohawk nation, not subject to US or Canadian law. He helped build some houses. They were, for the record, of modern design and not longhouses.)

So when did the architectural shift take place? Like so much in Iroquois history and society, the shift, it seems took place in the mid-eighteenth century.But first let's look a bit at the traditional housing and styles of community lay out.



According to Graymont, pages 9-10, while some of the longhouses were single family, most were multi-family, The number of longhouses in a community varied widely, depending, as one would expect on the size of the community. "Small hamlets" might have just four to five longhouses, while the largest Iroquois communities could have over one hundred longhouses, as well as walls and structures for smoking food and other necessities of community life. The smallest longhouses were  "20 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 15 feet high" (about 6m. by 5m. by 5m) according to Graymont, while the average was "60 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 18 feet high" (about 18m. by 5.5m by 5.5m) again according to Graymont. The largest on record, she says, was 334 feet long by 23 feet wide. (about 102m. long by 7m wide). She gives no height but as longhouses were curved in shape, I think it's safe to estimate it was between 18 and 23 feet high ( 5.5m to 7m. approximately).  She also gives detailed descriptions of the construction and other architectural details of these longhouses. As these are easily found through a websearch, I see no need to share them here. 

Again according to Graymont, these traditional settlements were often fortified. As this is a detail of much interest to wargamers, it seems worth quoting the entire paragraph from the book in full:

"The Iroquois lived in stockaded villages located usually in easily defensible high places near a supply of water. The log palisades were from fifteen to twenty feet in height, in single, double, triple, or quadruple lines, interlaced, and then reinforced with heavy bark. A deep ditch might surround the palisades with the dirt being thrown up to form an embankment next to the palisade. A bark battlement might also run along the top and, in time of war, be supplied with piles of stone to hurl down upon the enemy and jars of water to extinguish fires started by burning arrows. After 1600, when the power of the Iroquois Confederacy was at its height, and particularly after 1700, with the end of the Iroquois wars, fewer of the inner villages of the Five Nations were heavily palisaded. A more modest type enclosure was all that was needed to keep the forest animals from scavenging in the village," (Graymont, pp. 9-10)

However, we are talking about the time of the American Revolution (or as they say in the UK, "the American War of Independence" ), a period when Iroquois culture and politics was in great flux, a time when, as one science fiction series says in the prologue, "everything changed."

So did the Iroquois live in such houses at this time? It seems some did but an increasing numbers of others were adopting White housing styles.  Again, it seems worthwhile to include Graymont's entire paragraph on this:

"Toward the end of the eighteenth century, the Iroquois began to build the same type of log houses used by the white frontier settlers. An occasional well-to-do Indian would even build a frame house in imitation of his more affluent white neighbors. Bark houses survived to some extent well into the middle of the nineteenth century but gradually gave way to the sturdier dwellings copied from the whites." (Graymont, p. 10)

This house is a modern reconstruction of a house on the Saratoga Battlefield, a National Historic Park. It is shared merely to show a typical house of the time and place discussed. You may see other photos at https://benedictarnold.smugmug.com/Battles-of-Saratoga/John-Neilson-House/ I did not wish to infringe upon the copyright of those photos but there is one there that includes people and clearly shows the small size of the house, not uncommon in those days.

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Graymont also includes an interesting story about an Oneida church built in the 1770s. While the missionary who promoted the  church in the first place, Samuel Kirkland, followed a school of theology known as "the New Light Principle" which held that churches need not have steeples and Baptism with water was not essential for salvation (Note: I hope to research this more. It sounds like the teachings of the Religious Society of Friends / "Quakers" may have had an influence here.) his local parishners, Oneida felt otherwise and in 1774 when the church was two years old decided, over his objections that it was unnecessary, that their church should have a steeple insisting, in Graymont's words, that "if white people could have steeples over their churches, so could they. Indian religion was worth no less than the white man's religion." (Graymont, p. 46)

While it was not this church, you may see photos of another Iroquois built church (Mohawk-built) from this era here: https://indiancastle.church/

As for Iroquois fortifications of the era, they are mentioned in several places in this work and in the histories of that time. Lacking knowledge to the contrary (at least at this time of writing), I would assume they would have been a mix of the fortifications described above along with the White style of frontier fortifications of the time.

Stillwater, New York Blockhouse Museum ( https://www.albany.org/listing/stillwater-blockhouse-museum/1006/ )

The Old Stone Fort from Schoharie New York ( see https://theoldstonefort.org/our-museums/old-stone-fort/  )

WARGAMING 

I am painting a large quantity of northeastern woodland Indians from that era, a large bag of 25mm Old Glory French and Indian War figures that were donated to me by a friend who never got around to paint them. ( Product ID: FIW-01 Natives Advancing with muskets ) Although in my mind they are supposedly Iroquois, I do not guarantee the details are correct, some of the hairstyles in particular look quite "iffy" but they are good enough for wargaming particularly as I did get them for free.

They will supplement the old RAFM Flint and Feather figures that I bought and painted years, really decades, ago. ( RAFM Flint and Feather ) I'll try to post pictures later. I also hope to do some supplements with figures from other ranges as well. Perry Brothers and Warlord Games both have some nice looking figures for the period but I am sure they are not alone. Bob Murch and Crucible Crush have an exciting looking line called "Flint and Feather" of pre-European and time of European contact Iroquois and Algonquins that while not quite right for this period seems nevertheless definitely worth mentioning.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

A New York State Museum exhibit and presentation on Iroquois longhouses. 
http://exhibitions.nysm.nysed.gov/iroquoisvillage/

Another website with lovely pictures of longhouses and Iroquois architecture.
https://www.hhhistory.com/2016/04/the-iroquois-longhouse.html


Should you wish to purchase one, this company makes resin models of Iroquois longhouses for wargaming. Although I've linked to a particularly nice looking one, there are others on their site, as well as a blockhouse and stockade walls, under the "American Frontier" section. Please note I have not done business with this company or seen their products in person.
https://achesoncreations.com/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&view=productdetails&virtuemart_product_id=82&virtuemart_category_id=16

A fun website that gives instructions on how to build your own model longhouses for wargaming if you do not wish or are not able to spend money on resin cast models.
https://onelover-ray.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-build-no1-fiw-indian-longhouses.html


I stumbled across this while researching this blog, a biography of Samuel Kirkland, the missionary to the Iroquois mentioned above. I have not read it yet but it seemed worth noting and sharing. 
https://archive.org/details/samuelkirklandsm00lenn 


   

martial arts in wargaming

Some time ago, I had an interesting exchange with a European facebook friend, Nuno Pereira, creator of this http://kingscarbinepaintshop.blogspot.com/ and other blogs. Pereira, who is Portuguese, is enthusiastic about the study of Portugual's overseas colonial activities and conflicts over the last few centuries. He posts fascinating information on them in several forums devoted to wargaming and other historical activities. Not too long ago, he had, absurdly, gotten in trouble with the Facebook managers who felt some of his photos of 19th Century African warriors and other tribespeople who had interacted and fought with the Portuguese during that time were not properly clad for facebook viewers and defied Facebook values and he found his facebook privileges suspended for a few days.

I found this both absurd and hilarious and posted this video, partially in response. It dates from 1897 and shows Ashanti warriors demonstrating a "knife dance" at an exhibition that year in France. (The history of such exhibitions and museums, particularly in the pre-modern media world, is fascinating.)

This led to a discussion about whether or not and if so how to factor Capoeira, an Afro-Brazilian dance martial art with roots in Angola, and other martial arts into a miniature wargame. Should units that depict warriors or soldiers that have studied martial arts get higher stats  and ratings in hand to hand combat than those who have not?

Years previously, there was a discussion on this on the Colonial Wargames Yahoo group and I argued furiously over this issue until the moderator cut the thread. It's a topic I feel I know more about than many and have extra insight into --so, my two cents . . .

I believe this figure was produced by Grenadier years ago, perhaps Ral Partha, If someone knows please
let me know. I painted him to look like the character Shang Chi from the Master of Kung Fu comics.

First, "Martial Arts" and "Fighting Skills" are two different but overlapping things. If taught badly and out of context, studying martial arts can make you a WORSE fighter. But if taught well, then they can make a good fighter a better fighter. And to explore the topic more deeply requires an arbitrary defining of terms and splitting hairs. Would, for instance, bayonet drills or training be considered a martial art? I probably would not unless it involved an ever upward path for continuous development but if others disagree, I am not inclined to spend much time arguing with them over it.

A selection of 1980s era figures painted by me. Again the exact manufacturer is long forgotten.

 

Also hand to hand or close combat effectiveness depends on much more than simply knowing techniques and when to apply them. Aggressiveness and physical fitness, for instance, would also be factors that need to be taken into account, along with others.

A more recently manufactured figure from Hasslefree figures.

 Therefore, in my opinion, since people who have studied are martial arts are not necessarily better fighters than many others who have not, I would not give wargames figures a bonus for "knowing martial arts." You should just factor it into their close combat ratings along with several other factors.

These were originally manufactured by Obelisk Miniatures as part of their very interesting "tong" range, a range based on some classic photos of turn of the century San Francisco Chinatown. The range has been bought and is currently available from Tsuba Miniatures .

Additionally few martial arts are designed for mass combat. i.e. in the various Filipino martial arts of Kali, Escrima, and Arnis and different kinds thereof, there are a lot of techniques for knife dueling (this is one of the few martial arts that actually teaches these things) and they are a martial art. However, they are generally focused on one to one combat although less so than many other martial arts. Other martial arts are more focused on things like improving fitness, personal and spiritual development including confidence building, while others are basically contact sports. And there's nothing wrong with any of this. However, it does not mean you should automatically rate units that have studied martial arts as being more effective in hand to hand or close combats.


So, no, don't give your Angolan warriors a bonus because they study Capoeira. Give them a bonus because they are awesome fighters who happened to have studied Capoeira.

Seriously, there are many, many people out there walking around with martial arts credentials, convinced in their own minds that they are awesome superhuman killing machines who have no idea how to fight or what real violence looks like.


Another interesting thing along those lines is Wim Demeere, a prominent Tai Chi teacher in Belgium, wrote a blog post comparing martial arts and military combat. One key idea in it was "Military units are trained to fight as a team. Martial artists are trained to fight as individuals."You can read the whole essay HERE if you'd like. It's long but quite good. The part on teamwork is near the bottom of the page.

Similarly, there used to be a former US Navy SEAL who was selling instructional videos on hand-to-  hand combat and related things to the civilian market. (I forget his name. The videos came from Panther Productions.) In an interview he admitted, "Actually the Navy SEALS often don't focus much on unarmed combat. In the Navy SEALS they feel if you find yourself in combat unarmed you screwed up big time somewhere."   





Most who know about the connection between martial arts study and military effectiveness will admit that one of the biggest reasons to teach modern soldiers martial arts is that it raises their morale, not that it raises their direct combat effectiveness. As Nuno Pereira pointed out in our discussion, "If they are Elite they are trained for unit combat and stay cohesive. They are individually better than other troops but their strength is both psychological and physical."

More Hasslefree Figures miniatures

Having said that, I enjoy studying martial arts. It has many side benefits one of which is that it helps encourage me to stay active (not that it works too well for that as you can tell from my recent photos . . . but I recognize there is a problem there and occasionally engage in token exercise and other efforts to fix it. --eating two pieces of pizza instead of four, for instance. ) :-)