Martial artists of the ancient world were able to develop a level of comfort with a taking a life that many today would find horrifying. And yet, this stemmed more from the nature of combat at the time than from a personal blood lust.
The Samurai of feudal Japan constantly readied themselves to defend their daimyo at all costs and trained to cut down their enemy with a single fatal blow.
The ninja relied on underhandedness and stealth tactics to give them the element of surprise, and sought to take any available advantage to slay their opponent.
Even the peaceful Buddhist monks of the Shaolin Temple frequently found themselves faced with outside persecutors, and had to be prepared to use their legendary fighting skills to their full lethality.
Simple competitions, such as fights atop a lei tai in ancient China, often carried a similar degree of deadliness. Martial artists in the modern world often find themselves faced with the dilemma of how to train themselves to their greatest potential while keeping sparring matches in the dojo as safe as possible. But what if the danger of killing or seriously wounding one’s sparring partner were taken out of the equation, and up and coming martial artists around the world could finally unleash their full might on fellow students?
If the Australian group Unified Weapons Master (UWM) has its way, that possibility could very soon become a reality. The Sydney-based Chiron Global has recently developed a new set of high-tech armor which allows the wearer to absorb punishing attacks from an opponent and walk away completely unharmed. Even better, the armor is specifically designed to grant the wearer plenty of flexibility, allowing him or her to evade the opponent, as well as retaliate their attacks.
Additionally, the armor is equipped with high-tech sensors to gauge to kind of damage a blow would have inflicted on an unarmored target. With the development of this new combat armor, UWM plans to launch the newest breed of combat sports with competitors able to truly put their skills to the test without the risk of serious injury or death for either combatant.
UWM is primarily focused upon implementing the armor for weapons-based combat, with a wide-variety of weapons to be integrated into competition, affording spectators around the globe a chance to see ancient weapons put to use like never before in the modern world.
Although UWM is principally focused on utilizing the armor in weapons-based competitions, I’d be just as interested in seeing it put to use for unarmed combat as well.
In ancient times, martial artists trained to be just as deadly whether they had a weapon at their disposal or not. In modern times, students of many styles often feel left out from competition due to the emphasis their particular art places on fighting techniques far too dangerous for competition. Who wouldn’t love to see competitors able to utilize tiger claws animal styles, pressure point strikes, attacks to the groin, and other techniques meant to maim or kill the enemy with no danger of either one happening?
The combat armor of Unified Weapons Master is an amazing and exciting development, and a dream come true for martial arts practitioners around the world. UWM is planning to launch the first such competition with their newly developed armor later this year. In the meantime, have a look at just what UWM has in store for the world!
To learn more about Unified Weapons Master, check out its Facebook page, as well as its YouTube Channel!
