The Calcio Storico in Venice is purported to be the most violent sport still practiced today. In fact, it has remained unchanged in the last 600 years.
The Inside Story:
The main thing I noticed in watching these films is that although they count score as a team, they tend to compete as individuals. They pick a target to attack on the field and box or wrestle one-on-one. Those with the ball may occasionally pass, but they seem to focus more on their own speed and agility to get the ball to the goal.
Violence in American football, Australian rules rugby, and modern rugby are limited engagements in which teams work together according to formal rules. It surprises (and saddens me a bit) that in a format where there are no rules that teams do not form strategies in which they form walls to protect the ball, or use other forms of teamwork to prevent injuries and score more points.
Politics of Safety
What we’re looking at is the fear that most people have of anarchy. In a world where there are no rules the winners are the strongest, fastest and most daring. However, working as a team on the field can overcome any individual’s advantages, which is easily seen in a game of keep-away, throwing the ball over the head of a hapless victim. Thus, passing became an essential part of many sports, encouraging teamwork and planning. When you have an entire year to prepare for your match, why not spend half your time on physical training and half on tactics, tricks and signals?
My diagnosis (and I’m sure I’m biased) is that tradition is as much a limitation on teamwork as a formal structure or a ruleset. And that gives me a little hope for teamwork in communities without a formal leadership, since most of us already know that working in groups gives better results than going alone.
It is important to keep in mind that fascists also emphasize safety in numbers and convince people who feel weak that creating a structured society under severe leadership is a way to ensure their survival. They punish those who resist with the harshest penalties because they view those lone wolves as destructive. But totalitarianism is the thing to be feared, not lone attackers. We are stronger when we work together as equals, not when we fall into line in a hierarchy.
Personal Safety
What does this have to do with Bartitsu?
First off, observe how these trained sportsmen move, approach and engage each other. They don’t have any formal rules for how to control or subdue an opponent, but they also do not have weapons or a survival justification to kill the other.
Secondly, remember that personal combat and safety still have everything to do with our strategies: If you want to avoid combat, don’t be involved in Calcio Storico. If you must compete, stay aware and don’t be surprised.
And when possible, use teamwork. Not just camaraderie and togetherness, but also intelligent group strategies.
Head of Stage Combat at Academie Duello and certified Instructor with Fight Directors Canada. Head of Bartitsu at Academie Duello, the longest continuously running Bartitsu program in the world. Read more from David McCormick.