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Jonathan Waller is a leading senior teacher of historical European
combat and heads a non-profit organisation dedicated to the art
and skill of combat. To him, learning the art of European combat
is about tradition and basic physical drill, but above all about
creativity and individuality. An attitude fostered in him by his
father - the legendary John Waller.
By Mikkel Stjernberg
He opens up suddenly if the situation calls for it, but otherwise
keeps his knowledge to himself.
Not because he doesn’t like to talk. He just doesn’t
feel the urge to talk about historical European combat with people
who don’t show an interest in the subject.
35-year-old Jonathan Waller is one of those people who knows a hell
of a lot but seldom lets people in on it. In other words, he’s
about as far from being a martial arts missionary as you can get.
This is why he lives a relatively anonymous existence within the
world of martial art, which is generally inhabited by beady-eyed
fanatics who will do anything to make you believe that their technique
or system in particular is the simply the world’s best.
He nevertheless seems at ease with his anonymity and with the fact
that he doesn’t need to make a living from the system he advocates.
This allows him to focus on more important things.
“When you do it for others rather than for yourself it starts
to be about spreading the word instead of developing your own skills.
And I have never felt the urge to spread the word,” says Jonathan
Waller.
We’ve arranged our meeting at a pub in London close to Piccadilly,
and he opens the interview by offering to buy me a pint; an integral
part of social life among members of the non-profit organisation
European Historical Combat Guild (EHCG), of which Jonathan Waller
is the co-founder along with his legendary father, John Waller,
Creative Director of the Royal Armouries in Leeds.
People who know John Waller describe him as a shining example of
a man of honour; a man who is hailed for his tireless dedication,
spanning more than 40 years, to the martial skills of our forefathers.
Since the late 1950s, John Waller has engaged in the research of
history and the practical side of how things were done. This has
lead him to become a falconer, to fight on foot and on horseback
- both in an out of plate armour - to shoot all kinds of bows, to
joust, to research numerous forms of combat and the life styles
of people from the past.
From the day Jonathan was born he was exposed to all this and shared
a deep love for it. And when looking back it seems only natural
to him that he should follow in his father’s footsteps.
“I originally wanted to be an artist, but after attending
art school for a couple of years I realised that I wasn’t
talented enough to do what I wanted with it,” says Jonathan
Waller.
Today, Jonathan Waller makes a living as a teacher at several leading
drama schools in London and as a fight director in the professional
theatre.
Here students are trained in a system that aims to nurture their
talent both as actors and combatants.
“The principle of our teaching is that if actors are able
to stay in character during a combat scene, while controlling the
things that they need to, it will make them better actors overall,”
says Jonathan Waller.
He incidentally doesn’t believe that the technical aspects
of staged combat are much different from that of real fighting.
Much the same level of control with the movements is involved.
The difference lies in the fact that stage combat is choreographed
which real combat isn’t. A stage fight is choreographed to
find the best way for the story to be told and then repeatedly rehearsed
to insure that it goes according to plan.
“There is an element of chance in combat both in reality and
on stage that may change the course of events radically. However,
a skilful combatant is aware of this and is prepared for it which
actually reduces the chance of it happening,” says Jonathan
Waller and continues:
“The challenge as a fight director is to incorporate the appearance
of chance and make the fight appear spontaneous.”
Part of this is to instruct actors only to use movements that would
be realistic in a struggle for life and death with the weapons they
employ. And actors practising under the teaching of Jonathan Waller
also need an understanding of the historical use of these weapons
and the styles and social context in which the characters would
exist.
To address the basic requirements of all combat, staged or otherwise,
John Waller established a set of Principles, which all combatants
should develop through consistent practice. These principles which
are found in most historical manuals and in many martial arts around
the world, lie at the core of the EHCG and its training.
For instance the principle of “Intent”, which is about
the mental focus and physical commitment behind each movement. The
action must be credible without compromising safety. After all,
in staged combat or training adversaries shouldn’t actually
kill each other.
To Jonathan Waller, the art is about being as faithful towards history
and reality as possible without inflicting physical or mental injury.
“In its essence, combat skill can be viewed as a set of formula
or techniques that you follow. Only, the problem is that people
tend to view formulas dogmatically, and then they become regimented
and rigid. Our philosophy is to unite the formula with the principles
that you apply during combat or training on the basis of your own
judgement. This allows you to keep in charge of events. All it requires
is that you adopt the right approach,” he says.
The EHCG, which adopts these principles, was founded in response
to the rising interest in historical European combat styles.
But neither father nor son had imagined the extent of the current
surge of interest. Out of practical necessity they have had to develop
a syllabus for their teaching, which works as an instrument of navigation
for members of the EHCG who will perhaps see them 2 or 3 times a
year. As opposed to their normal teaching which takes place in a
one to one situation.
“Basically, I don’t like rigid systems because the art
of combat is about the individual being able to adapt to the multitude
of circumstances that a fight consists of, and only by being creative
can you find your way. On the other hand, you can only be creative
if you have something on which to base your creativity,” says
Jonathan Waller.
The systems that in his view miss their mark are those which are
either completely technical in approach, with no specific principles,
or purely creative with no technical foundation. What he advocates
is a natural balance between strict technical training and the ability
to be creative once you have understood how to apply the principles.
Here he draws a parallel to modern society, which he finds to be
mediocre and marred by our inability to apply our extensive theoretical
knowledge to practical tasks.
Take for instance the ability to harness fire, which is the prerequisite
to all technological development – no fire, no nano-technology.
“Some people might know that making fire is about rubbing
two sticks together, though many don’t even know that. But
how many of us can, after all, actually start a fire from what we
can rummage in nature? Arguably the one thing that sets us apart
from the other species," he says.
We now touch on the subject of the differences between the EHCG
and many other similar organisations, which are currently mushrooming
throughout the western world.
The debate is about how to use the hundreds of historical combat
manuals that have survived the ravages of time.
The value of these historical manuals is above discussion, yet according
to Jonathan Waller they should nonetheless be approached with caution
– something many that research historical combat tend to forget.
Instead they become slaves to their studies and simply forget to
apply their common sense.
“Try to describe a movement in words instead of performing
it. Even with the aid of imagery and illustrations you’ll
find it hard. Add to this the nature of combat. A fight takes place
at great speed of which a picture can only convey a split-second.
It’s impossible to illustrate a combat situation on paper,
and then we haven’t even addressed the question of your own
personal and mental involvement, although that’s the most
important thing of all,” says Jonathan Waller.
In addition, he calls attention to the questionable value of combat
manuals as historical source material. Many manuals were little
more than promotional material for combat masters, who made a living
from travelling from place to place teaching to those that could
pay.
Some of these manuals are still around today but they generally
convey the best looking techniques and feature little of the fundamental
training.
“A house will not stand without a strong foundation, and the
same applies here. Without mastering basic techniques and principles,
the more advanced ones are useless. Adding to this, the so-called
advanced techniques are generally things you can work out yourself
once you have mastered the basics. These ‘secret techniques’
are seldom worth spending time or money on,” he says.
He doesn’t reject the historical legitimacy of the manuals
but simply advises us to abandon our naïve quest to discover
the magic of the art of combat. It quite simply doesn’t exist.
In fact, all our gullible romanticism succeeds in achieving is to
perpetuate historical myths or just generate new ones.
One die-hard myth is that the Middle Ages were a period when bloody
battles were everyday events.
Jonathan Waller reminds us that most people in medieval times would
not experience much combat at all.
“Many of the people in a battle would not even be soldiers,
they would be levies, basically civilians with little or no training
who were forced to take part in a campaign,” says Jonathan
Waller.
Another myth is that all knights were sublime warriors. Many knights
at the time were landowners and their main occupation was managing
their estates. All of them would be trained in the skills of war
but not all made warfare their only or main occupation. Men seldom
died in direct combat. The battlefield was chaotic and there was
neither the time nor the means to finish off enemies in the heat
of action. The aim was to incapacitate your opponents before they
could do the same to you.
In fact, if you were a knight or other nobleman you were too valuable
a commodity to kill out of hand. If you took a high class enemy
prisoner, you could then ransom them back to their families - after
claiming their valuable arms and armour of course.
What we need to keep in mind is that the choice of combat technique
you apply will always be guided by the conditions at the time. So
you always need to apply common sense when interpreting historical
combat manuals.
“We don’t know exactly how they fought back then. We
only have snapshot images and you can’t really learn anything
from a book alone. We humans are, after all, both physical and mental
beings and we learn through experience. To really understand these
things you need to train with someone who knows how it’s done,”
says Jonathan Waller.
He doesn’t dispute that great European combat masters throughout
history were highly skilled fighters, and naturally some warriors
were indeed hardened killers, no doubt about that. But we would
like to see people tuning in to historical fact rather than historical
fiction.
He takes a last gulp of ale and fixes his attention on the glass.
“In my eyes, there’s no doubt that the success of the
Guild can be attributed to the growing desire to come to grips with
our European identity. People in Europe have seen plenty of Asian
martial arts and have started to look to their own backyard to see
what is hidden there. And unsurprisingly, the art of European combat
is just as sophisticated as the Asian martial arts,” says
Jonathan Waller.
He sums up our conversation by defining the essence of combat; that
it’s about slaying your adversary without falling victim yourself.
Naturally, no one can ever achieve such an ideal without years and
years of training. If it was possible to easily master such a skill
for all situations there would be no reason to engage in prolonged
training. And even then it’s virtually impossible never to
take a hit.
So we continue to practice our skills. It’s through training
that we improve physically, and it’s through training we develop
our mental skills.
“The art of combat is about the individual and your personal
development. That cannot be formalised. It’s up to the individual
to find his or her own way based on the guidance of a good teacher
and the given conditions, not least our history,” says Jonathan
Waller.
Facts about European Historical Combat Guild
• EHCG was founded in 2000 by John Waller, Jonathan Waller
and Steve Tappin.
• The philosophy of EHCG has existed since 1962 due to the
work, research and experiences of John Waller.
• The purpose of EHCG is to allow wider access to the teachings
of John Waller.
• EHCG consists of 10 chapters in 6 countries with a total
range of more than 200 members.
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