Professor Milosevic Seminar
On Saturday 10 August 2002 Wu-Wei Dao was fortunate to host visiting martial arts master and martial arts historian Professor Bata Milosevic who held a hands-on seminar at our Nedlands dojo on the subject of European mediaeval martial arts.
Professor Milosevic, from Belgrade University's Department of Languages, Literature and Philosophy is an Aikido expert, and has spent 25 years researching and piecing together the various martial art disciplines that existed in Europe (and particularly the Balkans) before the advent of firearms. He is the founder of Svebor - a martial arts system that translates loosely as 'all types of fighting' and which has as its goal, the resurrection and perpetuation of these almost forgotten martial arts.
Professor Milosevic also stressed the importance of physical conditioning and gymnastic ability for real fighting. He stated that in a real fight all techniques are forgotten and one must rely on the agility, speed, power and reflexes that one has (hopefully) developed from regular, hard training. In this regard the seminar was not only vigorous but included many challenging exercises including somersault practice, which was daunting at first, but very satisfying when performed successfully.
Although Professor Milosevic felt the need to apologise for not demonstrating some of the exercises as well as he would have liked (citing that he was out of form due to two and half months of travelling and thus not training) the general consensus was that if we could perform as well physically when we are 65 - we will be very pleased with ourselves!
As an aside, the Professor remarked that average person spends too much time sitting: "We sit at work, at home, in the car, in front of the TV and in front of the computer". As such he emphasised the importance of performing warmups and exercises for the lower back to offset the effects of so much sitting and to prevent back problems.
We thank Professor Milosevic for his time and effort and hope to have him back to hold another seminar when he is next in Perth in about a year's time.
For a full interview with Professor Milosevic click here. For the Subiaco Post's article click here.
Below are photos from the seminar:
The Professor gives a short introductory talk
Svebor utilises activity-specific military-style exercises:
The Professor illustrates a fighting stance.
Somersaults build confidence, agility and spatial awareness:
Greco-Roman wrestling.
Kancho Nenad helps the Professor demonstrate knife techniques:
Group Photo (note that some participants had left earlier)
Shihan Dan, Professor Milosevic and Kancho Nenad:
Below is a full interview with Professor Bata Milosevic conducted by Kancho Nenad Djurdjevic.
Above: The Professor in animated discussion during an interview with Kancho Nenad.
Professor Bata Milosevic - Keeper of the Flame of Balkan Medieval Fighting Arts
Today the term 'martial arts' is generally used to refer to
oriental martial arts. As everyone is aware, these arts are many and varied
and include both empty-hand and weapons arts many of which have evolved into
sports and now have wide-spread popularity. It is therefore easy to forget
that western societies had developed a variety of fighting styles from long
before the birth of Christ. Over a period that lasted until the development
of firearms in the mid-14th century these fighting methods were refined and
honed to maximise their efficacy on the battlefield. Although in principle
these arts existed for the sole reason of waging war, warrior traditions developed
in step with the fighting disciplines. Practitioners were referred to as knights
and followed strict codes of behaviour.
As fire-arms displaced hand-to-hand combat skills, the arts that had for better
or worse shaped history, faded into obscurity - often never to be heard of
or seen again. This is where Professor Bata Milosevic, a 65 year old martial
arts historian at Belgrade University's Department of Languages, Literature
and Philosophy, comes in. Professor Milosevic is an expert in Japanese Aikido,
but has also spent the last 25 years researching and piecing together the
various martial art disciplines that existed in the Balkans (and particularly
Serbia) before the advent of firearms. He is the founder of Svebor - a martial
arts system that translates loosely as 'all types of fighting' and which has
as its goal, the resurrection and perpetuation of these almost forgotten martial
arts. Put simply, Professor Milosevic, his instructors and students are the
'keepers of the flame' of Balkan mediaeval martial arts.
During a recent visit to Australia Professor Milosevic met with Perth-based
martial arts instructors Nenad and Dejan Djurdjevic and agreed to hold a hands-on
seminar for their students. At a subsequent interview with Nenad the professor
told his story and shared his knowledge and opinions.
Professor Milosevic's interest in Balkan martial arts started when it came
to his attention that some aikido throws were for all intents and purposes
the same as certain techniques of the traditional fighting methods passed
down from one generation to the other in Serbian village culture. Intrigued,
he took every opportunity to find out more about these traditional peasant
fighting methods and make comparisons with what he knew of oriental martial
arts. Taking advantage of his university position he studied old books and
manuscripts in libraries and museums many of which described the fighting
methods of mediaeval knights in surprising detail often including illustrations.
On frequent trips to the countryside he visited remote villages, churches
and monasteries and found a wealth of information that all added missing pieces
to the jigsaw puzzle he was putting together. In a situation reminiscent of
the Shaolin tradition of China, Serbian martial arts are irrevocably linked
to the orthodox religion and to its monasteries. To understand why this was
so it is necessary to understand a bit about Balkan history. As Professor
Milosevic says: "History exists because of War" and certainly few
places on earth have had as much war as the Balkans.
From earliest times the Balkans have been fought over and invaded by successive
waves of conquerors including the ancient Greeks and Romans, Alexander the
Great, the Byzantine empire, the Ottoman Turkish empire and finally the Austro-Hungarian
empire. In more recent times the Balkans were invaded by the Germans in World
Wars 1 and 2 and to this day wars still rage throughout the region.
Throughout all of the foreign occupations the Slav people doggedly held on
to their religion and culture. In this regard they were helped in no small
part by the ruggedness of the countryside. The mountains, with remote villages
and monasteries became havens for freedom-loving warriors through the generations.
In particular, during the Turkish occupation from 1389 to 1813, Serbian fighters
hid in these remote sanctuaries and fought a continuous guerrilla war with
the Ottoman Turks. Thus over hundreds of years of continuous conflict, martial
arts traditions became irrevocably interwoven with daily life. As a result,
hundreds of years later monastery frescoes, ancient manuscripts and remote
village traditions still bear witness to these conflicts unlike in more developed
and less volatile parts of Europe. It is this relative wealth of information
that has enabled Professor Milosevic to resurrect much of the ancient Serbian
battle field arts.
To illustrate how these ancient martial arts continue to be perpetuated Professor
Milosevic recounted how he discovered an almost forgotten fighting method.
A casual conversation with rural doctor revealed that ancient battlefield
techniques using long handled, small bladed axes still continue to be practised
in remote mountain areas. Apparently the doctor had had routinely treated
mountain shepherds for wounds inflicted by practice fighting with axes until
'first blood'!
The comparison between Balkan martial arts and the Shaolin legend has yet
another dimension according to Professor Milosevic. He subscribes to the theory
that an early form of Balkan combat arts were brought to India by the troops
of Alexander the Great of Macedonia in 300 BC. There, these martial arts blended
with existing native fighting arts and/or Yoga to become the earliest regimented
Oriental martial art. Tradition then has it that in the 6th century, some
800 years later, an Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma journeyed to the Shaolin
temple in China where he taught not only a new, physically strenuous form
of Buddhism but also Indian martial arts techniques and exercises and so gave
birth to the famous fighting tradition of the Shaolin temple.
Professor Milosevic describes the arts he has re-discovered as the equal of
the best fighting arts of today. He has found that these disciplines, while
bearing many similarities to oriental fighting arts, also have some unique
characteristics that do not exist in any other martial art. For example the
footwork, which includes leaps, falls, and rolls, takes into account that
real fighting is never stationary but usually takes place while the combatants
are running - and what's more - often on an uneven surface.
The fighting techniques are best described as 'rough and ready', 'no-nonsense'
techniques that rely on a great deal of physical conditioning and a no-holds
barred attitude. Although centred around the use of weapons including swords,
spears, battleaxes and knives, the European martial arts also contain low
kicks, punches, strikes, head-butts, throws, wrestling and even stone throwing.
Professor Milosevic pointed out that they have none of the artificiality of
some contemporary martial arts in which attacks and defences are so stylised
so as to be worthless for the purpose of learning real self defence. He called
this 'L'art pour art' meaning 'art for arts sake'.
Professor Milosevic also stressed the importance of physical conditioning
and gymnastic ability for real fighting. He stated that in a real fight all
techniques are forgotten and one must rely on the agility, speed, power and
reflexes that one has (hopefully) developed from regular, hard training. In
this regard the seminar was not only vigorous but included many challenging
exercises including somersault practice, which was daunting at first, but
very satisfying when performed successfully.
As an aside, the Professor remarked that average person spends too much time
sitting: "We sit at work, at home, in the car, in front of the TV and
in front of the computer". As such he emphasised the importance of performing
warmups and exercises for the lower back to offset the effects of so much
sitting and to prevent back problems.
Although Professor Milosevic felt the need to apologise for not demonstrating
some of the exercises as well as he would have liked (citing that he was out
of form due to two and half months of travelling and thus not training) the
general consensus among the members of the Wu-Wei Dao Martial Arts College
was that if they could perform as well physically at 65 years of age - they
would be very pleased with themselves!
Professor Milosevic is due to return to Perth in about one year's time and
it is hoped he will be able to conduct more seminars on what is a truly unique
and fascinating martial art. In the meantime, as the Wu-Wei Dao Martial Arts
College is dedicated to teaching realistic martial arts for self defence,
health and self-development, many of the concepts and methods taught by Professor
Milosevic will be incorporated into the college curriculum.