Изучение боевого поведения человека: Хоплология

The study of human combative behavior and performance

Hoplology is the study of human combative behavior and performance.

The word hoplology is derived from the Greek terms hoplos (a mythical plate armored animal) and ὅπλον hóplon, the equipment carried by some warriors in ancient Greece. The word hoplite, derived from hoplon, is the term for the classical Greek warrior who carried such equipment. The field originates in the 19th century with Sir Richard Burton; although the origin of the word is often attributed to Burton, there are earlier references to it. Hoplology was at some time defined as the science of "arms and weapons of offense and defence, human and bestial" (Burton, 1884), and subsequently as "the study of the basis, patterns, relationships, and significances of combative behavior at all levels of social complexity" (Draeger, 1982). Sid Campbell, a black belt level, tenth dan ranked in karate, defines hoplology as "the study of the evolution and development of human combative behaviour and performance the study of how people fight, why they fight, and how different cultures manifest those behaviours." More recently, hoplology is defined as the investigation and analysis of all forms of armed combat. It is most productively seen as an embodied event where the physiological and neurological structures of those individuals taking part in a combative encounter shape and, in turn, are shaped by cultural norms of what is right, effective, and efficient and so changes overtime and across space. As in all human encounters, every combat event is accompanied by a form of material technology and has been learned through a process of apprenticeship.

Several pioneering anthropologists were also contributing to the field of hoplology while Burton was active. A retired military officer who fought in the Crimean War, A. H. L. Pitt Rivers developed a now outdated view of human evolution. Cultures, he concluded, evolved through time from technologically simpler societies to technologically complex societies. In other words, progress is an integral aspect of human history. Primitive Warfare 2. Oxford: The Journal of the Royal United Service Institution Vol. XII 1868 NO. LI. Working in the Trobriand Islands (just off Australia) around the time of WWI, the renowned Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski also delved into the field of hoplology. "War and Weapons Among the Natives of the Trobriand Islands". Man. Vol. 20 pg.10 12 (1920). Hoplology has always had a theoretical and practical orientation. Seeking to introduce more effective forms of close quarter combat to British soldiers Burton wrote two instructional manuals “ A Complete System of Bayonet Fighting.” London: William Clowes and Sons. 1853. And “A New System of Sword exercise for Infantry.” London: William Clowes and Sons.1876. while the memoir by the ex Hussar F. J Norman's “The Fighting Man of Japan: the training and exercise of the samurai.” London: Archibald Constable & CO.

Hoplology (as professed by Draeger IHS) has three main research areas: technological, functional, and behavioral. Technological hoplology studies the development of weapons, armor, and other combative tools in relation to the contexts in which they are created. Functional hoplology delves into the structure, development, and organization of combative systems and their relationship to the application of fighting and weapons. Behavioral hoplology encompasses the psychological and physiological factors that affect human's combative behavior and development of combative capabilities such as weapons or fighting systems. The broad subject range of behavioral hoplology means it also includes the effects that culture has had on man's evolution as a group social animal. There are three IHS axioms in hoplological studies. The Draeger IHS hoplological view on violence: The entrenched nature of violence in human behavior is generally well understood. The skill and potential of deadly aggression is something within human genetics which predisposes humans to violent behavior. However, the genetics that predispose humans to violence is highly influenced by environmental factors. Humans will only tap into their violent potential once the need has arisen. Human genetics have developed an on off switch in the brain. On the on side " the fighting activity itself is stimulated by individual and communal thrill, enjoyment in the competitive exercise of spiritual and physical faculties, and even cruelty, blood lust, and killing ecstasy." (Gat 2006) On the off side violence is deterred away by emotions through fear, revulsion at violence and bloodshed, physical fatigue, compassion, and spirituality. So if the environmental factors that cause a man to be violent are present, then he will be violent. If the environmental factors that cause a man to be violent are not present, he will abstain and deter violence.