RM lecture webcast

[Paullyfuzz]

Good Lecture.

But why does he say when he started 26 years ago their was no bushcraft in the UK ??

Gypsies and Tramps lived in the outdoors long before Bushcraft came to the UK.??

MickT

I think the idea is not to believe verything he says. Hes bloody nice fella and all that, but he is not the godfather of bushcraft, ( if there was such a thing ! ), ( well maybe Les Hiddins )

 

[Amon81]

I was also impressed that he had no notes and the photos were all he needed to remember what to say.

 

[HillBill]

Good Lecture.

But why does he say when he started 26 years ago their was no bushcraft in the UK ??

Gypsies and Tramps lived in the outdoors long before Bushcraft came to the UK.??

MickT

He was reffering to the name. He is correct though. Bushcraft as a title did not exist. The skills did the knowledge did, but there was no label attached to them.

I believe the naming of these skills and knowledge has led to a mis-conception that bushcraft is an activity in itself and as such has gained followers in much the same way as football for example. Whereas in reality, bushcraft is just a part of activities that were there before the term bushcraft was coined.

Bushcraft is part of the whole, not the whole itself.

 

[bothyman]

I thought the word Bushcraft came fron Africa/Australia as in African Bush and Australian Bush.

The word Bushman was used long before Ray Mears used it??

I am not trying to put him down, as I think most of his Books and Programmes are interesting.

But I'm just wondering how he claims Bushcraft did not exist till he invented it ??

He may have invented the Name but not the Game.


MickT

 

[HillBill]

I thought the word Bushcraft came fron Africa/Australia as in African Bush and Australian Bush.

The word Bushman was used long before Ray Mears used it??

I am not trying to put him down, as I think most of his Books and Programmes are interesting.

But I'm just wondering how he claims Bushcraft did not exist till he invented it ??

He may have invented the Name but not the Game.


MickT

He is referring to the term "bushcraft" in the UK. We have no "bush" to speak of. He does not claim to have invented the skills and knowledge nor does he say he invented the word bushcraft. Only that the term did not exist over here when he started out.

 

[bothyman]

>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushcraft

MickT

 

[Steve M]

Interesting points raised and lots to think about I'd say. I'm gald he didn't go along the lines of "all all going to turn to cack and only us bushcrafters are going to survive", but then that's not really his style.

 

[forestwalker]

But I'm just wondering how he claims Bushcraft did not exist till he invented it ??

He may have invented the Name but not the Game.

Since Graves book with the title "Bushcraft" came out in the 1970's (Amazon claims 1976) one can't even claim that Mears my have invented the term. Possibly imported it to the UK.

 

[forestwalker]

I was also impressed that he had no notes and the photos were all he needed to remember what to say.

I'm a teacher, and wasn't as impressed by that: AFAICT what he did was having a general amount of material he wanted to talk around for each picture, and used them as focus points to talk around for a few minutes, before going to to the next one. Which is a good technique when you are doing what he did, but also one that comes naturally when you are an experienced teacher/lecturer and know your material. But I am damaged by being Speaker-to-students 5 days a week; just like Mark Twain you can never see the river the same way again once you have learnt to navigate it.

But I was impressed by his message and how he communicated it, and by the way he handled some of the questions; he did not claim to have the answers to all questions, and managed to divert each question into something worthwhile. That is a skill that is much harder; you need to know your material quite well, and be able to think on your feet while talking in order to do that. And have a good attitude to want to do it.

 

[JDO330]

I enjoyed it. Does ayone know if he does the same speech at every location? Reason I ask is that I notice he has another lecture scheduled in October in Colchester and I was considering going.

ATB, Jon.

 

[Amon81]

Don't quote me but I think he has a theme for each tour he does.

And I'm still looking forward to seeing him, roll on 5 months.

 

[Nightwalker]

Thanks a lot for sharing!