I've been watching a lot of history documentaries lately and some of the things that used to happen are just crazy (and wonderful inspiration for RPs)!
Female fighters, for one! In the 18th, 19th and early 20th, century, really hardcore 1 on 1 fights took place in Britain, behind the town walls so that the law enforcement wouldn't interfere, and with wide audiences who would throw money into the fighting area when good hits were given.
These women were usually just normal working women who wanted a little extra money. They fought with fists, wooden swords, long swords, cutlasses, axes, claymores, sticks etc. etc. The sharp weapons were really sharp, and they would aim for large muscles and tendons, but of course there were fatalties. The fights sometimes lasted for hours.
Here's an article about it. So if anyone ever wants to create a female fighter character, it's totally historically accurate
Moreover,
Female fighters, for one! In the 18th, 19th and early 20th, century, really hardcore 1 on 1 fights took place in Britain, behind the town walls so that the law enforcement wouldn't interfere, and with wide audiences who would throw money into the fighting area when good hits were given.
These women were usually just normal working women who wanted a little extra money. They fought with fists, wooden swords, long swords, cutlasses, axes, claymores, sticks etc. etc. The sharp weapons were really sharp, and they would aim for large muscles and tendons, but of course there were fatalties. The fights sometimes lasted for hours.
Here's an article about it. So if anyone ever wants to create a female fighter character, it's totally historically accurate
Moreover,
From the aforementioned article wrote:
It wasn't only lower class women that fought, as there were some reports of upper class women getting involved in boxing. In particular, Lady Barrymore, the wife of the 7th Earl Barrymore, boxed for fitness and to amuse her husband.
Then there's the Scythians, Parthians, female Samurai, Celts, female ninjas... 
Female ninjas are the best, in my opinion. My friend is attempting to work on a fictional story that mostly involves around a religious group that became extinct, devoured by another religious group. Tis' very fascinating.
I've just found this on Tumblr and can't help but quote it 
“The most intriguing duel fought between women, and the sole one that featured exposed breasts, took place in August 1892 in Verduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein, between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg. It has gone down in history as the first “emancipated duel” because all parties involved, including the principals and their seconds were female… Before the proceedings began, the baroness pointed out that many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword. To counter this danger she prudently suggested that both parties should fight stripped of any garments above the waist. Certainly, Baroness Lubinska was ahead of her time, taking an even more radical take on the (at the time) widely dismissed theories of British surgeon Joseph Lister, who in 1870 revolutionized surgical procedures with the introduction of antiseptic.
With the precautions Baroness Lubinska recommended, the topless women duelists were less likely to suffer from an infection; indeed, it was a smart idea to fight semiclad. Given the practicality of the baroness’ suggestion and the “emancipated” nature of the duel, it was agreed that the women would disrobe—after all, there would be no men present to ogle them. For the women, the decision to unbutton the tops of their dresses was not sexual; it was simply a way of preventing a duel of first blood from becoming a duel to the death.
…
It is humorous that most recounts of this historic event fail to mention two important things: the winner of the duel (Princess Metternich) and the reason why the women came to arms in the first place—they disagreed over the floral arrangements for an upcoming musical exhibition.”
I honestly have no idea if it's true or not, but LOL. And Wikipedia does mention it:
In August 1892, Princess Metternich participated in an emancipated duel with Countess Kielmannsegg, with the Princess Schwarzenberg and Countess Kinsky as seconds, and Baroness Lubinska providing medical assistance. Pauline was slightly wounded on the nose, while the countess was wounded in the arm. The cause of the duel is reputed to be an argument over arrangements for the Vienna Musical and Theatrical Exhibition
“The most intriguing duel fought between women, and the sole one that featured exposed breasts, took place in August 1892 in Verduz, the capitol of Liechtenstein, between Princess Pauline Metternich and the Countess Kielmannsegg. It has gone down in history as the first “emancipated duel” because all parties involved, including the principals and their seconds were female… Before the proceedings began, the baroness pointed out that many insignificant injuries in duels often became septic due to strips of clothing being driven into the wound by the point of a sword. To counter this danger she prudently suggested that both parties should fight stripped of any garments above the waist. Certainly, Baroness Lubinska was ahead of her time, taking an even more radical take on the (at the time) widely dismissed theories of British surgeon Joseph Lister, who in 1870 revolutionized surgical procedures with the introduction of antiseptic.
With the precautions Baroness Lubinska recommended, the topless women duelists were less likely to suffer from an infection; indeed, it was a smart idea to fight semiclad. Given the practicality of the baroness’ suggestion and the “emancipated” nature of the duel, it was agreed that the women would disrobe—after all, there would be no men present to ogle them. For the women, the decision to unbutton the tops of their dresses was not sexual; it was simply a way of preventing a duel of first blood from becoming a duel to the death.
…
It is humorous that most recounts of this historic event fail to mention two important things: the winner of the duel (Princess Metternich) and the reason why the women came to arms in the first place—they disagreed over the floral arrangements for an upcoming musical exhibition.”
I honestly have no idea if it's true or not, but LOL. And Wikipedia does mention it:
In August 1892, Princess Metternich participated in an emancipated duel with Countess Kielmannsegg, with the Princess Schwarzenberg and Countess Kinsky as seconds, and Baroness Lubinska providing medical assistance. Pauline was slightly wounded on the nose, while the countess was wounded in the arm. The cause of the duel is reputed to be an argument over arrangements for the Vienna Musical and Theatrical Exhibition
In terms of inspiration, I've found that the Badass of the Week site is pretty good. Click on random name, discover balls-out crazy stuff somebody actually did at some point. There's plenty of entries on historical figures from a variety of eras, ancient to modern.
Found (surprisingly enough) at badassoftheweek.com.
Found (surprisingly enough) at badassoftheweek.com.
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