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Martial Arts
Each martial art has its own history and goals.
The history of martial arts around the world is complex. Most groups of
people have had to defend themselves at some time and have developed
fighting techniques for that purpose. Development of many martial arts
was related to military development also. However, many of those
techniques have been rendered technologically obsolete over the
centuries. Even at an individual, rural level, the threat to the safety
of a group of people is now more likely to come from modern weaponry
such as automatic rifles than from men with swords. Furthermore, the
preservation of a martial art requires many years of teaching at the
hands of a good teacher to pass on the art for a single generation. So
it is relatively unlikely that a particular martial art would survive
and become popular in today's culture, and each art that has done so has
a unique history.
Martial arts in Asia
For more details on this topic, see List of Asian and Pacific Martial
Arts
Early history
Statues in an ancient hindu temple, showing warriors in combatThe
teaching of martial arts in Asia has historically followed the cultural
traditions of teacher-disciple apprenticeship. Students are trained in a
strictly hierarchical system by a master instructor: Sifu (老師) in
Cantonese, Lao Shih (Wade-Giles), lǎo shī (Pinyin) (lit., old master) in
Chinese; Shih fu (師父) (Wade-Giles), Shī fù (Pinyin) (lit., the
master-father) in Mandarin; Guru in Hindi and Sanskrit; Sensei (先生) in
Japanese; Kwan Jang Nim (사범님) in (Korean); Kallari Gurukkal in
(Malayalam); and Asana in (Tamil). The instructor is expected to
directly supervise their students' training, and the students are
expected to memorize and recite as closely as possible the rules and
basic training routines of the school. In the warrior Kshatriya caste of
India, organised martial traditions were studied as a part of the Dharma
(duty) of the caste. The senior teachers were called Gurus and taught
martial arts at gurukuls to young Kshatriyas. The examples of such Guru-shishya
tradition (teacher-disciple tradition) is especially notable in case of
Dronacharya, the guru to the Kauravas and the Pandavas.
In a Confucian influenced martial art, students with more seniority are
considered older brothers and sisters; those with less seniority as
younger brothers and sisters. Such clearly delineated relationships are
designed to develop good character, patience and discipline.
Some method of certification can be involved, where one's skills would
be tested for mastery before being allowed to study further; in some
systems, especially in China, there may not have been any such
certifications, only years of close personal practice and evaluation
under a master, much like an apprenticeship, until the master deems
one's skills satisfactory. This pedagogy, while still preserved and
respected in many traditional styles, has weakened to varying degrees in
others and is even actively rejected by some schools, especially in the
West.
Along with East Asia, martial arts were also studied in Cambodia, India,
Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, South America,
and almost every other corner of the Earth. This in turn led to further
exploration of disciplines from China, Korea, and Japan for their
historical and cultural value.
For example, the island of Hawaii, though isolated, has a tradition of
martial arts related to joint locks and manipulation.
A number of martial arts were developed in ancient India, including
Mallayuddha, Kuttu Varisai (empty hand combat), Varma Kalai (the art of
vital points), Adithada (kickboxing) and Kalari Payattu (way of the
arena).
In Indonesia, a large number of arts under the umbrella of Silat may
also include Kateda and Sindo. Kuntao styles are found across this
region. It is difficult to pin down the origin of these arts, which are
claimed to be indigenous but nonetheless have much in common with
Qigong, Yiquan, and possibly Shaolin Wushu. They have both internal and
external qualities so perhaps could be seen as an original hybridization
of other arts, the origins of which are lost in the mists of time.
Modern history
The Western interest in East Asian Martial Arts dates back to the late
19th Century, due to the increase in trade between America and China and
Japan. Relatively few Westerners actually practiced the arts,
considering it to be mere performance. Many of the first demonstrations
of the martial arts in the West were performed by Asians in vaudeville
shows, which served to further reinforce the perception of the martial
arts as dramatic performance.
Edward William Barton-Wright, a railway engineer who had studied
Jiujitsu while working in Japan between 1894-97, was the first man known
to have taught Asian martial arts in Europe. He also founded an eclectic
martial arts style named Bartitsu which combined jiujitsu, judo, boxing,
savate and stick fighting.
As Western influence grew in the East a greater number of military
personnel spent time in China, Japan, Korea and elsewhere. Exposure to
martial arts during the Korean war was also significant. Gradually some
soldiers began to see the value of Eastern martial arts and began
training in them.
William E. Fairbairn, a Shanghai policeman and at the time a leading
Western expert on Asian fighting techniques was recruited during World
War II by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to teach UK, U.S. and
Canadian Commando and Ranger forces Jujitsu. The book Kill or Get
Killed, written by Colonel Rex Applegate, who worked closely with
Fairbairn to train the "First Special Service," a joint U.S. and
Canadian army unit, became a classic military treatise on hand to hand
combat. The fighting method was called "Defendo". A modern variation
that can trace a lineage to Applegate is "Combato" (Jen Do Tao) as
taught by Shihan Bradley Steiner (10th Dan).
Practicing martial arts is still a popular pastime in modern China.With
large numbers of American servicemen stationed in Japan after World War
II, the adoption of techniques and the gradual transmission of entire
systems of martial arts to the West started. It was in the 1950's,
however, when this exportation of systems really began to gain momentum.
Large groups of U.S. Military personnel were taught Korean arts (Taekwondo)
during the Korean conflict, and many of these brought their training
home and continued to practice and teach after their demobilization. By
the 1960s, Japanese arts like Karate and Judo had become very popular.
The early 1970s saw martial arts movies, due in part to martial artist
Bruce Lee, cause the rise in popularity of Chinese martial arts (kung
fu).
This exportation of the martial arts led to such styles as sport karate,
which became a major international sport, with professional fighters,
big prizes, television coverage, and sponsorship deals.
The later 1970s and 1980s witnessed an increased media interest in the
martial arts, thanks in part to Asian and Hollywood martial arts movies
and very popular television shows like "Kung-Fu" and "The Green Hornet"
that incorporated martial arts moments or themes.
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