History of martial arts
Specific martial traditions become identifiable in Classical Antiquity, with disciplines such as shuai jiao, Greek wrestling or those described in the Indian epics or the Spring and Autumn Annals of China.
The oldest work of art depicting scenes of battle, dating back 3400 BC,[1] was the Ancient Egyptian paintings showing some form of struggle.
True bladed weapons appear in the Neolithic with the stone axe, and diversify in shape in the course of the Bronze Age (khopesh/kopis, sword, dagger) Some early examples are the depiction of wrestling techniques in a tomb of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt at Beni Hasan (c. 2000 BC) and pictorial representations of fist fighting in the Minoan civilization dating to the 2nd millennium BCE.
An Egyptian fresco, dated to 3400 BC, and depicting military training at Beni Hassan is the world's oldest known artistic representation of an organised fighting system.
Soldiers fought with spears, large shields with an eye-hole, clubs, axes, poleaxes, flails, bows, slings, and swords of various forms.
[13] While on one hand, many martial arts teachers were persecuted because of their political view or activities,[14] the communist government also invested in the creation of new styles: Sanda, Modern Wushu, and Standardized Taiji Quan.
[20] Stories describing Krishna report that he sometimes engaged in wrestling matches where he used knee strikes to the chest, punches to the head, hair pulling, and strangleholds.
[23][24] Many of the popular sports mentioned in the Vedas and the epics have their origins in military training, such as boxing (musti-yuddha), wrestling (malladwandwa), chariot-racing (rathachalan), horse-riding (aswarohana) and archery (dhanurvidya).
Ten fighting styles of northern India were said to have been created in different areas based on animals and gods, and designed for the particular geography of their origin.
Military accounts of the Gupta Empire (c. 240–480) and the later Agni Purana identify over 130 different weapons, divided into thrown and unthrown classes and further into sub-classes.
The Sushruta Samhita (c. 4th century) identifies 107 vital points on the human body[27] of which 64 were classified as being lethal if properly struck with a fist or stick.
The 8th-century text Kuvalaymala by Udyotanasuri recorded such systems being taught at gurukula educational institutions, where Brahmin students from throughout the subcontinent "were learning and practicing archery, fighting with sword and shield, with daggers, sticks, lances, and with fists, and in duels (niuddham)."
The earliest extant manual of Indian martial arts is contained as chapters 248 to 251 in the Agni Purana (c. 8th – 11th centuries), giving an account of dhanurveda in a total of 104 shloka.
[21] The former included the bow and arrow, the sword, spear, noose, armour, iron dart, club, battle axe, discus, and the trident.
The historical origin of Japanese martial arts can be found in the warrior traditions of the samurai and the caste system that restricted the use of weapons by members of the non-warrior classes.
A large number of schools evolved to teach these skills with those existing before the Meiji Restoration classed as Koryū (古流) or old stream.
Angampora is an ancient Sri Lankan martial art that combines combat techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise, and meditation.
The British administration prohibited its practice due to the dangers posed by a civilian populace versed in a martial art, burning down any angan madu (practice huts devoted to the martial art) found: flouting of the law was punished by a gunshot to the knee, effectively crippling practitioners; Angampora nevertheless survived within a few families, allowing it to emerge into mainstream Sri Lankan culture post-independence.
The Middle Ages saw the flourishing of the furusiyya culture, combining the ancient Bedouin concept of honour (muru'ah) with the Islamic ideals of chivalry.
A fārys (meaning knight or horseman) would first hone his skills in wrestling and armed combat on the ground before learning to fight while mounted.
Armed fighting included the use of the sword (sayf), spear, lance, javelin, dagger (jambiya), staff, axe (tabar), warhammer, and curved bow.
The earliest extant dedicated martial arts manual is the MS I.33 (c. 1300), detailing sword and buckler combat, compiled in a Franconian monastery.
In the mid-18th century, in keeping with the general Rococo fashion, French masters rise to international prominence, introducing the foil, and much of the terminology still current in modern sports fencing.
It establishes itself as the separate style of Mensur fencing in the 18th The Western interest in East Asian martial arts dates back to the late 19th century, due to the increase in trade between the West with China and Japan.
At that time, in France, it existed in gyms called salles d'armes where savate, English boxing, fencing, canne de combat and sometimes even wrestling was practiced.
Edward William Barton-Wright, a British railway engineer who had studied jiu-jitsu while working in Japan between 1894 and 1897, 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 jujutsu, judo, wrestling, boxing, savate and stick fighting.
[37]' The development of Brazilian jiu-jitsu from the early 20th century is a good example of the worldwide cross-pollination and syncretism of martial arts traditions.
Following Bruce Lee, both Jackie Chan and Jet Li are prominent movie figures who have been responsible for promoting Chinese martial arts in recent years.
The 20th century saw the rise of cross-discipline contests, culminating with the creation of dedicated leagues for mixed martial arts, such as Shooto and the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
