Since time began, every culture has developed fighting styles out of necessity. Modern martial arts history categorizes Western heroes and martial societies as practicing martial arts, which opens up an interesting can of martial arts worms.
Besides the ancient martial arts heroes of China (Shaolin), Japan (samurai) and Korea (Hwarang), the world has witnessed great fighters like the Spartans, Vikings, Mongols, Huns, Romans, Ottomans, Macedonians, Goths, Knights, Persians and Celts. Warriors like Alexander the Great, Richard the Lionheart, Hannibal, Hercules, Eric the Red, Hector, Attila, Achilles and even Siddhartha (Buddha) trained in systematic ways of fighting and lived by a code of ethics.
This leads us to ask several intriguing questions. Did martial arts originate from China, India or Greece? Or have they risen independently? How did they spread? Many arts have come and gone. Recent efforts hinged on nationalism are bringing back lost martial arts, especially in Europe. So why has Chinese martial arts consistently endured and flourished more than in any other country? New evidence suggests Brazilian capoiera came from China rather than Africa. There’s a great history book waiting to be written.
– March 24, 2011
This overview of systema depicts the genesis and evolution of the Russian martial art from olden times to the current day. Systema is a style of combat and self-defense that has evolved over the course of 10 centuries. It adapts the simple and powerful battle skills of its ancient practitioners
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– March 24, 2011
Rudy Reyes is a martial arts success story… one in which the Asian disciplines, coupled with a heaping of determination, have helped this Recon Marine survive the Iraq war and prevail over his personal aftermath to build his mind and body stronger than ever before. He has been featured in
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– March 24, 2011
Rudy Reyes is a martial arts success story… one in which the Asian disciplines, coupled with a heaping of determination, have helped this Recon Marine survive the Iraq war and prevail over his personal aftermath to build his mind and body stronger than ever before. He has been featured in
Read More »
– March 24, 2011
Rudy Reyes is a martial arts success story… one in which the Asian disciplines, coupled with a heaping of determination, have helped this Recon Marine survive the Iraq war and prevail over his personal aftermath to build his mind and body stronger than ever before. He has been featured in
Read More »
– March 23, 2011
In the Panhellenic games of ancient Greece, wrestling, boxing and pankration were called the “heavy events.” The term was chosen to describe combative contests in those arts because they were not only crowd favorites but also the domain of the larger and heavier athlete.
Greek Martial Art #1: Wrestling
Wrestling is Greece’s
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– March 23, 2011
The relationship between the martial arts and military combat is as old as warfare itself. Before the advent of sophisticated weapons, individual martial skills were the foundation of military combat. As technology advanced, the need for hand-to-hand combat skills gradually diminished but never completely disappeared. The countless incidents of close-quarters
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– March 23, 2011
Judo and kendo are part of law-enforcement training in Japan, and many police officers continue to study the martial arts throughout their careers. In most cases, the toughest dojo in a city in Japan is a police dojo. Civilians who have gone there for martial arts training or who are
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– March 21, 2011
To the casual observer, Hawaii seems to be an unlikely place for fierce arts of self-defense to have originated. The mental picture of the Hawaii of olden times is one of peaceful Polynesians lazing under a warm sun, virtually isolated in the mid-Pacific and thus safe and secure from outside
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– March 21, 2011
For several years now, Brazil has skirted its heritage with capoeira. It has been overlooked, disregarded and dismissed. Historians battled against bureaucratic red tape. To find the clearing, some gaps in history had to be filled in. A few years ago an 81-year-old Vicente Ferreira Pastinha— a Portuguese man and
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– March 21, 2011
In Malaysia, they say a man is not really capable of defending himself against an attacker unless he knows something about bersilat. Its self-defense techniques date back to the early 15th century and today is still popular. The art enjoys such popularity that it can be practiced by anyone whether
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