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| Ancient Origins | Greece | India & China | Okinawa | Japan |
| Tai-chi | Kempo | Kung-Fu | Judo | Karate |
| Aikido | Shotokan | Goju-Ryu | Kyokushinkai | |
| Countries Of The Origins Of The Martial Arts | ||||
| Katas | ||||
ORIGINS OF THE MARTIAL ARTS
Our
common sense tells us that unarmed combat reaches back to before
recorded history. Ancient
origins of the art are obscure, often couched in folklore of a
variety of cultures of the world.
In
ancient times the Greeks practiced a number of combative arts.
For example, the Boxers Vase from Hagia Triada depicts two
men engaged in unarmed combat which closely resembles certain
techniques used in modern-day Japanese karate.
The vase and other items of pottery with similar artwork
have been discovered dating back to approximately 1600 BC.
In
648 BC, a Greek sport known as Pankraton or Game of All Powers was
included as an Olympic event.
Punches, kicks, throws and grappling were permitted but
biting and eye-gouging were prohibited.
This empty-handed Greek art resembled karate.
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Later after the Chou Dynasty 1066 B.C.- 403 A.D there developed several monasteries bearing the name Siu Lam where T'ai-Chi Ch'uan is being taught. The leading Siu Lam school generally acknowledged as the Soong Sham monastery is still standing today in the Honan Province. There
are statues and vases originating in India, dated back to the 1st
Century BC, depicting certain fighting techniques with bare hands.
Legend has it that a barehanded fighting art known as
Vajramushti was practiced in India around 1000 BC.
Folklore has it that around 520 AD, an Indian Zen
Buddhist monk,
Bodhidharma (Daruma Taishi in Japanese),
travelled to China and
taught the Vajramushti fighting system to the monks at Shaolin (In
China). It is said
that these monks became known as the most formidable fighters in
China. Although other
fighting systems existed in China at the time, this system was
supposedly the basis of the well-known Shaolin Chuan-Fa system. Chinese martial arts became increasingly popular between 1368 and 1644. There are over forty well known, systems in china today. In the Peoples’ Republic of China, the general classification of the martial art, Chuan-Fa, has been changed to Wushu (military arts). The term commonly used in the West for these arts is Kung-Fu, from a Cantonese word meaning to be skilful at something. |
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During
the 14th century kempo were introduced to the Okinawan people. It
was very popular as an art of self-defence, and was called 'tode' (
chinese hand). Okinawa had a native fighting art, called 'te', long
before the introduction of kempo to the island. It is believed that
the Okinawan people combined the chinese and indigenous arts to
form the martial-art 'karate'. Japanese king Sho Shin banned the
use of all weapons in 1477. When Japan invaded Okinawa in 1609,
they also banned the practice of martial arts. Consequently, the
Okinawans continued developing their fighting arts in secret.
The native
fighting systems that existed in Okinawa was known as Te (hand).
However, Okinawans interacted with North and South China
culturally and economically mainly via Okinawan ports Shuri and
Naha. Thus, Okinawans
gained experience of South East Asian forms of combat as a result
of trading with Asia. In
the 1500’s , King Sho Shin instituted the first ban on weapons in
Okinawa. In 1609 the Satsuma clan from Japan took control of Okinawa. This resulted in the development of superb and effective forms of weaponless defense and attack by the native Okinawans who co-operated with one another against their armed overlords. Their art they simply called Te. It was practiced in secret thus no comprehensive documentation is available. |
Japanese Samurai Warrior |
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During
the next 3 centuries the martial art developed its own character
and was called 'Okinawa te'. It was split into three main styles:
Shuri-te and Tomari-te were subsumed under the name Shorin-Ryu. Naha-te became known as Goju-ryu. Okinawa-te, because it was practiced in secret, became violent with the
elimination of the enemy as its main purpose. |
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Shuri-te: Influenced
by the hard techniques of the northern chinese arts and
characterized by an offensive attitude.
Shuri-te developed in the Shuri area of Okinawa.
Shuri-te was based on the Chinese Chuan-Fa from the 1400 AD
era. It was
subsequently developed in its own way under the geographic and
political conditions of Okinawa.
Shuri-te concentrated on speed and combined techniques which
had practical applications.| At the age of 20 Jigoro Kano(Founder of Kodokan-Judo) learned jujutsu, convinced of the need to train his body and mind. Five years later, the sickly man who often came worst in student brawls, had become a strong man and a master of himself. He continued to study and progressively perfected his own technique to which he gave the name kokan-judo 'the way of flexibility and gentleness' Judo-Gentle .When he died in 1938 at the age of 78 judo already had over 100 000 black belts to its name |
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Master Morihei Ueshiba born on 14 Dec 1883 is the founder of Aikido. No one has ever been able to boast of having thrown him or even laying a hand on him in a surprise attack.He had the highest degree of a sixth sense or ability to anticipate an attack.He used to say 'The best technique is to avoid combat'
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Karate (Empty-Hand)was first formally introduced to the Japanese in 1921 by Okinawan school teacher and karate master, Master Gichin Funakoshi (1868-1957). He studied under Shuri-te masters Anko Itosu and Yasutsune Azato. Funakoshi demonstrated his art for Japanese dignitaries, instructed at the Butokukai Military Arts College in Kyoto and at Keio University in Tokyo. In the early 1930’s he established his own school in Tokyo and called it Shotokan.Karate was previously called Te (Hand), Tode (Tang Hands) and even Bushi-No-Te (Warriors Hand), the weaponless fighting art that developed in Okinawa, Japan, originally influenced by Chinese Fighting arts. In the 1920’s, Master Funakoshi observed that the art had developed a Japanese/Okinawan character. Thus the Japanese way of writing Karate was more appropriate. He recommended that the art should be labeled Empty-Hand since the weapons used by a Karate-ka were his natural, God-given weapons, viz., hands, arms, body, legs, feet and brain. |
Kanryo Higaonna was born on Okinawa in 1853, traveled to China in 1868 and, after some time, was accepted as the student of chinese martial arts master Ryu Ryuko. Higaonna trained with Ryu Ryuko for 15 years and became his most skilled student, before returning to Okinawa in 1881. He blended the techniques learned in China with that of Naha-te.Higaona Sensei opened a dojo at his house and continued to teach until his death in 1915.Higaonna had a notable student Chojun Miyagi.
Chojun Miyagi born in Okinawa (1888-1953), started to train karate from Aragaki Ryuko Sensei at age 12. At 14 he started training with Kanryo Higaonna After Higaonna's death Chojun Miyagi traveled to China to further develop his knowledge of kempo. Upon his return to Okinawa he turned his house into a dojo.He formulated of a cohesive system that allowed penetration into the deeper and more advanced techniques of Naha-te.Chojun Miyagi's best student, Jinan Shinzato, was sent to mainland Japan to demonstrate Naha-te. The Japanese asked Shinzato the name of his style , unable to answer as the style had not been named yet. On his return to Okinawa he told Miyagi what had happened. Miyagi chose the name Goju ryu (hard-soft style), inspired by the "Eight precepts" of Kempo. |
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Grandmaster Gogen
Yamaguchi (1909-1989) co-founder of Goju-Ryu met GM Miyagi and together
they developed their understanding of karate.GM Yamaguchi was renowned
throughout for his long hair and feline expression giving him the
nickname'The Cat
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The major styles, with an Okinawan base, practiced in Japan, are Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Shito-Ryu and Wado-Ryu.
These styles were introduced into Japan by the following pioneers:- Gichin Funakoshi: (Shotokan) 1922. Chojun Miyagi (Go-Ju) in 1928. Kenwa Mabuni (Shito) in 1930 and Hironori Otsuka (Wado) in 1935.
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A separate school from the above big four is the Kyokushinkai System formed by GrandMaster Kancho (10th Dan) Masutatsu Oyama in 1957. In 1950 Kancho Oyama began his famous battle with bulls to test his own strength and bring to the world the awesome power of his Karate at 27.Over the many years he fought 52 bulls, killing three instantly with one punch, and taking the horns off 49 with knife hand blows. He died at the age of 71years |
