the Way to Martial Arts

The Way to the Martial Arts. The Styles, the Techniques, the Legends and the Philosophy This is an introduction to the origins, philosophy, and practice of the world's martial arts. It provides a chapter-by-chapter tour of the many varieties of martial arts, such as aikido, iai-do, jiu-jitsu, judo, karate, kendo, kung fu, kyudo, naginata, ninjutsu, sumo, taekwon-do, and Thai boxing, discussing how and why these arts developed, their ways and laws, founding myths and heroes, and the culture that created them. A glossary of martial arts terminology and an illustrated section on martial arts weaponry are also included. iolence has been an inescapable fact of / human hfe since the beginning of time. ts reasonable to suppose, therefore, caring in mind human ingenuity, that elf-defence systems were devised at a very arlw stage in order to ensure survival of the pecies. Indeed, man’s combat skills have een undergoing a constant evolution. cach addition, by way of another thoughtut movement, aided the struggle against ggressors and began to form the basis of a nartial skill. Slowly and gradually, mostly hrough trial and error, fighting became nore of an exact science rather than just Dure animal instinct. Maurals in tombs along the Nile and hieroglvphics engraved in the pyramids prove that the Egyptians had an organized type of unarmed boxing as early as 3,500Bc. For more complete information on a formalized system of combat we must look to the ancient Greeks. The works of Homer (c. 9th century BC) contain descripuons of unarmed combat, and the Greek philosopher, Plato (c. 428-348 Bc), menuons skiamachia, a sort of shadow boxing, which was eventually combined with wrestling to form an art called pancration meaning ‘game of all powers’. A wide variety of techniques was allowed. So far as is known, pancration was the first recorded fighting discipline that incorporated a method of kicking with punches and empty-hand strikes. This art, or sport as it should be correctly termed, was introduced into the Olympic Games in 648 Bc. Indeed, some people believe that we should regard Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) as the founder of martial arts, who, through his invasion of India, brought with him the unarmed combat method of the Greeks. However, it would seem somewhat presumptuous to suppose that Asia had to wait for that Macedonian conqueror to invade her borders before the martial arts were born. Recent archeological investigation in southern China has unearthed “paintings and artifacts suggesting that unarmed Aghting methods were in operation long before his time. Combat is identified with fighting and salling and yet, through the practice of