Martial Arts Of The World - Webs

tesies; while not all of them were famous swordsmen or
archers, some were, and these probably provided models for
subsequent Chinese martial art heroes.
165 B.C. A rope-dancer and a pair of boxers upstage a new play by the
Roman dramatist Terence; undaunted, Terence unveils an improved
play five years later and is again upstaged by the announcement
that the boxers are about to begin. This is a reminder
that Roman boxing and wrestling were as much
theatrical acts as combative sports.
105 B.C. To show recruits exactly what happens on battlefields, the Roman
governors of Pavia, Italy, introduce public gladiatorial
matches. That these matches were not intended to be recreational
(in which case they would have been called ludi [Latin;
games]) is indicated by their name, munera, from munus, function,
employment, duty.
First century B.C. A Chinese annalist named Zhao Yi writes about a woman who
was a great swordsman. She said the key to success was constant
practice without the supervision of a master; after a
while, she said, she just understood everything there was to
know.
23 B.C. According to the Chronicles of Japan, the Emperor Suinin
watches a sumô match between a hero named Sukune-no-Nomi
and a bully named Taima-no-Kehaya. The story is probably
legendary, as the text was not written until the eighth century,
at which time its purpose was to trace the genealogies of the
reigning leadership back to ancient gods.
A.D. 90 Roman entrepreneurs introduce gladiatorial battles between
dwarves. Similar midget acts remained popular in circuses and
professional wrestling rings for the next 1,900 years.
About 98 The Roman writer Tacitus reports that German priests
forecast the outcome of upcoming engagements by comparing
the strength of the two sides’ war-chants. Warriors
amplified their chants by shouting into their shields while
clashing their weapons against them. Sixteenth-century
English playwrights called this sound “swashbuckling,” and
said it was especially useful against cavalry attacks, as the
noise scared horses.
Second century Indian Buddhists are encouraged to avoid all contact with evil
or cruel persons who practice the arts of boxing, wrestling, and
nata. Nata is, literally, “dancing,” but in some of the more violent
dances, the dancers go through choreographed battles
against invisible demons. The Hellenistic world had its equivalents;
unarmed exercises were known as skiamachiae (Greek;
private contests), while armed versions were known as hoplomachiae
(armed contests).
Second century The medical texts ascribed to the Indian physician Susruta describe
107 vital points on the human body. (Some people added
a secret spot, too, to bring the total to 108, a number with important
Buddhist cosmological significance.)
141 The Chinese physician Hua Tuo is born. As an adult, Hua created
a series of exercises called Wu Qin Xi (Five Animals Play).
Although the inspiration is said to have been observation of the
Chronological History of the Martial Arts 791