Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Martial Arts Of The World - Webs Martial Arts Of The World - Webs
Eighth century Vishnaivite monks living in Kerala, India, are described as devoting their mornings to archery, singlestick, and wrestling; their afternoons to chanting and dancing; and their evenings to walking in the woods. Eighth century The Kievan annals describe a Slavic boxing game involving fistfights between picked champions. Bouts took place during the winter on the frozen rivers that established boundaries between districts. While kicking, tripping, and putting iron into one’s gloves were discouraged, the only real rule was that the two men had to fight face to face and chest to chest without recourse to magic or trickery. About 700 The Chinese scholar Hong Beisi describes an esoteric Buddhist movement art using the word quanfa. This term, which has become a generic term for the Chinese martial arts, is probably best translated as “boxing methods” (quan means “fist,” and fa means “method” or “law,” usually in a philosophical context). About 710 Christian Serbs are reported using poisoned arrows against Bosnian Muslims. The English word toxin comes from the Greek phrase toxikon pharmakon (bow poison), which is what the Byzantines called these arrow-borne poisons. 714 China’s Xuan Zong emperor establishes an acting school at his royal capital, and the sword dances and gymnastics taught in such schools subsequently were associated with Chinese martial arts. About 750 A peripatetic Indian monk called Amoghavajra introduces the esoteric finger movements, or mudras, of Yogacara Buddhism into China. As memorizing these finger movements was supposed to cause subtle changes to the practitioner’s internal energy (which is possible, since the hands provide more sensory input to the brain than all other parts of the body except the eyes, tongue, and nose), they were subsequently incorporated into some East Asian martial arts. About 750 Probably in hopes of obtaining divine intervention, the Koreans erect Buddhist temples all around Kwangju. By the gates of these temples were statues of bare-chested temple guardians standing in what the Koreans now call kwon bop (pugilistic) stances. The guardian on the west (the excited fellow with wild hair and open mouth) represented yang energy, and was called Mi-chi. The guardian on the east (the fellow who stands with his mouth closed and his emotions under control) represented yin energy, and was called Chin-kang. Similar temple guardians were constructed in Japan. The surviving pair at the Tedaiji Monastery in Nara were unusual, though, partly because they were next to the altar rather than the gate and mostly because they wore armor. The Tedaiji statues were made of lacquered hemp cloth spread over a wooden frame, and known as rikishi, or strongmen. Japanese professional wrestlers also use the latter name. 788 Shankara achieves enlightenment in India. While little known today, Shankara was probably the most influential philosopher of his day, as his theory that one could escape fate by achieving a mind empty of illusions (sunya) led to the development of both Zen Buddhism and the Indo-Arabic numeral zero. 794 Chronological History of the Martial Arts
789 The Japanese aristocracy start patronizing kumitachi (sword dances). Their models were similar Chinese and Korean entertainments, and their methods reportedly set the precedent for the choreographed fencing depicted in the seventeenth-century No and Kabuki theaters. About 790 Rhinelanders develop bellows-driven forges, significantly improving German metallurgy and becoming a factor behind the subsequent successes of the Danish Vikings, who bought their swords from the Rhenish Germans. 793 Given a choice between seeing his mother torn to pieces before his eyes or losing his horse, an Aquitanian aristocrat named Datus does the only sensible thing: He keeps his horse. Ninth century The Franks start using the Latin word schola, or “school,” to describe places where monks study philosophy rather than places where soldiers wrestle and fence. About 800 Buddhist monks develop the idea of centering the mind and the breathing at a spot about three fingers’ width below and a couple of inches behind the navel. While the practice soon became popular among sitting Zennists, it did not become popular among Japanese swordsmen for another thousand years. (Pioneers of the idea that training in proper breathing and energy projection was important to swordsmanship included Shirai Tôru Yoshinori [1781–1843], whose Heihô michi shirube [Guide to the Way of Swordsmanship] was widely circulated during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.) About 820 Members of an Indian monastic order called the Dasnami Naga are reported practicing archery and other combative sports. About 840 Sumai (struggle) wrestling, an ancestor of modern sumô, develops in Japan. Associated with harvest festivals, the wrestlers were part of a giant potlatch relationship designed to show their patrons’ ability to squander such mighty energies. The roots of the sport may lie in Korea. About 860 The Iraqi mathematician Abu Yusuf Ya’qub ibn-Ishaq as-Sabbah al-Kindi (called in Latin Alkindus) writes that the finest swords in the Islamic world come from Yemen and India. To al-Kindi, these weapons were known as wootz, after the Indian steel used to make them; to Europeans, they were known as Damascus, after the damask cloth that the wootz steel resembled. 863 The Chinese storyteller Duan Cheng dies. His works include a text called Yu Yang Za Zu (Miscellaneous Fare from Yu Yang, a mountain in Hunan where great masters had hidden books containing great knowledge). One story describes a young man who learns that a prospective knight-errant needs to master swordsmanship as well as archery, and another an old sword-dancer who whirls two swords as if pulling silk, then plants them in the ground in the manner of the seven stars of the Big Dipper. About 890 According to David Howlitt of Oxford University, King Alfred the Great of England has a cleric named Aethelstan write a vernacular description of proper chivalric behavior that even Alfred’s grandson will be able to understand. The result is the untitled poem called by eighteenth-century scholars Beowulf. Chronological History of the Martial Arts 795
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Eighth century Vishnaivite monks living in Kerala, India, are described as devoting<br />
their mornings to archery, singlestick, and wrestling;<br />
their afternoons to chanting and dancing; and their evenings to<br />
walking in the woods.<br />
Eighth century <strong>The</strong> Kievan annals describe a Slavic boxing game involving fistfights<br />
between picked champions. Bouts took place during the<br />
winter on the frozen rivers that established boundaries between<br />
districts. While kicking, tripping, and putting iron into one’s<br />
gloves were discouraged, the only real rule was that the two<br />
men had to fight face to face and chest to chest without recourse<br />
to magic or trickery.<br />
About 700 <strong>The</strong> Chinese scholar Hong Beisi describes an esoteric Buddhist<br />
movement art using the word quanfa. This term, which has<br />
become a generic term for the Chinese martial arts, is probably<br />
best translated as “boxing methods” (quan means “fist,” and<br />
fa means “method” or “law,” usually in a philosophical context).<br />
About 710 Christian Serbs are reported using poisoned arrows against<br />
Bosnian Muslims. <strong>The</strong> English word toxin comes from the<br />
Greek phrase toxikon pharmakon (bow poison), which is what<br />
the Byzantines called these arrow-borne poisons.<br />
714 China’s Xuan Zong emperor establishes an acting school at<br />
his royal capital, and the sword dances and gymnastics taught<br />
in such schools subsequently were associated with Chinese martial<br />
arts.<br />
About 750 A peripatetic Indian monk called Amoghavajra introduces the<br />
esoteric finger movements, or mudras, of Yogacara Buddhism<br />
into China. As memorizing these finger movements was supposed<br />
to cause subtle changes to the practitioner’s internal energy<br />
(which is possible, since the hands provide more sensory<br />
input to the brain than all other parts of the body except the<br />
eyes, tongue, and nose), they were subsequently incorporated<br />
into some East Asian martial arts.<br />
About 750 Probably in hopes of obtaining divine intervention, the Koreans<br />
erect Buddhist temples all around Kwangju. By the gates of these<br />
temples were statues of bare-chested temple guardians standing<br />
in what the Koreans now call kwon bop (pugilistic) stances. <strong>The</strong><br />
guardian on the west (the excited fellow with wild hair and open<br />
mouth) represented yang energy, and was called Mi-chi. <strong>The</strong><br />
guardian on the east (the fellow who stands with his mouth<br />
closed and his emotions under control) represented yin energy,<br />
and was called Chin-kang. Similar temple guardians were constructed<br />
in Japan. <strong>The</strong> surviving pair at the Tedaiji Monastery in<br />
Nara were unusual, though, partly because they were next to the<br />
altar rather than the gate and mostly because they wore armor.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Tedaiji statues were made of lacquered hemp cloth spread<br />
over a wooden frame, and known as rikishi, or strongmen.<br />
Japanese professional wrestlers also use the latter name.<br />
788 Shankara achieves enlightenment in India. While little known<br />
today, Shankara was probably the most influential philosopher<br />
of his day, as his theory that one could escape fate by achieving<br />
a mind empty of illusions (sunya) led to the development of<br />
both Zen Buddhism and the Indo-Arabic numeral zero.<br />
794 Chronological History of the <strong>Martial</strong> <strong>Arts</strong>