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sia with an Islamic nationalist government, whose leaders of
the new government include Achmed Sukarno and Mohammad
Hatta; with Japanese approval, these Indonesian nationalists
then use the dancelike Indonesian martial art of silat as a
method for uniting ethnically, culturally, and religiously diverse
peoples.
About 1944 In Pernambuco, Brazil, Paulino Aloisio Andrade teaches a stickfighting
game called maculêlê to a group of local children, and
then has the children participate in various regional festivals
and folklore shows. Machetes were later added to the act for
the sparks that flew when the players’ blades hit.
1947 Soviet leader Joseph Stalin decides that the Soviets should participate
in the Olympics, thus making the games a battleground
in the Cold War. Stalin wanted his athletes to enter the 1948
Olympics, but could not be guaranteed a large number of gold
medals. Since the Soviets had virtually no athletic facilities,
coaches started having players swim during the summer, run in
the spring and fall, and do cross-country skiing in the winter. In
other words, they invented cross-training.
1947 A Japanese named Doshin So incorporates his martial art
school as a Kongô Zen Buddhist religious order. So said that he
taught martial arts mostly as a way of attracting young people
to Buddhism, and that it was the Buddhism, not the martial
arts, that would make them better people.
1947 A Shôtôkan karate club known as the Oh Do Kwan is established
at a Korean army signals school at Yong Dae Ri. The
original instructor was a signal officer named Nam Tae Hi. In
1955, during a demonstration for the South Korean President
Rhee Seung Man, Nam broke thirteen roofing tiles with a single
blow. This so impressed Rhee that he told Colonel Choi
Hong Hi, who was Nam’s commander and an honorary fourth
dan (fourth degree black belt), to start a training program for
the entire Korean military. As Nam always insisted that trainees
shout “Tae Kwon!” (Fists and Feet), his karate style soon became
known as taekwondo (the way of fists and feet).
1947 The Ikatan Penchak Silat Indonesia (Indonesian Pentjak Silat
Association) is established in Jakarta. Although its leaders said
that the association was meant to encourage the development
of the Indonesian martial arts, it was actually used to further
the spread of militant Islamic (and anti-Dutch) nationalism.
1949 Feng Wenpin, president of the All-China Athletic Federation,
describes the purpose of Communist Chinese physical education
as developing sports for health, nationalism, and national
defense; to accomplish this with a minimum of time, space, or
equipment, workers are encouraged to practice martial art
practice forms.
1950 The U.S. Air Force introduces Japanese martial arts into its
physical training programs; this in turn introduces them to
middle America.
1952 Although Mao Zedong’s motto was “Keep fit, study well, work
well,” the chairman also believed that secret societies, like capitalism
and ancient religions, undermined the race and retarded
Chronological History of the Martial Arts 827