The ‘Culture’ of Martial Arts

Part III

In the last and final addition of this series we will focus on the little known but widely influential African martial arts.

The African continent is infinitely rich in history. It is not surprising that it boasts one of the oldest martial arts in existence. Some of the earliest evidence of martial arts in Africa were discovered in the Beni Hasan tombs in ancient Egypt, dating back to 2,040 and 1,785 BCE. Archaeologists found paintings of fighters displaying techniques such as punching, kicking, throwing, and locking the opponents’ joints. (It is important to note that Egypt is in Africa, and that many years of racial intermingling have transformed the population of ancient Egypt into its current and modern inhabitants). The Nuba people of Sudan already performed a form of martial arts around 2,800 BCE. This form of martial arts included empty-hand combat along with weapons training. There are no records in the world that can claim a documented martial arts tradition older then the fighting arts of the Nuba. Read More

THE ‘CULTURE’ OF MARTIAL ARTS

Part II

Chinese martial arts, or Chinese Kung-Fu Wu-Su, continued to influence Asian countries like Okinawa, Japan. Karate-do or Karate (empty-hand) was born out of Kung-Fu Wu-Su. Another Asian country that hasn’t received its rightful attention when it comes to martial arts is India. India is home to a variety of fighting styles. Collectively, in Sanskrit, these fighting styles are known as “Dhanurveda”. There are wall paintings at the Shaolin Temple in China, depicting Chinese and Indian Monks training and enjoying themselves together. Read More

THE ‘CULTURE’ OF MARTIAL ARTS

Part I

We previously defined Martial Arts as “being skilled in the relations of war “. We also defined a martial artist as “an individual who is skilled in the relations of war “.

War, in early history was “personal “. It was often fought in close range between warring factions and many times required proficiency in hand-to-hand combat. The common belief is that the first version of martial arts was a fighting system developed in Asia, more specifically China or Japan. While there is a definite truth to this assumption, it is somewhat limiting in its scope.

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