Martial Arts

BY LAINE FENTON

The subject ‘The History of Martial Arts’ can prove to be quite difficult, since Martial Arts is more like a genre of sport, and within it, it has many different styles and types of sports. Consequently, due to this fact, Martial Arts beholds a large amount of history that may differ. For example, kick boxing would most definitely have different history to those of Karate yet there is some basic information when it comes to Martial Arts.

History of Martial Arts 2

Most people think that Martial Arts originated in Asia and for a lot of forms, it did, yet there are some parts of the world that can be credited for their individual form and style. Although Martial Arts is not all just the kicks and punches, it can be traced back to the prehistoric times, when it would simply be needed for hunting or protection where weapons such as wood and stones were used.

MoviesMartial Arts has been a common film genre for years with the popular Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li as a favourite martial arts performers. There are movies such as Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon that have dominated and gained massive popularity on its release and are still popular today. There are also popular movies such as Fist of Fury which showcased Bruce Lee’s amazing martial arts skills.

On the 27th November 1940 in San Francisco’s Chinatown a Martial Arts legend and inspiration that goes by the name of Bruce Lee was born. Bruce Lee is a famous Martial Artist and actor who is known across the world and holds a massive place in history. He represented amazing talent in various styles of Martial Arts and held many positions in movies. Even as a child Bruce he was seen in around 20 movies including Golden Gate Girl when he was just three months old. Bruce first gained his popularity in a television series called The Green Hornet which aired from 1966 to 1967.

There are plenty well known people that have been involved in this sport, many of which have starred in movies or television series. Artists such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have always been popular yet there are also people such as Peter Lee, (an Australian Martial artist) Chuck Norris, and more, that have gained fame with their skills in Martial arts.

Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong on the 7th of April 1954. He is a well know Martial Arts actor across Asia and Western countries even to this day and has starred in popular movies such as Drunken Master and the most recent Karate Kid. Even as a youth Jackie would train in Kung Fu with his father Charles Chan. Charles had hoped that by training his son in Kung Fu he would learn qualities such as patience, courage and strength.

Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan was enrolled at China Drama academy in Hong Kong when he was 7 where he lived for 10 years learning singing, acrobats, martial arts and acting. Unfortunately the school was preparing the children to perform in Chinese opera and by the time Jackie graduated at 17, Chinese opera was not very popular so he had to find other work which proved hard since while at the school they never taught their students how to read or write. While Jackie was working in Australia, he was discovered by a man that worked in the Hong Kong movie industry and from there got immense fame.

These days Taekwondo is practised in numerous countries across the world since its beginning point in the country of Korea. Taekwondo is a Korean art of self-defence (translated it means “art of foot and hand”). It is a combination of combat and self-defence techniques as well as sport and exercise.

The form of martial arts called Karate has been popularly used across the world since 1372 and consists of numerous styles of kicks, punches, knee strikes and elbow strikes.

Karate is not only a sport that keeps your body fit but also strengthens your mind and concentration.Karateka is the name used for a karate practitioner (teacher).

Karate G

• Karate gi (空手着 )is the uniform that is worn whilst doing Karate. Although similar to the Judogi, (Judo uniform) the Karate gi is made of a much lighter material which aids to the certain strenuous movements in Karate training

• The best quality Karate gi is made from a light canvas style cloth and the inferior Karate gi is cut from a light fabric that is similar to a summer shirt which can be easily ripped

• There is three main cut styles of Karate gi; there is the Japanese, which tends to have short sleeves and trousers in order for less restriction, there is the European cut which has long sleeves and then there is the Kata, which today is very rare which has shorter sleeves and is made for purposes like style, rather than practicality

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Martial arts in Australia is gradually getting more and more common yet with some towns embracing this sport more than others. In Australia it is quite easy to join a group that practices a form of martial arts with many options available for children and adults to involve themselves in this active sport.

The history of Korea’s Martial Arts started similar to some most other places, outside of the actual country, but despite this, Korean martial arts is almost as old as the country itself. One of the oldest known form of ground fighting in Korea is ssireum which is wresting. Imjin War (Japanese Invasion) in 1592–1598, was an event which the martial arts skills that the Korean military knew would come in great use.

Korean Martial Arts

Karate Gi

Lapel

Bottom trim of jacket

Belt

Trousers

Sleeve opening

Jacket(Uwa-gi)

(Eri)

(Obi)

(Shita)

(Sodeguchi)

(Zubon)

Sleeve(Sode)

A Karate Gi with labels showing the names of specific parts.

The Karate Gi is not only used in Karate but many other forms of Martial Arts use the same uniform or one that is very similar.

There are hundreds of weapons that were used throughout the centuries in Martial Arts, many of which would be highly illegal in particular countries if they were to be used these days although plenty of forms of Martial Arts including Karate, Wushu, Judo and Kendo can use weapons. Despite the fact that the use of weapons are still practised across the globe there are many rules and safety measures that regard how the weapons are used and when.

Types of Weapons

Weapons that are used in martial arts have always varied and have been around since the first fighting styles when people would use natural resources such as rocks. Yet weaponry has highly evolved from those days and throughout the generations of martial arts many effective weapons have been created. There are weapons

such as;

Nunchaku

Sai

Various types of creative yet gruesome knives and swords

Shaolin Monastery was inscripted as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2010 as part of the ‘Historic Monuments of Dengfeng. It has been know for its long association with the Chinese martial arts and was founded in the fifth century.

SHAOLIN MONASTERY

This Monastery is where many Chinese monks practise their martial arts and meditate as well as being a popular tourist attraction.

Lu ZijianPeople can become famous Martial Artists for many of reasons, television, movies and even books although there are some people that are not involved in any of those activities but in some peoples eyes, they are their mentor. These people are Masters, young and old that dedicate time to teach others their well earned skills. There are many Masters across the world yet the most famous of them is Lu Zijian. He was born in Yichang, Hubei Province, Mainland China on the 15 October 1893 and is known as one of the oldest men to ever live. Lu was awarded 9 Duan, which is the highest grade in Chinese Martial Arts ranking system, in 2002 and also was a gold medalist at the age of 28 at the Nanjing Yuhuatai Martial Arts Competition.

In Taekwondo, a referee always asks the competitors before the beginning of each contest to bow to show a sign of respect. Scores can be obtained by landing kicks and punches while penalties deduct points. The two types of penalties are; kyong-go, which is a warning or half penalty when the opponent either pushes, holds, grabs, turns their back on the other person or causes injury and the other gam-jeom is a one-point deduction which is used for more serious issues. Body and head protection and the appropriate uniform is also required under the rules of Taekwondo

Taekwondo Rules

Within a Karate competition there are to types of rules, the WKF and the WUKO but for this slide it will explain some very basic WUKO rules. When competing, the competitor and coach must wear the official uniform as well as the coach and referee. An attack of the face using an open-hand-technique or attack of the opponents joints is prohibited and in an official competition there can be numerous judges as well as a referee and competitors.

WUKO Karate Rules

Martial Arts in China

In this country called China martial arts virtually runs through its veins. China is known as the birthplace of many forms of martial arts. There are hundreds of different styles and schools of Chinese martial arts that combine internal and external techniques that are collectively called Kung Fu, Wushu, Kuoshu or Ch’uan Fa.

Countries

Martial arts is practiced as a popular sport across hundreds of countries and it is hard to find at least one country that does not practice a form of martial arts or have certain martial arts centers or clubs within parts of the country. Some of the many, many countries that use martial arts are:

India Philippines South Korea China USA

TournamentsTournaments, for those who are serious about their martial arts, these events are what they aim to participate in to showcase their skills and abilities as well as progress their title. Hundreds of martial arts tournaments are held across the world every year, some bigger and more significant than others.

Health and FitnessMartial arts is exceptionally great for fitness and health especially due to the fact that regardless of the style of martial arts that is being performed, they are all very active and energetic. Just some of the many fitness benefits that martial arts offers is; Weight loss, improved reflexes, better muscle tone, improved cardiovascular health, and it can even put us in a better mood.

Meditation

Meditation is an important part in many forms of martial arts especially in those that are practiced in Asia. Asian monks are very much known to use meditation a lot and believe that without a balanced mind there is no way you can possibly perform your best in martial arts.

LevelsLevels in martial arts are usually represented in objects such as colored belts that distinguish different grades. Also different titles can represent the level which an individual has achieved (e.g. master or sensei). The way that these levels are determined is usually when a grading or tournament event is held.

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BLACK BELT - World’s Leading Martial Arts Resource http://www.blackbeltmag.com/category/korean-martial-arts-history/

WKSAKook Sul Wonhttp://www.kuksoolwon.com/site/history

Bio - 14/03/13A+E Networks Corporatehttp://www.biography.com/people/bruce-lee-9542095

Wikipedia - 22/03/13http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Monastery

25/3/13http://jackiechan.com/biography

Taekwondo – 26/3/13http://www.abc.net.au/olympics/2008/sports/taekwondo/basics.htm

Wikipedia – 28/3/13Historyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate

World Union of Karate Organisation 28/3/13 Kumite and Kata Ruleshttp://homepage.eircom.net/~nmalone/rules.htm