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| ] monks practicing the art of ].]] | {{mergeto|History of martial arts}}] monks practicing the art of ].]]Theories of the '''origins of ]''' range from the highly ] to models which show greater recognition of independent invention. | ||
| ]: 3–7) identify a number of different theories of the history of martial arts—the centralized origins theory, the shared conditions theory, the great person theory, the politico-historical conditions theory, and the sociological class theory—and state that a satisfactory account "will have to include elements of all these theories (with the exception of the centralized origins theory)". | |||
| Theories of the '''origins of ]''' range from the highly ] to models which show greater recognition of independent invention. | |||
| ==Centralized Origins Theory== | |||
| ==Origin theories== | |||
| ] (1839-1892)]] | |||
| ===Indian=== | |||
| The centralized origins theory is the idea that the origin of the various martial arts is a single person, nation, or group of people. | |||
| ] was an important influence in the development of a number of ], particularly within the ] (countries outside ] influenced by ] and religion) of ]. Examples include Indon-Malay ],<ref>Draeger, Donn F. (1992). ''Weapons and Fighting Arts of Indonesia''. pg 23. Tuttle Publishing</ref> Burmese ], ] and ],<ref>Draeger, Donn F. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts pg 155. Kodansha International.</ref> Filipino ] and ],<ref>Mark V. Wiley (1994). ''Filipino Martial Arts: Serrada Escrima'' pg21. Tuttle Publishing</ref> Thai ]<ref>Draeger, Donn F. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Kodansha International.</ref> and Cambodian ]. Indian martial arts also influenced the various forms of ] kickboxing, namely ] from ],<ref>Draeger, Donn F. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Kodansha International.</ref> ] from ], ] from ], ] from ] and ] from ].<ref>Draeger, Donn F. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Kodansha International.</ref> | |||
| ]: 4–5) give as their first example of the centralized origins theory "semilegendary figures such as the sixth-century Bodhidharma, who traveled from India to China and taught his combat exercises to the monks of the Shaolin Temple"; ]: 4–5) state that such claims have "little hard evidence or inherent credibility", and that "fundamental weaknesses...severely undermine" their credibility. | |||
| There is a proposed theory which claims that ] also impacted the fighting styles of ] through mutual influence between the two countries. Many similarities between the ] and ] have been enumerated. Though similarity does not establish the direction of influence, nor does it rule out possible ], these similarities provide suggestions towards cross-cultural exchange. Proponents of this theory point to the legend of the ] monk ] as evidence. This legend has it that ], a renowned ] was founded by ].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Cephas, Shawn | year = 1994 | month = Winter | title = The Root of Warrior Priests in the Martial Arts | journal = Kungfu Magazine}}</ref> | |||
| The first weakness is that hard historical evidence often shows the existence of purportedly derivative martial arts prior to the supposed central origin. | |||
| It is not until centuries after ]'s death that the "Jingde Chuandenglu" (1004) makes the first explicit association between ] and the ].<ref name=Lin>{{cite book | last = Lin | first = Boyuan | title = Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐ 中國武術史 | year = 1996 | publisher = Wǔzhōu chūbǎnshè 五洲出版社 | location = Taipei 臺北 | language = Chinese | pages = 182–183}}</ref> | |||
| However, it contains no record of ] teaching martial arts to the ] monks or reference to any fighting skill or martial prowess on his part.<ref name=Lin/> | |||
| The Maiden of Yue's exegesis of the ideas of ] (as recorded in the ''] of Wu and Yue'') shows that martial arts theory had reached a level of sophistication well before the arrival of Buddhism in China, let alone the construction of the Shaolin Temple or the purported arrival of Bodhidharma.<ref name=Henning1999>{{cite journal|last=Henning|first=Stanley E.|year=1999|month=|date=Fall 1999|title=Academia Encounters the Chinese Martial arts|journal=China Review International|volume=6|issue=2|pages=319–332|id={{ISSN|1069-5834}}|url=http://muse.jhu.edu/demo/china_review_international/v006/6.2henning.pdf|doi=10.1353/cri.1999.0020}}</ref> The ''] Bibliographies'' record that, by the ] (206 BCE – 8 CE), there was a distinction between no-holds-barred weaponless fighting, which it calls ''shǒubó'' (手搏), for which "how-to" manuals had already been written, and sportive wrestling, then known as juélì or ] (角力), again, centuries before the construction of the Shaolin Temple or the arrival of Bodhidharma.<ref name=Henning1999/> | |||
| The association of ] with martial arts can be traced to the ], though its authenticity has been discredited by several historians such as Tang Hao,<ref>{{cite book | author = Tang Hao 唐豪 | title = Shàolín Wǔdāng kǎo 少林武當考 | origyear = 1930 | year = 1968 | publisher = Qílín tushu | location = Hong Kong 香港 | language = Chinese}}</ref> Xu Zhen and ].<ref>{{cite book | author = Matsuda Ryuchi 松田隆智 | authorlink = Ryuchi Matsuda | title = Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐlüè 中國武術史略 | year = 1986 | publisher = Danqing tushu | location = Taipei 臺北 | language = Chinese}}</ref> This argument is summarized by modern historian Lin Boyuan in his ''Zhongguo wushu shi'' as follows: | |||
| The Greek martial art of Pankration made its Olympic debut in the Olympiad of 648 B.C.E., roughly a century before the birth of the Buddha.<ref>Poliakoff 1987</ref> According to ]: 21), Tatsuo Suzuki, ] and Masutasu Oyama, the direction of martial arts influence ran from Greece to India.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Todd | first1=Tank | last2=Webb | first2=James | year=2005 | title=Military Combative Masters of the 20th Century |ref=Tank2005}}.</ref><ref></ref> | |||
| <blockquote>As for the "Yi Jin Jing" (Muscle Change Classic), a spurious text attributed to Bodhidharma and included in the legend of his transmitting martial arts at the temple, it was written in the Ming dynasty, in 1624 CE, by the Daoist priest Zining of Mt. Tiantai, and falsely attributed to Bodhidharma. Forged prefaces, attributed to the Tang general Li Jing and the Southern Song general Niu Gao were written. They say that, after Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years at Shaolin temple, he left behind an iron chest; when the monks opened this chest they found the two books ] (Marrow Washing Classic) and ] within. The first book was taken by his disciple Huike, and disappeared; as for the second, "the monks selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Real. The Shaolin monks have made some fame for themselves through their fighting skill; this is all due to having obtained this manuscript." Based on this, Bodhidharma was claimed to be the ancestor of Shaolin martial arts. This manuscript is full of errors, absurdities and fantastic claims; it cannot be taken as a legitimate source.<ref name=Lin/></blockquote> | |||
| ]: 12) state that "India, China, and even Ancient Greece are often cited as the original sources of jujitsu. All such claims are entirely lacking in hard evidence...the whole notion of an ultimate origin of jujitsu (or any other martial art for that matter) is inherently implausible." The record of an empty-hand duel in 23 B.C. in the '']'' precedes the arrival of Buddhism in Japan, and prior documentation of schools of jujitsu precludes its attribution to the 17th century Chin Gempin;<ref name=Gracie>{{cite book |last1=Gracie |first1=Renzo |authorlink1=Renzo Gracie |last2=Danaher |first2=John |title=Mastering Jujitsu |year=2003 |publisher=Human Kinetics |ref=Gracie2003}}</ref> however, unlike Bodhidharma, there is at least contemporary documentation—in the form of the Kito-ryu kempo stele—of Chin Gempin practicing martial arts and teaching them to others.<ref name=Henning1999/> | |||
| The oldest known available copy was published in 1827<ref>{{cite book | author = Matsuda Ryuchi 松田隆智 | authorlink = Ryuchi Matsuda | title = Zhōngguó wǔshù shǐlüè 中國武術史略 | year = 1986 | publisher = Danqing tushu | location = Taipei 臺北 | language = Chinese}}</ref> and the composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624.<ref name=Lin/> According to Matsuda, none of the contemporary texts written about the Shaolin martial arts before the 19th century<ref>Such as Cheng Zongyou's ''Exposition of the Original Shaolin Staff Method'' or Zhang Kongzhao's ''Boxing Classic: Essential Boxing Methods''.</ref> mention Bodhidharma or credit him with the creation of the Shaolin martial arts. | |||
| According to ]: 4–5), it clashes with common sense that one person or group of people "should gain a unique insight into combat technique that had eluded the rest of the world...the conditions that create a need for martial skills—war and civil strife—are not unique to one region or time. The reality of conflict would naturally inspire people of every region to create a fighting system." | |||
| The association of Bodhidharma with martial arts only becomes widespread as a result of the 1904–1907 serialization of the novel ''The Travels of Lao Ts'an'' in ''Illustrated Fiction Magazine''.<ref>{{Citation | last=Henning | first=Stanley | title=Ignorance, Legend and Taijiquan | journal=Journal of the Chenstyle Taijiquan Research Association of Hawaii | volume=2 | issue=3 | year=1994 | pages=1–7 | url=http://seinenkai.com/articles/henning/il&t.pdf|format=PDF}}.</ref> | |||
| ]: 4–5) ask: "If the true foundations of the martial arts genuinely come from one birthplace and were so much superior to everything else, why do we see such variation among them? To say the people subsequently modified them at a later date is inadequate. If we can presume that autonomous development of fighting arts is that common and simple, then we can probably doubt that it took one central originator to develop them all in the first place." | |||
| ''Electronic Journals of Martial Arts and Sciences''.</ref> Shown here is the ] pose.]] | |||
| However, this does not rule out the possibility of mutual influence between the ] of ] and ] since contact between the two countries predates ]. Knowledge of the ]n arts was carried into ] by ] monks<ref>Ancient Okinawan Martial Arts Vol 1 By Pat (Patrick) McCarthy, Yuriko McCarthy, Shinken Taira, Chojun Miyagi (page 96 -97). Translated by Yuriko McCarthy. Compiled by Patrick McCarthy. Published 1999. Tuttle Publishing. Sports & Recreation. 112 pages. ISBN 0804820937</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2008}} but Joyotpaul Chaudhuri notes that too much attention is given to ] alone as ]n Buddhist monks were active in ] before ].<ref name=Jyotpaul></ref> | |||
| ==Shared Conditions Theory== | |||
| Around the 3rd century BC, the ] taught how to meditate single-mindedly on points located inside one's body, which was later used in ], while various ] finger movements were taught in ] Buddhism. These elements of ], as well as finger movements in the ''nata'' dances, were later incorporated into various ].<ref name=Svinth/><ref>The Bodhisattva warriors : the origin, inner philosophy, history, and symbolism of the Buddhist martial art within India and China by Terence Dukes (1994). Publisher: York Beach, Me. ISBN 0877287856 </ref><ref>The Spiritual Legacy of Shaolin Temple: Buddhism, Daoism, and the Energetic Arts - Page 78 by Andy James. Published 2004. Wisdom Publications. 179 pages. ISBN 0861713524 </ref><ref></ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2008}} The similarities between the posture of the ] and bong sau and bong gurk in one hand and one foot position are also noted.<ref name=Jyotpaul/> | |||
| The shared conditions theory is the idea that different people in different places at different times independently arrived at similar answers to the same problems (warfare, interpersonal conflict, crime). | |||
| The following passage by ] encapsulates the shared conditions theory:{{quotation2|As to the origin and native land of jujitsu, there are several opinions, but these are found to be mere assumptions based on narratives relating to the founding of certain schools or some incidental records or illustrations found in ancient manuscripts, not only in ], but also in China, Persia, Germany and Egypt. There is no record by which the origins of jujitsu can be definitely established. It would however, be rational to assume that ever since the creation, with the instinct of self-preservation, man has had to fight for his existence and was inspired to develop an art or skill to implement the body mechanism for this purpose. In such efforts, the development may have taken various courses according to the conditions of life or tribal circumstance, but the objects of the body being common, the results could not have been so different from each other. No doubt this is the reason for finding records relating to the practice of arts similar to jujitsu in various parts of the world....<ref>] (1960), as quoted in ]: 5).</ref>}} | |||
| The Chinese school of ] agrees with the ] school on the principle of 108 pressure points.<ref>{{cite book | last = Subramaniam Phd. | first = P., (general editors) Dr. Shu Hikosaka, Asst. Prof. Norinaga Shimizu, & Dr. G. John Samuel, (translator) Dr. M. Radhika | title = Varma Cuttiram வர்ம சுத்திரம்: A Tamil Text on Martial Art from Palm-Leaf Manuscript | year = 1994 | publisher = Institute of Asian Studies | location = Madras | pages = 90 & 91}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Reid Phd. | first = Howard, Michael Croucher | title = The Way of the Warrior: The Paradox of the Martial Arts | year = 1991 | publisher = Outlook Press | location = New York | isbn = 0879514337| pages = 58–85}}</ref> | |||
| There is strong historical evidence supporting shared conditions theory as an explanation for both the origin of martial arts, and for the similarities between various styles; instruction manuals, illustrations, and artworks depicting similar combat styles are "from areas and times that cannot possibly be related to the development of jujitsu in Japan, or anywhere else in the Far East".<ref name=Gracie/> | |||
| ], the founder of ], was convinced that a ] wall painting depicted ] and ]n monks practicing martial arts together for spiritual edification.<ref>{{cite book | last = Cox | first = Rupert A. | title = Zen Arts: An Anthropological Study of the Culture of Anesthetics Form in Japan | year = 2003 | publisher = RoutledgeCurzon in association with the ] | isbn = 0700714758 | page = 157}}</ref><ref> Since his first visit to the ], Doshin So had been impressed with the wall paintings which depicted Indian and Chinese monks training and enjoying themselves together. This method of training together stood in contrast to his own training, and he developed the idea that training should be a collaboration between partner, for the purpose of mutual progress. In ] this concept is expressed as ''otagai renshu'' (training for each other) or ''jita kyoraku'' (enjoying things with other people).</ref>{{Verify credibility|date=February 2008}} This mural, which was painted during the ] (1644–1912), is supposedly inscribed and translated in ] as "Tenjiku Naranokaku," which translates as "the fighting techniques to train the body from ] (India)..."{{Fact|date=February 2008}} Elsewhere, however, the title is given in ] as "Quanpu Bihua," which translates as "Boxing Drills Mural." | |||
| However, shared conditions theory has difficulty accounting for differences between, and change within martial arts, which are better explained by the great person, politico-historical conditions, and sociological class models. | |||
| The ] notes "Possibly the oldest ] in the world, ] is still being practiced widely today in the ]n state of ]. Shaolin chuan is said to have evolved from ]."<ref name=Discovery></ref> Similarities were also recorded by the ] in a television documentary in 1981 titled ''"Kalari, the Indian way."''<ref>Kalari, the Indian way - British Broadcasting Corporation</ref> | |||
| ==Great Person Theory== | |||
| ===Chinese=== | |||
| The great person theory is the idea that the history of the martial arts is essentially the history of individual martial artists who rose to prominence and, if they were able to recruit and teach students, established a new school or style of martial arts. | |||
| This theory is based on the documented existence of martial arts in China—and specifically at the ]—prior to the purported arrival of Bodhidharma. | |||
| ].]] | |||
| Shaolin monastery records state that two of its very first monks, Huiguang and Sengchou, were expert in the martial arts years before the arrival of Bodhidharma.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Canzonieri, Salvatore | year = 1998 | month = February–March | title = History of Chinese Martial Arts: Jin Dynasty to the Period of Disunity | journal = Han Wei Wushu | volume = 3 | issue = 9 | url = }}</ref> None of the canonical Buddhist sources associates Bodhidharma with martial arts whereas they ''do'' note Sengchou's skill with the tin staff.<ref>''Taishō Shinshū Daizōkyō'' 50.553c–554a,559b</ref> | |||
| ]: 7) draw an important distinction between the great person and centralized origins theories of martial arts: the great person theory is a model of how martial arts change and evolve, not of how the martial arts originated. | |||
| The discovery of arms caches in the monasteries of ] during government raids in 446 AD suggests that Chinese monks practiced martial arts prior to the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery in 497.<ref name=Henning2>{{cite journal | author = Henning, Stanley | year = 1999b | title = Martial Arts Myths of Shaolin Monastery, Part I: The Giant with the Flaming Staff | journal = Journal of the Chenstyle Taijiquan Research Association of Hawaii | volume = 5 | issue = 1 | url = }}</ref> | |||
| Monks came from the ranks of the population among whom the martial arts were widely practiced prior to the introduction of Buddhism.<ref name=Henning2/> | |||
| Moreover, Chinese monasteries, not unlike those of Europe, in many ways were effectively large landed estates, that is, sources of considerable wealth which required protection that had to be supplied by the monasteries' own manpower.<ref name=Henning2/> | |||
| For example, the success of the Brazilian Gracie family in vale tudo and mixed martial arts competition convincingly demonstrated the value of ground grappling to the broader community of martial artists.<ref name=Gracie/> | |||
| In addition, the ''Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue'', the ''Bibliographies in the Book of the Han Dynasty'' and the ''Records of the Grand Historian'' all document the existence of martial arts in China before Bodhidharma. | |||
| The martial arts '']'' and ''] Quan'', to name two, predate the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery by centuries.<ref>{{cite journal | first = Salvatore | last = Canzonieri | title = The Emergence of the Chinese Martial Arts | journal = Han Wei Wushu | issue = 23 }}</ref> | |||
| ==Politico-Historical Conditions Theory== | |||
| ===Prehistoric=== | |||
| ].]] | |||
| Building on the work of ] (], ]), {{Harvcoltxt|Rudgley|2000}} argues that ], ] and the martial arts of the Chinese, Japanese and Aleut peoples all have "roots in the prehistoric era and to a common ] ancestral people who inhabited north-eastern Asia."<ref>{{cite book | last = Rudgley | first = Richard | authorlink = Richard Rudgley | title = The Lost Civilizations of the Stone Age | origyear = 1999 | year = 2000 | publisher = Simon & Schuster}}{{Verify credibility|date=November 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last=Laughlin | first=William S. | author-link=William S. Laughlin | year=1961 | publication-date=2004 | contribution=Acquisition of Anatomical Knowledge by Ancient Man | editor-last=Washburn | editor-first=Sherwood L | editor-link=Sherwood Washburn | title=Social Life of Early Man | publication-place=London | publisher=Routledge | pages=150–175}}.</ref><ref>{{Citation | last=Marsh | first=Gordon H. | last2=Laughlin | first2=William S. | author2-link=William S. Laughlin | year=1956 | title=Human Anatomical Knowledge among the Aleutian Islanders | periodical=Southwestern Journal of Anthropology | volume=12 | issue=1 | pages=38–78}}.</ref> | |||
| According to politico-historical conditions theory, changes in direction and development of the martial arts are often in response to changing political, historical, and cultural conditions. | |||
| ===Greek=== | |||
| {{Harvcoltxt|Todd|Webb|2005|p=21}} claims that "when ] expanded his empire to stretch as far as India, he may have sown the seeds of modern Asian martial arts."<ref>{{Citation | last=Todd | first=Tank | last2=Webb | first2=James | year=2005 | title=Military Combative Masters of the 20th Century}}.</ref> Tatsuo Suzuki, ] and Masutasu Oyama have proposed an influence of ] on Indian martial arts.<ref></ref> However, this theory lacks any evidence and is based entirely on conjecture. Wrestling was practiced in India even before the ]s,<ref>Draeger, Donn F. (1981). Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts. Kodansha International.</ref> predating Alexander the Great. To assume that Greece had an unprovable impact on the fighting traditions of the planet's oldest surviving culture runs contrary to logic.<ref> {{Fact|date=December 2008}}</ref> | |||
| ==Influence of Dharmic Religions== | |||
| ] infusion was vital in the development of Asian fighting systems.<ref name=Jyotpaul/> It is possible to trace the history of Buddhist influence on martial arts from India to ].<ref>Teaching Buddhism in the West: From the Wheel to the Web By Richard P. Hayes, Victor Sōgen Hori, James Mark Shields (page 123). | |||
| Published 2002. Routledge (UK). 234 pages. ISBN 0700715568</ref>{{Failed verification|date=February 2008}} | |||
| ===Establishment of the Shaolin Monastery=== | |||
| In 495, the ] was built by order of ] for the preaching of ], the ]n ] master who was its first abbot. | |||
| ===Mudra positions=== | |||
| ] Mudrā]] | |||
| ] are arm and hand positions used in the traditions of ] and ]. The historic ] knew the use of mudras and is often depicted using these ritual gestures. Various Kung Fu forms contain positions identical to these mudras.<ref>Barefoot Zen: The Shaolin Roots of Kung Fu and Karate By Nathan J. Johnson. Published 2000. Weiser. ISBN 1578631424. pg 48</ref> | |||
| ===Symbolism and nomenclature=== | |||
| Elements from ], like the ], ], and the fierce ] were modified and converted into the protectors of ]; these mythical figures from the ]s family figure prominently in Shaolin boxing, Chang boxing and Stave fighting.<ref>Scholar Boxer: Chang Naizhou's Theory of Internal Martial Arts and the Evolution of Taijiquan By Marnix Wells, Chang Naizhou. Published 2005. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1556434820. pg 23</ref> | |||
| The religious figures from Dharmic religions also figure in the movement and fighting techniques of Chinese martial arts.<ref>Scholar Boxer: Chang Naizhou's Theory of Internal Martial Arts and the Evolution of Taijiquan By Marnix Wells, Chang Naizhou. Published 2005. North Atlantic Books. ISBN 1556434820. pg 200</ref> | |||
| ==Bodhidharma== | |||
| ===Origins of Bodhidharma=== | |||
| The claim that Bodhidharma was South Indian has its origins in Tanlin's preface to the '']'', which does not specify Bodhidharma's ].{{Quotation|The Dharma Master was a South Indian of the Western Region.<ref>"Western Region" is the Chinese literary term for the region that encompasses the territory between present-day Kazakhstan in the north and the tip of the Indian subcontinent in the south. "The Dharma Master was from South India, which is part of the Western Region" is a valid interpretation of this sentence.</ref> He was the third son of a great Indian King.<ref>{{cite book | author=Broughton, Jeffrey L. | title=The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen | location=Berkeley | publisher=University of California Press | year=1999 | isbn=0-520-21972-4}}</ref>|Tanlin|The Two Entrances and Four Acts'' (pre-645)'}}'''Roughly a century after Bodhidharma's death, Daoxuan faithfully copied Tanlin's preface for his account of Bodhidharma's life in the "Xu Gaoseng Zhuan" but added that Bodhidharma was of Brahmin descent.{{Quotation|Bodhidharma of South Indian Brahman stock.<ref>{{cite book | author=Dumoulin, Heinrich | authorlink=Heinrich Dumoulin | title=Zen Buddhism: A History, India and China | location=Bloomington | publisher=] | year=2005 | isbn=0-941532-89-5}}</ref>|Daoxuan|Xu Gaoseng Zhuan'' (645)'}}''' | |||
| No ] specifies the year, the kingdom or the ] into which Bodhidharma was born. | |||
| The earliest known reference to Bodhidharma is ]'s eyewitness account, which identifies Bodhidharma specifically as a Persian from Central Asia: {{Quotation|At that time there was a monk of the Western Region named Bodhidharma, a Persian Central Asian. He traveled from the wild borderlands to China.<ref name=Broughton>Broughton 1999:54</ref>|Yang Xuanzhi|The Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Lo-yang'' (547)}} | |||
| {{Harvcoltxt|Broughton|1999}} elaborates, "The intriguing line, of course is ''po-szu kuo hu-jen'' ("a Persian Central Asian")....the term ''hu'' relates to Central Asia and particularly to peoples of Iranian extraction. What we seem to have is an Iranian speaker who hailed from somewhere in Central Asia," and goes on to say that "an early sixth-century Iranian Buddhist master who made his way to North China via the fabled Silk Road…is, in fact, more likely than a South Indian master who made his way by the sea route". However, {{Harvcoltxt|Broughton|1999}} also states: "Of course Yang may have been referring to another Bodhidharma. His record mentions a Bodhidharma twice in passing. This minor player's role is merely to illustrate that even a Westerner could be astonished by the imposing stupas and monasteries of metropolitan Lo-yang."<ref>{{Harvcolnb|Broughton|1999|p=54}}: {{quote|"Of course Yang may have been referring to another Bodhidharma. His record mentions a Bodhidharma twice in passing. This minor player's role is merely to illustrate that even a Westerner could be astonished by the imposing stupas and monasteries of metropolitan Lo-yang."}}</ref> | |||
| ===Influence=== | |||
| ] (1839-1892)]] | |||
| ] is associated with the idea that spiritual, intellectual and physical excellence are an indivisible whole necessary for enlightenment. Such an approach to enlightenment ultimately proved highly attractive to the ] class in Japan, who made ] their way of life, following their encounter with the | |||
| martial-arts-oriented Zen ] introduced to Japan by ] in the 12th century. Yet in some versions of his legend, Bodhidharma's focus was so single-minded during his nine years of meditation that his legs atrophied.<ref>Dumoulin 2005:86</ref> | |||
| ] is credited with the establishment of the ] sect of ].<ref>Manual of Zen Buddhism: NEW ED. By ]. Page 182. ISBN 0802130658</ref> Bodhidharma arrived in ] during the 5th century. He stayed and taught for several years in the Shaolin temple. | |||
| The pavilion named after ] is in the main building of the ] monastery, the First patriarch temple built in his honor stands in the monastery complex some distance from the main building, and the cave behind the building is called the Bodhidharma cave.<ref>The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense, Health and Enlightenment By Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit (page 186). Published 2002. Tuttle Publishing. 215 pages. ISBN 0804834393 </ref> The ] "What is the intention of the first patriarch coming from the west?" is frequently used to test the student' development in Zen cultivation.<ref>Complete Book of Zen by ]. ]. ISBN 0804834415</ref> | |||
| {{Harvcoltxt|Dumoulin|2005}} argues that Zen also has roots in ] practices, specifically ''kammaṭṭhāna'', the consideration of objects, and ''kasiṇa'', total fixation of the mind. | |||
| ], 4th generation successor of the Southern Shaolin Monastery writes:<ref name=Kit>The Art of Shaolin Kung Fu: The Secrets of Kung Fu for Self-Defense, Health and Enlightenment by ]. Published 2002. Tuttle Publishing. 215 pages. ISBN 0804834393 </ref>- | |||
| <blockquote> | |||
| It was during this time that the Venerable Bodhidharma came from India to China to spread Buddhism. In 527 CE he settled down in the Shaolin monastery in Henan province, and inspired the development of Shaolin Kung Fu. This marked a watershed in the history of Kung Fu, because it led to a change of course, as Kung Fu became institutionalized. Before this, martial arts were known only in general sense. | |||
| </blockquote> | |||
| ], like the ] of ], have existed before the arrival of ]. ]'s status in ] is due to his role in the ''institutionalization'' of ], presumably by introducing exercises, meditation, discipline, newer techniques etc. to the native fighting methods during his tenure at the Shaolin monastery.<ref name=Kit/> | |||
| It has been suggested that these techniques which are the foundation for many ] today were never originally intended to be utilized as methods of fighting but were a manner in which the monks could attain enlightenment while preserving their bodies' health.<ref></ref><ref> </ref> ] writes that during lectures on Buddhism, a number of Bodhidharma's followers succumbed to exhaustion. Daruma then presented method of developing the mind and body.<ref name=Ginchin> | |||
| Karate-dō kyōhan: the master text By ]. Kodansha International. ISBN 0870111906. ("Although the way of Buddha is preached for the soul, the body and the soul are inseparable. As I look now, I think it is likely you will not complete your training because of your exhaustion. For this reason, I shall give you a method by which you can develop your physical strength enough to enable yourselves to attain the essence of the way of Buddha." - page 6) | |||
| </ref> With it, the monks were able to recover their spiritual and physical strength.<ref name=Ginchin/> | |||
| By the end of the ], these exercises were extensively developed by the monks and were used in basic self defense applications that were evasive and non-confrontational.<ref name=Canzonieri>Canzonieri, Salvatore (1996) "Legacy of Shaolin Fighting Monks"</ref> | |||
| The growing concern for safety and practical self defence led to the development of more efficient martial arts. Techniques were absorbed (mostly from ], Mongolian Shuai Jiao, and Muslim defensive systems) and combined with the arts already created to develop ], known as ].<ref name=Canzonieri/ | |||
| ==Sociological Class Theory== | |||
| ==See also== | |||
| Sociological class theory is the idea that every culture has a class system that ranks citizens into various groups based on income, occupation, lineage, and so on. | |||
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Revision as of 02:41, 31 March 2009
 | It has been suggested that this article be merged into History of martial arts. (Discuss) |
Theories of the origins of Asian martial arts range from the highly diffusionist to models which show greater recognition of independent invention.
Gracie & Danaher (2003: 3–7) identify a number of different theories of the history of martial arts—the centralized origins theory, the shared conditions theory, the great person theory, the politico-historical conditions theory, and the sociological class theory—and state that a satisfactory account "will have to include elements of all these theories (with the exception of the centralized origins theory)".
Centralized Origins Theory
The centralized origins theory is the idea that the origin of the various martial arts is a single person, nation, or group of people.
Gracie & Danaher (2003: 4–5) give as their first example of the centralized origins theory "semilegendary figures such as the sixth-century Bodhidharma, who traveled from India to China and taught his combat exercises to the monks of the Shaolin Temple"; Gracie & Danaher (2003: 4–5) state that such claims have "little hard evidence or inherent credibility", and that "fundamental weaknesses...severely undermine" their credibility.
The first weakness is that hard historical evidence often shows the existence of purportedly derivative martial arts prior to the supposed central origin.
The Maiden of Yue's exegesis of the ideas of "hard" and "soft" in the martial arts (as recorded in the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue) shows that martial arts theory had reached a level of sophistication well before the arrival of Buddhism in China, let alone the construction of the Shaolin Temple or the purported arrival of Bodhidharma. The Han History Bibliographies record that, by the Former Han (206 BCE – 8 CE), there was a distinction between no-holds-barred weaponless fighting, which it calls shǒubó (手搏), for which "how-to" manuals had already been written, and sportive wrestling, then known as juélì or jiǎolì (角力), again, centuries before the construction of the Shaolin Temple or the arrival of Bodhidharma.
The Greek martial art of Pankration made its Olympic debut in the Olympiad of 648 B.C.E., roughly a century before the birth of the Buddha. According to Todd & Webb (2005: 21), Tatsuo Suzuki, Hirokazu Kanazawa and Masutasu Oyama, the direction of martial arts influence ran from Greece to India.
Gracie & Danaher (2003: 12) state that "India, China, and even Ancient Greece are often cited as the original sources of jujitsu. All such claims are entirely lacking in hard evidence...the whole notion of an ultimate origin of jujitsu (or any other martial art for that matter) is inherently implausible." The record of an empty-hand duel in 23 B.C. in the Nihongi precedes the arrival of Buddhism in Japan, and prior documentation of schools of jujitsu precludes its attribution to the 17th century Chin Gempin; however, unlike Bodhidharma, there is at least contemporary documentation—in the form of the Kito-ryu kempo stele—of Chin Gempin practicing martial arts and teaching them to others.
According to Gracie & Danaher (2003: 4–5), it clashes with common sense that one person or group of people "should gain a unique insight into combat technique that had eluded the rest of the world...the conditions that create a need for martial skills—war and civil strife—are not unique to one region or time. The reality of conflict would naturally inspire people of every region to create a fighting system."
Gracie & Danaher (2003: 4–5) ask: "If the true foundations of the martial arts genuinely come from one birthplace and were so much superior to everything else, why do we see such variation among them? To say the people subsequently modified them at a later date is inadequate. If we can presume that autonomous development of fighting arts is that common and simple, then we can probably doubt that it took one central originator to develop them all in the first place."
Shared Conditions Theory
The shared conditions theory is the idea that different people in different places at different times independently arrived at similar answers to the same problems (warfare, interpersonal conflict, crime).
The following passage by Gunji Koizumi encapsulates the shared conditions theory:
As to the origin and native land of jujitsu, there are several opinions, but these are found to be mere assumptions based on narratives relating to the founding of certain schools or some incidental records or illustrations found in ancient manuscripts, not only in Japan, but also in China, Persia, Germany and Egypt. There is no record by which the origins of jujitsu can be definitely established. It would however, be rational to assume that ever since the creation, with the instinct of self-preservation, man has had to fight for his existence and was inspired to develop an art or skill to implement the body mechanism for this purpose. In such efforts, the development may have taken various courses according to the conditions of life or tribal circumstance, but the objects of the body being common, the results could not have been so different from each other. No doubt this is the reason for finding records relating to the practice of arts similar to jujitsu in various parts of the world....
There is strong historical evidence supporting shared conditions theory as an explanation for both the origin of martial arts, and for the similarities between various styles; instruction manuals, illustrations, and artworks depicting similar combat styles are "from areas and times that cannot possibly be related to the development of jujitsu in Japan, or anywhere else in the Far East".
However, shared conditions theory has difficulty accounting for differences between, and change within martial arts, which are better explained by the great person, politico-historical conditions, and sociological class models.
Great Person Theory
The great person theory is the idea that the history of the martial arts is essentially the history of individual martial artists who rose to prominence and, if they were able to recruit and teach students, established a new school or style of martial arts.
Gracie & Danaher (2003: 7) draw an important distinction between the great person and centralized origins theories of martial arts: the great person theory is a model of how martial arts change and evolve, not of how the martial arts originated.
For example, the success of the Brazilian Gracie family in vale tudo and mixed martial arts competition convincingly demonstrated the value of ground grappling to the broader community of martial artists.
Politico-Historical Conditions Theory
According to politico-historical conditions theory, changes in direction and development of the martial arts are often in response to changing political, historical, and cultural conditions.
Sociological Class Theory
Sociological class theory is the idea that every culture has a class system that ranks citizens into various groups based on income, occupation, lineage, and so on.
References
- ^ Henning, Stanley E. (Fall 1999). "Academia Encounters the Chinese Martial arts" (PDF). China Review International. 6 (2): 319–332. doi:10.1353/cri.1999.0020. ISSN 1069-5834.
{{cite journal}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|month=(help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Poliakoff 1987
- Todd, Tank; Webb, James (2005). Military Combative Masters of the 20th Century..
- History and background of Pankration
- ^ Gracie, Renzo; Danaher, John (2003). Mastering Jujitsu. Human Kinetics.
- Koizumi (1960), as quoted in Gracie & Danaher (2003: 5).