True History of Martial Arts

[foreveryoung001]

I am hoping that some of the more knowledgable folks here may be able to help me. I have been trying to find some information of the origins of some of the particular styles. To research on the web, I seem to find a bend in the general direction of whatever the personal feeling of the writer are. I see some sites that will tell me that the mjority of the Eastern Arts started in Korea, then I'll find one that says, Southern China, and even Japan. I would like to find to reliable history that I could pass along to my students. Does anyone have a link to a credible historian that may have researched this topic?

 

And help would be greatly appreciated.

[Sasori_Te]

I find it a bit disturbing that you don't seem to know the true history of you rown art. However, you are far from being alone in that respect.

 

From the research that I have done I have found the following to be generally held true.

 

1) All Eastern martial arts have indigienous qualities. That is to say that they have unique qualities that stem from the various cultures that gave rise to them.

 

2) That being said, most Eastern martial arts seem to have been influenced greatly by trade with China. The Chinese arts came to the various countries along with trade goods, diplomatic envoys and religious figures (even though Bhuddists are supposed to be pacifists).

 

3)The Chinese arts were influenced by the Indian martial arts and Yogic practices during the spread of Bhuddism from India to China thousands of years ago.

 

These are extremely general statements. The history of your own art is influenced by this description to some extent, but how much so I could not say.

[foreveryoung001]

I find it a bit disturbing that you don't seem to know the true history of you rown art.

 

Well, I do happen to know the history of Tae Kwon Do, and my particular Kwan. What I don't know is a lot of the history of, in particular, the chinese arts. It has not been something I have studied to any great degree. I am not asking for you to share your own knowledge, unless, of course, you would like to do that. I was hoping, that you might be willing to share some of the areas where you have gained that knowledge so that I may research the topic myself. The limited research I have done, does not always agree, and I am trying to come up with a general conclusion, not based on certain writers influences.

 

My local library is very small and limited in their selection on this topic, so that leads me to the internet. I was only looking for sites that people may have viewed that seem reliable, in the information that they are passing along. I apologize if it seems like I am trying to avoid doing the research myself.

[rmclain]

Hello foreveryoung001,

 

I see you are studying Chung Do Kwan. Which hyung do they teach you there?

 

R. McLain

[foreveryoung001]

Hello R. Mclain,

 

Currently we teach the Taegeuk forms. When I began in 1984, we incorporated a mix of the Palgue forms, with, if I am not mistaken, the first two Taegeuks. For the Dan ranks we use Koryo, Keumgang, Taebaek, etc... We currently follow the WTF standards.

[Sasori_Te]

Well, you are currently using one of the best research tools around. Look up martial arts. martial arts history, anything martial arts related. See if you can see any patterns. There are some good history books out there as well. Authors like Pat McCarthy and George Alexander are fairly unbiased about martial history in the East. I've found that researching history that is mostly handed down by word of mouth, you rarely find anyone in total agreement with anyone else. It's a lot of work, but I find it interesting and fun. It will also ad an element of understanding to your techniques. Good luck and good hunting.