Writing paper on the history of the martial arts...

[Bushido-Ruach]

Hey, Gang,

I am writing a paper on the history of the martial arts and I'm looking for suggestions on some good web sites or books where I can get some good research for.

From what I've been able to glean so far, the martial sciences seemed to be birthed in ancient Egypt with a style of spear fighting the Pharoah had his armies taught in, which would make sense since Egypt dominated the area longer than any other nation until concuered thousands of years later.

From other sources, Greece came up with early forms of martial wrestling (I can't for the life of me remember what the modern style is called, I seem to remember it starting with the letter "K" though!). From history, the next country credited with martial sciences was India, then spreading to China, Japan, and the rest we pretty much know.

Any suggestions or comments are highly appreciated.

Thanks!

[DWx]

Although not that comphrehensive, Wikipedia might be a good place to look:

History of the martial arts and Martial arts timeline

You could then persue whatever lines you wanted. I think it'll all depend on what you consider a martial art to be to as where it all came from. I'd imagine humans (or neaderthals) have always engaged in some sort of combat.

[Zanshin]

Well, as Bushido would be at pains to say, the "martial" way is is old as mankind its self, and probably all civilisations evolved their own fighting systems, be that for self protection or military purposes.

Its all about the evolution of the strong I suppose, so I think you have got your work cut out really.

Arguably; Alexander the Great was the first "documented" leader of men that set a programme of training for his forces. I don't pretend to know too much about it, but would suggest you dig deeper.

If you want to concentrate on the history of far eastern martial arts, you should research "Bodhidharma".

This is a pretty good site to start with. https://www.art-of-budo.com/karate.htm

Z

[bushido_man96]

Be careful when following the Bodhidharma tact; there is a lot more myth than fact involved in the story behind him. For histories on the evolution of Eastern styles, look at some back issues of Dragon Times/Traditional Fighting Arts magazines. They do some good research, and go beyond the commonly accepted myths on the evolution of Eastern styles.

As for the Greek aspect, look into Pankration. Greece also had a history of Boxing and Wrestling.

Well, as Bushido would be at pains to say, the "martial" way is is old as mankind its self, and probably all civilisations evolved their own fighting systems, be that for self protection or military purposes.

Well, I have to say that Zanshin must know me a bit too well by now. However, this is part of the reason that it is so hard to track down the beginning of the Martial Ways. However, it is relatively easier to research into combat strategies that civilizations used, along with the technologies that changed combat at times (i.e., gunpowder, etc.).

Good luck with your search. At any rate, you will find out some things that you probably didn't know, which will make it worthwhile, for sure.

[tallgeese]

As for the Japaneese side of things, check out Secrets of the Samurai by Ratti and Westbrook. Excellent resource and in my mind almost required reading for students of Japaneese ma's.

For swordsmanship, Daniel Craig has a few kendo books out and Heart of Kendo (i think, it's been since my SCA days since I've read them thouroughly) has a pretty good section on the evolution of kendo and it's predecessors.

[Bushido-Ruach]

Thanks for all the scoop, guys, they all sound good and "meaty".

I knew I had my work cut out for me, but now it seems like its more work than what I had originally considered.....good, gives me a target to aim for!

Keep it coming if any other ideas pop into your heads.

[KarateEd]

If it turns out to be too broad you may want to narrow your topic by just focusing on one country, region, or the early MA legends/lore/beginnings.

[Rateh]

I agree with narrowing your topic. I have to write a history of the martial arts paper for the second time now. This time I'm going to narrow it to the development of my particular art, starting back as far as I can go and working forward to where we are now. Last time I used a more general approach and picked and chose different specifics, just generally touching on eras and regions.

[NightOwl]

Be careful when researching martial arts- myth and fact tend to blend fairly easily. It can actually be pretty hard to find good sources but if you can, narrow your topic to the martial arts of one area and I think you will have an easier time. Good luck!

[Kieran-Lilith]

The beginning of the martial arts....well....Read the Bible. When Lucifer and his rebel angels were cast out of heaven, there was a war. Cain killed Abel. (Or was it the other way around?) If you use the creation myths, or the beginning of time myths that pretty much all cultures have, there's always a few good fight stories. If nothing else, you can show that fighting each other has always been a part of the human mind, and shows up in each of those places.

Also, you'd want to remember that having actual organized systems is a more recent development that you would think. There have been schools for hundreds of years, probably thousands, but before that it was fathers teaching sons and mothers teaching daughters. That would be how I would pull some of the ancient history into it.