How old is it really?

[Alan Armstrong]

Styles are logically connected to body types, terrain and military or martial advancements. They change with the times. As we have seen changes in MA in our own time. I see the connections with religion becoming less important and more connected with sports. Today MA is not a requirement for survival as it once was. I don't see the difficulty in dating styles from Asia because artists of the time would paint or sculpture what they had seen. We have adapted styles from other cultures no differently as they have. We are the latest hybrids of MA. The military have always had an interest in MA and the H2H aspects. MA history touches every culture there survival depended on it. MA is also connected with farming and hunting tools modified for battle and there inventions will also coincide with dating styles. African MA are also practiced but not often under discussion. Individuals highlights in MA come and go trending and bringing in new combatants to perpetuate the style of the day, as they did yesterday and no differently in to the future.

[Bulltahr]

I imagine that anywhere in the world , throughout the ages, where more then 1 human gathered to live together, there would have been Martial art instruction of some type or another. Most, likely died out over time. But I am sure that if history was more accurately documented, or more able to be documented at that time, pre-eqyptian times etc, it would be possible to follow backwards from Karate to where ever. Who knows tho, human have existed in the Indian region a very, very long time, so perhaps our Karate has it's absolute roots in that area. Be neat to be able to find out for sure.

[Goes back out to shed and continues building his time machine]