According to many, the history of martial arts is as old as human existence and civilization itself. Research into martial arts history shows that martial arts has its presence in Mesopotamia, otherwise referred to as the cradle of civilization.
It is now known that martial arts existed in some form in China and the Far East, even before civilization reached these countries. Many of the principles of this ancient art are practiced even today.
Trading Could Have Started It Off
Communications between different countries in Asia existed through channels of trade and conquests. Thus it was not long before it reached India where it spread with growing popularity and got mingled with concepts of health, philosophy and religion.
As martial arts spread its wing, a lot of secrecy also started to get attached to it. The more people knew its strengths, the more it was shrouded with layers of mystery and secrecy. This has resulted in much of the origin or martial arts remaining unknown to the general public. It is known that the origin of Buddhism as a religion, started to spread from India and monks traveled far and wide especially to China.
Travelers were believed to have used martial arts as a way to defend themselves during their travel and helped the art to be introduced to China. Once the art was introduced in China it really blossomed. Of course the popularity of this art took centuries to grow and involved plenty of practitioners and maestros.
History Of Martial Arts
According to the Chinese however, the credit for the development of this art is attributed to Bodhidharma (an Indian name) who left India in search of enlightenment and reached a monastery in China around 520 A.D. The monastery situated in the Songshan mountains is the modern day's Shaolin Temple. Bodhidharma, who was known by his Chinese name Ta-Mo introduced Zen Buddhism to the Chinese. He aimed to help the Chinese monks to retain their physical strength and health and taught them physical exercises which were essentially martial arts.
As is evident, martial arts became an essential component for the maintenance of physical health, philosophy and also religion. as the art grew in China, which soon came to be known as the home of martial arts, gradually spread to other Asian countries like Japan, Korea and Philippines. In modern times, all these countries have their own individual traditions of martial arts, though heavily influenced by Chinese principles.
No matter their origin, the essential objective of learning and practicing martial arts is to defeat an opponent physically or for self defense from any physical threat. Additionally many martial arts and closely linked to various religious and philosophical beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism or Shinto, Confucianism, and even Islam (by Chinese Muslims).
Today, martial arts has evolved to more than basic health maintenance. If you are looking to take up proper martial arts training, you can begin first by checking out our free report on martial arts techniques. Go to www.MartialArtsMagic.com right now before we wise up and decide to no longer reveal our secrets!
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