Martial Arts History And Traditional Chinese Martial Arts

Martial Arts History and Traditional Chinese Martial Arts

The origins of Chinese martial arts are traced to self-defense needs, hunting activities and military training in ancient China. Hand to hand combat and weapons practice were important components in the training of Chinese soldiers. Eventually, Chinese martial arts became an important element of Chinese culture. The Chinese Ninja, discussion of the history of the Chinese Ninja

According to chinese martial arts history, the reign of the Yellow Emperor (Huangdi, traditional date of ascension to the throne, 2698 B.C.) introduced the earliest forms of martial arts to China. In chinese martial arts history the Yellow Emperor is described as a famous general who, before becoming China’s leader, wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology and the martial arts. He allegedly developed the practice of jiao di or horn-butting and utilized it in war. Regardless of these legends, jiao di evolved during the Zhou Dynasty (2nd millennium B.C.) into a combat wrestling system called jiao li, the practice of which in the Zhou Dynasty was recorded in the Classic of Rites. This combat system included techniques such as strikes, throws, joint manipulation, and pressure point attacks. Jiao li became a sport during the Qin Dynasty (221 - 207 B.C.). Jiao li eventually became known as shuai jiao, its modern form.

Sophisticated theories of martial arts based on the opposing ideas of yin and yang, and the integration of "hard" and "soft" techniques are recorded in the annals of the Spring and Autumn Period (722 BCE–481 BCE).

The Han chinese martial arts 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 shoubo, for which "how-to" manuals had already been written, and sportive wrestling, then known as juélì. Wrestling is also documented in the Sho´ Jì, The Records of the Grand Historian, written by Sima Qian dating from 109 BC to 91 BC.

According to chinese martial arts history, in the Tang Dynasty, descriptions of sword dances were immortalized in poems by Li Bai. In the Song and Yuan dynasties, xiangpu (the earliest form of sumo) contests were sponsored by the imperial courts. The modern concepts of wushu were fully developed by the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Martial arts are also mentioned in Chinese philosophy. Passages in the Zhuangzi, a Daoist text, pertain to the psychology and practice of martial arts. Zhuangzi, its eponymous author, is believed to have lived in the 4th century BC. The Tao Te Ching, often credited to Lao Zi, is another Daoist text that contains principles applicable to martial arts. According to one of the classic texts of Confucianism, Zhou Li, Archery and charioteering were part of the "six arts" (Traditional Chinese: Simplified Chinese: pinyin: liu yi, including rites, music, calligraphy and mathematics) of the Zhou Dynasty (1122 - 256 B.C.E.). A major work in chinese martial arts history, The Art of War, written during the 6th century B.C. by Sun Tzu, deals directly with military warfare but contains ideas that are used in the Chinese martial arts. Those examples shows that over time, the ideas associated with Chinese martial arts changed with the evolving Chinese society and over time acquired philosophical basis.

According to chinese martial arts history, Taoist practitioners have been practicing Tao Yin, physical exercises similar to Qigong that was one of the progenitors to Tai Chi Chuan, at least as early as the 500 B.C. era. In 39-92 A.D., "Six Chapters of Hand Fighting", were included in the Han Shu (history of the Former Han Dynasty) written by Pan Ku. Also, the noted physician, Hua Tuo, composed the "Five Animals Play" - tiger, deer, monkey, bear, and bird, around 220 B.C. Taoist philosophy and their approach to health and exercise can still be seen in the Internal styles of Chinese martial arts.

According to chinese martial arts history, with regards to the Shaolin style of martial arts, the oldest evidence of Shaolin participation in combat is a stele from 728 A.D. that attests to two occasions: a defense of the Shaolin Monastery from bandits around 610 A.D., and their subsequent role in the defeat of Wang Shichong at the Battle of Hulao in 621 A.D. From the 8th to the 15th centuries, there are no extant documents that provide evidence of Shaolin participation in combat. However, between the 16th and 17th centuries there are at least forty extant sources which provided evidence that, not only did monks of Shaolin practice martial arts, but martial practice had become such an integral element of Shaolin monastic life that the monks felt the need to justify it by creating new Buddhist lore. References to Shaolin martial arts in chinese martial arts history appear in various literary genres of the late Ming: the epitaphs of Shaolin warrior monks, martial-arts manuals, military encyclopedias, historical writings, travelogues, fiction, and even poetry. These sources, in contrast to those from the Tang period, refer to Shaolin methods of unarmed combat, as well as combat utilizing various weapons. These include the spear (Qiang), and with the weapon that was the forte of Shaolin monks and for which they had become famous—the staff (Gun, pronounced as juen). Martial arts history tells us that by the mid-16th century, military experts from all over China were traveling to Shaolin to study its fighting techniques. The fighting styles that are practiced today were developed over the centuries, after having incorporated forms that came into existence later. Some of these include Bagua, Drunken Boxing, Eagle Claw, Five Animals, Hsing I, Hung Gar, Lau Gar, Monkey, Praying Mantis, Fujian White Crane, Wing Chun and Tai Chi Chuan.

The present view of Chinese martial arts in martial arts history are strongly influenced by the events of the Republican Period (1912-1949). In the transition period between the fall of the Qing Dynasty as well as the turmoils of the Japanese invasion and the Chinese Civil War, Chinese martial arts became more accessible to the general public as many martial artists were encouraged to openly teach their art. At that time, some considered martial arts as a means to promote national pride and improve the health of the Nation. As a result, many martial arts training manuals were published and numerous martial arts associations were formed throughout China and in various oversea Chinese communities. The Central Guoshu Academy (Zhongyang Guoshuguan, established by the National Government in 1928 and the Jing Wu Athletic Association founded by Huo Yuanjia in 1910 are examples of organizations that promoted a systematic approach for training in Chinese martial arts. A series of provincial and national competitions were organized by the Republican government starting in 1932 to promote Chinese martial arts. In 1936, at the 11th Olympic Games in Berlin, a group of Chinese martial artists demonstrated their art to an international audience for the first time. Eventually, those events lead to the popular view of martial arts as a sport.

According to chinese martial arts history, the chinese martial arts started to spread internationally with the end of the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Many well known martial art practitioners chose to escape from the PRC's rule and migrate to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other parts of the world. Those masters started to teach within the overseas Chinese communities but martial arts history tells us that eventually they expanded their teachings to include people from other cultures.

Within China, the practice of traditional martial arts and the national memory of thier own martial arts history was discouraged during the turbulent years of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1969-1976). Like many other aspects of traditional Chinese life, martial arts was subjected to a radical transformation by the People's Republic of China in order to align it with Maoist revolutionary doctrine. The PRC promoted the committee-regulated sport of Wushu as a replacement to independent schools of martial arts. This new competition sport was disassociated from what was seen as the potentially subversive self-defense aspects and family lineages of Chinese martial arts previously exhibited by the Boxer Rebellion. In a sense they were trying to revise martial arts history for the Chinese people. Rhetorically, they also encouraged the use of the term "Kuoshu" (or Guoshu meaning "the arts of the nation"), rather than the colloquial term gongfu, in an effort to more closely associate Chinese martial arts with national pride rather than individual accomplishment. In 1958, the government established the All-China Wushu Association as an umbrella organization to regulate martial arts training. The Chinese State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports took the lead in creating standardized forms for most of the major arts. During this period, a national Wushu system that included standard forms, teaching curriculum, and instructor grading was established. Wushu was introduced at both the high school and university level. The suppression of traditional teaching was relaxed during the Era of Reconstruction (1976-1989), as Communist ideology became more accommodating to alternative viewpoints. In 1979, the State Commission for Physical Culture and Sports created a special task force to reevaluate the teaching and practice of Wushu. In 1986, the Chinese National Research Institute of Wushu was established as the central authority for the research and administration of Wushu activities in the People's Republic of China. Changing government policies and attitudes towards sports in general lead to the closing of the State Sports Commission (the central sports authority) in 1998. This closure is viewed as an attempt to partially de-politicize organized sports and move Chinese sport policies towards a more market-driven approach. As a result of these changing sociological factors within China, both traditional styles and modern Wushu approaches are being promoted by the Chinese government.

General Ngok Fei in Chinese Martial Arts History

Ngok Fei, the man and Kung Fu genius who developed the chi na joint locking, pressure point attacks, and the muscle and tendon separation methods of eagle claw, Ying Kuen, was a great Chinese military general during the Song Dynasty. more Chinese Martial Arts History on the Eagle Claw Kung Fu system

Ngok Fei was a great and successful military leader, and his success in fighting and military strategy should be studied, as all success should.

The brutal General Ngok fei wielded his armies according to six major principles. These same principles can be applied to other aspects of our lives other than decimating our military foes. Martial strategies, like those taught in "The Book of Five Rings" and "The Art of War", have been incorporated in business practices for many years. Here, I will paraphrase the six methods of Yue Fei, and apply them to Kung fu training:

1. CAREFUL SELECTION

This is simply quality over quantity. According to Chinese martial arts history, a wise practitioner would rather have only a few techniques that worked well, that they knew inside and out, rather than a million techniques that were "sketchy" and could easily be defeated.

2. CAREFUL TRAINING

Focus on your training. Ngok Fei’s men were dangerous, and were so, because Ngok Fei drilled them relentlessly. They trained,... and trained,... and trained, and not just fighting, but conditioning and endurance as well.

The bottom line is it takes work and focus to become a “master”. You must commit and train every day. You just can’t attend a weekly class, fart around in your free time, and expect to learn the inner secrets of a martial arts system.

3. JUSTICE IN REWARDS AND PUNISHMENTS

Recognize your merits and successes as well as your deficits. If you only focus on the negative:

"I should be much better than I am."

"I can’t do this technique properly."

"I'm not improving fast enough."

Etc…

You will soon associate all that negativity to training. Getting up or out to train will become increasingly more difficult, because you won’t be enjoying the results of all your hard work.

You need to celebrate your victories.

As far as punishments, according to Chinese martial arts history, Ngok Fei ordered that his own son be executed for not performing well enough during a combat drill (he was saved at the last minute, after many men pleaded for his life to be spared). Yeah, that could be considered a bit drastic today; let’s just say no credit, where no credit is due. Do not reward yourself when you haven’t put the work in.

4. CLEAR ORDERS

You must have clearly defined goals. Organization of thought and action means efficiency and facility of accomplishment. The more you define your goals, the more real they become to you, and the easier they will manifest into reality.

I’ll tell you right now how you can reach any goal you can dream of:

A) Have a goal
B) Take the necessary steps to reach it.

Simple huh?

Why didn’t you think of that?…

This simplistic notion is true in life, and it is true in Kung Fu. You must set goals, and continually work toward them.

Warning:

Do not become complacent!! If you are successful, and you reach your goals,… Set more goals.

Plan your workouts. Stay organized. Work towards your set goals.

5. STRICT DISCIPLINE

You should cultivate and hold yourself to strict standards and continual improvement. The more you train, the more you will realize that Kung Fu isn’t just a set of physical movements, but it is a method of self development. You develop more than your body in the martial arts. You develop your mind, and your spirit as well. It is a personal journey, and it is worth taking.

6. CLOSE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIS MEN

When you give respect, you get respect. The last thing you want is a bunch of pi$7 off Kung Fu fighters after you.

Treat EVERYONE well. In your School, your club, or wherever you train, this is direly important. Cultivate positive relationships. When you care for people, you are cared for. You must never consider yourself a “Master”, but rather that you are all warriors whom show each other respect. At the same time, in the Chinese martial arts, you must honor those who came before you.