Asian Martial Arts .... a brief look at early history , may have derived from the ancient Greeks (not far fetched ) then spread by Buddhist Monks out of India
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This brief history is dedicated to Master Jonathan C. Henkel, 6th Dan, Chung Do Kwan.
by R.E. Dohrenwend, PhD
Early History
The Chinese boxing styles which predated the introduction of Buddhism to China, are quite likely Taoist in philosophical orientation, and the roots for the modern Tai Chi, Pa Kua and Hsing-i Chinese styles. It is possible that not only these styles, but the attitudes characterizing ideal martial artists originated with the yu-hsia of the Period of the Warring States (403-221 BC) (7). This means that there are two major branches of the Chinese unarmed martial arts, one (generally Taoist in philosophy) (8) , older than the other. This is important, as the evidence suggests that an unarmed fighting system may have been practiced in northern Koguryo as early as ca. 37 BC. Sculptures and pictures of the Koguryo dynasty (109BC-668AD) show postures that could represent early kinds of empty hand fighting. However, as this evidence is equally compelling as proof for Chinese origins (9) , it is more likely that the ancient roots for the roots for Korean martial arts lie not in Korea but in China and that the early unarmed martial arts of Koguryo Korea may in fact simply be these early Taoist forms of Chinese boxing, as spread by the yu-hsia. (10)
In general, it would seem that most Asian martial arts per se in China, Korea, Okinawa, and Japan, derive from a combination of indigenous, relatively primitive (11) , techniques with the more highly organized Buddhist fighting arts as these were spread from India by missionaries. It is quite possible that these Buddhist martial arts owe much of their early development to an ancient Greek martial art, the Pankration (various spellings) (12) , which was the very first eclectic martial art for which we have firm documentation. This art became an Olympic event in 648 BC, a date which antedates any archeological sources in Korea. The art included boxing, kicking, sweeping, grappling, joint locks, and choking. The Pyrrhic Dance, a Greek martial dance which could be performed armed or unarmed, similar to modern kata or poomse, existed at the same time and was possibly used as a teaching tool for the techniques of the Pankration (13) .
The idea that this Greek art is one of the major sources of all Asian unarmed martial arts today is not at all far-fetched. Alexander the Great was a Pankration enthusiast, and the Pankration, foremost among other Greek martial sports, went into Asia as far as India with Alexander’s armies of conquest. Alexander was the greatest general of his time and one of the greatest generals of all time. He and his armies enjoyed enormous prestige everywhere in the ancient world. Instruction in the favored martial art of that army would be highly valued by any soldier or warrior of the period.
There is an historical gap between the time of Alexander and the era where we find an elite caste of warriors in India, the Ksatreya, who practiced the martial art Vajramukti, which included nata forms similar to kata. The nata forms can only be documented by the time of the Gupta dynasty in India (4th to 7th century AD), and at this time they were closely connected to Buddhism. Although indigenous martial practices undoubtedly existed throughout Asia at this time, it is possible that the addition of Buddhist mental exercises to clearly formulated Greek techniques gave rise to Vajramukti (Chinese: Chuan Fa; Japanese: Kempo). This Indian martial art accompanied the missionaries who spread Buddhism from India into China (1AD to 600AD). It was probably a very gradual process, but legend has attributed the introduction of these techniques to a single Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma. This monk supposedly combined Indian techniques with an existing style of Chinese boxing, formalized this combination, and taught it to the Buddhist community at the Shaolin temple in Honan as a means of spiritual meditation as well as effective self-defense.
Chuan Fa or, incorrectly, Kung Fu spread from the Shaolin temples all over China during the Chinese Tang dynasty (618-907), and it eventually separated into several distinct styles or schools. At this period, there was a great deal of military, political, and economic exchange between China and Korea, and it is likely that the techniques of Chuan Fa were adopted in Korea to become Subak. During the Silla dynasty (668-935), which unified Korea, the southern part of the peninsula was introduced to Subak, and Chinese combat forms (Hsing) or kata were used to train Korean warriors. The subsequent Koryo Dynasty (935-1392), saw a standardization of schools of empty hand combat under the names of Subak and Kwonpup (Chuan fa if the characters are read in Chinese). Korea was not always defined by its present political boundaries, and large areas of Manchuria passed back and forth from Chinese to Korean control allowing for an appreciable interchange of martial ideas and techniques among wariors and soldiers. Traveling scholars and monks would also have helped spread these ideas and techniques.
It is possible that Subak and the Chinese combat forms were used as a part of the training of the Hwarang. The Hwrang (14) (572-935 AD) (15) have a legendary relationship to Korean martial arts. These legends are as compelling in Korean as the legends of the King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table in English, and the Hwarang’s existence seems to be better documented (16) . But in spite of the legends, however suggestive, there is no historical justification for the common assumption that the Hwarang are related to any modern Korean martial art in the same way as the Samurai of Japan (17) . Available sources do not support such a conclusion.
These very limited sources do suggest that the Hwrang were both more and less than the Japanese Bushi or Samurai. First, they were not warriors. They bear no relationship to orders of European knighthood. They may have become and commanded warriors after having been Hwarang, but as Hwrang, they were not warriors. The Hwrang were not a part of the Silla army. Unlike the Samurai, they were not a particular social class, and they were not hereditary. They did not emphasize the unarmed martial arts, but rather trained in archery and fencing, with particular emphasis on archery. They did not follow Hwrang as a Do, for they left the Hwrang as they became older. They have some resemblance to the Japanese Yamabushi in their preference for training in mountains and wilderness. But they were not monks, and they did not remain in the mountains.
This is what they were not. What were they? The Hwrang were always the youth; they were always young, and this is important. Their training or education focused heavily on philosophy, the Chinese classics, and on religion. Their religious training seems to have been Buddhism heavily influenced by Taoism or indigenous animism, but the main goal of their training was Confucian in intent. They were a group of elite young men under training for positions of high authority and leadership in Korea during the second half of the Silla dynasty. The purpose of Hwrang training was to prepare the very best young men in the Silla Kingdom to occupy such positions in an honorable, restrained, responsible, dignified, and courageous manner. In brief, the Hwrang were students in a very demanding preparatory course. This training succeeded so well that the Hwrang have been an example of the best in Korea for over 1000 years. However, the historical Hwrang appear to have no direct connection with Tae Kwon Do or with the other martial arts of modern Korea (18) .
Subak continued as the Korean unarmed martial art until the end of the Koryo or beginning of the Yi Dynasty (1393-1910) when it subsequently divided into Tae Kyon (a striking art) and Yu Sul ( a grappling art - {chin na, yu sul and jujutsu are written the same way in Chinese}). Yu Sul appears to have died out, leaving Tae Kyon as the only surviving aspect of Subak. (The name Tae Kyon is not recorded until the 18th century at the earliest, so any earlier Korean fighting art is still correctly called Subak. The term "Tae Kyon" {in Korean Taek Gyeon} is not linguistically related to the term Tae Kwon Do.)
The latter half of the Yi Dynasty was characterized by Neo-Confucianism, which brought the martial arts into disfavor, and Tae Kyon nearly died out. In 1759 (1790<img src=icon_smile_question.gif border=0 align=middle>), King Chongjo ordered Gen. Lee Duck Moo to compile an illustrated official text of all martial arts, the Muye Dobo Tongj, which contained one chapter dealing with empty handed martial arts, identified as Kwonpup (Chuan Fa). But during the 18th-19th and early 20th centuries no organized martial arts instruction was available, and Tae Kyon was studied in secret, largely within certain families. |
