Chinese martial arts
Kunal Agarwal
East Asian Civilization
12/06/13
Martial Arts Tradition in Contemporary China The start of martial arts in China came about for the same reasons it did in every other culture. In order to aid in hunting activities and to protect against enemies. Along with this, evidence of martial techniques, including those tied to weapons go back thousands of years. It said that the China's Yellow Emperor Hung Di, who took the throne in 2698 B.C., began to create these arts. He invented a form of wrestling taught to the troops that involved the use of horned helmets called Horn Butting or Jiao Di. Eventually, Jiao Di was improved upon to include joint locks, strikes, and blocks and even became a sport during the Qin Dynasty. It is also important to know that the Chinese martial arts have held philosophical and spiritual significance within the culture. It grew alongside the ideas of Confucianism and Taoism during the Zhou Dynasty. For example, the Taoist concept of Ying and Yang, the universal opposites, ended up being tied in a large way to the hard and soft techniques that make up what is kung fu. The arts also became a part of the concepts of Confucianism, as they were tied to the ideal things people should practice. This is why I think it is important to talk about Buddhism in terms of kung fu. Buddhism made its way to China from India as relations between the two countries grew. However, it was the arrival of the Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidarma, at the new Shaolin Temple, who official bought Buddhism to martial arts, particularly Kung fu. It said that Bodhidarma changed the monks way of thinking by nurturing them with concepts about humility, and self control. It is said that he also intensively trained them in Kung fu. Although its not clear on how much Bodhidarm trained the monks, one thing is for sure, after Bodhidarm's arrival the monks became experts on Kung fu. Kung fu is mainly a striking style of martial arts that utilizes kicks,
East Asian Civilization
12/06/13
Martial Arts Tradition in Contemporary China The start of martial arts in China came about for the same reasons it did in every other culture. In order to aid in hunting activities and to protect against enemies. Along with this, evidence of martial techniques, including those tied to weapons go back thousands of years. It said that the China's Yellow Emperor Hung Di, who took the throne in 2698 B.C., began to create these arts. He invented a form of wrestling taught to the troops that involved the use of horned helmets called Horn Butting or Jiao Di. Eventually, Jiao Di was improved upon to include joint locks, strikes, and blocks and even became a sport during the Qin Dynasty. It is also important to know that the Chinese martial arts have held philosophical and spiritual significance within the culture. It grew alongside the ideas of Confucianism and Taoism during the Zhou Dynasty. For example, the Taoist concept of Ying and Yang, the universal opposites, ended up being tied in a large way to the hard and soft techniques that make up what is kung fu. The arts also became a part of the concepts of Confucianism, as they were tied to the ideal things people should practice. This is why I think it is important to talk about Buddhism in terms of kung fu. Buddhism made its way to China from India as relations between the two countries grew. However, it was the arrival of the Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidarma, at the new Shaolin Temple, who official bought Buddhism to martial arts, particularly Kung fu. It said that Bodhidarma changed the monks way of thinking by nurturing them with concepts about humility, and self control. It is said that he also intensively trained them in Kung fu. Although its not clear on how much Bodhidarm trained the monks, one thing is for sure, after Bodhidarm's arrival the monks became experts on Kung fu. Kung fu is mainly a striking style of martial arts that utilizes kicks,