Laine

1. Martial Arts
BY LAINE FENTON

2. The subject ‘The History of Martial Arts’ can prove to be quite
difficult, since Martial Arts is more like a genre of sport, and
within it, it has many different styles and types of sports.
Consequently, due to this fact, Martial Arts beholds a large
amount of history that may differ. For example, kick boxing would
most definitely have different history to those of Karate yet there
is some basic information when it comes to Martial Arts.

3. Most people think that Martial Arts originated in Asia and for a
lot of forms, it did, yet there are some parts of the world that
can be credited for their individual form and style. Although
Martial Arts is not all just the kicks and punches, it can be traced
back to the prehistoric times, when it would simply be needed
for hunting or protection where weapons such as wood and
stones were used.

4. Martial Arts has been a common film
Movies genre for years with the popular Bruce
Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li as a favourite
martial arts performers. There are
movies such as Jackie Chan’s Drunken
Master or Crouching Tiger Hidden
Dragon that have dominated and gained
massive popularity on its release and are
still popular today. There are also popular
movies such as Fist of Fury which
showcased Bruce Lee’s amazing martial
arts skills.

5. On the 27th November 1940 in San
Francisco’s Chinatown a Martial Arts
legend and inspiration that goes by
the name of Bruce Lee was born.
Bruce Lee is a famous Martial Artist
and actor who is known across the
world and holds a massive place in
history. He represented amazing
talent in various styles of Martial Arts
and held many positions in movies.
Even as a child Bruce he was seen in
around 20 movies including Golden
Gate Girl when he was just three
months old. Bruce first gained his
popularity in a television series called
The Green Hornet which aired from
1966 to 1967.

6. There are plenty well known people that have been involved in this
sport, many of which have starred in movies or television series. Artists
such as Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have always been popular yet
there are also people such as Peter Lee, (an Australian Martial artist)
Chuck Norris, and more, that have gained fame with their skills in Martial
arts.

7. Jackie Chan was born in Hong Kong on the 7th of April 1954.
He is a well know Martial Arts actor across Asia and
Western countries even to this day and has starred in
popular movies such as Drunken Master and the most
recent Karate Kid. Even as a youth Jackie would train in
Kung Fu with his father Charles Chan. Charles had hoped
that by training his son in Kung Fu he would learn qualities
such as patience, courage and strength.

8. Jackie Chan
Jackie Chan was enrolled at China Drama academy
in Hong Kong when he was 7 where he lived for 10
years learning singing, acrobats, martial arts and
acting. Unfortunately the school was preparing the
children to perform in Chinese opera and by the
time Jackie graduated at 17, Chinese opera was not
very popular so he had to find other work which
proved hard since while at the school they never
taught their students how to read or write. While
Jackie was working in Australia, he was discovered
by a man that worked in the Hong Kong movie
industry and from there got immense fame.

9. These days Taekwondo is practised in
numerous countries across the world
since its beginning point in the
country of Korea. Taekwondo is a
Korean art of self-defence (translated
it means “art of foot and hand”). It is
a combination of combat and self-
defence techniques as well as sport
and exercise.

10. The form of martial Karate is not only
arts called Karate a sport that keeps
has been popularly your body fit but
used across the also strengthens
world since 1372 your mind and
and consists of concentration.
numerous styles of Karateka is the
kicks, punches, name used for a
knee strikes and karate practitioner
elbow strikes. (teacher).

11. • Karate gi (空手着)is the uniform that is worn whilst doing
Karate. Although similar to the Judogi, (Judo uniform) the
Karate gi is made of a much lighter material which aids to the
certain strenuous movements in Karate training
• The best quality Karate gi is made from a light canvas style
cloth and the inferior Karate gi is cut from a light fabric that is
similar to a summer shirt which can be easily ripped
• There is three main cut styles of Karate gi; there is the
Japanese, which tends to have short sleeves and trousers in
order for less restriction, there is the European cut which has
long sleeves and then there is the Kata, which today is very
rare which has shorter sleeves and is made for purposes like
style, rather than practicality

12. Martial arts in Australia is gradually
getting more and more common yet
with some towns embracing this sport
more than others. In Australia it is
quite easy to join a group that
practices a form of martial arts with
many options available for children
and adults to involve themselves in
this active sport.

13. The history of Korea’s Martial Arts started similar to some
most other places, outside of the actual country, but despite
this, Korean martial arts is almost as old as the country itself.
One of the oldest known form of ground fighting in Korea is
ssireum which is wresting. Imjin War (Japanese Invasion) in
1592–1598, was an event which the martial arts skills that
the Korean military knew would come in great use.

14. A Karate Gi with labels showing
the names of specific parts. (Uwa-gi)
Jacket
Lapel
(Eri)
Sleeve opening
Sleeve
(Sodeguchi)
(Sode)
(Obi)
Belt
The Karate Gi is not only
(Shita) used in Karate but many
Bottom trim other forms of Martial
of jacket Arts use the same
uniform or one that is
very similar.
Trousers
(Zubon)

15. There are hundreds of weapons
that were used throughout the
centuries in Martial Arts, many
of which would be highly illegal
in particular countries if they
were to be used these days
although plenty of forms of
Martial Arts including
Karate, Wushu, Judo and Kendo
can use weapons. Despite the
fact that the use of weapons are
still practised across the globe
there are many rules and safety
measures that regard how the
weapons are used and when.

16. Weapons that are used in martial arts
have always varied and have been
around since the first fighting styles
when people would use natural
resources such as rocks. Yet weaponry
has highly evolved from those days and
throughout the generations of martial
arts many effective weapons have been
There are weapons created.
such as;
Nunchaku
Various types of creative yet
gruesome knives and swords
Sai

17. Shaolin Monastery was
inscripted as a UNESCO World
Heritage site in 2010 as part of
the ‘Historic Monuments of
Dengfeng. It has been know for
its long association with the
Chinese martial arts and was
founded in the fifth century.
This Monastery is where many
Chinese monks practise their
martial arts and meditate as well
as being a popular tourist
attraction.

18. People can become famous Martial Artists for many of
reasons, television, movies and even books although there are some
people that are not involved in any of those activities but in some peoples
eyes, they are their mentor. These people are Masters, young and old that
dedicate time to teach others their well earned skills. There are many
Masters across the world yet the most famous of them is Lu Zijian.
He was born in Yichang, Hubei Province, Mainland China on the 15
October 1893 and is known as one of the oldest men to ever live. Lu was
awarded 9 Duan, which is the highest grade in Chinese Martial Arts
ranking system, in 2002 and also was a gold medalist at the age of 28 at
the Nanjing Yuhuatai Martial Arts Competition.

19. In Taekwondo, a referee always asks the competitors
before the beginning of each contest to bow to show a
sign of respect. Scores can be obtained by landing kicks
and punches while penalties deduct points. The two
types of penalties are; kyong-go, which is a warning or
half penalty when the opponent either
pushes, holds, grabs, turns their back on the other
person or causes injury and the other gam-jeom is a one-
point deduction which is used for more serious issues.
Body and head protection and the appropriate uniform
is also required under the rules of Taekwondo

20. Within a Karate competition there are to
types of rules, the WKF and the WUKO but
for this slide it will explain some very basic
WUKO rules. When competing, the
competitor and coach must wear the official
uniform as well as the coach and referee. An
attack of the face using an open-hand-
technique or attack of the opponents joints
is prohibited and in an official competition
there can be numerous judges as well as a
referee and competitors.

21. Martial Arts in China
In this country called China
martial arts virtually runs through
its veins. China is known as the
birthplace of many forms of
martial arts. There are hundreds
of different styles and schools of
Chinese martial arts that combine
internal and external techniques
that are collectively called Kung
Fu, Wushu, Kuoshu or Ch’uan Fa.

22. Countries
Martial arts is practiced as a popular sport
across hundreds of countries and it is hard to
find at least one country that does not
practice a form of martial arts or have certain
martial arts centers or clubs within parts of
the country. Some of the many, many
countries that use martial arts are:
India Philippines South Korea China USA

23. Tournaments Tournaments, for those
who are serious about
their martial arts, these
events are what they aim
to participate in to
showcase their skills and
abilities as well as progress
their title. Hundreds of
martial arts tournaments
are held across the world
every year, some bigger
and more significant than
others.

24. Martial arts is exceptionally
great for fitness and health
especially due to the fact that
regardless of the style of
martial arts that is being
performed, they are all very
active and energetic. Just some
of the many fitness benefits that
martial arts offers is;
Weight loss, improved
reflexes, better muscle
tone, improved cardiovascular
health, and it can even put us in
a better mood.

25. Meditation
Meditation is an important part in many forms
of martial arts especially in those that are
practiced in Asia. Asian monks are very much
known to use meditation a lot and believe that
without a balanced mind there is no way you
can possibly perform your best in martial arts.

26. Levels
Levels in martial arts are usually represented in
objects such as colored belts that distinguish different
grades. Also different titles can represent the level
which an individual has achieved (e.g. master or
sensei). The way that these levels are determined is
usually when a grading or tournament event is held.

27. BLACK BELT -
World’s Leading Martial Arts Resource
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/category/korean-martial-arts-history/
WKSA
Kook Sul Won
http://www.kuksoolwon.com/site/history
Bio - 14/03/13
A+E Networks Corporate
http://www.biography.com/people/bruce-lee-9542095
Wikipedia - 22/03/13
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaolin_Monastery
25/3/13
http://jackiechan.com/biography
Taekwondo – 26/3/13
http://www.abc.net.au/olympics/2008/sports/taekwondo/basics.htm
Wikipedia – 28/3/13
History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate
World Union of Karate Organisation 28/3/13
Kumite and Kata Rules
http://homepage.eircom.net/~nmalone/rules.htm