Is Kalaripayattu the Mother of all Martial Arts?

Answer 1

Possibly, but there's really no way to tell.

personally I could care less about where Martial Arts came from, the point is they are here and have evolved to their respective points as they are, and they will continue to evolve.

The Egyptians had a hand to hand combat fighting art, the Mayans had a fighting art and both of these disciplines were reportedly recorded BEFORE any other discipline

So who really knows where the original idea of Martial Arts came from first, it goes back to the age old question (or joke if you look at it this way) which came first? the Chicken, or the Egg?

But again, I couldn't care less who developed Martial Arts first, I'm still gonna practice Martial Arts as they are today, no matter WHERE they came from.

Answer 2

Mother Of All Martial Arts

Answer 3

The debate between the mans first fighting art is between Kalari and Pankration. The only problem is that Pankration is actualy the worlds first combat fighting system proven through historic text and images dating back to 450 BC.
Kalari is only noted in stories and is described as being the use of Swards axes and sticks on the battle field. So not really a combat system more of one man swinging an axe at another guys head.
As for "Kung Fu"... GongFu as it is pronounced in Manderin, WuShu in Cantanese describes all martial arts from China. So Wing Stun, Shaolin and Mantis are all GongFu styles. Which is exactly the same as saying They are martial arts styles because GongFu translates into Martial Art. So styles that are not from China are not GongFu or "Kung Fu". There are different words to descrobe martial arts in those countries

The first martial arts arived in China in about 450 AD.

Answer 4

1 of thenparents. Kalaripayattu from India & Tae Kyun from Korea are the 2 oldest Asian Martial Arts i know of. They developed independently & both have been major influences on all other Asian Martial Arts.

Answer 5

There is some debate between Pankration and Kalaripayattu but both are ancient arts originating in the region that is now India. Both have similarities both with each other and with Shaolin Kung Fu (which is derived from Da Mo, an Indian monk who taught the Shaolin monks fighting skills to improve their health).

It is not know who Da Mo was before his trip to China so it is not known which style he used in India but he developed his own once in Shaolin and it became the birthplace of all Asian arts to follow. There are a couple of possible exceptions there though as well. Muy Thai for example may have directly descended from the Indian arts rather then from Kung Fu. But all Chinese, Korean and Japanese arts have come through Kung Fu.

Answer 6

Yes, all asian martial arts are supposed to be linked in some way or the other to Kalaripayattu which was around before most others.

Answer 7

Everywhere in the world there are martial arts styles. The maoris of newzealand have their own martial arts, for example. It seems more likely that there were different styles everywhere that were influenced by each other, rather than one that spread around the world. It has been suggested that men have a natural instinct to fight so they will always have some form or other...

Answer 8

No. Egypt have their own wrestling style. There's evidence of boxing in northern Africa long before Greece exist and norther Africa is closer to cradle of civilization. Greek and Rome have wrestling, boxing, and Pankration which definitely cannot come from Kalaripayattu.

So if anything, Kalaripatattu is probably mother of most chinese martial arts and few others, but not all.

Answer 9

I would agree with 9demon... there are other arts... if you were speaking of Oriental MA, then it would have influence definately for a good number. Just the same, fighting styles evovle.

Answer 10

ya... it is said to be the mother of all martial arts.....