Did Martial Arts Originate in India???

Question

I have read in a few sources that it did, but many have trouble believing it. Does anyone know factually where martial arts originated from?

Answer 1

Historically, a Buddhist monk from India came to to the Shaolin temple and Kung Fu was born. Okinawan karate came from Chinese Kung Fu.

So, in a sense, Kung Fu and Karate originated from India. This is not true for all Chinese and Japanese martial arts such as Kendo or TaiChi.

So in short, not all martial arts orginated from India, but historically, you can trace the origin of Karate and Kung Fu to India.

Answer 2

Where Did Martial Arts Originated

Answer 3

Every culture developed their own martial art. People always think of Asian styles when they heard "martial art". But every culture has their own style. So, no India did not originate martial arts. they may have documented it better than other countries. But even in Egypt they have uncovered hieroglyphs that depict martial arts very similar to karate.

Answer 4

India was indeed a cradle of Martial arts. Buddhist Monks, most notably Boddidarma, took it to China & from there it spread to Korea & Okinawa. Japan got them somewhat later. There were also indiginous arts in Korea that influenced the Chinese arts in Korea & even China.

Answer 5

The meaning of Kung-Fu is "to know what to do." Although many people don't know who invented the art, of Kung-Fu it was thought to be thousands of years old. The reason why Kung-Fu was invented, was to protect the monks, who lived in the Shaolin Taoist temple in the Shangshon mountains, from attacks by robbers. Kung-Fu is now one of the top martial arts in the world.

Later on another martial art was invented. The person that brought the art was named Bodhi Dharma. Bodhi Dharma was a wanderer from India who traveled to China. He started the art of Shaolin Kung-Fu. He invented it for the monks because they were very weak and defenseless. The most important thing about Bodhi Dharma was that the Shaolin martial art helped to develop many other martial arts.

Answer 6

Martial arts did not originate there because each country had their own national heritage of martial arts tought from family to family and passed down.

I am sure that it developed and originated it's own forms and styles, but no documentation exists that I have heard of or found that will point to a single source of all martial arts.

We non fiction anyway. Ever read the Destroyer series about Shinanju?

Answer 7

Nobody REALLY knows but what people CAN do is infer from archaeological discoveries. There is evidence of codified fighting techniques or combat sports everywhere in the world from various time periods but there is no evidence that all such techniques come from a single source. Also, consider the way technology has changed warfare over the centuries. People have had to physically defend themselves since the dawn of civilization and surely even before that.

Answer 8

like the guys said, no one really knows.. there are many theories to go around.. there are only so many ways to strike and kick and grapple so it's natural that many arts are similar without being related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts#History

but actually the earliest depictions of people performing martial arts were found in africa. many believe that from there, they were carried into inda, and from there bodhidarma ventured to china were he began teaching the shoalin monks and from there it migrated to okinawa and then mainland japan...

but like i said, no one really knows.. one thing about martial arts, we don't let fact or historic integrity get in the way of a mystically good story...

check out the latest issue of black belt magazine for an interesting article by an american buddist monk who has ventured to hong kong in search of martial arts origins..

~*winkz*~

Answer 9

Yes, an Indian monk named Bodhidharma went to China and developed Wushu (or Kung Fu, whatever you want to call it) with the Shaolin monks. I've heard many other martial artists say that Wushu is "the grandfather of martial arts" and I don't really doubt it. But technically, the guy who taught the Shaolin was Indian so perhaps it may have started in India.

Answer 10

I actually collect stories of how Yoga got started, being a qualified Yoga teacher I recite these to the classes that I teach and have only last year heard the story of the brown men coming from India to china. These warrior had a set of routine exercises that they did to keep fit and stave off illness, something we can learn from even today. Being warriors the were likely armed, being men they were likely interested in showing how strong/ fast/ macho they were to a new society or culture.

In Scotland we have MacClashin stone, large stones atop gate piers, if you visited from another clan they would get you all liqueured up and invite you test your strength against there best by lifting these stone up onto a post. Macho bull stuff, hope that brings some logic to this discussion.