Normally I leave informational posts on one of my research pages as updates, but there is no easy way to place the general history of karate in my blog, or even the general history of martial arts. According to Kaicho Nakamura, Karate originated in China. One Bodhidarma, also known by the Japanese as Daruma, left from India for China and arrived at the Shaolin Monastery, which is on the slopes of Song Mountain around 520 AD. The reason Daruma left India was to spread Buddhism, which he felt was decaying in India. During his stay, he spent a significant amount of time in meditation and physical training, during which he developed techniques to defend himself against wild animals. Daruma passed these techniques on to the Shaolin monks who incorporated the techniques into their training who eventually became well known for them. As a result of their fame, they were drawn into politics and were the most powerful under the T'ang Dynasty, which was when they had hundreds of fighting monks as well as people who worked the Shaolin farmlands. In 1928, the monastery was burned down and following that, the practice of martial arts was banned. These two actions were taken to reduce the power of the Shaolin Monastery. The self-defense techniques developed by Daruma were organized into a style which was called Wushu. Since then, kempo (temple boxing) has taken it's place.
(Information found in Karate: Technique and Spirit)
No comments:
Post a Comment