Introduction to Japanese Martial Arts

Japanese Martial Arts also commonly interchanged with “Budo” or “Bujutsu” literally means the art of war and/or the application of the Japanese Martial Art techniques in actual combat scenario.

It all started back in the Samurai eras where all the warriors are expected to master various combat weapons as well as unarmed combat, and that is around the time where the purpose of mastering and perfecting the skills of Martial Arts became a Philosophy of Achieving Spiritual Goals began.

Weapons for Armed Combat You might be interested in the type of Japanese Martial Arts especially with the wide range of weapon that the warriors has used, which the COMMON ones consists of:

Bo (Long Wood Staff)

Jutte

Kama

Katana

Naginata

Nunchaku

Sai

Shuriken (Flying Star)

Tanto

Tonfa

Yari

Yumi (Bow and Arrow)

And yes, these are not the only weapons that the Japanese Warriors used, there are actually more, as the tools keep on changing due to the development of the combat techniques, and all these weapons are studied with great depth as the techniques evolved into perfecting the martial art itself.

Koryu and Gendai Budo

In Japanese Martial Arts, there is a slight difference with the rest of the Martial Arts in Asia. The difference is due to Meiji Restoration era where Martial Arts are generally divided into 2, which are Koryu and Gendai Budo.

Koryu is basically known as the “Old School/Traditional” way where the arts are founded before the Meiji Restoration back in 1866-1867. And Gendai Budo is the Martial Arts after the Meiji Restoration.

The Main difference between Koryu and Gendai Budo is Koryu martial arts are used for war and the tradition is preserved since then. And Gendai Budo is the martial arts that have been modified due to modernization where the focus is more to self improvement or self defense.

Images taken from:

Powayshotokan.com

Bubishi.com.au
Freewebs.com
Iconarchice.com
Okinawankarateclub.com
Trueswords.com
Bugei.com
Crimsontigers.com
Oriental-weaponry.co.uk
Weaponhouse.blogspot.com

Introduction to Tat Kun Tao

Tat Kun Tou or Tat Kun Tao is commonly mistaken as a martial arts that originated from China, but in fact Tat Kun Tao is actually a martial arts that was founded from the Philippines. Captain Jose Millan Go (Ju Go) from the Barangay community was one of the first few students of the Balintawak master Anciong Bacon.

Grandmaster Jose “Jo” put together practices from schools like Tai chi and other Kun Taos such as Five Ancestors and later created a mimic version of unarmed Balintawak now known as Tat Kun Tao. Grand Master Jo fused the simplicity, and straightforwardness of Balintawak with Tai Chi and other Kun Tao that he has learned over the years.

Not much info can be retrieved by research, the only thing that we have besides the above is that Master Jo was still teaching the art of Tat Kun Tao until he passed away in year 1991 and also his Dojo is still running in Cebu by his students.

Introduction to Yabusame

Yabusame is one of the hidden treasures of martial arts, not much of us have heard of it before and for some NON-Japanese like myself, it sounds more like noodles more than martial arts.

Yabusame is actually an armed martial art, or should I say archery, originated from Japan, it is performed while riding a horse. It all begins from the Kamakura Period. Where it begins from the military is alarmed that their army or Samurais is not good for a long distance battle, therefore the Samurai were grouped and Yabusame started from there. Although the use of bow in the Japan started from 300BC, but it is officially made as a type of martial/battle art only during the Kamakura Period.

During the Kamakura Period Yabusame was used as a military training exercise to keep samurai prepared for war. Those archers who did poorly might find themselves commanded to commit seppuku.

Yabusame is not the only type of Horseback Archery, but Yabusame is only 1 out of the 3 type of Horseback Archery and I have outlined some details for your easy reference.

-Yabusame is the most well-known form of Horseback Archery, and it is held at shrines as ceremony which shoots on 3 different targets.

-Kasagake has different sizes of targets each of which is set at different height, and the archer shoots both ways.

-Inuoumono is not in practice anymore. In the practice dogs were used as targets, so it was practical and effective practice to sharpen horseback riding skill as well as shooting skill but I think that most of us will agree that this act is a bit brutal therefore we are happy that it was banned!

A Yabusame performance starts with the archer dressed as a traditional warrior gallops down a 255 meter long track at full speed and controlling the horses with his knees and shooting 3 targets on the way down. The arrow that is used are mainly blunt and round but experience archer are allowed to use a v shaped arrow.

Image taken from komei-juku.com

Introduction to Pehlwani

Pehlwani also known as kushti is a form of wrestling that is practiced by people in both India and Pakistan. It was inspired and a mixture between Malla-yuddha which is the Ancient form for wrestling in South Asia together with Shastar Vidiya and Mongolian wrestling traced back all the way to the 5th century BC which form the modern Pehlwani.

No pehlwan (Phelwani Practitioner) have not heard of the name of Great Gama, won the World Wrestling Championship in year 1910 and was remain undefeated with only a draw in his whole entire career as a wrestler and even featured in Shadow Hearts: Covenant.

Not much know about this but during the 1960’s, India was ranked among the top 10 wrestling nations of the world and they even hosted the world wrestling championships in New Delhi in 1967. Pehlwans who compete in wrestling nowadays do train in the grappling aspects of other martial arts such as judo and jujutsu. Legendary wrestlers like Karl Gotch went to India to learn the art of pehlwani and to polish their skills.

Milk and ghee are regarded as the most common diet to the wrestlers, other diet includes almonds, chickpeas, apples, wood-apples, bananas, figs, pomegranates, gooseberries, lemons, and watermelons. Orange juice and green vegetables are also recommended for also not all but some pahalwan do consume a lot of meat for it’s protein to help with muscle building. Other diet discipline includes no sour or spiced foods and no alcohol and tobacco.

Allrite, I’m not going to wrestle! Happy reading

Image Taken from: pakistaniat.com

Introduction to Krabi Krabong

Krabi Krabong is a weapon-based martial art from Thailand, not much know about this art but this martial art is indeed an affective one. Just like other martial arts, Krabi Krabong was featured in movies as well, in James Bond “The Man with the Golden Gun” Krabi Krabong uses up to 20 weapons for combat training, which below are only a few examples:

1. Daab (Sword) Used individually or in pairs
2. NGAU (Spear) Used when riding an Elephant
3. Mae sauk (Clubs) Made from wood or bone to be worn on the forearm
4. LOH (Round Shield) For Defense or Attack
5. Kaen (Medium Shield) For Defense or Attack
6. Plong (Staff) Used for blocking, striking and stabbing.

Krabi Krabong is believed to be around 400 years old but this fighting style is believed to be develop through the Burmese war with Thailand, it was influenced by many types of martial arts put together. Besides weapons, Krabi Krabong incorporates unarmed techniques as well. The empty-handed form is kick-based but also uses pressure points, locks, holds, and throws.

In a nutshell, Krabi Krabong uses a variety of weapons and open hand techniques to beat down it’s opponent. The Krabi Krabong practitioner is skilled at using the above weapons and surprisingly, the name Krabi Krabong comes from two of its weapons, krapi (sword) and krapong (a type of staff). It was said that every single royal bodyguard from His Majesty King Rama IX of Thailand all the while until today’s Thai King are all highly trained experts in Krabi Krabong.

Speaking of Thai Martial Arts, the first think that you might think of is the Wai Kru or the praying session to the god of 4 directions. In Krapi Krabong, after the Wai Kru, the fighters will have a sword dance, which is divided into Single or Double Sword Dance, some of the dances are for Single Sword Dance are: Cher Chy - Fly like the Angel, Dern Phom - Walk like the Lord Phom and the Double Sword Dance are: Suar Talai Heng - Tiger Attack, Horrng Piek huk Bird - with broken wings and Kakabard Cross Swords

Image taken from: aitma.de

Introduction to Tai Chi

Tai Chi Chuan (ultimate fist) is now more famous being practiced for health reasons but it has a long history to start with. Tai Chi Chuan focuses on the flow of the Chi and it was believed that Tai Chi Chuan gain tremendous benefits in terms of health or longevity. If you still wonder how Tai Chi Chuan looks like, go to parks in the morning and if you find a group of people moving in a slow motion routine that’s most probably Tai Chi Chuan.

Most modern Tai Chi Chuan styles can trace their development back to the 5 main traditional Tai Chi schools which is Chen, Yang, Hao, Wu and Sun. Most of us might notice that the Symbol for Tai Chi Chuan is the Yin and Yang symbol, but not much know that it is actually a Taoist symbol which represent fast and slow movements.

Speaking of Tai Chi Chuan, the person that we must not ignore is the Taoist Monk Zhang San Feng back in the 12th century. According to what we understood here Zhang San Feng studied Tao Yin which is the breathing exercises and different martial art forms from Shaolin monastery. But the founding of Tai Chi Chuan is also by accident, where Zhang was looking at a dried Calabash, Gourd (Wu Lou) that floats on top of a huge urn that was used to store water, no matter how hard he tried to knock the Wu Lou, it keeps floating up again and again after sinking and there are not much that was listed on this but as per what was told, it attributes to the founding of the basic movement of Tai Chi Chuan.

Some might think that Tai Chi Chuan is always about slow controlled movements and not much have seen the fast moving movements, It happen back in the Ch’ing Dynasty where after Manchurians has invaded the Chinese Empire, The new emperor saw that Tai Chi Chuan is very well spread in the Country and also those who practiced this martial art are in really good health conditions, therefore he demanded to learn Tai Chi Chuan and it’s secret. But due to the grudges that those at Ch’ing Dynasty hold against the Manchurians, the Masters at that time are not keen in teaching the secrets, but by doing so it will mean death. Therefore the fast pace Tai Chi Chuan was omitted and the new Emperor was taught only the slow paced part. And since the slow movement pace of Tai Chi Chuan started growing and was categorized under Neijia (Soft or Internal) Martial Arts.

Tai Chi Chuan trainings consist of the followings:

Weapons: Jian (Straight Sword) , Tao (Broadsword), San (Folding Fan), Kun (Wooden Staff) Qiang (Spear), those not so famous weapons are Da Tao (Big Broadsword), Pu Tao (Sabres), cane, rope-dart, 3 sectional staff, whip and more...

Sparing: 2 Person Tournament, Sashou

Breathing: Nei Kung / Chi Kung

Image taken from : topnews.in

Introduction to Iaido

Iaido means the immediate reaction on the metal way or in a direct translation, Iizasa Ienao founded Iaijutsu which later was changed to Iaido.

Iaido is normally often mistaken as a part of kendo or kenjutsu but infact it is a totally different thing. Iaido is associated with the smooth and controlled movements of drawing the blade, with immediate reaction cutting an opponent and removing the blood before replacing the blade back into the scabbard.

Normally students or Iaidoka will use a shinken (unshapened blade) but there are also Dojos that use the real thing on their practices, while new students only uses a boken. The teachings are based on 90% of Katas, please do correct me if I’m wrong, the Katas can have up to a few imaginary opponents but there is no sparing or combative competition for Iaido.

It is quite hard to find a pure Iaido dojo, normally it is shared between Kendo or Akido and even it’s uniform are similliar which consists of Gi and Hakama.

Iaido is very much confused with kendo or kenjutsu and the difference for, Kendo is that kendokas are not taught the techniques of drawing and replacing blade back to it’s scabbard and also Kendo has sparing sessions as well as using Shinai, Boken and Metal Blade. Where else Kenjutsu are normally practiced with a partner in a form of Kata which is quite similar to Iaido except the partner part.

I really like the part of Japanese Martial Arts and the way they show respect to a lot of stuffs like the Dojo and your sparing partner, this image is a normal procedure that was practiced to show respect to the blade before and after practice.

Image Taken from: www.onlinedojo.ca

Introduction to Hapkido

Hapkido (Hap - Joining / Harmony) (Ki – Internal Chi) (Do – Way) which translate to the way of joining the energy contains both long and close range fighting techniques.

Long Range: kicking, hand strikes
Close Range: pressure point, joint-locks, throws

Hapkido to me is like a son of Jujutsu and a brother to Judo, as Hapkido is like a Korean version of modified Jujutsu. As most Korean martial art lover might know, Hapkido is consider as the great grandfather of Taekwondo which was evolved from Taekyeon.

If you are a nunchuck lover you might love this art as well, Hapkido is one of the few rare martial art that uses weapons such as rope and nunchuks, besides this two other weapons also consists of cane, short stick, staff and sword.

Hapkido emphasize on non-resisting movements and circular motion which is quite similiar to taichi where the are will try to avoid using strength against opponent’s strength but using the footwork and body positioning as an advantage towards the opponent.

The main principles of Hapkido is following the middle way, not like Jujutsu that focus on the soft scale or Taekwondo who focus on the hard scale, in Hapkido, it is a combination of both, from throws and locks to punches and kicks.

In the main principles of Hapkido, it is alter broken down to another 3 principles which is

1)Hwa (Non-resistance principle) – Not hitting back when attacked, but used it’s momentum towards one’s advantage

2)Won (Circular movement principle) – Using opponent’s power to redirect the power back to himself

3)Yu (Harmony Principle) – Just like a flow of water, when we try to cut the water, the water will move and wrap around the blade to sink it

Hapkido derived from the Jujutsu system that was taught by Master Choi Yong Sul (1899-1986) who brought the art back from Japan, and adding additional Kicks and Striking techniques to make Hapkido whole. Later Master Suh Bok Sub who is one of Master Choi’s first student opened up the first dojang/dojo known as Hapki Yu Kwon Sool Dojang which later the name was changed to Hapkido

Master Kim Moo Hong who is another of Master Choi’s student who plays an important role in the history of Hapkido developed many other further types of kicks used in Hapkido today. Also Master Kim founded the Korean Hapkido Association and later merge the association with groups of Hapkido practitioner lead by Ji Han Jae and Myung Jae Nam to form the current Republic of Korea Hapkido Association in 1973.

Master Ji Jan Jae who is also the trainer for the bodyguards of Korean President Park Jung Hee. Master Ji incorporated kicking and punching techniques from “The Traditional Style of Korean Martial Arts” Also with the support of the Head of Security Forces, Master Ji later founded Dae Han Hapkido Hyub Hwe which is also know as Dae Han Hapkido Association which was later merged with Master Kim and Master Myung’s Association. And if you are interested to check our Master Ji’ moves, you can check out Bruce Lee’s movie called Game of Death which Master Ji co-starred in.

Master Myung Jae Nam is the founder of Korea Hapki Association also know as Hangook Hapki Hwe which was later merged with Master Ji and Master Kim’s association that formed Republic of Korea Hapkido Association. Although not much are written about Master Myung, but he is a very influential person in the world of Hapkido. It was till later where Master Myung decided to breakaway from the Hapkido Association and focus on promoting a new style that he created known as Hankido

Image taken from: upload.wikimedia.org

Introduction to White Crane Boxing

There are 2 styles of White Crane Boxing where one is originated from Fujian, southern part of China, known as the Fujian Style of White Crane Boxing, just like Wing Chun, this martial art was founded by Fang Qi Niang, a female martial artist from Fujian. Not like other martial arts where there are focused on all long, medium and close range, this style is designed and focused mostly on close range fighting.

Fang Qi Niang’s Father is a martial artist of the southern martial arts from China, and since young Fang has been studying the martial arts form, it was when Fang saw a crane nearby when she was doing her chores, afraid that the crane might disturb, Fan tries to chase the crane away by using a stick.

No matter how hard she try, she cannot hit the crane, instead the crane counter her attacks. Fang later studied the crane’s movement on dodging and counter attacks and combined with the styles that she has been practicing since young and founded Fujian style White Crane Boxing.

The White Crane Boxing style has a massive influence in other styles of martial arts like the Five Ancestors Fist and Karate that not much of us might know. But if we refer back to the Kata forms like Hakutsuru or Kyusho in Karate, the influence would look quite obvious. It was believed that it was brought into Japan from tea merchants that brought the style in from China to Okinawa.

The original style of White Crane is no longer practiced in modern days like now but it has evolved into 4 main styles over the time, these styles are Sleeping Crane Fist, Crying Crane Fist, Eating Crane Fist and Flying Crane Fist.

Another style of White Crane boxing is originated from Tibet, that was brought into China by Sing Lung, a Tibetan Monk and he taught all his martial art knowledge to two of his main student Wong Lam Hoi and Wang Yan Lam. And the linage was carried down by Wong Lam Hoi.

And Wang Yan Lam who was the eldest of the Ten Tigers of Canton, exchanged knowledge of this White crane style with Master Wong Kei Ying who is the founder of Hong Kuen. and it was later mixed with the Tiger Fist to form Tiger Crane Paired Form Fist and the Five Element techniques.

Tibetan White Crane Boxing was founded by monk Adatou born in 1426 and he was the founder for the Martial Arts called Lion’s Roar. It happened one day during Adatou’s meditation he was distracted when an ape was fighting with a crane when he is in Tibet. And later he founded the style of Tibetan White Crane Boxing and later taught to Monk Sing Lung.

Image taken from: taichikungfulondon.co.uk

Introduction to Judo

Judo which stands (JU = Gentle) + (DO = Way) was originated from Japan in the 19th century. The reason why it is called the gentle way is because of its feature such as throwing, grappling, locks or executing a choke, not like other martial arts where the focuses on hitting it’s opponent. In Judo it does have Thrusts, Strikes and Weapons and used for Katas but it is not allowed to be used in competition or practices and also Judo uses the opponent's strength, weight and momentum against the opponent itself. As most of the “Non-Judo” practitioner might think that it this art is quite similar to Sambo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu but in fact, Judo is like the grandfather to these arts as these martial arts are developed due to the spread of Judo to worldwide.

The founder Kano Jigoro was a son to a Shinto Priest and government Official, Kano was a student of Jujutsu back in the late 1870s and after mastering the art of Jujutsu Kano start to develop techniques like kata-guruma and uki goshi back in 1880s, and with new ideas on developing the art of self defense Kano went to study his art of evolved jujutsu with a few students in a Buddhist temple which the place is later known as Kodokan. The art at that time was known as Kano Jiu-Do which later changed to Kodokan Jiu-Do and finally known as Judo at this age.

If we were to talk about Judo, besides the founder Kano Jigoro, all of us in Martial Arts Asia gives the highest respect to Keiko Fukada, 9th Dan and it made her the highest ranking women in the Judo World, born in 1913 who is the direct student of Kano Jigoro, the Keiko is still teaching Judo up to date. Yes, there is no typo error here, she should be 96 this year and the coming Judo camp will be on July 24-26, 2009 in San Jose and yet she still still actively teaching Judo.

Judo Primary focus is on nage-waza (throwing) and ne-waza (groundwork), I have listed a simple break down on the list of techniques to help us to understand more on the techniques.

nage-waza (throwing) is divided into 2 categories which is tachi-waza (standing techniques) and sutemi-waza (sacrifice techniques)

1. tachi-waza (standing techniques)
- te-waza (hand techniques)
- koshi-waza (hip techniques)
- ashi-waza (leg techniques)

2. sutemi-waza (sacrifice techniques)
- ma-sutemi-waza (thrower fall backwards)
- yoko-sutemi-waza (thrower fall sideways)

ne-waza (groundwork) is divided into 3 categories

1.kansetsu-waza (attacks against joint locks)
2.shime-waza (strangleholds)
3.osaekomi-waza (pinning techniques)

There are seven official forms of kata that are recognised by the Kodokan:

1. Randori (Free practice)includes of 2 two different kata:
1a. Nage no Kata (Throwing forms)
1b. Katame no Kata (Grappling forms)
2. Kime no Kata (Old style self-defence forms)
3. Kodokan Goshin Jutsu (Modern self-defence forms)
4. Ju no Kata (Forms of "gentleness")
5. Itsutsu no Kata (The five forms)
6. Koshiki no Kata (Ancient forms)
7. Seiryoku Zen'yō Kokumin Taiiku no Kata (National Physical Education kata)

However there are also other katas that is not recognized by Kodokan with other focuses.

Weight Divisions, are to separate both the parties to have a equal advantages over each other, the divisions are as below

Men
Under 60kg
60-66 kg
66-73kg
73-81kg
81-90kg
90-100kg
Over 100kg

Women
Under 48kg
48-52kg
52-57kg
57-63kg
63-70kg
70-78kg
Over 78kg

Judo is firstly seen in the LA Olympics in 1932 where the founder Kano Jigoro and about 200 students gave a demonstration, and Kano passed away before seeing Judo being officially taken in as an Olympic sport in Tokyo Olympics in 1964 for men and in 1988 for women.

For this posting, we would not talk about it’s belt and grading as it varies for different countries, we’ll leave it for another time and we hope you have enjoyed reading so far.

Image taken from: ultimate-judo.com

Introduction to Silat

Silat began spreading in the seventh century AD but there are no records on its origin. However, it was acknowledged as a Malay Martial Art although there are influences by the Chinese and Indian cultures as well as other ethnic groups. Silat was used as a combat art as well as a folk dance when the Muslim spread through the Malay archipelago in the fourteenth century. It was developed in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia as an art to liberate themselves from the Colonials such as the Dutch and the British.

In the West Sumatra silat was known as silek and was the oldest men's tradition to perform the Minangkabau folk dance of randai. In Malaysia and Brunei, one form of silat known of silat pulut and silat cakak.

There are many forms of silat such as Pencak, Cekak, Sendeng, Keris Lok and Gayong Fatani and Gayong. It would be quite difficult to list out the official type of silat, as there are at least 150 types of silat but out of these types of silat, Silat Melayu is consider one of the few oldest forms of silat.

Most of the silat schools have few objectives and the most common one is “The art of knowing one self’. Silat consists of 2 forms, the soft and the hard which is also known as Flower (Bunga) and Fruit (Buah). Flower is normally used to confuse the opponent where Fruit is the strike and each schools will have both form applied in their martial arts but it really depends on the amount of the focus.

Image taken from: tuina.com.au

Introduction to Sumo

Most of us will have this perception that oversized people do not do martial arts but it is not the case. In Sumo it is a battle of strength where one wrestler will attempt to force their opponent to fall or to go out of the dohyo (circular ring). Sumo is a very unique type of martial art where it is one of the few that has rituals before the competition like Muay Thai.

Originated from Japan, this sport is considered as a Modern Martial Art although it has been around for many centuries. Sumo Wrestlers are to stay at the heya (training stables) where the wrestlers have to strictly follow tradition like the dress code, and even the hairdo.

It was back in the Edo Period in Japan that Sumo started as a form of entertainment or for warriors to find an alternative source of income. The official tournament started in Tomioka Hachiman Shrine back in 1684 and the tournament rules has been changing since.

Professional sumo tournament are organized by Oyakata, which is formed by former sumo wrestlers. Oyakata are members of the Japan Sumo Association and Oyakata are the only trainers that are accredited to teach Sumo officially to new wrestlers in their training stables.

There are few levels for Sumo Wrestlers unlike other Martial Artist where they obtain a belt/rank and get to keep it. For sumo, it solely depends on their performance. Even if they reach the top division, the sumo practitioner need to work for it keep the title or they will be downgraded to a lower rank. The thing that interests me most is their salary range. I found this range in wiki. It was shocking but at least you know know how much these big guys earn a month (as of year 2006) excluding the additional income that they can make 6 times a year in the tournaments.

Yokozuna: $24,500 USD / Month
Ōzeki: $20,400 USD / Month
Sanyaku: $14,800 USD / Month
Maegashira: $11,300 USD / Month
Jūryō: $9,000 USD / Month

According to the rules the amateur tournaments are divided into the following weight classes:

Male
Lightweight: Maximum weight of 85 kg
Middleweight: Maximum weight of 115 kg
Heavyweight: Above 115 kg
Open Weight: Unrestricted entry

Female
Lightweight: Maximum weight of 65 kg
Middleweight: Maximum weight of 80 kg
Heavyweight: Above 80 kg
Open Weight: Unrestricted entry

Image taken from: talesfromanopenbook.files.wordpress.com

Introduction to Muay Boran

Muay Boran or Ancient Boxing is the Great Grandfather of Muay Thai. There are a few styles of Muay Boran developed from the different regions in Thailand. These styles are known as Muay Thasao (Northern Region), Muay Korat (Eastern Region), Muay Lopburi (Central Region) and Muay Chaiya (Southern Region).

Muay Thasao – Emphasis on speed in their kicks and punches.
Muay Korat – Emphasis on the Power of the Blow.
Muay Lopburi– Emphasis on technical movements.
Muay Chaiya– Emphasis on posture and defense. And focus a lot on Knee and Elbow Strikes as the focus are more towards a close body combat.

Surprisingly to say, most of the teachers of Muay Boran are Buddhist monks. It reminds me the comedy called Hot Shots where the main actor was living in a Buddhist Monastery and doing kickboxing and instead of using a glove, they used a cloth to bind their hands to reduce the risk of fracturing bones. Going back further in history, the fighter would dip the binding with resin and broken glass to produce more stunning and deadly blows. These Monasteries or temples held Muay Boran competitions during festive occasions since all Thai man are expected to be ordained as a monk for a short period in their lives.

Traditionally, after completing training in Muay Thai, a student will be taught Muay Boran when reaching an advanced level, but this is no longer the case because most of the moves are banned in professional Muay Thai as it can cause serious damage or even death. In Muay Boran, everything goes and even a kick to the groin is allowed. Therefore there are not many schools that are willing to teach this art of self defense.

Muay Boran techniques focus on the damage each blow can affect the opponent and strongly emphasize using powerful knee and elbow techniques. Each blow to the opponent should be at full force to knock the opponent down on the ground.

Introduction to Jodo

Jodo also known as jojutsu is a type of armed martial arts that uses short staffs called that is called jo which is about 3-5 feet long. This art is focused on Defense especially against sword and not that much on the Attacking side. There are 2 branches of Jodo called Koryu and Seitei Jodo and now this are very famous among Japanese Police and was refered as keijojutsu (police stick art)

Jojutsu is an exclusive martial art of the Kuroda Clan until the early 1900s, then the art was taught to the general public. It started back to the late 16th Century, where assassination and murder is common in Japan at that time. The Founder Muso Gonnosuke was a warrior who had trained in several Martial Arts school as well as a Shinto Priest training in bojutsu or the art of long staff. Gonnosuke is also a legend that is always compared to Miyamoto Musashi (also known as Sword Saint) as both are undefeated in battlefield.

Gonnosuke is believed to challenge Musashi twice which he won the challenge the 2nd time after Gonnosuke took up concepts from spear, halberd, staff and sword he developed what eventually became known as today’s JoJutsu. After Gonnosuke won the match against Musashi his reputation grew overnight and started to teach his art of Jodo. It is also where further refinements came and over the centuries his students added in other weapons and forms to form a complete school of combat.

Image taken from: hugin.demon.co.uk

Introduction to Shaolin Kung Fu

Most of us have heard of Shaolin Kung Fu, and there are also a lot that has mistaken that there is a typical type of Martial Art by the name of Shaolin Kung Fu. In fact, Shaolin Kung Fu is referring to a vast collection of Martial Arts and served as a base where the modern martial arts evolve from.

There used to be a saying in China back in the ancient days that Martial Arts around the world (the world that it refers to is China only) came from Shaolin. Martial Arts like Wing Chun, Hong Ga are all samples of martial arts that were taught to the Grand Masters from Shaolin.

The most famous Kung Fu Monk from Shaolin that most Chinese might know is “Dat Mo” or Bodhidharma, It was believed that Martial Arts in China is divided into 2 categories, the External Martial Arts and the Internal Practice (Qi Gong) and most of the credits on the internal practice goes to “Dat Mo”. It was believed that while in his stay in Shaolin Monastery, he has been staring at the wall for 9 years and at the end of the 9th year, a hole was found on the wall that he has been gazing but we cannot find further proof of that. Huiguang and Sengchou in the other hand is credited on the growth of the External Martial Arts, Both of them are Martial Artist before they were ordained in the monastery and they were reported to be the first few monks that is in Martial Arts.

Most of us might think, aren’t monks not suppose to fight? Or aren’t monk suppose to be holy schmoly? This is a misconception of a lot of people, monks learn Martial Arts to defend themselves and they take it as a practice to train endurance, focus and for health purpose. It started even back in Tang Dynasty (618 - 907AD), Monasteries are being attack and robbed from bandits and pirates, pushed around by the governments to seize their lands and so on, and these monks are doing nothing more than just defending their place. Therefore the culture stays with the monastery and it has become a daily routine for the monks in Shaolin to practice Martial Arts.

Image taken from topic.chinaa2z.com

Introduction to Hong Kuen

Most chinese educated friends might know about the name “Wong Fei Hong” but not much might know that Wong Fei Hoong is the most famous practitioner for Hung Kuen Kung Fu.

Hong Kuen is a Chinese Martial arts style from Southern China that was developed from the roots of Shaolin Kung Fu. Hong Kuen was initially developed for military purposes and by focusing on the value of it’s school which includes courage, perseverance, and discipline this value have not waver since then till now.

The Founder, Master Hung Hei Guen who was a tea merchant by trade who was associated as one of the Ten Tigers of Shaolin developed the style throughout his life, but Hong Kuen started to manifest when Master Hung was being an apprentice of the Abbot of Shaolin Monastery. The most famous fist known till now is the tiger and crane fist that represent both hard and soft energy. Where one is focused to attack and the other focus on defend.

Hong Kuen’s stance is based on the 5 basic animals, which most people that is interested in China’s Kung Fu might know about, the styles are dragon that employs powerful punching techniques, snake focuses on speed and attacks on vital areas to take down their opponents, leopard can attack difficult reachable weak points of the body that are hard to reach, tiger and crane which was mention earlier uses the hard and soft energy.

Master Hung had many disciples in this life during the spreading of this martial arts and it spreads widely due to many are trying to rebel during the Ching dynasty in the south part of China. The Legend started when Master Hung had an apprentice by the name of Luk Ah Choi who is a Manchurian based in Guandong, where he refine the style further in reach out to even more practitioner, one of Master Luk’s student Master Wong Kei Ying who is also the father of Master Wong Fei Hong.

Many have said that it was not easy for martial arts to be taught to apprentice during the time of Master Luk, and stories was shared that the masters will be going around together with opera troupes to spread the art. And it was brought to another whole new level when the martial art was passed to both Master Wong Kei Wing and Wong Fei Hong.

Just like Wing Chun, Hong Ka practitioner also practices to use weapons in their practices like Butterfly Knife, Spears, Broad Sword and many other weapons but not all of the branches teaches the same as some are more focus on selected stance or type and the schools up to date is still refining it’s techniques therefore there are also variations like Black Tiger Fist, Taming the Tiger and many more was founded along the way.

Since the founding of Hong Kuen there are also many well known masters and many modified or more refined versions, masters such as Miu Tsui Fa and Fong Sai Yuk are also plays an important role to spread this martial art.

Sorry, as we cannot manage to get a good image for Hong Gar Kuen or Hong Kuen, we have to just pick an image from the net, image taken from wongfeihung.com

Introduction to Adithada

When people talk about kickboxing it is always about Muay Thai, some do speak of MMA and some Bokarto, even I was in a shocked when there is a request for me to write about Adithada as this is consider as type of martial art that not much people know about.

It was actually my honour to be able to share a bit about Adithada and a big thanks to the data research team. Adithada is a type of Martial Art that was founded approximately 2000 years ago according to sources, we believed that this form of martial art have a certain influence to the art of kickboxing.

This art was founded in the southern part of India and considered as a preliminary practice or the empty hand of southern Kalari Payat practice. Adithada allowsthe Martial Artist to prepare themselves in years of training before they start training with weapons in Southern Kalari Payat School / Style.

Like most of the martial art, The name of Adithada actually represents the whole essence in it’s martial art, Adi (Hitting) and Thada (Blocking) describes the whole meaning of this martial art itself. Adithada is largely practices in Southern Kerala and Northern Sri Lanka. And this martial art’s main focus is on Grappling, Striking and Pressure Points.

The practitioner uses their Fist, Legs, Knees, Elbow and Forehead in the practices, and it sound quite similar to Bokarto’s style or Martial Art, and since this martial art was founded so long ago, there is no trace back to it’s original founder, for those who have more detail in this art, please do contact us.

Image taken from: martialartslibrary.net

Introduction to Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu is known as the art of endurance / perseverance/ patience, the Chinese and Japanese characters for Nin (忍) in Ninjutsu is a combination of 2 other word which is sword (刃) on top of the heart (心). There are a lot of movies or animation out there that brought the art of Ninjutsu to the public like American Ninja, 3 Ninjas, Shinobi, Ninja Turtle and Naruto.

Ninjutsu was traced back all the way to the 14th century feudal Japan with the war during Iga Province and Kōga of Japan, Samurais warriors that fought in the “actual” battle while shinobi are used as Spies, Assassin, and Thief. Ninjutsu is an art that should be taught to a shinobi in the ancient days but in this modern age it is taught to the public. During the ancient times, the male ninjas are known as Shinobi or Ninja where the female ninjas are known as Kunoichi. Although both practice the art of Ninjutsu but the focus is different.

Ancient Shinobi’s training can include techniques of gathering information, techniques of not being detected, avoidance, misdirection, disguise, escape, concealment, archery, medicine, explosives, and poisons.

There is a total if 18 different skills/disciplines that will be taught to a shinobi and it depend on them to choose the skill that they prefer to master.

The 18 Discipline:

1. Seishin-teki kyōkō – A Technique where one refine their mind and soul, Where a practitioner form a mindset to push the body to the limit allowing them to accept pain during training and actual battle.

2. Taijutsu – Unarmed body combat that teaches the practitioner to break / snap bones, striking on weak points of a human body, understanding the posture and how to fall without injuring one’s body, Striking patterns, Throws and Locks.

3. Kenjutsu – The art of sword fighting which is the same technique that Samurai uses. Kenjutsu is also considered as the mother of Kendo.

4. Bojutsu – The art of staff fighting, techniques involve are slashing, swinging, and stabbing with the staff. On Modern day Bojutsu is associated either with kobudō or koryū budō.

5. Shurikenjutsu – The art of throwing shuriken, in traditional Japanese martial arts of throwing shuriken. Shuriken comes in 2 forms, Bo-shuriken which is a straight metal spike which looks like a small iron chopstick but sharp the one that was used by Naruto is a Bo-Shuriken. The other one is a Hira-shuriken, which looks like a flat star with approx of 3mm in thickness and 10 - 12 cm wide.

6. Sōjutsu – Or known as the art of spear, The first design which was brought in from mainland China and was later modified to what it is now.

7. Naginatajutsu – The art of naginata, Naganita looks like a sword attached to a pole / wood staff. This are most seen in battlefield in the Ancient times where mostly used by soldiers and warriors.

8. Kusarigamajutsu – This style of fighting uses weapon is quite unique and it is normally used by Shinobi only The Kusarigama is made up of the Kama, a wooden handle with a curved blade on one end that look like a sickle. The Kusari, a chain attached to the Kama and a small Iron weight on the other end that allows the user to swing the weapon.

9. Kayakujutsu – The art of handling explosion, Sorry as I cant manage to write in more details regarding this as there was not much information.

10. Hensōjutsu – The art of impersonation and it is not like what you see in Ninja Cartoons. Hensōjutsu is an Art of disguise / impersonation where the shinobi will be doing a role-play to avoid being spotted and blend in well with the crowd by appearing as a farmer or priest and ect. Hensōjutsu is a specialized art for kunoichi as the chances of being suspected is lower. And for those who are well trained in this art, it is believed that they can even impersonate others in terms of appearance.

11. Shinobi-iri – The are for stealing and silent movement, this allows the shinobi to enter enemy’s terittory without being spotted

12. Bajutsu – The art of horse back riding and battle on horses.

13. Sui-ren – The are of water, water can be used in many ways, examples are like making boats or rafts and how to control the raft without being spotted, weakening bridges, poisoning water source, hiding in water and finding water in unlikely places.

14. Bōryaku – Tactics / Strategy to assist influence to the opponent.

15. Chōhō – secret information and it was one of the duty of the ninja were spying, it is like the ancient CIA

16. Intonjutsu – The art of escaping, basically Shinobi will be tied up during the training and was expected to escape from it.

17. Tenmon – The art of understanding and using the weather towards the advantage of the Shinobi.

18. Chi-mon – Known as modern day geography to assist the Shinobi’s escape or Sabotage.

I’m not sure on current subjects that the current Ninjutsu schools are teaching at the moment but according to sources, the dojo’s focus towards the practitioner are more towards Taijutsu, Kenjutsu and other armed discipline.

Introduction to Jeet Kune Do

JDK or more known as Jeet Kune Do if a philosophy developed by my Idol Mr. Bruce Lee, it was named in year 1967 after Master Lee merged in all his training from different schools to form Jeet Kune Do and he taught all his student the philosophy in developing this Martial Art which focus on simplicity, directness and adaptation to free the fighting style from limitations due to different styles of martial art.

Basically Jeet Kune Do is a school that focus on “The Style of No Style” Jeet Kune Do also focus on the centerline of both the opponent and the practitioner which was adopted from Wing Chun. This basically allow the practitioner to Attack and Counter at the fastest speed possible additional to Wing Chun The footwork of French Fencing plays as one of the main pillar for JKD as it is all about speed additional to it the exercise and punches taken from American Boxing. All this 3 is the “Core Pillar” to JKD with additional of mixtures from other styles of Martial Art.

Unfortunately to say the actual Martial Art that was opened by Master Lee was closed approx 2 years before his tragic death. All the rest of the Jeet Kune Do schools now are opened by Master Lee’s apprentices. JKD which was split into 2 Groups are Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do and Jeet Kune Do Concept Schools Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do are opened by Masters like Taky Kimura, Jerry Poteet, and Ted Wong where these Dojos claimed to teach only what was taught by Master Lee himself and encourages it’s practitioner to develop their styles from there through their abilities.

Where else the Jeet Kune Do Concept Schools has another approach where Masters like Larry Hartsell and Dan Inosanto strive to continue Master Lee’s philosophy of individual self-expression. Where the style that was taught continued to evolve up to today and the students evolve and grew with the school.

No matter which school you choose to join, JKD’s practitioner has 4 combat ranges which was evolved from different schools, the ranges are kicking, punching, trapping, grappling and all have to be practiced equally. Because all of the school focus on one same philosophy which is the “Style of No Style”

Introduction to Wing Chun

Wing Chun or Yong Chun translates to “Forever Spring” is a 2 type Martial Art which has both close-range body combat and armed combat (Butterfly Sword and Long Pole), and the most famous Practitioner in this Martial Art is none other than my idol Mr. Bruce Lee which founded Jeet Kwan Do which compromise a mixture of few martial arts.

Most of the martial arts is named after the style they carry like the art of punch and kick or the art of sword except Wing Chun. Not all are familiar with the name Wing Chun Yim, but she is the Great Grandmaster of Wing Chun, legend says that Master Yim learns about martial arts from a Buddhist nun, Ng Mui from Shaolin due to a challenge from a local warloard and if Master Yim loses the challenge, she will be forced to marry him. And of course she won the challenge, and later she marries Bac-Chou Leung, and Master Leung was Master Yim’s first disciple and Master Leung was the one who named the martial art using his beloved’s wife’s name Wing Chun.

Wing Chun’s style of Martial Art is well known for it’s speed as it’s attack are targeted towards the straightest possible path to hit it’s opponent. I guess that is the same guideline that Jeet Kwan Do follows. I’m not trying to be bias here, but “most” female have less force than male Martial Artist when it comes to attack, therefore Wing Chun which originated from Master Yim focus on perfect timing on both the stance and movement to defeat the opponent rather than using force itself. Therefore Wing Chun is suitable for people who is weaker in strength as muscles and strength are not a requirement in this martial art.

Instead of having a big set of biceps, the art of Wing Chun believes that the winning chances will side the person with a better structure or stance. Wing Chun also trains the practitioner about being aware of their own body movement to maintain body balance so that one can recover quickly after avoiding an attack.

Chi Sao or sticking hands is most seen in Chinese Martial Arts Movies as this practice is used to develop the reflexes in Wing Chun. This practice help the practitioner to understand it’s opponent’s movement and to both attack and counter their opponent’s movement precisely and also to learn how to trap it’s opponent from moving into another attack.

Image taken from: davydoom.com