History Of Martial Arts

Through my readings of martial arts history, I discovered a disturbing trend. Many nationalistic Indians are trying to lay claim that martial arts and kung fu, karate, and all of the East Asian Martial arts originated from India along with the transmittal of Buddhism. Unfortunately, India today in terms of written historical text, is in a state of flux. For the last few decades after the end of British colonial rule, the Hindu nationalistic political parties have been distorting historical texts and in general the history of India to "reclaim" its history (see the Hindu Warrior's post in October 2004 here, the debate on the origins of the Taj Mahal and whether it is a Muslim or Hindu temple, and the "Institute for Rewriting Indian History"). Many of these distortions have engendered their way into the internet age on websites and have been self propagating especially with Indian writers. The result of this is that parts of the history of India in present time, has been distorted in some way as to make it difficult to separate fact from fiction. The purpose of this article is to dispel the myths that are currently being propagated by Nationalistic Indians online. In this article, Kung Fu will relate to Chinese martial arts, and Shaolin Kung Fu relates to the Kung Fu style originating in the Shaolin temples after 500 A.D.

To begin with, very few historians believe that martial arts originated from one place and spread throughout the world. Most historians believed that human beings created some form of systemic defense system as an improvement over random punching, hacking, and kicking. Most military powers in their history have invented some form of martial arts, such as wrestling and self-defense in ancient Egypt, Sparta, and Greece. Most historians believe that many of the martial arts even in Japan (lost in legend with oldest accounts possibly 27B.C.), Korea (Silla Kingdom 57 B.C.), Southeast Asia, and South Asia developed independently to some degree and perhaps mutually influenced each other centuries after their invention. Most of these martial arts share similarities possibly through influences on each other, but most likely secondary to the fact that armed or unarmed combat by human beings employs similar principles and the human body is similar. The reason why the East Asian Martial Arts are so popular today is due to the fact that they have been so well codified, their ease of use and effectiveness in self-defense, their use of scientific principles for self-defense, their focus on personal development, and especially the popular media.

The oldest evidence of Kung Fu, or Chinese martial arts, as it is practiced by the military goes back to the Zhou dynasty (1111-255 BC). The first written history of Chinese martial arts comes attributes it to the legendary reign of Huangdi of the Zhou Dynasty (1122-255 BC). Records attribute Huangdi with being the founder of China’s oldest known martial art – chang quan (long fist). The oldest reference to institutionalized wrestling in China dates to 700 B.C. Further, the Taoist monks were practicing physical exercises that resembles Tai Chi (or a soft form of Kung fu) at least during the 500B.C. era. There are texts referring to qigong like exercises from at least the 5th century B.C. During the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods (770 - 221BC), a method called Daoyin was evolved to promote health. Further, during the Warring States Period (770-221B.C.), various poetry was written down attributed to Yuh Niuy describing philosphical approaches to sword play that is read to this day by wushu practitioners. As well, there are a few statues of unarmed soldiers from the first Qin Emperor's terra cotta army that are in distinctly martial "kung fu" poses that date from the third century B.C. In 39-92 A.D. , the "Six Chapters of Hand Fighting", in the Han Book of Arms were written by Pan Kuo. Also, Hua To developed the "Five Animals Play" - tiger, deer, monkey, bear, and bird for self defense during 220 A.D. As stated earlier, the Kung Fu that is practiced today developed over the centuries and many of the later additions of Kung Fu, such as the Shaolin Kung Fu style, later animal forms and the drunken style were incorporated from various martial arts forms existing later on in China or have accurate historical data relating to their inventor.

The Indian belief that India is the origin of Kung Fu (Chinese Martial arts) and most Eastern martial artists is initially incorrect as the Shaolin style is connected in popular media with Chinese Martial arts and thus the general public thinks that it is the oldest and only martial arts in China. The belief further centers on the contention that Bodhidharma (Pu Tai Ta Mo in Chinese or Daruma Daishi in Japanese) the creator of Zen Buddhism came from India, notably south India, and spread Zen Buddhism along with martial arts from India to China sometime in 450 AD. To begin with, history does not know the origins of Bodhidharma, as most of the biography relating to him has been lost in legend. Bodhidharma has also been associated with the discovery of tea (unlikely as the Chinese have historical records of tea use predating the birth of Buddhism and even an ancient encyclopedia stating that they have been drinking tea since 200 B.C. or so) and that he could bore a hole into a wall by looking at it. Further, no historical efforts have accurately shown where he originated from, and many accounts differ. Some suggest India, others suggest Central Asia and perhaps Tibet. The earliest record existing in China suggest Persia, which is dubious.

Secondly, historical records suggest that Bodhidharma might have taught the Shaolin monks meditation exercises in 500A.D.; however, historical evidence has shown that the Shaolin monks during this time and before this time (the Shaolin temple predates Bodhidharma) harbored retired soldiers, who taught the monks self defense styles that they had learned during military training and that were preexisting in China. Not only that, various meditation exercises such as those within Taoism and Tai Chi that simulate martial arts, existed before this time that predates Bodhidharma by a millenia, and were being practiced by the monks previous to 500A.D. The Shaolin monks, in order to protect themselves from bandits and criminals around 500A.D, began to codify what they learned into a "Shaolin" Kung-Fu style; however, the development of Kung Fu (or general martial arts in China) goes back centuries before this.

Third, unfortunately, there is very little historical evidence to lay claim to the Indian contention that their various martial arts predates East Asian martial arts. Mythology does exist in India as to their creation of martial arts going back a few thousand years, but mythology exists in every culture even Persian culture relating to the origins of martial arts going back a few thousand years. Mythology does not equate historical evidence. The earliest written reference to kalapriyyattu goes back only to the 16th century A.D. by the Portuguese in British India. During that time they noted that it was a form of dance/martial arts practiced by citizens of Kerala and that the citizens had perhaps been practicing it since the 13th century A.D. During the 18th-19th century A.D., the British outlawed it in Kerala and the practice decreased substantially. In fact, the various Indian martial arts, especially Kalaripayattu, had very few practitioners before the advent of the modern age and especially the "Bruce Lee" era. With the worldwide interest in the Eastern Martial Arts, the Indian Martial arts began flowering once again. Contemporary Indians in India were just as fascinated with Kung Fu as regular Americans in America were. Very little historical evidence suggests that Indians were practicing their martial arts as it is in its current form even two centuries ago. What historical evidence exists suggests that the East Asian martial arts predates the current Indian martial arts. Whatever similarities exist are either due to the innate requirements that the human body requires in order to defend itself, or were additions to the Indian martial arts, possibly through Mongol or Muslim conquest later on or within the last century with international trade.

The first historical interpretation of the origin of the Kalari system was given by Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai. He points out that this fighting art emerged during the 12th century from the military exigency of the "Hundred Years War" between the Cheras and the Cholas. This theory was reiterated by later writers without question. Today, as the concept of Hundred Years War has been questioned and rejected, the theory of the origin of Kalari during this War, has lost its ground. Moreover, it is unlikely that a martial system will emerge suddenly from a war.
As stated earlier, the oldest suggested existence of Kalarippayyattu date back to the 13th centuries A.D. The earliest recorded evidence of kalarippayyattu date from Portuguese descriptions during the latter 16th-17th centuries. It is more likely that the Chinese martial arts greatly influenced Kalarippayyattu after the incursion of the Mongols from China into India during the 13th and 14th century A.D. or the incursion of the Muslims.

Another interesting concept is the idea of "chi" or life force energy. Many Indian historians contend that they invented this concept with their ideas of "prana." However, historical evidence suggests that various cultures have a similar concept, even within SouthEast Asia and South America. Historically, "Chi" developed from Taoism and Lao Tse Tung from concepts that predate 500B.C., and this invention predates that of Buddhism's introduction introduction to China. Further, Tai Chi, which is the soft form of martial arts exercise developed with Taoism also predates Buddhisms introduction to China, and historical books related to its breathing exercises go back to at least 500 B.C. Finally, Indian contention that Karate and Kalarippayattu share common ancestry due to their similar sound is doubtful as both words are Anglicized constructions for English speaking people of multiple Japanese and Indian words, both of which have totally unrelated meaning. Kara-Te in Japanese means "Empty Hand." In India, "Kalari" is an arena for combat; "payat" stands for a system of combat.

The historical inaccuracies that are being propagated by nationalistic Indians on the web and in print are concerning. Even today, some Indian children are being taught that the East India Trading Company was created in India, when in fact, it was a British company. As to the influences of the various martial arts of India and China on each other, no one knows as no true documented evidence exists.

However, it is a long stretch of the imagination to believe that all of the East Asian Martial Arts or even Chinese martial arts had their origins in India through some legendary traveling pacifistic monk. The historical inaccuracies are dangerous for India, as the Indian martial arts should be a source of cultural pride for Indians. However, by stretching the truth, at times fabricating the truth, and making fallacies of reasoning, nationalistic Indians today are lending doubt to the whole history of Indian martial arts.

Improve your lifestyle with yoga

Improve your lifestyle with yoga (Thinkstock photos/Getty Images)

This year's New Year resolutions, worldwide, made by people from different countries and cultures, had one common thread: They wish to improve the quality of their lives through concerted effort, and so they resolved to pursue a more healthy lifestyle.
Overwork, stress, erratic lifestyle without thought to structure, and a sedentary way of life have all contributed to ill health and in some cases, even poor self-esteem. How can all these problems be resolved?
Health is the prime concern today, important for individual as well as social welfare. Keeping this in view, it's instructive to know more about the holistic concept of yoga and its relevance in modern times so that we can understand its importance and value and be encouraged to incorporate it in our lifestyle . Yoga is a precious gift; a panacea from ancient to modern living.
What is yoga? Why yoga? We just have to be aware about it. Actually we are aware but we need to know more and go into it through experience; only then it fulfils its true meaning. Yoga is an important philosophy of our ancient Indic tradition. The different schools of yoga are Samkhya, Vedanta, Tantra, Yoga, Uttar mimansa, Poorva mimansa, Nyaya and Vaiseshika. So it has deep origins. This we have got from different Upanishads and other ancient scriptures.
Yoga comes from the root Sanskrit word yuj which means to unite and integrate different layers of existence. There are a number of definitions of yoga. In Patanjali's Yoga Sutra, it is defined as Atha Yogaha Anushashanam. It means it is the state of discipline, harmony. Here 'anu' means subtle and 'shashan' means to govern. It reveals harmony and governance at subtler layers of existence. When different layers of personality - body, mind, emotion, psyche and spirit - are integrated, we come into a state of discipline and harmony. In order to achieve harmony we have to integrate our dimensions of personality.
Yoga is also Yogah Chittvritti Nirodhaha - cessation of mental modification. It means when we become disciplined, the disturbance in our nature goes away. Our scriptures and philosophies were born of inquiry and they became a guideline and foundation of our Santana (eternal) culture.
All philosophies were born, developed and revolved around the five fundamental questions:
1. What is this body? How does it function and how is it born?
2. What is prana or life force? How does prana relate to the physical dimension of the body? How does energy interact with matter? How does prana interact with the body?
3. What causes prana to manifest in different forms? What is the reason of creation of matter and other elements?
4. What is soul? How can it be experienced?
5. How can transcendental state, salvation or renunciation be achieved?
Yoga deals with the practical aspect of our life and makes us aware and experience the higher dimensions of our nature or self. This leads to the unity of the higher self. As Swami Shivananda said: ''An ounce of practice is more precious than tons of theory''.
We can experience a combination of different aspects of yoga in the form of Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Mudra, Bandha, Satkarma, Mantra and Kriyas. This will give a glimpse and make one aware of the subtle dimension of existence and matrix of the nature.
Yoga definitely helps us to counter the bad effects of our stressful and irregular lifestyle.

Abu Jundal discloses 24 Indians in Pakistan plotting attacks

MUMBAI: Deported terror suspect Zabihuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal has disclosed the names of more than two dozen Indian terrorists in Pakistan planning attacks on India.

Faiyyaz Kagzi, Raheel Shaikh, Taqueer Subhan Qureshi, Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal, Yasin Sidibapa and his mentor Aslam Kashmiri are among a few named by Jundal, who said he had met most of them, except the Bhatkals and Sidibapa, in LeT camps or meetings in Rawalpindi and Muridke.

Jundal, who hails from Beed, fled India after the Aurangabad arms haul in 2006 and remote-controlled the 26/11 attacks from Pakistan. He was later deported from Saudi Arabia and arrested by the Delhi special cell; Last week he was handed over to the Mumbai police for the 26/11 case.

He, with Abu Kahafa, Zaki-ur-Rahman Lakhvi, Abu Wassi, Zarar Shah and a major general, reportedly monitored the attack. "Jundal communicated with terrorists Imran Babbar alias Kasha and Abu Umar who laid seige to Nariman House in Colaba, egging them on to fight with the police, army and navy till the last breath," an official said. "Hafeez Sayeed was present only at sermons but he wasn't in the control room during the attacks." Jundal has told the police.

Jundal has told the police that he was taken into the core group of LeT chief Hafeez Saeed in August 2008, four months before the attack. He said initially around two dozen youths, including a few Indians, were given the Daura khas and Daura aam trainings, but Lakhvi reduced the number to 10. It was also reportedly planned to send one or two Indians among the 10, as they would find it easier to mingle with the crowd.

The decision was dropped as they feared that if the Indians were arrested, they would spill the Pakistan connection, Jundal told cops. He said the attack was not supposed to be in November but during Ramzan in September, when most Muslims would have been indoors, but a choppy sea made them change the plan.The police on Wednesday called the forensic experts to record Jundal's voice. For that, the terror suspect will be asked to read out the exact words he had said to the two terrorists at Nariman House on 26/11.

Jundal was directing Imran Babbar and Umer to fight the police and Army till last breath. Forensic experts will match his voice.

BYPASSER is the faucet system Goldilocks might choose

What do you do when you want hot or cold water from the faucet? You set the temperature, turn the tap on, then wait for the water to reach the desired temperature before using any. Chances are, though, you simply let that initial not-hot-or-cold-enough water go down the drain. The new BYPASSER system from Belgium’s W&E Savings has been designed to keep that water from being wasted.

When using the system, users start by setting the temperature, then pressing down on the lever-style tap. Nothing will happen for a few seconds, and then the tap will pop back up. Once the tap is lifted up, however, the water that comes out will already be hot or cold – whichever was selected.

This is achieved by a thermostat and spring within the system's cartridge. Once the tap is depressed, the spring closes off the water supply to the faucet, diverting it to an accumulator tank for later use. The thermostat then measures the temperature of the incoming water, and keeps the line closed as long as that water is not at the desired temperature. Once it’s hot or cold enough, however, the spring is released and the tap pops back up.

If users don’t want to be bothered, or don’t care about the temperature, the tap can be used normally by pulling up on it from the start.

Some homes do already have a “hot water loop,” in which a continuous supply of hot water is always ready to go. According to W&E, however, its system is more energy-efficient, as it doesn’t require the water to be constantly heated.

BYPASSER is available in configurations for sinks, showers and bathtubs. The company is currently looking for corporate buyers for the technology.

Facts

History Of China Wall

Perhaps the most recognizable symbol of China and its long and vivid history, the Great Wall of China actually consists of numerous walls and fortifications, many running parallel to each other. Originally conceived by Emperor Qin Shi Huang (c. 259-210 B.C.) in the third century B.C. as a means of preventing incursions from barbarian nomads into the Chinese Empire, the wall is one of the most extensive construction projects ever completed. The best-known and best-preserved section of the Great Wall was built in the 14th through 17th centuries A.D., during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Though the Great Wall never effectively prevented invaders from entering China, it came to function more as a psychological barrier between Chinese civilization and the world, and remains a powerful symbol of the country's enduring strength.

Qin Dynasty Construction:

Though the beginning of the Great Wall of China can be traced to the third century B.C., many of the fortifications included in the wall date from hundreds of years earlier, when China was divided into a number of individual kingdoms during the so-called Warring States Period. Around 220 B.C., Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China, ordered that earlier fortifications between states be removed and a number of existing walls along the northern border be joined into a single system that would extend for more than 10,000 li (a li is about one-third of a mile) and protect China against attacks from the north.

Construction of the “Wan Li Chang Cheng,” or 10,000-Li-Long Wall, was one of the most ambitious building projects ever undertaken by any civilization. The famous Chinese general Meng Tian directed the project, and was said to have used a massive army of soldiers, convicts and commoners as workers. Made mostly of earth and stone, the wall stretched from the China Sea port of Shanhaiguan over 3,000 miles west into Gansu province. In some strategic areas, sections of the wall overlapped for maximum security (including the Badaling stretch, north of Beijing, that was later restored by the Ming dynasty). From a base of 15 to 50 feet, the Great Wall rose some 15-30 feet high and was topped by ramparts 12 feet or higher; guard towers were distributed at intervals along it.

The Great Wall of China Through the Centuries:

With the death of Qin Shi Huang and the fall of the Qin dynasty, much of the Great Wall fell into disrepair. After the fall of the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.), a series of frontier tribes seized control in northern China. The most powerful of these was the Northern Wei dynasty (386-535 A.D.), which repaired and extended the existing wall to defend against attacks from other tribes. The Bei Qi kingdom (550–577) built or repaired more than 900 miles of wall, and the short-lived but effective Sui dynasty (581–618) repaired and extended the Great Wall of China a number of times.

With the fall of the Sui and the rise of the Tang dynasty (618-907), the Great Wall lost its importance as a fortification, as China had defeated the Tujue tribe to the north and expanded past the original frontier protected by the wall. During the Song dynasty (960-1279), the Chinese were forced to withdraw under threat from the Liao and Jin peoples to the north, who took over many areas on both sides of the Great Wall. The powerful Yuan (Mongol) dynasty (1206-1368) established by Genghis Khan eventually controlled all of China, parts of Asia and sections of Europe. Though the Great Wall held little importance for the Mongols as a military fortification, soldiers were assigned to man the wall in order to protect merchants and caravans traveling along the profitable trade routes established during this period.

Wall Building During the Ming Dynasty:

Despite its long history, the Great Wall of China as it is exists today was constructed mainly during the mighty Ming dynasty (1368-1644). Like the Mongols, the early Ming rulers had little interest in building border fortifications, and wall building was limited before the late 15th century. In 1421, the Ming emperor Yongle proclaimed China's new capital, Beijing, on the site of the former Mongol city of Dadu. Under the strong hand of the Ming rulers, Chinese culture flourished, and the period saw an immense amount of construction in addition to the Great Wall, including bridges, temples and pagodas. The construction of the Great Wall as it is known today began around 1474. After an initial phase of territorial expansion, Ming rulers took a largely defensive stance, and their reformation and extension of the Great Wall was key to this strategy.

The Ming wall extended from the Yalu River in Liaoning Province to the eastern bank of the Taolai River in Gansu Province, and winded its way from east to west through today's Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Beijing, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu.

Starting west of Juyong Pass, the Great Wall was split into south and north lines, respectively named the Inner and Outer Walls. Strategic "passes" (i.e., fortresses) and gates were placed along the wall; the Juyong, Daoma and Zijing passes, closest to Beijing, were named the Three Inner Passes, while further west were Yanmen, Ningwu and Piantou, the Three Outer Passes. All six passes were heavily garrisoned during the Ming period and considered vital to the defense of the capital.

Significance of the Great Wall of China:

In the mid-17th century, the Manchus from central and southern Manchuria broke through the Great Wall and encroached on Beijing, eventually forcing the fall of the Ming dynasty and beginning of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty (1644-1912). Between the 18th and 20th centuries, the Great Wall emerged as the most common emblem of China for the Western world, and a symbol both physical–a manifestation of Chinese strength–and psychological–a representation of the barrier maintained by the Chinese state to repel foreign influences and exert control over its citizens.

Today, the Great Wall is generally recognized as one of the most impressive architectural feats in history. In 1987, UNESCO designated the Great Wall a World Heritage site, and a popular claim that emerged in the 20th century holds that it is the only manmade structure that is visible from the moon. Over the years, roadways have been cut through the wall in various points, and many sections have deteriorated after centuries of neglect. The best-known section of the Great Wall of China–Badaling, located 43 miles (70 km) northwest of Beijing–was rebuilt in the late 1950s, and attracts thousands of national and foreign tourists every day.

Note:

When Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered construction of the Great Wall around 221 B.C., the labor force that built the wall was made up largely of soldiers and convicts. It is said that as many as 400,000 people died during the wall's construction; many of these workers were buried within the wall itself.

Greatest Indians

The story of a nation is the biography of its people. India is a confluence of a billion life stories, an expansive narrative whose structural variations are only matched by its thematic abundance.

Get into it and be swayed by the whirl of passions, paradoxes and ironies. So it is not surprising that, in the panegyrics of geopolitics and globalism, India is the exclamation mark of the East. Its democracy is the only reassuring drama in a region where the show is still about less evolved civil societies.

Its marketplace has already shed all those socialist inhibitions and become the playground of the so-called wealth multipliers.

And in the digital planet, Indian is an adjective to be reckoned with. When India performs at its best, in words or on the screen, the world is transfixed—and such moments are not rare.

We are not some remote oriental exotica any longer. We are an interesting bunch of people, capable of a few miracles.

We are here because our national back story is populated by people who are more interesting. Canonised by history, exaggerated by memory, they are not just the protagonists of a great yesterday.

They are the ones who set the stage for those who came after them to play out their romance. Pioneers, warriors, revolutionaries, innovators, dreamers, adventurers and creators, they stretched the limits of the freedom they were born into. They challenged the dead certainties of their times with the power of ideas, conviction—and faith in themselves.

They shattered the idyll of consensus and pitted their own will against the scepticism of the majority. Some of them played god as they gave themselves to the temptations of the alternative. Some of them pointed their accusatory fingers toward the self-styled gods of the era.

And all of them, in varying degrees of originality and audacity, acknowledged the indispensability of questions—and the uses of dissent.

They are the men and women who have made India a place of perpetual astonishment, a country whose stability is built on a million imperfections. Most of them are the people we read about in textbooks. They are the permanent residents of the mythology we make out of hero-worship. (See graphic: Poll survey — Top 10 greatest Indian leaders )

They are known by a simple word: great. It is an adjective overused in history books and by popular media. It is not necessarily synonymous with fame; it is given to a chosen few in gratitude, by a people indebted. It evokes awe and admiration, and owes its origin to achievement.

The India Today list of the 60 Greatest Indians does more than showcase the familiar. Nevertheless, they are all there, certainly, from those who were in the vanguard of the freedom struggle to those who managed the freedom.

From those who stood up to the Empire to those who built empires of their own—of the mind and the money. From those who have made politics and morality seamlessly compatible to those who have redeemed India in their imagination.

This list captures the evolution of the Indian story in portraits of individual exceptionalism. It is the history of a nation personified, and a celebration of the spirit that breaches borders.

 The poll

The poll began on March 14 and ran for three weeks through the India Today website and SMS.

A total of 18,928 votes came in, with Bhagat Singh leading with 6,982 votes, Subhas Chandra Bose coming second with 5,193 votes and Mahatma Gandhi trailing at 2,457 votes.

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who forever stepped aside for Jawaharlal Nehru, has been redeemed in posterity, at fourth position with 8 per cent of the votes, compared to just 2 per cent for Nehru.

Another steely nationalist, Indira Gandhi, is sixth, with 3 per cent of the votes.

It is, most tellingly, a reflection of the changing perception of those who are remembering. Greatness, it seems, is not static, or absolute. It continues to be reappraised in the mind of the indebted.