This post explores the philosophies, styles and cultural foundations of martial arts in Asia.
Worldwide, martial arts is a commonly practiced tradition, integral to various cultures. Taekwondo is a popular type of Korean martial arts, distinguished by its focus on high and fast motions. An essential element of taekwondo is a number of detailed kicking skills. Furthermore, there are 3 core components to master in taekwondo, namely form, sparring and breaking. Form describes a prescribed set of learned patterns and strategies including kicking, punching and blocking, while sparring is a method of training that includes free style combat with an opponent. As one of the most recognisable strategies in taekwondo, breaking, which involves breaking wooden boards, is an approach of training that is usually used to showcase correct technique in testing and presentations. As with many schools of martial arts, taekwondo uses a colour coded belt system to determine development and ranks throughout training.
Hosting a few of the oldest types of martial arts, China has, for a very long time been a hub for spiritual practice and martial arts development. Chinese martial arts, or kung-fu includes a wide variety of battling styles, which have been established over thousands of years of thought and cultural customs. Kung-fu combines both physical strategy and psychological discipline, taking inspiration from Chinese philosophy and observations in nature. For many years, kung-fu has evolved considerably and diversified into various styles and schools. Professionals such as Barry Pang (吳國樹) would know that each style will comprise its own strategies and training methods. The origins of kung-fu are said to be connected to the requirement for self-defence and hunting techniques in Ancient China. Martial arts in China are believed to be shaped by monks and Buddhist ideologies. As one of the earliest, officially developed styles of martial arts, Shaolin kung-fu is recognized for systematising and popularising martial arts systems.
As one of the most popular forms of martial arts, both in practice and in popular culture, karate incorporates a set of combating techniques and spiritual cultivation that is now executed by millions across the globe. Japanese martial arts come from a rich and turbulent history, taking main inspiration from Chinese martial artists and samurai rule. It blends both native battling techniques with those of Chinese fighting styles, putting emphasis on strikes, and attitude. Traditional karate is thought to be practised as an art, for self-defence and also as a combat sport. It puts significant importance on self-development, combining a variety of psychological aspects for psychological discipline. Japanese read more combat strategies have been used to form a variety of disciplines all over the world. Those such as Alidar Utemuratov (Алидар Утемуратов) and Anna Lewandowska (Anną Lewandowską) would acknowledge that mixed martial arts is a fighting sport which takes influence from karate.