I. History

1. Imperial China
   1. The origins of the martial arts we recognize today had origins in the Shang and Zhou dynasties (17 century – 256BC)
   2. Original purpose of martial arts was in order to assist in hunting and to protect against invading enemies
   3. China’s Yellow Emperor Huangdi (2698 B.C.) first began to formalize the arts. He invented a form of a form of wrestling called Jiao Di or Horn Butting
   4. In the Qin dynasty, Jiao Di was improved to included joint locks, strikes, and blocks and was considered a sport
      1. The Qing were Manchus who always feared a rebellion. For most of their reign (1644-1911) they forbid martial training. Those wanting to train in Martial Arts had to do it underground. The Boxer Rebellion was one of the few times that the Qing supported martial arts training for the boxers.
   5. Swordplay, and spear skills developed and became very popular among both civilians and troops during the Han dynasty
   6. During the Song Dynasty various schools, boxing styles, weapon skills and movement sets flourished
   7. Martial arts held philosophical and spiritual significance within the culture

1. Taoism
   1. During the Zhou Dynasty Chinese martial arts grew alongside the ideas of Confucianism and Taoism
   2. Taoist concept of Ying and Yang, the universal opposites, ended up being tied in a large way to the hard and soft techniques that make up what is kung fu
   3. Those martial artist who practiced Taoism focused more on the inner side of the arts. Some of the Taoist martial arts they practiced are Taijiquan, Baguazhang, and Wudang quan. Taijiquan is an internal martial arts were the practitioner focuses on their health and Qi. Tai Chi is the more common name for the style. Tai  hi also has a straight sword form. Baguazhang is practiced by “turning the circle”. All of their forms has circle walking, were the practitioner will execute different low stances within a circle formation. Wudang quan is a style where the practitioner wants to control his body by focusing on his waist. This style forces on strikes and sweeping arm movements, it also has a straight sword form.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWgfzblr1pI&t=44s

1. Confucianism
   1. Martial Arts also became a part of the concepts of Confucianism, as they were tied to the ideal things people should practice.
   2. Some of these ideal things were respect and honor, which can be seen when the Student and Instructor bow to one another during the beginning and ending of a class to show mutual respect.
   3. In Confucianism, virtue through action is seen as the Confucian Way, and one of the highest virtues to Confucianism is sincerity
   4. This also appears in Martial Arts, as the student bows to the tradition, and holds the teacher in high regards as well as fulfilling the instructions of the teacher with sincerity and respect
   5. The teacher in turn honors the tradition as well as the student through the careful, respectful and proper teaching of the style. Sincerity on both parts of the student and teacher makes the deeper learning of the martial arts style possible.
   6. The relationship that a martial student had with his teacher and martial arts school was express is certain confucian ideals. Students practicing a martial art would look at their school as an extension of their family. They would show loyalty to their school, just like the would to their family. The relationship they had with their teacher was also influenced by confucian ideals. They would never question their teacher, nor would they show up late for a lesson.

• Buddhism

1. Bodhidharma, a wandering buddhist teacher from India,  supposedly taught buddhist monks at a shaolin temple Zen Buddhism and the importance of humility and restraint as well as the martial arts movements that they now have become famous for.
2. Buddhism provided the ethical notion that martial arts should only be used in service of the weak and as self-defense.
3. The Buddhist practice of meditation also played a significant role in martial arts as it was used as a means for self-reflection and introspection which allowed followers to gain a better insight of not only themselves but the world around them
4. Although many martial art disciples predate the arrival of Buddhist teaching to China. The ideals of forgoing materialism, self-sacrifice and the search of enlightenment all have roots in the Buddhist teaching

• Contemporary

1. To efforts to fight off foreign invaders, martial arts experts were encouraged to open their doors and teach their fellow Chinese. This was mainly in part due to the occupations of the Japanese, British, and French.
2. However this tactic provided to be tragic as martial arts could not match up against the guns from the adversaries