Carefully crafted entries on the history, pilosophy, and evolution of the martial arts worldwide, including contemporary practice
Behind Hollywood's violent, sensationalized portrayal of the martial arts is an ancient, honored tradition. Practiced around the world in styles as different as Zulu stick fighting and India's Thang-Ta, the art of combat is part physical discipline, part strategy, and part dance.
The martial arts have developed in nearly every culture, notes anthropologist Thomas A. Green, but in an astonishing variety of forms - throwing and grappling styles, striking styles, and both armed and unarmed fighting styles. In essays by academic experts who also practice the martial arts, readers can explore the physical principles and training concepts behind the world's major martial arts systems. They'll learn how the practitioners of African traditions rehearse combat moves through dance, how Japanese aikido artists search for a way to blend with - rather than oppose - the aggressor, and how the practitioners of the Chinese art of bagua walk cirles of various sizes while rehearsing certain moves.
The martial arts are not simply about physical conditioning for combat. From the Japanses samurai, to the medieval knight, to the American frontier gunslinger, martial artists have sought to combine the physical disciplines of combat with philosophy, tradition, and strict codes of honor.
Features of the title include:
- A significant number of signed entries, each followed by a bibliography
- Contributions from experts who are both scholars and practitioners of the martial arts
- Entries on fighting systems from around the world - their history, training methods, weapons, and much more
- A rich suite of illustrations including archival and contemporary photographs, drawings and prints
- A detailed timeline of the development of the martial arts worldwide from 30,000 B.C. to the end of the 20th century
