“Everything changes over time, even the martial arts we do, but what doesn’t change is it roots.”
We all know martial arts is more than just punching and kicking, but did you know it’s also a form of storytelling. Each martial art, especially the traditional ones, is an expression of the ideas and culture of its time. When we perform the movements of the art, we are also keeping alive the stories of those generations before us; without even noticing, we ourselves many times retell their stories. There are times during our training, we may find ourselves questioning why certain techniques exist and what’s their purpose. Not being able to answer our questions, we belittle the importance of the techniques we perform, dismissing them by saying things similar to “I don’t know why I need to know this, this wouldn’t work in real life anyways”. Yet, when we look further into the history of the technique, we see not only its importance at the time it was created but also, we see how it evolved to what it is today.
Yes! Techniques do evolve and change overtime based on the need and the expression of the art. For example, the roundhouse kicks from Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo (specifically the Kukkiwon Taekwondo) are slightly different, even though both Tang Soo Do and Taekwondo have similar, even interweaving, histories. One evolved to be more useful in the Olympic sport setting (Kukkiwon Taekwondo), while the other still maintains a lot of its historical roots when performed, though both are still roundhouse kicks. Everything changes over time, even the martial arts we do, but what doesn’t change is it’s roots. Understanding the roots of what we are doing, understanding why it may have changed and evolved, gives us more insight into what we are studying. We not only gain understanding about why techniques were created to begin with and why they may have changed, but also how they adapted. This allows us to better understand how we can adapt them for ourselves, for our specific purposes. We will also better understand that there is no perfect technique for all situations and that makes us flexible; this understanding allows us to bend and modify techniques when need be and have examples and stories from the past to help us.
Not only do techniques themselves tell a story, but sometimes the art as whole is the story. Let’s take Capoeira for example. Many people know it as the martial art that mimics dancing, but not a lot of people know why. The art was developed in part, if not in whole, by African slaves in Brazil and some historians believe that the dance movements were to help prevent slave masters from knowing that the slaves were training for combat and practicing self-defense [1]. The art was so profound that slaves that were caught practicing it were punished [3] and when the slaves were free Brazil placed a ban on the art. After freedom, the slaves had a difficult time finding jobs and used their skills to become bodyguards or hitmen for criminals, so the country banned the whole art [2]. Whenever someone is practicing Capoeira, whether or not they know it, they are passing on the story of the African slaves in Brazil. The story of the African slaves’ survival and preservation as well as their dedication to the art they created is passed through the art.
Many martial arts like Capoeira have interesting histories whose stories are not just passed down through books and word of mouth, but through the movements and forms we do. As a practitioner of the martial arts, you also are leaving a mark in the history of the art. Therefore, you should know your history, know your story, know your lineage. You are helping retell a story and helping it be passed down to the generations to come. Not only are you helping keep the history of the art alive, but you are also helping the martial arts evolve, and you should know where your mark is being made.
REFERENCES
[1] “About Capoeira.” Princeton University, The Trustees of Princeton University, www.princeton.edu/~capoeira/ln_abt.html. Accessed May 28 2021.
[2] “Capoeira.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 May 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira. Accessed May 28 2021.
[3] Buchanan, Kelly. “Capoeira: From Crime to Culture.” Capoeira: From Crime to Culture | In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress, 9 Oct. 2012, blogs.loc.gov/law/2012/10/capoeira-from-crime-to-culture/. Accessed May 28 2021.
