Philosophical & Cultural Background of Martial Arts

Martial arts though starting as a combat activity to overcome or defend gradually became integrated into philosophical and cultural beliefs like Buddhism and Shinto. The popular culture still however continued to recognize the martial arts as systems of combat used as a means of defeating the enemy or defending oneself from attacks by the enemy. Deriving its name from Mars, the Roman God of War, martial arts literally mean arts of war. The term was coined by the Europeans in the 15th century. Zen Buddhism is considered the first philosophy to influence the Shaolin martial arts of China. This philosophy enriched the arts by its teachings of meditation for self-control and discipline. In Asia, the ancient martial arts also imbibed the cultural tradition of the hierarchical process of teaching whereby the teacher passes on the acquired skills to the disciple. In China, the concept of martial arts like kung-fu and wushu as a method of self-defense was transforming into a philosophy of self-cultivation. It finds mention in the Daoist philosophical writings of China as in Zhuangzi. The changing Chinese society gradually brought a philosophical basis to the martial arts. In the 2nd and 3rd century BC, the ‘Wuxia’ stories with martial arts as central theme were popularized by the Tang and Ming dynasties. This genre of Chinese literature containing chivalrous stories has shaped the popular perception about martial arts. Even the Chinese opera has culturally shaped martial arts from the time of the ancient Tang dynasty with movements from the art demonstrated in such operas. Martial arts films starting from the 1970s have helped popularize the culture among the mass. The popular TV and film shows on martial arts however do not reflect its true philosophy. The Cultural Revolution in China brought about great changes in martial arts philosophy to align it with the communist doctrine of Mao. Maoism encouraged martial arts more as a symbol of nationalism by eliminating any attention on individual achievements. After the Cultural Revolution and during the reconstruction of post-Mao China, philosophical and cultural traditions of martial arts were revived. In the present day market-driven China, both the traditional and the modern Wushu styles of the art are being encouraged.

Throughout its 4,000 years of history, the Chinese martial arts have been shaped by the different philosophies. While some styles have thrived on the philosophy of exhibitionism and competitiveness, others have philosophized martial arts as a method of self-discipline and defense. Ethics has also played a dominant role in martial arts philosophy starting from the times of the Shaolin monks who considered it more important than mere self-defense. An effort was made to integrate emotion and wisdom to build up through martial arts an internal harmony for a person to be moral in mind and action.

In the Japanese martial art jujutsu, a culture of respect and courtesy is encouraged. Martial arts are in fact entwined with the Japanese culture. This is largely because the philosophies like Shintoism, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism that encourage martial arts coexist in Japan. Jujutsu uses the philosophy of using the opponent’s force to off-balance him and thus manipulating to prevent his further attack. Japanese philosophy of martial arts emphasizes the mental states of the warrior to achieve victory. Zanshin, Mushin and fudoshin are the three states of mind. Zanshin keeps one mentally and spiritually ready all the time, Mushin is instant action without conscious thought and fudoshin is the state of unperturbed mind.