History of martial arts

Use this forum for general Martial Arts related discussion. Please stick strictly to Martial Arts and use the "General Chat" topic for other themes.

Moderators: nyang, Dvivid, Inga

History of martial arts

Postby Josh Young » Wed Nov 30, 2011 3:48 pm

Buddhabhadra, aka Batuo, this is a name i encountered recently.

I have yet to read anything by Dr. Yang addressing this person.

A person by the same name translated a great deal of vedic material into chinese over a thousand years ago. A person by the same name was also first abbot of Shaolin.

When you consider that Dao-mo, aka Bodhidharma is recorded as practicing martial arts in india, martial arts that use slow moving posture and stance based yoga as training tools, and that have animal styles... as well as meridian point striking... and when you consider that Batuo, a hindu man, was the founder of Shaolin... then history of origins becomes far more interesting...
Josh Young
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 720
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:03 pm

Re: History of martial arts

Postby Dvivid » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:16 pm

It is very interesting.

Shaolin was/is a Buddhist temple, founded in 479 C.E.. Although Buddhism had arrived in China a couple hundred years earlier, Batuo was the Hindu monk who first taught Mahayana Buddhism in China. Batuo's last disciple before his death was the first warrior monk at Shaolin, Sengchou.
http://www.shanli.org/the_discovery.htm

Bodhidharma (Da Mo) was sent by his teacher to China to teach Dhayana (Chan) Buddhism, to "correct" Batuo's teaching approach which focused on rituals and not on mind itself. Batuo rejected him at first. After his "nine years facing the wall" and writing his sutras, Da Mo was allowed into Shaolin, and Batuo accepted him as mentor.

USA Shaolin has a nice historical overview online
http://www.usashaolintemple.org/chanbud ... inhistory/

"Da Mo" is an abbreviated nickname based on mispronunciation by the Chinese of his hindu name, which sounded like Pu Ti Da Mo. It wasn't DAO mo.
Dvivid
Forum God
 
Posts: 1736
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:48 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: History of martial arts

Postby Dvivid » Thu Dec 01, 2011 2:41 pm

There are many fascinating stories in Buddhist history, related to this era
http://books.google.com/books?id=cVojlF ... &q&f=false
Dvivid
Forum God
 
Posts: 1736
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:48 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: History of martial arts

Postby Josh Young » Thu Dec 01, 2011 3:29 pm

thank for the informative reply and links!

it is interesting to note that in India it is said that both of these men were warrior monks, also interesting that Kalari has animal styles and many of the same methods found in taiji and shaolin, including meridian line based striking and qigong like posture based exercises.

Also interesting is the Silat claim that Da Mo taught martial arts material in Malaysia and Temple dances in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other places are clearly martial and also intimately linked with Buddhist temples.

It is such a shame that scholars tend to be nationalists...
Josh Young
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 720
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:03 pm

Re: History of martial arts

Postby Dvivid » Thu Dec 01, 2011 5:52 pm

Not impossible that Da Mo taught in those places. Maybe more likely that unknown disciples with mad skills actually did the teaching. But those countries and very ancient traditional Buddhist lineages and are just as legit a source of info...

Its true, especially with the character of Da Mo and the topics of Buddhism and Taoism in China, that there is a lot of nationalist rewriting of history. Buddhism was a "foreign threat" and was outlawed by several Chinese rulers, sometimes with huge amounts of violence and destruction...to survive without conflict, Buddhists just started calling themselves Taoist and therefore pro-China nationalists, hence the merging of the two philosophies, especially after Da Mo.
Dvivid
Forum God
 
Posts: 1736
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 9:48 am
Location: Boston, MA

Re: History of martial arts

Postby Josh Young » Thu Dec 01, 2011 6:17 pm

Once again thank you for your informative reply.

While the details of the past will forever remain obscured by cultural shifts and political pressures, it is still nice to be able to appreciate the various accounts and theories.
Josh Young
Forum DemiGod
 
Posts: 720
Joined: Fri Mar 06, 2009 12:03 pm


Return to General Martial Arts discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 14 guests

cron