According to many, the origin of martial arts can be traced back to man’s need for warfare. This is not true for the simple reason that the skills involved in the practice of martial arts are far more refined that simple warfare which would depend more on physical strength. It is believed that martial arts could have originated from ancient individuals who had to master the skill of self defense to protect themselves from animal attack and other humans for territory ownership.

The subsequent refinement, re-structuring and systemization of this ancient art carried on for many centuries in various parts of the world. During the process of development, many aspects of our lives like spiritual enlightenment, religiosity and the sheer nature of our existence came to be closely linked to the martial arts.

According to many, the history of martial arts is as old as human existence and civilization itself. Research into martial arts history shows that martial arts has its presence in Mesopotamia, otherwise referred to as the cradle of civilization.

It is now known that martial arts existed in some form in China and the Far East, even before civilization reached these countries. Many of the principles of this ancient art are practiced even today.

Communications between different countries in Asia existed through channels of trade and conquests. Thus it was not long before it reached India where it spread with growing popularity and got mingled with concepts of health, philosophy and religion.

As martial arts spread its wing, a lot of secrecy also started to get attached to it. The more people knew its strengths, the more it was shrouded with layers of mystery and secrecy. This has resulted in much of the origin or martial arts remaining unknown to the general public. It is known that the origin of Buddhism as a religion, started to spread from India and monks traveled far and wide especially to China.

Travelers were believed to have used martial arts as a way to defend themselves during their travel and helped the art to be introduced to China. Once the art was introduced in China it really blossomed. Of course the popularity of this art took centuries to grow and involved plenty of practitioners and maestros.

According to the Chinese however, the credit for the development of this art is attributed to Bodhidharma (an Indian name) who left India in search of enlightenment and reached a monastery in China around 520 A.D. The monastery situated in the Songshan mountains is the modern day’s Shaolin Temple. Bodhidharma, who was known by his Chinese name Ta-Mo introduced Zen Buddhism to the Chinese. He aimed to help the Chinese monks to retain their physical strength and health and taught them physical exercises which were essentially martial arts.

As is evident, martial arts became an essential component for the maintenance of physical health, philosophy and also religion. as the art grew in China, which soon came to be known as the home of martial arts, gradually spread to other Asian countries like Japan, Korea and Philippines. In modern times, all these countries have their own individual traditions of martial arts, though heavily influenced by Chinese principles.

No matter their origin, the essential objective of learning and practicing martial arts is to defeat an opponent physically or for self defense from any physical threat. Additionally many martial arts and closely linked to various religious and philosophical beliefs of Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism or Shinto, Confucianism, and even Islam (by Chinese Muslims).

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Inner Secrets of Martial Arts Success
- Be A Human Fighting Machine

Many people who are keen in martial arts often seek out the latest and greatest martial arts techniques. What all of them hope to achieve is to master some secret martial arts moves that will enable them to fight better and more effectively than their rivals.

Here are a couple secret martial art techniques which are difficult to find on the internet or anywhere else. Though all of these tricks and techniques are practical, remember to use them after diligent practice and after thought:

Secret Martial Arts Techniques #1 – Time and Eye Contact
When martial arts are used as a form of self defense, the most critical component is time. If only you got a bit of time before the attacker made his next move, you could easily win the fight.

You can gain such a gift for time if you start to watch the opponent’s eyes during the fight. The direction in which your attacker is looking would be a determining factor in the speed with which he is going to act and you could effectively use the opponent’s gaze to your advantage.

For instance, if your attacker is looking directly at you, it indicates that the attack would come very fast, but if he is looking away from you, this means that you can get a few seconds to prepare for your strikes. Though simpler during a competition when there are a lot of repetitions of moves, this can be tough during a street attack.

If that is the case, make an attempt nevertheless to study his eye pattern. What you are essentially looking for is his blinking pattern. Try and gauge the time when he would next close his eyelid. This is the time when you have to plan your strike and make contact with the attacker. Essentially, when you can predict a blink, you can be ready to strike.

People not only blink, their eyes also wander, even when they are on the attack mode. Simply bide your time till the attacker even takes a glimpse at the door and you could attack him at that instant. Even when he looks at your feet, you can grab that short time lapse to your benefit.

With some practice, this secret martial arts technique can be put to some great use and you can even track and control your own eye motions to your own benefit.

Secret Martial Arts Techniques #2 – Breaking Momentum
When you see someone moving aggressively towards you, have you ever wondered how to put a break to the momentum, redirect him and make the potential attacker pass you by?

Well, there is a very practical yet little known and lesser practiced secret martial arts technique that is to execute a stop kick on the shins or a jab on the eye. That could stop the first impact of the attacker on you.

Your attacker has to stop to give a counter attack to you. You do not have to aim at being successful with your eye jabbing, but the whole idea is to stop his forceful forward movement. As soon as he has stopped for a while, step on his or her foot.

Find the top of the opponent’s foot without even looking down. If you do look, then your move becomes obvious to the attacker. The art of finding the opponent’s foot can be perfected with practice.

Your next move is to push your opponent as soon as you have pinned down and trapped his or her foot. Imagine what the impact is going to be on his body when you have mastered the perfect art of pushing down someone when his foot is trapped.

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If you are in a street fight, it is important that you remain calm and don’t become overwhelmed with anger or emotion. You should also have the attitude that you are definitely going to win the fight. Losing is not even something you should consider.

I personally don’t like it when I see street fights where people are just wailing on each other but nobody goes down and nothing happens. Just a bunch of punches to the face that leave marks and bruises and break knuckles. Stupid. Why not strike your opponent with a proper strike to a sensitive pressure point that hurts terribly and may even end the fight?

Some of the most painful (and vital) pressure points are in the head and facial areas. These are not to be taken lightly, you can severely injure and/or kill your opponent if you strike these vital areas hard enough. You don’t want to go to jail for murder just because of a street fight, but on the other hand…if you need to use a technique to win the fight and save yourself from serious injury or death, then you better use it and use it right!

The top of the head is a vital and sensitive pressure point in between the cranial bones. Right at the top of the nose is another one. If you strike someone at the top of the forehead you can give them whiplash which is a surefire way to end a fight and injure somebody pretty badly.

The temples are another sensitive and vital area as important arteries and nerves are located closely under the skin. Also, the bones of the skull are relatively weak in the temple area. These are all pressure points that hurt and also kill. There are many other pressure points that aren’t as dangerous but still hurt terribly and it would be to your advantage to learn about them if you are looking to further your street fighting skills.

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