The History of Fighting

Sergeant William Knapp of the 1st.Battalion, Coldstream Guards. The picture was taken by Robert Howlett
and Joseph Cundall in Aldershot, Hampshire in July 1856. Knapp is wearing the Crimea Medal with four bars
for Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann and Sebastopol.

Photograph of Chief Looking Glass, leader of the Nez Perce tribe, taken in 1877.

Takayuki Mikami perofming Hangetsu.

Hangetsu (Half Moon) is possibly the oldest kata in the whole art of karate. Formally known as Seishan, it came through the Naha-te school though its origins are unknown. One theory is that the kata was formed from a Chinese folk dance, which aimed to explain to the onlooker the importance of the tides.

The original name, Seishan, means Thirteen which may be in reference to the thirteen day intervals as the moon revolves around the earth. However a more likely explanation is that it got its original name as a result of the fact there are thirteen moves in the kata (as long as you only count repeated techniques once).

Another theory is that it comes from Southern Chinese martial arts from an old form known as Four Gate Hands, which is still practiced today in Southern Praying Mantis kung fu. This seems more likely as the moves of the two are very similar, which suggests that they either share a common ancestry within the history of the martial arts or that one was derived from the other.

The name may have been changed to Hangetsu by Sensei Gichin Funakoshi, but if this is so it was later in his career than some of the other name changes he implemented as in his book, Ryukyu Kenpo Karate (1922), it is listed under the name Seishan.

More Kata History

Image: Minamoto Yoshitsune training with tengu demons

Date: 1852

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861)

Infomation: The great twelfth-century warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune
training with tengu demons, the keepers of the secrets of the martial arts.

This picture of Mitsuyo Maeda (1878 – 1941) was taken around 1910. Maeda was a Japanese judoka who is reported to have won around 2000 no holds barred fights and along with Antônio Soishiro Satake, he pioneered judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries. So important was he to the development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he is often referred to as the Father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Mestre Bimba meeting the then president of Brazil, Getulio Dorneles Vargas, who is reported to have said to him;
“Capoeira is the only sport which is truly Brazilian”.

An early clip of boxing footage recorded via Kinetograph. Taken in 1894, it shows a
fight between two bpxers named Cushing and Leonard, the latter getting the victory
in the final of six one minute rounds with a knock down.

Bruce Lee - The Big Boss