The History of Fighting

Title:  Apollo and Artemis

Date:  c.470 BCE

Artist:  Briseis Painter (real name unknown, this Athenian artist is known for his
particular style of decoration on pottery).

Information:  The artwork on this Attic red-figure cup features Apollo, the Greek god
of archery and his twin sister Artemis, the goddess of wild places and hunting. 

A demonstration of Wudang (Wu-tang) Light Body Kung Fu by Master Chen Shixing

A wall mural dating from the early 19th century depicting Shaolin Masters Zhanju and Shi Zhanluo teaching
the monks weapon and empty-hand fighting techniques.

This clipping from a Brazilian newspaper (c.1930) pictures Mestre Bimba, inventor of the Regional style of capoeira.
It states; “It is not easy to fight a capoeira player….he uses kicks and head-butts against an aggressor”.

Hirokazu Kanazawa performing Ji'in

Ji’in (Inverted mercy) is no longer accepted as a kata of the Japanese Karate Association (JKA) and along with Wankan, was not included in the ‘Best Karate’ series by Masatoshi Nakayama, which is widely seen as a definitive guide to Shotokan kata. Despite this, many associations still teach it and many instructors feel the kata has a lot to offer their students.

The origins of Ji’in are obscure though as it shares the same Yoi position as Jion and Jitte, it may be closely related to them and have its origins in Chinese boxing (Kung Fu). Like many of the kata, Sensei Gichin Funakoshi changed the name of this form, however the new name, Shokyo (Pine Shadow), did not stick and the name was changed back to Ji’in.

More Kata History

Sensei Mas Oyama, who had 52 fights with bulls, killing 3 outright and cutting off the horns of the rest with his knife hand strike.

This poster from 1864 (three years prior to the introduction of the Queensbury Rules) depicts three of the last four bare knuckle boxing champions who were among campaigners trying to organise an official World Championship. From left to right they are; Tom Sayers (champion 1858 – 1860), Jem Mace (champion 1861 – 1862 & 1866 – 1871) and Tom King (champion 1862 – 1863).