The History of Fighting

Title: Ainu Hunters

Date: 19th Century

Artist: Unknown

Infomation: The clothes, weapons and characteristic thick beards
of the Ainu went largely unchanged for much of the history of Japan.

Capoeira Angola being performed in 1930s Brazil

The Roots of Capoeira

Reknowned Mestre Joao Grande and Mestre Joao Pequeno playing capoeira on a dock.

The Roots of Capoeira

Training at Shuri Castle c.1938. Photographed by Nakasone Genwa

The History of Okinawan Karate

Students of karate training on a roof top in Japan c.1934

The History of Okinawan Karate

Title: Capoeira or the Dance of War

Date: c1823

Artist: Johann Moritz Rugendas (1802 - 1858)

Capoeira Home

Mestre Bimba performing the ginga in the early 1930s
(His opponent is Asclépios Ferrer)

Capoeira Articles

Chojun Miyagi (1888-1953), Founder of Goju-ryu teaching in Okinawa
Picture taken in 1929

Karate Home

Photograph of Okinawan karate master Kanga 'Tode' Sakugawa (1733 - 1815).

(Update, although several sources around the web clam this to be a photograph of the great master, as he died in 1815 and photography had not been invented yet, this is not possible).

Karate History Articles

Title: Yamato Takeru Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839–1892)

Date: 1886

Infomation:This is a woodblock print on paper of Prince Yamato Takeru dressed as a maidservant, preparing to kill the Kumaso leaders. Yamato is held up as an ideal samurai and as an example for others who followed him.

Samurai History