Download Many exponents of Karate or Taekwondo or Kung-fu

n Peter Lockhart
Many exponents of Karate or Taekwondo or Kung-fu will tell you that an Indian Buddhist called
Bodidharma, (or Dharma) introduced what were to become Kung fu, karate and a slew of other
martial arts to Chinese Shaolin monks in the 6th Century AD. Bodidharma came from India and for
this reason, many martial arts scholars of today argue that karate’s roots originated in India.
The trouble with this theory is that there is
no archaeological evidence to suggest that
a kicking and punching style originated
with, or was actually invented by the
Indians. Evidence does suggest that it
was in India for centuries, but only after a
certain Greek fellow had visited.
That one Greek lad and his one particular
visit to India are still talked about in that
part of the world. Towns, cities and people
are named after him, and even now, some
mothers frighten the daylights out of their
troublesome children by telling them that
this Greek fellow is on his way to see
them – which petrifies them and brings on
instant good behaviour.
Sounds like fiction doesn’t it? But not
only is it true, it is history. This Greek was
Alexander the Great and he also knew
karate (although he did not call it karate).
This similar style was so hard that death
was a frequent and well-documented
44 | SHIMBUN
event among the men who practised
it. In fact, evidence shows that prior to
Alexander the Great’s visit to India, the
Indians and other Oriental people only
wrestled.
» The Greeks in ancient times were
extraordinary people actually. Anyone
who thinks of the ancient Greeks as
wimps, swanning around in their togas,
should think again. Alexander the Great
had an army of very hard men who had to
march 30 or 35 miles every day, loaded
up with their weapons, shield and armour.
Evidence shows that on one occasion, in
present day Uzbekistan, Alexander’s army
ran 300 miles in 3 days, in 40 degree heat.
Not only were the ancient Greeks tough
men, but they were also very smart. They
invented many things we still use today
such as the Olympic Games, boxing,
wrestling and many of our track and field
events. They also invented democracy,
philosophy, mathematics, algebra,
trigonometry, astronomy, medicine,
science, biology, art and literature. The
ancient Greeks were highly advanced,
civilised and quite extraordinary people
who also amongst other things, spoke
of atomic theory and were in 120 BC,
experimenting with building a steam
engine. Who knows how different world
history would have been if the ancient
Greek called Heron had managed to build
that engine, more than two thousand years
before James Watt in 1780?
» The Greeks were also war-like people
in those savage days. In order to survive
and thrive 3,000 years ago, they thought
up a few innovations to give them an edge
over any army that may have wished to
attack them. They invented sport and
physical fitness as an edge over unfit
foreign soldiers. At the battle of Marathon
for example, the Athenians were out
numbered six to one, yet 10,000 fit, smart
and tough Greeks, wiped out 60,000 unfit
and untrained Persians.
» When the Olympic Games began,
they were actually massive martial arts
tournaments. Back then, the games
consisted of: three kinds of running races:
Short-distance, middle-distance and
long-distance, and runners competed in
full armour. There were also horse races,
chariot races, boxing, pankration and
pentathlon and trumpeting events. Every
one of these events had something to
do with battle. The ancient Pentathlon
consisted of boxing, wrestling, long jump,
discus and javelin.
» Many of you may be unfamiliar with the
term ‘Pankration’. It means “all powers”,
and it was full contact, bare knuckled,
no holds barred, unarmed combat. ‘All
powers’ refers to punching, kicking and if
need be, wrestling. In other words, all-in
fighting with few rules and sometimes to
the death! Pankration exponents also
broke stone with their bare hands to
demonstrate their inner-strength.
» Was karate therefore essentially a Greek
invention, because they invented and used
Pankration in their games and in battle
3,000 years ago? They precede anyone
else in the World in this particular activity
(Although it is important to note that
the Assyrians, Sumerians and Egyptian
civilisations used similar fighting arts and
are thought to have greatly influenced
Hellenic culture). Most accept that the
Greeks invented boxing and a branch of
wrestling, but why not Karate? Pankration
was certainly used by the Greeks. In fact, it
first became an Olympic event in 648 BC.
» It is as though some ancient Greek
thought: “What do I do if I break or lose
my weapon?” The answer was to kick,
punch and wrestle his opponent to
death. They worked out basic techniques
and practised them and competed with
each other until Pankration came into
being. Soldiers were taught to kick to all
angles (front, round, back and side), to
punch, shape their fist and use knife hand
strikes. This all sounds like Karate to me,
but I suppose you are wondering how it
got to Japan, China or India in the 6th
Century AD. This then, brings us back
to Alexander. He was called “the Great”,
because in his whole life, he never once
lost a single battle. That is something of
which very few military commanders in
history can boast.
All of Alexander’s Greek and Macedonian
forces knew, practised and were proficient
at pankration. When he took his army
all the way to India (even as far as Tibet
in 325 BC), Alex settled a few old scores
known historically that some of these
camp followers were athletes. Many,
some 30,000 men, were Alexander’s own
discharged Greek soldiers. The function
of the camp followers was to people the
many colonies Alexander set up as he
conquered the East. Alexander, on his
one and only trip to the Orient, founded
over seventy colonies. Many of which
he named after himself. In this way he
was expanding his empire and spreading
Greek civilisation. Then, only after his
army begged him to go home, Alexander
returned to the West. While on the way
home, he went on a bender, threw a big
party that lasted several days, promptly
got blind drunk, caught a fever and died.
Thus his second tour of the East had to be
cancelled.
Some 900 years after Alexander, an Indian warrior
prince named Bodidharma, skilled in the Greek
pankration, went to live in China and trained Shaolin
monks with some exercises and self-defence techniques.
with the Persians on the way, defeating
in battle every army that dared to defy
his Empire building tour. It is known
historically that along the way, Alexander
regularly held games for two reasons:
Firstly to amuse his men and secondly to
stop his men from becoming soft through
inactivity. He held the games just about
everywhere he went on his conquests.
The Greek soldiers simply loved watching
and competing in these games and they
regularly trained hard to be fit enough to
compete.
» Tagging along behind the army of
Alexander was a group of several
thousand people who were known
collectively as “camp followers”. It is well
» His demise came as quite a shock to
his supporters and most of the colonies
he founded immediately fell over. The
Greek and Macedonian colonists simply
packed up and went back home. Most
fell over, but, not all of them. Some of the
Greek colonies started up by Alexander
remained, while some that fell over were
soon recolonised and these Eastern
colonies flourished and remained in
existence for centuries after Alexander
died. Two of these colonies, Bactria and
Kandahar, in present day Afghanistan,
had a huge cultural influence on India
and China for hundreds of years. So too
did Merv, in present day Turkmenistan. A
city is a place of culture where people go
» Continued on page 50
SHIMBUN | 45
BREATH TAKING KARATE
» continued from page 29
KARATE & THE GREEKS
» continued from page 29
for entertainment, education, trade and
politics. These things still happen today in
our cities just as they happened then in the
ancient Greek cities of the Orient.
» These cities were like islands of
civilisation in a sea of barbarism. A classic
example of the influence of these Greek
cities is the very fact that the bible was
written in Greek. The word “Bible” itself
is Greek, as is the word “Christ”. So too
is the word “Synagogue”. The city of
Alexandria in Egypt, founded by Alexander,
dominated all of the Levant for centuries.
Both Judaism and Christianity have many
legacies from and, owe much thanks to,
Alexander the Great.
» India was so impressed by Alexander,
that the Indian Satraps emulated him by
having armies like his army. These Indians
certainly learned military methods from
the Greeks and recruited many Greek
mercenaries to train and upgrade their
Indian troops over the next few hundred
years. Consequently India, specifically
because of Alexander, became and
remained a militaristic society for a long
time - hundreds of years in fact. Greek
Pankration - punching, kicking and
wrestling forms of unarmed combat
- proliferated and was widespread
throughout all of India during this period.
» Then, some 900 years after
Alexander, an Indian warrior prince
named Bodidharma, skilled in the Greek
pankration, went to live in China and
trained Shaolin monks with some exercises
and self-defence techniques. Buddhism
is a religion that originated in India while
it was militaristic. Sidharta who became
the Buddha was also an Indian warrior
Prince and it is possible that Sidharta also
knew pankration. All throughout Asia,
where there is Buddhism, there is kicking
and punching Martial arts. In Thailand, a
Buddhist country, there is of course, Muay
Thai. In Japan, Karate is associated with
Zen Buddhism. This link with Buddhism
clearly indicates an Indian association and
also a Greek association with Oriental
Martial arts. Either way, it makes for a
good theory and an interesting story.
50 | SHIMBUN
than you are able to endure. But as with
anything, just practise, stay committed and
you will become more proficient at paying
more attention to controlling your breath
than allowing yourself to be controlled by
the pain in your legs.
In shiko dachi (sumo stance), try breathing
in for 5 full seconds, and out for 5 full seconds, for a total of 30 seconds. See if you
can build up to 7 seconds, each inhalation
and exhalation, then to 10 seconds etc
and keep increasing the total length of time
you remain in stance up to 1 min, then 1
min 10 secs etc.
» Eventually, the pain in your legs will be all
too apparent and you will need to exhale
through your mouth. Just like in our endurance training, there’s waste in the body
that we must expel so our body is pushing
us to breathe out. Still inhale through the
nose, but now you can exhale through the
mouth, and continue as best as possible
to keep your breathing slow, relaxed and
steady.
Breathe Your Way To Flexibility
Anyone, and I mean anyone, can improve
their flexibility. Many karate-ka find stretching difficult and believe that you should find
stretching a struggle. I come from a different perspective and believe a great way
to maximise flexibility and reduce injury to
your body is to relax whilst stretching.
When we stretch, we are attempting to
lengthen our muscles, our tendons etc.
Now consider when you are tense, the
natural instinct is for the muscle to contract
i.e. to get smaller. This is the exact opposite of what we want. So then how can
we lengthen our muscles and improve our
flexibility if we are tense, pushing ourselves
and causing pain, holding our breath
and struggling? No wonder people think
stretching is constantly an uphill battle.
When we exhale, that is when the muscles
release their fear and stress. This is exactly
when we are more relaxed so that’s when
we can push the stretch a little further. We
exhale, let go of a bit more tension, and
we have become a half a centimetre more
flexible. It is seriously that easy! If you can
learn to let go and relax as you exhale,
you can always stretch further. Hold the
stretch, wait until you can control your
breathing again in the deeper stretch, and
repeat, Exhale, push the stretch a little further, and continue to repeat the process.
Relax the mind, and the body will follow.
Meditation- How To Free Your Mind
Through Breathing
In t’ai chi, it is said that you should be able
to hold a candle under your nose and the
flame would not even flicker as your breath
is so light. Consider how serenely the t’ai
chi practitioner executes their techniques,
with total grace and fluidity. There is little, if
any, thought in their mind.
» When the mind is clear, we are free of
fears, doubts and noise. This freedom and
peace of mind is really an incredible place
to be. Those of us who have experienced
even just one minute of total clarity would
agree. After clearing the mind of distractions and fears, our focus is so much
stronger. Our intuition is so much stronger.
We have tapped into a deep, infinite well of
inner power that exists with all of us. When
training gets hard, or when life gets hard,
we can learn to tap into this incredible
source of power. It can provide us with the
intuition, knowledge, and answers we seek
during life. It can also just help you to feel
really centred and happy.
How To Meditate
Basic- Sitting or lying down, place your
hands over your stomach. Close your
eyes. Breathe in, feel your stomach expand. Exhale, feel your stomach flatten.
Repeat. Breathe as slowly and deeply as
possible. Even doing this exercise for just
2 minutes and you will notice a difference
in your state of mind immediately.
» Advanced- Sit comfortably (crossed legged is best), about 2 meters from anything
eg a tree, a chair, a wall. Choose a spot
the size of a pinhead and stare at it. Do
not look anywhere else for 2 minutes. Just
focus on the pinhead sized point. Try to
not think of anything. Inevitably, your mind
will chatter and you will trickle out lists and
things on everything! Breathe. Silence the
chattering monkey talk by inhaling and
exhaling slowly through your nose. I can
guarantee unbelievable results for anyone
who has the discipline to hang in there
with this exercise, but it must be done
regularly (aim for just 2 mins a day). Even
if it seems you can’t seem to shut up your
mind, relax and trust that you can clear
your mind by staying focused on your
breathing. Of course you can.
Breathe easy, life’s great.