Through out ancient and modern History all over the world there are many different martial art styles that are practised in different countries by millions of martial arts practitioners.

This article is taken from a number of different books written about the history and origins of different martial art Forms and Styles it is compiled to inform any one who is training in martial arts who would like to read briefly about past History of the martial Arts in various styles.

Martial arts is a collective term for various types of self defence or fighting arts that originated in Asia. Most martial arts practiced to day were established in China, Japan, and Korea each which were taught into specific styles or systems.

Asian martial arts spread to the West mostly through Japan.
Many of the Japanese emigrants who emigrated to Europe and the United States to seek work towards the end of the 19th Century and the beginning of the 20th Century, brought with them jujitsu and judo. Westerners became fascinated by these fighting methods and Eastern philosophy’s which enabled a small or single person to ward of or defeat a larger person or multiple attackers. Before World War 11, their were only a small number of people in the West that were proficient in the martial arts. In 1945 after the war many of the western armed forces occupying Japan began to study martial arts. On returning to the West besides judo and jujitsu both of which had been previously known in the United States, the returning servicemen brought with them the techniques of karate, aikido , and kendo. After the end of the Korean war in 1953, U S soldiers stationed in Korea studied the karate techniques such as tae kwon do and t’ang-su do.

Not until the 1960’s after the relaxation of the U.S. immigration quotas which brought in a larger amount of Chinese immigrants many who were experienced in certain martial arts which made it possible for the Westerners to learn and study the Chinese techniques of martial arts which before then had been kept very secret such as Kung-Fu systems as Shaolin-chuan , praying mantis, and tai-chi chuan

With these martial arts introduced to the West came the Eastern beliefs, culture and philosophy such as Taoism and Buddhism. Buddhism emphasizes the role of an individual seeking to attain self-mastery,
self –realization, and enlightenment. Taoism seeks the use of certain physical exercises and breathing disciplines to attain similar enlightenment .The martial arts viewed in East Asia
Many people believe that what we today regard as the oriental martial arts have their roots in India , looking at such disciplines as yoga and breathing techniques that originated in India which have great similarity between those and many of the modern martial arts systems. It is so noted that the evolution of karate began over a thousand years ago as early as the 5th and 6th Centuries BC.

As legends have it an Indian Zen Buddhist monk Bodhidharma known as Da Mo or Ta Mo in Chinese and Bodai Daruma or Daruma in Japan . Bodhidharama’s name stands out amongst all the Buddhist enlightened people second only to Gautama Buddha .

Bodhidharama was the 28th patriarch or successor to Buddha.
At the end of the of the 5th Century Bodhidharma on Prapyatara’s influence a women who was enlightened and also initiated him on the path of Gautama Buddha travelled from India to China were he is accredited with bringing Zen Buddhism to China . On his arrival in Canton in 527 AD. From their he travelled to Nanjing were the Imperial Court stayed. He was greeted by the emperor Liang Wu who had thousands of scholars translating Buddhist scriptures from Pali into Chinese. The emperor had built thousands of temples and monasteries and donated large amounts of his wealth towards promoting the ideas and philosophies of Buddha. Emperor Wu was only promoting these deeds for self gain in the hope of one day being reborn as a God In Heaven. After a disagreement with Bodhidharma who ideas was not for self gain.
‘’On the path of Gautama Buddha there is no reward because the very desire for reward comes from a greedy mind”.

On the 17th October 527 A C , Bodhidharma took sail in the Yang Tze river towards North , to the Song mountain the home of the Shao Lin Monastry .When Bodhidharma arrived he saw that the priests were weak and sickly, so he shut himself away to ponder the problem. When he emerged after nine years of self seclusion and meditation, he wrote two classic books :Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/ Tendon Changing Classic ) and Xi Sui Jin (Marrow /Brain Washing) The Yi Jin Jing taught the priests how to build their Qi to supernatural levels and use it to improve health and change their physical bodies from weak to strong . When these exercises were integrated into martial arts forms, it increased the effectiveness of their martial arts techniques.

Because the Xi Sui Jing was hard to understand and practice the training methods were passed down secretly to only a few disciples in each generation. The Chinese fighting styles of the 5 animals emerged with the Kalaprayat aryan style of martial arts, which is known today as Tai Chi Chuan.
Bodihidarama died in Shaolin Temple in 536 AD and was buried on Xiong ER Mountain.