Hotep/Ashashemalekim,
There have been more
myths and legends than facts for a number of generations of Martial Arts
origins and animal practices in the Martial Arts concerning where it originated
and who invented it. More of it has sprung out of belief systems more than
finding out the facts. However, more and more I see information written by
field researchers and others related to the field of study are coming out
during the time when everyone worldwide is using the internet. The reality is
that right knowledge is easily accessible to us, and the new generation of
people will be more intelligent than the previous generation. It is so true. My
quest as a scholar of the Martial Arts is not only competing and collecting
trophies at tournaments, teaching classes, attending seminars, improving my
health, etc. My quest and my passion in the Martial Arts have been for right
knowledge, finding out about my past in order to restore and preserve factual
History that can bring my self-esteem to a higher level into African
consciousness. In my previous blogs I have claimed that the Martial Arts were
not invented by Bodhidharma, it was in development all away back to the
Paleolithic age. It evolved out of hunting and gathering by early Homosapien
Sapien peoples of Eastern Africa. I will discuss in this blog the accurate
facts about Bodhidharma, and the actual origins of animal practices.
The
Existence of Bodhidharma the Buddhist Monk
There are
documentations of Bodhidharma’s existence that originated in Nepal, and in
China. This Buddhist had made a significant contribution to the Asian Martial
Arts so much that the Chinese writer made out that he was the originator of
Martial Art concepts through animal imitations, but he really wasn’t.
Bodhidharma (Chinese name was Da-Mo) was born from the warrior caste of
Dravidians around the late 400’s or early 500’s CE. It is important to note
that the Dravidians are the descendants of various Kushite (Ethiopians) tribes
such as the Ta-Seti, Ta Nahesi, Mursi and Nubians. The Tamils of Southeast
India descended from the Dravidians. The city and kingdom that Da-Mo was born
and raised in was Kanchipuram, Pallava kingdom (modern day Tamil Nadu in
Southeast India). He was the third son of a Pallavine King. Da-Mo was a student
of Mahayana school under Prajnatara. After his studies, he traveled to China
through boat, landed on Nepal and walked on foot across the snowy mountains of
the Himalayas into China and settled at the Province of Honan c.525CE.
It was there that he
spread the teachings of a new Buddhist sect called Chan (in Japanese called
Zen). He was invited into Shaolin Temple to introduce Zen meditation. He
noticed that the monks were unable to sit in meditation for a long period of time;
they were falling asleep so often because the monks cannot attain the proper
mental aspect. So Da-Mo left the Shaolin Temple and he meditated, trained, and
ate in the cave for nine years. After nine years he returned to Shaolin Temple
and taught the monks newer techniques that his disciples incorporated into
their Chinese boxing stressing the importance of controlling breathing and
introducing Yoga techniques. It is unknown that Da-Mo studied the animals in
both his home country and in China, but maybe he did. The closest evidence I
have found was that he studied Yoga and his native fighting arts Kuttu Varisai
and Silambam and passed the techniques down to the monks. The monks called the
forms Lohan Quan (monk fist boxing). I have been told that the 18 forms of the
Lohan were fully developed 4 or 5 generations after Bodhidharma’s time.
Video of Lohan Quan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr3q4vhzr58&list=PLF4B8F10A97A0F288&index=83&feature=plpp_video
Was
Bodhidharma’s Legacy fact or myth?
There had been many
legends coming out everywhere on the internet and books related to Martial
Arts. My goal is to present the facts and dispel the myth. Many attributes of Bodhidharma are
questionable by many Historians. Unfortunately it has been widely accepted as
Historical truth. Most Martial Arts schools are being misinformed about History
and have been taught fables.
In one legend where I
have been taught, was that Bodhidharma was the creator of all Martial Arts.
That he was the first person to introduce Martial Arts to China in the 6th
century CE. He noticed that the monks were weak physically and were falling
asleep. The monks were constantly being attacked by bandits. So Bodhidharma
taught the monks physical exercises and Martial Arts, thus gave birth to
Shaolin Kung Fu. After his death, he left a manual of exercises called Yi Jin
Jing. Many historians discredited the authenticity of Yi Jing Jin.
Source: Traditionally
Bodhidharma is being credited to be the founder of the martial arts at the
Shaolin Temple. However, martial arts historians have shown this legend stems
from a 17th century qigong manual known as the Yijin Jing.
The authenticity of the Yi
Jin Jing has
been discredited by some historians including Tang Hao, Xu Zhen and Matsuda
Ryuchi. This argument is summarized by modern historian Lin Boyuan in his Zhongguo
wushu shi:
As for the "Yi Jin Jing" (Muscle
Change Classic), a spurious text attributed to Bodhidharma and included in the
legend of his transmitting martial arts at the temple, it was written in the
Ming dynasty, in 1624, by the Daoist priest Zining of Mt. Tiantai, and falsely
attributed to Bodhidharma. Forged prefaces, attributed to the Tang general Li
Jing and the Southern Song general Niu Gao were written. They say that, after
Bodhidharma faced the wall for nine years at Shaolin temple, he left behind an
iron chest; when the monks opened this chest they found the two books "Xi
Sui Jing" (Marrow Washing Classic) and "Yi Jin Jing" within. The
first book was taken by his disciple Huike, and disappeared; as for the second,
"the monks selfishly coveted it, practicing the skills therein, falling
into heterodox ways, and losing the correct purpose of cultivating the Real.
The Shaolin monks have made some fame for themselves through their fighting
skill; this is all due to having obtained this manuscript." Based on this,
Bodhidharma was claimed to be the ancestor of Shaolin martial arts. This
manuscript is full of errors, absurdities and fantastic claims; it cannot be
taken as a legitimate source.
Another original source
that proved that the Bodhidharma story to be mostly false:
The oldest available copy was published in 1827[43] and
the composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624.[24] Even
then, the association of Bodhidharma with martial arts only becomes widespread
as a result of the 1904–1907 serialization of the novel The
Travels of Lao Ts'an in Illustrated
Fiction Magazine[44]:
One of the most recently invented and familiar
of the Shaolin historical narratives is a story that claims that the Indian
monk Bodhidharma, the supposed founder of Chinese Chan (Zen) Buddhism,
introduced boxing into the monastery as a form of exercise around a.d. 525.
This story first appeared in a popular novel, The
Travels of Lao T’san, published as a
series in a literary magazine in 1907. This story was quickly picked up by others
and spread rapidly through publication in a popular contemporary boxing manual,
Secrets of Shaolin Boxing Methods, and the first Chinese physical culture
history published in 1919. As a result, it has enjoyed vast oral circulation
and is one of the most “sacred” of the narratives shared within Chinese and
Chinese-derived martial arts. That this story is clearly a twentieth-century
invention is confirmed by writings going back at least 250 years earlier, which
mention both Bodhidharma and martial arts but make no connection between the
two.[45]
Another source can be seen here: The attribution of Shaolin's
martial arts to Bodhidharma has been discounted by several 20th century martial
arts historians, first by Tang Hao on the grounds that the Yì Jīn Jīng is
a forgery.[12] Stele
and documentary evidence shows the monks historically worshiped the Bodhisattva Vajrapani's
"Kimnara King" form as the progenitor of their staff and bare hand
fighting styles.[13]
Huiguang and Sengchou were involved with
martial arts before they became two of the very first Shaolin monks, reported
as practicing martial arts before the arrival of Bodhidharma.[14] Sengchou's
skill with the tin staff is even documented in the Chinese Buddhist canon.
Records of the discovery of arms caches in
the monasteries of Chang'an during
government raids in AD 446 suggests that Chinese monks practiced martial arts
prior to the establishment of the Shaolin Monastery in 497.[15] Monks
came from the ranks of the population among whom the martial arts were widely
practiced before the introduction of Buddhism. There are indications that
Huiguang, Sengchou and even Huike, Bodhidarma's immediate successor as
Patriarch of Chán
Buddhism, may have been military men before
retiring to the monastic life. Moreover, Chinese monasteries, not unlike those
of Europe, in many ways were effectively large landed estates, that is, sources
of considerable regular income which required protection.
In addition to that, the Spring
and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, the Bibliographies in the Book of the Han
Dynasty and the Records of the Grand Historian all document the existence of martial
arts in China before Bodhidharma. The martial arts Shuāi Jiāo and Sun Bin Quan, to name two, predate the
establishment of the Shaolin Monastery by centuries.[16]
So the whole idea that
there were no Martial Arts in China during the dark ages, until Bodhidharma’s
arrival is completely untrue! First recorded history of Chinese Martial Arts
existed approx. 1,500 years before Bodhidharma’s time. Even just before
Bodhidharma’s arrival to Honan province, most of the monks were well skilled in
Chinese Boxing such as Huiguang, Senghou and Huike, the disciples of
Bodhidharma’s Zen Buddhism.
Therefore,
Bodhidharma’s creation of Martial Arts is a myth which unfortunately until this
day had been taught as truth and propagated through Martial Arts books, the
internet and documentaries.
Another legend where I
read for myself was his nine year meditation in a cave. After being disturbed by
the monks’ poor conditioning and being unable to stay in meditation for long
periods of time. He left Shaolin Temple and gone to a cave and meditated for
nine years. He kept falling asleep, so he cut his eyelashes to stay awake. Once
his eyelashes hit the grass it grew tea leaves. Bodhidharma had the ability to
stare at the wall for so long that it burned a hole through the wall. These
supernatural attributes are questionable.
Failing to make a favorable impression in
Southern China, Bodhidharma is said to have traveled to the northern Chinese kingdom of Wei to
the Shaolin
Monastery. After either being refused entry to the
temple or being ejected after a short time, he lived in a nearby cave, where he
"faced a wall for nine years, not speaking for the entire time".[18]
The biographical tradition is littered
with apocryphal tales about Bodhidharma's life and circumstances. In one
version of the story, he is said to have fallen asleep seven years into his
nine years of wall-gazing. Becoming angry with himself, he cut off his eyelids
to prevent it from happening again.[22] According
to the legend, as his eyelids hit the floor the first tea
plants sprang
up; and thereafter tea would
provide a stimulant to help keep students of Chán awake during meditation.[23]
The most popular account relates that
Bodhidharma was admitted into the Shaolin temple after nine years in the cave
and taught there for some time. However, other versions report that he
"passed away, seated upright";[18] or
that he disappeared, leaving behind the Yi Jin Jing;[24] or
that his legs atrophied after nine years of sitting,[25] which
is why Japanese Bodhidharma
dolls have
no legs.
The reality is that
Bodhidharma was human and that he didn’t posses god-like powers. If you
meditate in a cave or anywhere for nine straight years, you will die of
starvation. Bodhidharma did yoga exercises in the cave and his disciples or
villagers sent him food. The nine year
meditation in the cave is an influential story on the Japanese people that possess
Bodhidharma (Daruma) dolls that feature the wide, bulging eyes with no
eyelashes and these dolls have no legs.
Animal
Imitation: The Cornerstone of Martial Arts
I haven’t found any
proof that Bodhidharma studied different kinds of animals in India or in China
to incorporate into his Martial Arts system. Animal imitation in the Martial
Arts had been practiced formally since the beginning of early human history. African
people, the first human race on earth were the first to possess God
consciousness through nature. African people were not at all polytheist or a
cult of that matter. They believed that the god Amen-Ra was present with the
earth and other living things given animals a special God-given attribute that
humans can imitate in a way. I have been teaching this to students on a few
occasions. In Kilindi Iyi’s article called The
Martial Arts of Africa:
Certain
formulas were memorized, such as the transformation into the Crocodile god
Sebak, which is as follows; “The Osiris Ani, whose word is truth, saith;
‘I am the Crocodile-god Sebak, who dwelleth amid his terrors. I am the
Crocodile-god, and I seize my prey like a ravening beast. I am the great Fish
which is Kamu. I am the Lord to whom bowings and prostrations are made in
Sekhem (Letopolis). And the Osiris Ani is the Lord to whom the
bowings and preparations are made in Sekhem.”
This is just one of the prayers of transformation which, when approached in the
proper manner, would bring about the desired results in combat. The
ancient Africans laid down the fundamental basis for self-mastery, with the
warrior arts as one of the vehicles.
–Kilindi
Iyi
The Africans were very
advanced in medicine, science, mathematics, geometry, architect, music,
agriculture, Yoga exercises, Martial Arts (Montu Arts) and Spirituality in
their established civilization before Europeans ever got out of their caves.
On the subject of Spirituality
and the Martial Arts, Bodhidharma’s contribution of his Buddhist teachings and
his Martial Arts exercises were revolutionary (not whatsoever a new invention
of that generation) which influenced Karate-do goes back to his African
ancestors, the early developers of indigenous fighting systems. Kilindi Iyi
stated in his article Martial Arts of
Africa that the early writings of the Martial Arts goes back to the
Hieroglyphs (Greek word meaning Sacred Carvings/Writings) of Kemet (Egypt).
The martial arts of Africa presented to the world one of the earliest forms of
systematic combat. The use of weapons such as the spear, mace, sword, and the
bow and arrow all have their origins in Africa. The unarmed forms
of combat exemplified the movements of certain animals held sacred by the
ancient Africans. They found early in their history that these animal principles could be
isolated within the consciousness of man and manifested into
an unconquerable fighting force. Of course, this
was thousands of years before there was civilization in
those areas commonly thought to be the “birthplace” of martial arts.
It was the ancient Africans who first gave to the world military science.
The martial beginnings started with mankind’s desire to preserve and
organize combative principles in system that could be readily taught
to subsequent generations.
On the African continent, the oldest remains, tools, and weapons of man
are found. The oldest martial arts records in existence are in the form of
hieroglyphics in what is today called Egypt. The ancient Egyptian
priesthood taught systems of combat based upon history, legend, and myths
about the gods and goddesses. As handed down by the religion, every great
temple maintenance an armed force to protect its interests.
-Kilindi Iyi
Kilindi also claimed
that animal imitation had remain African in Origin before India, China or Japan
ever came up with that idea, “Through imitating the movements of these animals, we seek to
awaken their attributes within ourselves.” (Kilindi Iyi Martial
Arts of Africa).Prof. Carroll also claimed that the Wrestlers of Nubia
imitate the monkey and the dragonfly in wrestling bouts, “According to an oral tradition, the Nuba began wrestling in order
to imitate certain species of monkeys which were abundant in the hill country.
The young monkeys played by trying to overthrow each other. The Nuba wrestlers
imitate certain animal and insect characteristics while wrestling. Like a
baboon or monkey threatening its foe, the Nuba will rub his hands on the
ground; (and it helps his grip). He stamps his feet and roars like a bull.
Flicking his tongue and moving his fingers like a large flying insect, the Nuba
dances into the ring, not as a man, but representing the spirit of his cattle
herd,
(Prof. Carroll). Until this day it
is written on the walls of the many tombs of Egypt, Nubians and Kemites
performing combative movements and wrestling holds that resembles that of Judo,
Karate and every Martial Art system known to man.
I taught the breakdown to students of
animal attributes that my ancestors admired in their MD NTR (Word of God or
gods) such as the snake that can strike quickly as ever at a victim Africans
would say wow I wish I had the ability to be quick with my hands the enemy
wouldn’t see it coming. The falcon has the ability of strong eyesight, the
falcon can see its prey from high above the sky and swoop down Africans say wow
if only I had the ability to see far away, that is the eye of Heru (Horus) the
original Messiah. They don’t worship the animals; they worship the attributes
to see if it can rub off on them. The dog has the ability to smell things far
away and can sense that someone is going to die. The dog has the ability to be
the judge represented by the NTR (Neter) Anubis the Jackal. Approx. 50,000years
BCE when Africans settled along the Yellow River of China they saw Cranes
standing on one leg for long periods of time, and they only wish they had the
ability to be balanced like the crane. They don’t worship the animal; they
worship the attribute of the animal to see if it can one day rub off on them.
Here is part of a video of Dr. Booker T. Coleman on what he said about animal
imitation in his lecture called History and Science of the Moors:
In
conclusion, what Bodhidharma brought into China was African in origin. The
Bodhidharma story had been turned into a fabricated story of the 20th
century. The Martial Arts practices existed long before his time and that every
civilization developed their own Martial Art discipline before his time. A wise
man once told me that, “The human body is universal the arm in Europe can break
the same as in Asia.” I’m not trying to
be unkind or cause any hurt to anyone whatsoever. I’m trying to be factual,
encouraging all of you to be open minded in expanding our knowledge of the
Montu Arts, which the term being Europeanized as Martial Arts. This is how deep
it is when presenting real live history in order to detach the myths. My
occasional conversations I had with my mother about our history had risen to a higher
level of interest. Several years ago I didn’t have much interest, but now I
have been doing my homework, doing critical thinking and spreading the wisdom
to anybody. My mother told me “it is great to educate yourself and open your
eyes to the knowledge in order to give your wisdom. Keep doing what you’re
doing.” I saw that movie the Warriors a few months ago when Cyrus said, “Can
you dig iiiiiit?” I am asking you, can you dig what I have presented to you? If
not, do your own research, try to prove me wrong. Know your past and understand
your past. Everyday I go on my quest for the light for right knowledge. As the
saying goes, “The truth shall set you free.”
Here
is an article I am currently reading called In the Shadow of Bodhidharma by
Dr. William C.C. Hu and Fred Bleicher. This article is written in 1965 for
Black Belt Magazine as the introduction says, “Black Belt’s research team
verifies the Historical existence of Bodhidharma but finds no evidence
to support claims that he was the originator of Karate.
Jonathan
Further Recommended Reading:
Origin of Martial Arts: The Real History
They Came Before Bodhidharma
African Contributions to the World (Facts
revealed) Kata and the Transmission of Knowledge by Michael Rosenbaum (book available on Amazon)
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