Roan Micaela F.

Balestramon
BS Crim-1

Activity No. 1
A. Short History of Martial Arts.
- Asia is considered the hub of the world of martial arts by many people. However, this does
not mean that martial arts was born in Asia. While martial arts may not have been
necessarily born in Asia, many prominent forms of martial arts come from the region. Some
examples of martial arts include hwa rang do, kung Fu, and karate.
- Martial arts has been influenced by many different factors, such as historical revolutions,
legends, and ancient myths. Due to a lack of historical records, it can be difficult to trace the
history and growth of a martial art. This is especially true for older martial arts like the
Indonesian art pentjak silat and the Hawaiian martial art luau. Revolutions and cultural
factors have also threatened to eliminate certain martial arts.
- However, from the historical records that we do have, it is evident that martial arts has
prospered. This is especially when true when martial arts from two different cultures are
combined together.

B. What are the different System/Styles of Martial Arts. Give atleast 10, Write the styles, origin,
founder and the fighting style.
1. Krav Maga
Developed for the Israeli army by Israeli-Hungarian fighter Imrich Lichtenfeld, Krav Maga is
considered an extremely efficient martial art, combining brutal attacks and aggressive threat
neutralization in a style that is a combination of boxing, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and wrestling. It
is used extensively in the Israeli army as well as Special Forces such as Shin Bet and the
Mossad, the Israeli secret service. Krav Maga came about as a way to deal with anti-semetic
groups in Eastern Europe during the early days of World War 2, when Imrich would set out
with a group of fighters to defend Jews who were being threatened or hurt.
Having been developed out of necessity for real-world situations, Krav Maga focuses on
bringing combat to an end as quickly as possible by attacking the weakest parts of the body.
Using Wing Chun as its primary base for defending against weapons gives Krav Mega an
edge against armed opponent. The grappling from Jiu Jitsu and Judo help establish a balance
between striking and takedowns while also enabling high power submissions to defeat the
foe.
2. Kali - is a weapons-based art originating in the Philippines at around the 8th century AD
according to records held by the Malay Sri Vishaya Empire. The Spaniards encountered the
martial art during the Spanish colonisation of the Philippines. At that time Magellan the pirate
wreaked havoc on the Philippine country-folk, whose chieftain Lapu Lapu helped lead the
rebellion against the Spanish pirate using homemade lances, pieces of rattan, and fire-hardened
sticks. Magellan was defeated and a statue was created to honor the great chieftain for
defending his people. Being primarily a weapons-based martial art, Kali is well suited to fighting
multiple opponents, while still retaining a strong striking and grappling foundation for unarmed
combat. Sticks, knives and other bladed weapons are the weapons of choice for Kali fighters,
although they're also trained in empty handed combat. Today, Kali is used as a combat art to
defend against weapons-based attacks in the Philippines Special Forces and military, as well as
the US military.
3. Sambo
Sambo was developed by the Soviet Red Army in the early 90s in order to improve the
army's hand-to-hand combat abilities. In fact the word Sambo is a Russian acronym which
means "self-defence without weapons". The martial art attempts to take the most effective
techniques of other martial arts and combine them into a deadly mix, lending strategies
from Judo, Karate and international wrestling styles.
Often paired with Systema for a more balanced combat style, Sambo is considered a great
art for both striking and grappling, making it effective both from a distance and in close-
combat and ground-combat situations. Similarly to Judo, Samba makes use of throws, leg
locks and arm locks, and relies heavily on upper body strength.
4. Wing Chun
Wing Chun was developed in 17th century China during the Qing Dynasty, and was one of
the more complex martial arts taught in the Shaolin Temples of Southern China. During that
time the Shaolin monks supported the Ming dynasty, leading to the inevitable demise of
their own temples. Many legends were spread by the Shaolin as to the origins of the art in
order to confuse their enemies, which is why not a lot is known about its origins and
creator.
Considered one of the most well balanced martial arts, Wing Chun combines both striking
and grappling skills, and specialises in close-range combat. It's used as a foundation for
many offspring arts, such as the Israeli Krav Maga, and enables the fighter to both attack
and defend at the same time with the ultimate goal of closing the distance to the foe as
quickly as possible, as close-quarter combat is preferred. The style is well suited for fighting
multiple opponents as it has fast blocking and intervention strikes.
5. Systema
Being the Russian answer to Kung Fu, Systema literally means "the system" in Russian and
refers to the various systems of the body, namely the nervous system, muscular system,
respiratory system, et al. It's a style tailored to the harsh Russian weather conditions and
excels in dealing with exotic weapons. When Stalin came to power most every national
tradition was suppressed, and Russians studying Systema were severely punished, leading to
the practise becoming a secret art. Once the government realized its combat effectiveness
they decided to incorporate the fighting style into Russian special forces unit like Alpha, GRU
and Vympel.
Having no enforced rules, limitations or even a real structure in its techniques, Systema is
designed to boost the fighter's instinctive reactions, individual strengths, and character.
Because of this lack of structure Systema is usually complimented with another martial art;
in the Russian Special Forces Samba is the preferred choice. Excelling in knife and gun
defense strategies, Systema nevertheless lacks a distinctive striking style, relying more on
the natural instincts of the fighter.
6. Karate
Developed in Okinawa, Japan, Karate is perhaps one of the most well-known of the striking arts.
Combining many styles of combat such as Wado-Ryu and Shotokan, Karate uses mainly
punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes as well as lightning-fast hand techniques like palm-
heel strikes and strikes to vital points. The martial art started developing around the 1600s at a
time when Japan had banned its citizens from the use of all weaponry, except for the Samurai.
This lead to the rapid development of fighting styles which would enable non-Samurai to defend
themselves. Even today, the Japanese military and police forces use Karate for their non-armed
combat.
This style was developed mainly as a striking art with techniques such as the sidekick,
roundhouse kick, and certain submission methods used for knife and gun defense. The lack
of close-combat grappling techniques means that fighting multiple opponents is possible but
disarming and ultimate submission of opponents is very difficult. Unfortunately Karate is not
considered a very diverse martial art because of its lack of close-combat abilities, but it still
provides a strong base for the well-rounded martial artist.
7. Jiu Jitsu
Founded by Takenouchi Hisamori, a Japanese military strategist, Jiu Jitsu was formed
primarily as a form of combat for battlefield warfare in situations where weapons were
ineffective, mainly against well-armored opponents. The word "Jiu" can be translated to
mean gentle, flexible, or yielding, and "Jitsu" means art or technique; the name represents a
fighting style that seeks to manipulate an opponent’s force against himself as opposed to
applying force from without.
Since this fighting style was developed in the days of the samurai, whose body armor
protected against most striking techniques as well as weapons, Jiu Jitsu typically places
more emphasis on immobilizing the opponent, pinning, locking, and choking. The style also
makes use of very practical knife and gun defense skills, as well as using the opponent's own
body against him. A glaring disadvantage of this fighting style is when faced with multiple
opponents, as it's more of a close-combat, one-on-one style of fighting.
Jiu Jitsu is used as the base for many other martial arts such as Hapkido, Judo, Jet-Kune-Do,
Jiujutsu, and Aikido to name a few.
8. Muay Thai
Known as the "art of eight weapons", referring to the feet, fists, elbows and knees, Muay
Thai was developed in Thailand as a full-contact, unarmed martial art that was meant to give
Thai fighters skills in dealing with armed and armored opponents. The style incorporates
punches, kicks, knee and elbow strikes, and is renowned for its deadly striking ability. Today,
Muay Thai is popular mainly as a competitive sport as the style lends itself to beautiful body
motions, almost like a dance.
According to Thai folklore a number of Thai kick boxers where taken prisoner to Burma
when the Siam capital of Ayutthaya was invaded by Burmese troops. The Burmese King,
curious to see how the martial art would fare against the Burmese boxing style of Lethwei,
selected one of the Thai fighters to fight against the Burmese champion, each in his own
style. The Thai fighter ended up not only beating the Burmese champ, but also 9 other
fighters who were sent at him one after the other, with no rest in between. The Burmese
King was said to be so impressed that he declared, "Every part of the Thai is blessed with
venom. Even with his bare hands, he can fell nine or ten opponents. But his Lord was
incompetent and lost the country to the enemy. If he had been any good, there was no way
the City of Ayutthaya would ever have fallen."
9. Hapkido
Derived from a number of different Asian martial art styles, Hapkido was developed in Korea
and literally means "The art of coordination and internal energy." The style has its roots in
another martial art called Daito-Ryu, and slowly developed by incorporating strategies from
other fighting styles, mainly Taekwondo and Judo. Hapkido is unique in the sense that it
incorporates a mainly defensive style of fighting, utilising kicks and punches aimed at the
lower regions of the body, and can also be fought with weapons such as the sword,
nunchuka and staff. Today Hapkido is taught to US special forces called the Green Beret, as
well as CIA operatives and Korean special forces. It's a well-balanced style whose main goal
is to breech the distance to an enemy fighter in order to be able to control the opponent's
balance by manipulating the head and torso, and quickly take them down.
10. Aikido
Loosely translated as "the way of harmonious spirit", Aikido is considered a relatively new
martial art, having been developed some 100 years ago in Japan. Aikido's founder, Morihei’s
Yeshiva, entered the world of combat as a result of watching his father getting attacked and
beaten by local thugs for his political ideas. Morihei's idea was to develop a form of fighting
which could be used in self-defence while at the same time protecting the attacker from
injury.
Aikido combines sword-play (Kenjitsu), spear-play (Jujitsu), and Jiu Jitsu, and is considered
one of the deadliest martial arts in the world. It relies on powerful pain control locks such as
wrist locks and arm locks to submit an opponent quickly. The idea behind this martial art is
to blend with the movements of the opponent and redirecting the force of their attack,
thereby using their force against themselves.