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Old 12-02-2006, 04:36 PM   #356
Mike Sigman
Location: Durango, CO
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 4,123
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Re: China as the Source of Japanese Martial Arts

Quote:
David Orange wrote:
I think both genetic and archaeologic studies have found that the early Japanese imperial family was directly related to the Koreans. Mochizuki Sensei used to talk about the origin of the Japanese people in dim prehistoric times. The way he saw it, people from China, Korea, Russia and elsewhere found their several ways to the Japanese islands and slowly built a life there, finding, in the process, that they had to rely on one another to survive. The intermarriages of this group within a narrow geography largely isolated from everyone else, eventually resulted in the Yamato "race" that we think of today as the Japanese.
Actually, IIRC, there were genetic studies done about ten years ago and instead of a nod of archeological approval that the Japanese are indeed descended from Koreans, there was outrage. Not a calm nod of understanding at all, by the Japanese... they really believed that they were singular and had nothing to do with Korea. There was a very nice article covering the general points in "Discover" magazine at one time. I beleive all this stuff about the origins of Japan and the relationship of Japanese martial arts to Chinese, etc., stuff has been covered fairly completely in previous threads. Ellis contributed a sort of coup de grace with the mention of Chinese texts, etc. Don't forget that whatever you can find out about the earliest history of Japan will be written in Chinese characters. Sumo? Look at the characters. The "ju" arts refer to arts that used internal strength, at one time... not just "soft". Were there wrestling and fighting arts in Japan before that... yes, but they weren't the true "ju" arts and besides, remember the characters for "Sumo". There is a lot stronger argument for pronounced Chinese influence on Aikido than there is argument for the pronounced influence of children.
Quote:
Still, my main point is that the Japanese developed/evolved their arts in a different way with different strategies and motivations than the Chinese, resulting in a very different general approach--though still based on the "center" and on ki.
Sure... and the Japanese evolved their own customs and strategies for the use of chopsticks, too.

Regards,

Mike Sigman
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