Martial arts are all unique in their origins. Not all martial arts came from the same place. Some are old, some are new. The history of an art tells why it is the way it is.
Some examples of martial arts originsI link mostly to lists of videos in this section so you can see what I'm talking about.
- Some arts like Japanese Karate became popular and developed more as a result of law. Policies on banning weapons led to arts developed around empty-hand technique and weapons that are still trained with today that resemble farm equipment of the period. You can see this not only in Karate, but reflected worldwide in many empty-hand martial arts systems.
- Krav Maga, an Israeli martial art, is one of the most recent arts formed almost completely from scratch. Arts formed in this way are usually designed more to our use cases today. A close second example is Systema. While it is an old system, Systema continues to evolve today and because of its continuous evolution you can find elements of many modern techniques including those with firearms.
- Aikido, in my interpretation, was not designed to be martial. My belief is that Ueshiba, the founder of the art, used it as a mechanism for spreading his philosophy on peace and harmony. But that's for another post. Regardless of whether or not you believe that, one can easily see how toned down Aikido is from its parent art, Aiki Jiujitsu. Less striking, very circular, soft movement and of course the very prominent philosophical element.
- Kali, a Filipino art, is a war-based art developed around somewhat primitive weapons. One element of Kali that makes it stand out from other arts and shows its ancient war focus is that training in Kali begins with weapons, not empty-hand. Because of its war origins, Kali, even today, is often taught with the focus of killing your opponent - not as 'self defense' which many people synonymize with 'martial arts' today.
Like many other arts, it relies on some core principles that keep it effective even today. One example is transferable technique.
- Capoeira was developed by African slaves in Brazil. The way this art is trained, even today, is in a ritualistic dance fashion. This dance masked what was really being practiced.
Like many things in the world, martial arts are often children of earlier creations. Aikido is a child of Aikijiujitsu, Karate is said to be a partial child of Chinese martial arts, Hapkido and Aikijiujitsu are close cousins, the base of Jeet Kune Do (as a style) comes mostly from Wing Chun, Western fencing and Western boxing. Within each you can see elements of their relative arts.
With all of these arts you can very clearly see how much their origins have affected the style and techniques of the art and even the way it is taught. Understanding where they come from will help you understand so much about the art as a whole. It will also create a deeper meaning for you in training and help you in choosing an art that fits you best.