The History of Fighting

Takayuki Mikami perofming Hangetsu.

Hangetsu (Half Moon) is possibly the oldest kata in the whole art of karate. Formally known as Seishan, it came through the Naha-te school though its origins are unknown. One theory is that the kata was formed from a Chinese folk dance, which aimed to explain to the onlooker the importance of the tides.

The original name, Seishan, means Thirteen which may be in reference to the thirteen day intervals as the moon revolves around the earth. However a more likely explanation is that it got its original name as a result of the fact there are thirteen moves in the kata (as long as you only count repeated techniques once).

Another theory is that it comes from Southern Chinese martial arts from an old form known as Four Gate Hands, which is still practiced today in Southern Praying Mantis kung fu. This seems more likely as the moves of the two are very similar, which suggests that they either share a common ancestry within the history of the martial arts or that one was derived from the other.

The name may have been changed to Hangetsu by Sensei Gichin Funakoshi, but if this is so it was later in his career than some of the other name changes he implemented as in his book, Ryukyu Kenpo Karate (1922), it is listed under the name Seishan.

More Kata History

Image: Minamoto Yoshitsune training with tengu demons

Date: 1852

Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797 - 1861)

Infomation: The great twelfth-century warrior Minamoto Yoshitsune
training with tengu demons, the keepers of the secrets of the martial arts.

This picture of Mitsuyo Maeda (1878 – 1941) was taken around 1910. Maeda was a Japanese judoka who is reported to have won around 2000 no holds barred fights and along with Antônio Soishiro Satake, he pioneered judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries. So important was he to the development of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, he is often referred to as the Father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.

Mestre Bimba meeting the then president of Brazil, Getulio Dorneles Vargas, who is reported to have said to him;
“Capoeira is the only sport which is truly Brazilian”.

An early clip of boxing footage recorded via Kinetograph. Taken in 1894, it shows a
fight between two bpxers named Cushing and Leonard, the latter getting the victory
in the final of six one minute rounds with a knock down.

Bruce Lee - The Big Boss

A Japanese headsman tells his Chinese prisoner the best way to hold his head
for a smooth decapitation. The picture was taken in 1938 during the Nanking massacre.

This picture of warrior monks from the Shaolin Temple in the Henan Province was taken some time in the 1920s. It clearly demonstrates that they had become modernized in their fighting methods, learning from the mistakes of an earlier generation of monks who believed they could use traditional forms of fighting against soldiers with guns. They used talisman and spells to protect them from bullets during the Boxer Rebellion of 1901, a mistake that led to the uprising being easily quashed and one that cost many people their lives.