The History of Fighting

In this video legendary swordsman Haga Junichi is demonstrating kendo from the early Showa period of Japanese history, a period that started in 1926 and ended with the death of the Showa Emperor, Hirohito in 1989. (Note the unarmed wrestling at the end of the film).

Title:  The Close of the Battle or The Champion Triumphant

Date:  19th Century

Artist:  Unknown (published by Walker and Knight)

Information:  This hand coloured etching depicts the second of two epic battles between the champion Tom Cribb (who won both fights) and Tom Molineaux, a former slave and the first American challenger to the title.

Title:  Wrestling Match

Date:  c.1649

Artist:   Michiel Sweerts (1618–1664)

Information:  17th century oil painting depicting a wrestling contest.

Title:  Apollo and Artemis

Date:  c.470 BCE

Artist:  Briseis Painter (real name unknown, this Athenian artist is known for his
particular style of decoration on pottery).

Information:  The artwork on this Attic red-figure cup features Apollo, the Greek god
of archery and his twin sister Artemis, the goddess of wild places and hunting. 

A demonstration of Wudang (Wu-tang) Light Body Kung Fu by Master Chen Shixing

A wall mural dating from the early 19th century depicting Shaolin Masters Zhanju and Shi Zhanluo teaching
the monks weapon and empty-hand fighting techniques.

This clipping from a Brazilian newspaper (c.1930) pictures Mestre Bimba, inventor of the Regional style of capoeira.
It states; “It is not easy to fight a capoeira player….he uses kicks and head-butts against an aggressor”.