The History of Fighting

Grandmaster Yip Man performing Siu Lim Tao, a basic form from Wing Chun.

Title:  San Salvador

Date:  1835

Artist:  Johann Moritz Rugendas

Infomation:  Illustration by German artist Johann Moritz Rugendas, inspired by his time on an expedition to Brazil.

An old sketch of Mestre Besouro Manganga fighting against a group of Brazilian police.

Title:  koshiate
Date:  1735
Artist:  Hayakawa Kyuukei
Info:  This woodblock from the Edo period depicts a series of Japanese samurai swords on their koshiate
(Sword Hangers) and is from a Japanese book on samurai armour called Tanki Yoriaku: Hi Ko Ben

This video is a demonstration of stick fighting from Kalarippayattu, an ancient Indian martial art that is said
to be over 3,000 years old and the ‘mother of all martial arts’.

Title:  The Boxing Boys

Date:  c. 1600 B.C.E.

Artist:  Unknown

Date:  c. 1600 B.C.E.

Infomation:  This fresco from Thera (modern-day Santorini in Greece) depicts two Minoan
boys engaged in boxing and is the earliest image depicting the use of boxing gloves.

A rare photograph of legendary capoeira fighter Mestre Jose Antonio do Nascimento
(1842 - 1936), commonly known as Nascimento Grande (Great Birth).

Title:  Moko Shurai Ekotoba

Artist:  Unknown

Date:  c 1293

Infomation:  This picture depicts the samurai facing Mongol arrows and bombs and is from a set of near contemporary illustrations known collectively as the Moko Shurai Ekotoba. They were commissioned by the samurai warrior Takezaki Suenaga to record for prosperity his heroic deeds during the Mongol Invasions of Japan, which consisted of two failed attempts to conquer the country in the second half of the 13th century.