Beliefs and philosophies of the martial arts

Martial arts are never only technique. They carry religions, philosophies and ideals of how a fighter should live. These pages explain each one with respect, and keep two things apart: what the tradition holds, and what historians and scientists can actually show.

6 · tradition: 18 · evidence: 18 · Myth and fact: 7

Zen and bushidoWhat Zen really gave the Japanese sword arts, and why “bushido” as we know it is largely a modern idea. Taoism and the internal artsHow tai chi, xingyi and bagua came to be called “internal”, and what the link to Taoism really is. ConfucianismWhy East Asian martial arts are built on lineage, respect and ritual, and where that comes from. Ki and chiWhat qi means in Chinese thought, what practitioners feel, and what tests have actually shown. European chivalryHow the Church, poets and knights themselves built an ethic for armed men, and how far practice followed it. Capoeira and Afro-Brazilian religionsHow Candomblé, Umbanda and popular Catholicism live in capoeira’s songs, amulets and rituals, without making capoeira a religion.