Turning points in martial arts history

Every martial art has a before and an after. These pages tell the story of the events that redrew the map, in order, with the dates that can be checked and the myths that grew around them. Each one ends with its sources.

8 · Key dates: 47 · Myth and fact: 9

Meiji Japan: when the samurai put down the sword1868–1912 · How the end of the samurai class turned old fighting schools into modern budō. 1922: karate leaves Okinawa for Tokyo1922–1936 · How a local Okinawan art became a Japanese budō, changed its name and went global. Tokyo 1964: judo enters the OlympicsOctober 1964 · The first Asian Olympics, the new Nippon Budōkan, and a Dutch giant who changed judo for ever. Bruce Lee and the Hong Kong film explosion1971–1973 · Four finished films in two years made kung fu a word the whole world knew. Kung fu fever: the martial arts boom of the 1970s and 80s1972–1989 · Television, pop songs, ninjas and the Karate Kid filled dojos all over the world. Denver, 1993: the Gracies and UFC 11914–1993 · A slim Brazilian in a gi won a tournament of giants and changed how the world thinks about fighting. From the barracks to the podium: Olympic taekwondo1955–2000 · A name chosen in 1955, two rival federations and a medal sport in Sydney 2000. From “human cockfighting” to a world sport: modern MMA1985–2016 · Rules, weight classes and television turned a spectacle into a regulated sport.