Contribution to the Study of Religious and Philosophical Basis of the Far East Martial Arts

Aleksandar Filipović, Srećko Jovanović University of Belgrade, Faculty of Phylosophy, University of Belgrade, Faculty of Sport and Physical Education.
Abstract Chinese Martial Arts (popularly known as Kung-fu) owe much to other segments of Chinese culture. In order to fully comprehend the infl uence of China's martial arts system on the development of modern karate, originated in Okinawa, there is a need for getting more information about the cultural heritage that had the greatest infl uence on the formation and development of the martial arts system in China itself. Here, we primarily think about the infl uence of religion (Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism) and their relationship to the body and corporeality in the context of culture. Viewed through the prism of this religious framework, a body and body training in China becomes a way of affi rming the integrity of human existence and a positive aspect of integrating a man with his environment; the body becomes a place in which that culture writes its ideas by making it the centre of the universe and a part of the natural harmony at the same time. All this has refl ected immensely on Okinawan reception of Chinese skills, and later on formation of the modern karate sport phenomenon, and many ancient Chinese concepts have survived this many centuries long transformation and modernization. The aim of this paper shall be to demonstrate the possible surviving artifacts and infl uences of Chinese martial arts on modern karate sport.
	KARATE / TAO / ZEN BUDDHISM / QI ENERGY / YIN AND YANG	Full Article Download (191kB)

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