Is it true?

India
February 24, 2009 11:23pm CST
I learnt from a website that many martial arts including Karate, Kung Fu have their origin in India. It seems that the Indian martial art "Kalari" (from Kerala) was spread to many other nations by means of Buddhism. Is it true?
4 responses
8 Sep 10
Can you tell me which website said that.Yes, Buddhism derives from indian, but that doesn't mean that some martial arts have something to do with Indian. Kung fu originated from Chinese culture which is absolutely different to India culture.
@rosdimy (3926)
• Malaysia
14 May 10
Many Indians claim this to be true. Let ua look at it from another perspective. Buddhism is a peaceful religion. As such I find it hard to believe that its spread was accompanied by the spread of martial arts. Shaolin Kung Fu started after the Buddhist priests were attacked and killed, and the Shaolin priests decided to do something in order to defend themselves. The original Karate started in Okinawa. It was only later on they copied techniques from other martial arts system. The three systems mentioned have different principles, philosophy, and techniques. If the later two originated from Kalari then the three ponts mentioned would have been the same. Even Kalaripayat has undergone changes. Among other things they are now using forward and backwards roll techniques which were not in use in classic martial arts. My opinion is based on the knowledge and information that I came across in the past. It may be flawed, abd I am prepared to change my opinion if I am completely wrong.
@Amigo523 (121)
• India
25 Feb 09
Kalari is an indian martial art but..i dont know about the karate and kung fu any relation with india.. I have learnt OKINAWA martial art its origin is in Japan.
• United States
27 Feb 09
I'm not sure how true that is, but I am certain that many of the martial arts have influenced and borrowed from each other through cultural interactions and so forth. I honestly find it all quite fascinating how cultures have influenced each other, especially in terms of philosophy and religions. It seems that at the end of the day, though, it all comes down to the old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" I don't think we will ever really know, but it's fun to ponder!