now internationally known system of training performers using the princi-
ples of techniques of Asian martial and meditation arts as a foundation for
the psychophysiological process of the performer (see Zarrilli 1993, 1995).
One example of the actual use of a martial art in contemporary the-
ater performance is that of Yoshi and Company. In the 1970s Yoshi Oida,
an internationally known actor with Peter Brook’s company in Paris, cre-
ated a complete performance piece, Ame-Tsuchi,based on kendô. Yoshi
used the rituals of combat and full contact exchanges as a theatrical vehi-
cle for transmission of the symbolic meaning behind the Japanese origin
myth that served as the text for the performance.
Of the many examples from Asia per se, during the 1980s in India a
number of dancers, choreographers, and theater directors began to make
use of martial arts in training their companies or for choreography. Among
some of the most important have been theater directors Kavalam Narayana
Panikkar of Kerala, who used kalarippayattu in training his company,
Sopanam, and Rattan Theyyam in Manipur, who made use of thang-ta.
Among Indian choreographers, Chandralekha of Madras and Daksha Seth
of Thiruvananthapuram have both drawn extensively on kalarippayattu in
training their companies and creating their contemporary choreographies.
Phillip Zarrilli
See alsoAfrica and African America; Capoeira; Form/Xing/Kata/Pattern
Practice; Japan; Kalarippayattu; Mongolia; Thang-Ta
References
Elias, Norbert. 1972. “The Genesis of Sport as a Sociological Problem.”
In Sport: Readings from a Sociological Perspective.Edited by Eric
Dunning. Toronto: University of Toronto.
Ghosh, M. 1956. Natyasastra. Vol. 1. Calcutta: Manisha Granthalaya.
Lawler, Lillian B. 1964. The Dance in Ancient Greece.Seattle: University of
Washington Press.
Schechner, Richard. 1983.Performative Circumstances from Avante Garde
to Ramlila.Calcutta: Seagull Books.
Zarrilli, Phillip B., ed. 1995. Acting (Re)Considered.London: Routledge
Press.
———. 1993. Asian Martial Arts in Actor Training.Madison, WI: Center for
South Asia.Philippines
The title Filipino martial arts(FMA) refers to several styles, methods, and
systems of self-defense that include armed and unarmed combat. Mostly,
FMA are just “Filipino fencing,” because they include personal armed com-
bative techniques that emphasize weaponry skills over skills in empty
hands. Unarmed combat is practiced in FMA, but is traditionally studied
after weaponry training. This training sequence sets FMA apart from other
martial arts, especially Asian, that initiate with empty hands.422 Philippines