Eighth century Vishnaivite monks living in Kerala, India, are described as de-
voting their mornings to archery, singlestick, and wrestling;
their afternoons to chanting and dancing; and their evenings to
walking in the woods.
Eighth century The Kievan annals describe a Slavic boxing game involving fist-
fights between picked champions. Bouts took place during the
winter on the frozen rivers that established boundaries between
districts. While kicking, tripping, and putting iron into one’s
gloves were discouraged, the only real rule was that the two
men had to fight face to face and chest to chest without re-
course to magic or trickery.
About 700 The Chinese scholar Hong Beisi describes an esoteric Buddhist
movement art using the word quanfa.This term, which has
become a generic term for the Chinese martial arts, is probably
best translated as “boxing methods” (quanmeans “fist,” and
fameans “method” or “law,” usually in a philosophical context).
About 710 Christian Serbs are reported using poisoned arrows against
Bosnian Muslims. The English word toxincomes from the
Greek phrase toxikon pharmakon(bow poison), which is what
the Byzantines called these arrow-borne poisons.
714 China’s Xuan Zong emperor establishes an acting school at
his royal capital, and the sword dances and gymnastics taught
in such schools subsequently were associated with Chinese mar-
tial arts.
About 750 A peripatetic Indian monk called Amoghavajra introduces the
esoteric finger movements, or mudras, of Yogacara Buddhism
into China. As memorizing these finger movements was sup-
posed to cause subtle changes to the practitioner’s internal en-
ergy (which is possible, since the hands provide more sensory
input to the brain than all other parts of the body except the
eyes, tongue, and nose), they were subsequently incorporated
into some East Asian martial arts.
About 750 Probably in hopes of obtaining divine intervention, the Koreans
erect Buddhist temples all around Kwangju. By the gates of these
temples were statues of bare-chested temple guardians standing
in what the Koreans now call kwon bop(pugilistic) stances. The
guardian on the west (the excited fellow with wild hair and open
mouth) represented yang energy, and was called Mi-chi. The
guardian on the east (the fellow who stands with his mouth
closed and his emotions under control) represented yin energy,
and was called Chin-kang. Similar temple guardians were con-
structed in Japan. The surviving pair at the Tedaiji Monastery in
Nara were unusual, though, partly because they were next to the
altar rather than the gate and mostly because they wore armor.
The Tedaiji statues were made of lacquered hemp cloth spread
over a wooden frame, and known as rikishi,or strongmen.
Japanese professional wrestlers also use the latter name.
788 Shankara achieves enlightenment in India. While little known
today, Shankara was probably the most influential philosopher
of his day, as his theory that one could escape fate by achiev-
ing a mind empty of illusions (sunya) led to the development of
both Zen Buddhism and the Indo-Arabic numeral zero.794 Chronological History of the Martial Arts