ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the martial arts-or at least the East Asian martial arts, such as karate do taekwondo, kendo, and wushu. To what extent what it have to say applies to other martial arts, such as boxing, silat, capoeira. The chapter illustrates much of what it have to say with reference to karatedo, since that is the art with which it is most familiar; but it is sure that matters are much the same with other East Asian martial arts. There is undeniably a close connection between the East Asian martial arts and Buddhism-especially Zen Buddhism. Legend has it that the first patriarch of Zen Buddhism was Bodhidharma, an Indian missionary who took up residence at the Shaolin Temple. Legend has it that the same Bodhidharma was the founder of the Shaolin wushu. Whatever the history, the Shaolin Temple is famous for producing Zen Buddhist monks who are also wushu practitioners.
