Which East Asian culture do you find the most interesting?

[Candy Kappa]

Originally Posted by MsMarvelDuckie

China seems to have some of the "oldest" forms of martial arts, but that is misleading, because even ancient Greece and Gaul had their own types of martial combat, both armed and unarmed. In fact the idea of martial arts as an Eastern Asian inventian is sort of a myth. Martial arts are formal rules and techniques for fighting developed for use primarily in war, no matter where or when they are developed and used. Africa has several very old forms as well, as do/did several Sourh American cultures.

I think it lies a lot in the modern misconceptions of the English usage of the word "Martial Arts", cause within that label there is a vast ocean of things that are martial arts that don't involve fisticuffs. Yet when invoking the word, most people associate it with East -Asian fisticuffs combat systems. Few see boxing or wrestling as martial arts, or even techniques of espionage or gunplay.