Lessons in the Art of War. Martina Sprague
sumo wrestlers. In ancient times, the object of sumo was not to win a sports competition but to slay the opponent through brutal tactics including head butting and striking. Like the ancient Greek boxers, sumo wrestlers were selected for their size, which runs contrary to the commonly propagated belief that the Asian martial arts rely on cunning and finesse over physical strength to defeat the adversary. (Image source: Eckhard Pecher, Wikimedia Commons)
Confucian and Buddhist undercurrents are not limited to China but can also be detected in the Japanese fighting arts. For example, shorinji kempo, established in 1947 after Japan’s defeat in World War II in an effort to raise the people’s spirit, teaches its practitioners to do whatever needs to be done to fend off an attacker, yet suggests that students should never initiate an attack but use the art only in self-defense.14 However, like their Chinese counterparts, the Japanese martial arts were developed for the purpose of killing the adversary. Sumo, also known as sumai, meaning struggle, its ancient form dating to the first century BCE with the goal of slaying the adversary, used tactics that included head butting, striking, and stomping the opponent to death.15 Although some modern martial artists advocate kinder ways of pacifying an attack, for example, by taking the adversary to the ground without hurting him, each fighter would historically use the maximum amount of force available to him.
As demonstrated in this print from the Bubishi, an early Chinese document about karate, so-called “dirty” fighting, such as clawing the eyes and pulling the hair, was permissible in the ancient Asian martial arts, which generally did not pit strength against strength but relied on gaining a tactical advantage over a stronger adversary. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
Jujutsu, or the “gentle art,” likewise utilized devastating techniques. (It was the motion, rather than the technique or intent that was gentle.16) Unlike judo, which is widely practiced for sports in modern day, the purpose of jujutsu was to give the samurai an option of ending the fight by maiming or killing the adversary with his bare hands. Should he lose his sword in the heat of battle or otherwise be unable to use it, the samurai would strike with his hands or use any means at his disposal. As described by Yamamoto Tsunetomo (1659-1719 CE), a samurai retainer who devoted his life to the service of his lord, “If his [the samurai’s] hands [were] cut off, he [would] press the enemy down with his shoulders. If his shoulders [were] cut away, he [would] bite through ten or fifteen enemy necks with his teeth.”17 As demonstrated through this passage, the traditional Japanese martial arts had origins in combat and included plenty of “dirty” fighting. Proper intent when going to war proved important, as reinforced by the famous Japanese swordsman Miyamoto Musashi: “Whenever you cross swords with an enemy you must not think of cutting him either strongly or weakly; just think of cutting and killing him. Be intent solely upon killing the enemy.”18
Even aikido, which was developed by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969 CE) from jujutsu and the sword arts and is sometimes considered not combat or even self-defense but a martial art that encompasses a higher spiritual dimension, is descended from combat arts that were very much intended for use when fighting an adversary to the death.19 Although the modern martial arts practitioner can find many benefits in the spiritual and sports aspects of his fighting style, according to karate great Fumio Demura, studying only for sport while ignoring the traditional elements of combat would be like studying only two chapters in a book: You will get half the picture but miss the gist of the art.20 The same holds true for Chinese martial arts practiced mainly for showmanship or health, such as wushu or tai chi chuan, whose wartime roots should not be forgotten. Wushu literally means military art. And the covert elements of tai chi chuan, intended to prevent the adversary from anticipating when and how an attack will happen, will prevent him from planning a proper defense.21
Korean martial arts take a similar tack. As noted by one hapkido master, avoiding combat through diplomacy or by distancing oneself from the situation is the better way. But when the use of physical force is unavoidable, one should strive to end the fight as quickly as possible and strike to vulnerable targets such as the eyes, nose, and throat with the aim of doing damage. Full control is achieved when safety is reached through the destruction of the enemy forces. Ultimately, the measure of success is not whether you neutralize the attack by doing as little damage as possible, but whether you go home to your family.22
In the West, tradition and culture likewise influenced how one viewed combat. Citizen soldiers in the Classical World were farmers when not on campaign. Campaigns had to be short since farms needed tending, which meant that battle was often brutal and fought with the goal of avoiding protracted war. Instead of relying on ambush, surprise, or prolonged battle trying to outsmart the enemy, the opposing forces met at a predetermined place and attacked each other head-on. The characteristics of the enemy determined the type of warfare one would fight. In contrast to the Chinese who faced the horse borne Mongols and used long range weapons such as bow and arrow, the Greeks and Romans fought in tight battlefield formations against enemy infantry with swords and other weapons.
Annihilation rather than war of attrition is thus the thread that has run through most of Western combat history. Mixed martial arts have roots in the athletic endeavors of the ancient Greeks. Pankration, which appeared in the Olympic Games in 648 BCE, is an attack-oriented martial style presented as a simulated form of no-holds-barred combat.23 Although biting and eye-gouging are forbidden, it follows a Hellenic code that includes striking and kicking, submission holds and grappling. The Spartans employed a militaristic style of pankration not suitable for the Olympic Games, because the limitations of the Games, they believed, would have a negative effect on techniques used in live combat.24 The Romans adopted pankration in the gladiatorial arena.25
Pankration, an attack-oriented combat art developed in ancient Greece, displays similarities to the mixed martial arts of today. The fighters use a variety of striking, kicking, grappling, and submission techniques. (Image source: Matthias Kabel, Wiki-media Commons)
Brutally engaging the enemy and driving him to exhaustion, yet striving for a positional advantage, can be observed in Western combat sports such as kickboxing. For example, a fighter might kick an opponent’s lead leg repeatedly until he becomes apprehensive and tries to protect his leg by switching stance or blocking the kick. The fighter now takes advantage of his opponent’s weakness (fear and possibly an unstable stance) by throwing a knockout strike to his jaw. Whether the aim is to kill in actual battle or knock out an opponent in sports competition, the object is ultimately to funnel the forces toward the critical point, which Clausewitz called the center of gravity and which houses the enemy’s primary strength. A judo practitioner’s strength is his ability to throw an adversary to the ground; a jujutsu practitioner’s strength is his ability to execute a joint lock; a kickboxer’s strength is his ability to knock out his opponent with a strike or kick. A judoka who takes a powerful strike to the jaw or kick to the legs can no longer exercise his strongest tactics and strategy (a balanced throw); a kickboxer who has been taken to the ground by a judoka or jujutsu practitioner can no longer strike or kick with power.
Clausewitz’s emphasis on attacking the critical point should also be referenced to the fighters’ relative rather than absolute strength. In other words, he who enjoys numerical superiority can overrun the enemy army. In personal combat, a bigger or stronger person can overrun a physically inferior opponent like a tank, if the smaller person makes the mistake of pitting strength against strength. It is therefore particularly crucial for a person of inferior physical size or build to attack the enemy’s center of gravity. Note how this idea corresponds with Sun Tzu’s ideal of exploiting the enemy’s strength, for example, by yielding to his power and turning it against him, giving the physically inferior fighter a tactical advantage: “[J]ust as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army should avoid strength and strike weakness.”26
Although renditions of Chinese battles focus on exploitation of opportunities and subduing the enemy through cleverness rather than physical strength, Sun Tzu was likewise an advocate of funneling the forces against the critical