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 From: mcweigel+@cs.cmu.edu 
  
 Archive-name: martial-arts/faq/part2 
 Last-modified: 08 August 2002 
  
 Posting-Frequency: twice per month 
  
  
                   rec.martial-arts FAQ - Part 2 of 4 
                   ================================== 
  
 ====================================================================== 
  
 Part 2 of 4 
  
     16) What are the different Arts, Schools, Styles? 
  
 16.1)  Aikido          16.2)  Baguazhang    16.3)  Brazilian JiuJitsu 
 16.4)  Bushidokan      16.5)  Capoeira      16.6)  Cha Yon Ryu 
 16.7)  Cuong Nhu       16.8)  Daito Ryu Aiki-Jujustu 
 16.9)  Gatka           16.10) Hapkido       16.11) Hwa Rang Do 
 16.12) Iaido           16.13) Judo          16.14) Jujutsu 
 16.15) Kajukenbo       16.16) Kali/Escrima/Arnis 
 16.17) Karate          16.18) Kendo         16.19) Kenjutsu 
 16.20) Kenpo (Amer.)   16.21) Kempo (Kosho Ryu) 
 16.22) Kempo (Ryukyu)  16.23) Kobudo        16.24) Krav Maga 
 16.25) Kyudo 
  
 Contents of this section in Part 3 of 4: 
  
 16.24) Lua             16.25) MMA/NHB         16.26) Moo Do 
 16.27) Muay Thai       16.28) Ninjutsu        16.29) Praying Mantis 
 16.30) ROSS            16.31) SAMBO           16.32) Sanshou 
 16.33) Savate          16.34) Shogerijutsu    16.35) Shuaijiao 
 16.36) Silat           16.37) Tae Kwon Do     16.38) Taijiquan 
 16.39) Wing Chun       16.40) Wushu/Gongfu    16.41) Xingyiquan 
 16.42) Yoseikan Budo 
  
 =================================================================== 
  
  
 16) What are the different Arts, Schools and Styles? 
  
 This is a question with many, many answers---some could say that there 
 are as many styles as there are martial artists.  So, we'd like to 
 introduce some Schools and Styles that will give you a basic 
 familiarity with the world of martial arts.  The Arts are listed 
 alphabetically. 
  
 Important note:  This information is true to the best of the knowledge 
 of those who wrote the descriptions of the various arts.  If your 
 style has only a small write up or none at all and you have enough 
 information on it to make a good FAQ entry, write it up in the form 
 shown below and send it to mcweigel@cs.cmu.edu. 
  
 If you have a question about a particular style or its writeup, one 
 option is to look in the next section for who contributed to the art's 
 writeup, and send e-mail to them.  Otherwise, comment to 
 mcweigel@cs.cmu.edu. 
  
  
 16.1) Aikido 
  
 (contributors: Eric Sotnak - esot@troi.cc.rochester.edu, 
                Alex Jackl - ajackl@avs.com) 
  
 Intro: 
  
 Aikido emphasizes evasion and circular/spiral redirection of an 
 attacker's aggressive force into throws, pins, and immobilizations as 
 a primary strategy rather than punches and kicks. 
  
 Origin:         Japan. 
  
 History: 
  
 Aikido was founded in 1942 by Morihei Ueshiba (1883-1969). Prior to 
 this time, Ueshiba called his art "aikibudo" or "aikinomichi".  In 
 developing aikido, Ueshiba was heavily influenced by Daito Ryu 
 Aikijujitsu, several styles of Japanese fencing (kenjutsu), 
 spearfighting (yarijutsu), and by the so- called "new religion": 
 omotokyo.  Largely because of his deep interest in omotokyo, Ueshiba 
 came to see his aikido as rooted less in techniques for achieving 
 physical domination over others than in attempting to cultivate a 
 "spirit of loving protection for all things."  The extent to which 
 Ueshiba's religious and philosophical convictions influenced the 
 direction of technical developments and changes within the corpus of 
 aikido techniques is not known, but many aikido practitioners believe 
 that perfect mastery of aikido would allow one to defend against an 
 attacker without causing serious or permanent injury. 
  
 Descriptions: 
  
 The primary strategic foundations of aikido are: 
 (1) moving into a position off the line of attack; 
 (2) seizing control of the attacker's balance by means of 
     leverage and timing; 
 (3) applying a throw, pin, or other sort of immobilization 
     (such as a wrist/arm lock). 
  
 Strikes are not altogether absent from the strategic arsenal of the 
 aikidoist, but their use is primarily (though not, perhaps, 
 exclusively) as a means of distraction -- a strike (called "atemi") is 
 delivered in order to provoke a reaction from the aggressor, thereby 
 creating a window of opportunity, facilitating the application of a 
 throw, pin, or other immobilization. 
  
 Many aikido schools train (in varying degrees) with weapons. The most 
 commonly used weapons in aikido are the jo (a staff between 4 or 5 
 feet in length), the bokken (a wooden sword), and the tanto (a knife, 
 usually made of wood, for safety). These weapons are used not only to 
 teach defenses against armed attacks, but also to illustrate 
 principles of aikido movement, distancing, and timing. 
  
 Training: 
  
 A competitive variant of aikido (Tomiki aikido) holds structured 
 competitions where opponents attempt to score points by stabbing with 
 a foam-rubber knife, or by executing aikido techniques in response to 
 attacks with the knife.  Most variants of aikido, however, hold no 
 competitions, matches, or sparring.  Instead, techniques are practiced 
 in cooperation with a partner who steadily increases the speed, power, 
 and variety of attacks in accordance with the abilities of the 
 participants. Participants take turns being attacker and defender, 
 usually performing pre-arranged attacks and defenses at the lower 
 levels, gradually working up to full-speed freestyle attacks and 
 defenses. 
  
 Sub-Styles: 
  
 There are several major variants of aikido.  The root variant is the 
 "aikikai", founded by Morihei Ueshiba, and now headed by the founder's 
 grandson, Moriteru Ueshiba.  Several organizations in the United States 
 are affiliated with the aikikai, including the United States Aikido 
 Federation, the Aikido Association of America, and Aikido Schools of 
 Ueshiba. 
  
 Other major variants include: 
  
 * the "ki society", founded by Koichi Tohei, 
 * yoshinkan aikido, founded by Gozo Shioda, 
 * the kokikai organization, headed by Shuji Maruyama, 
 * "Tomiki aikido" named after its founder, Kenji Tomiki. 
  
  
 16.2) Baguazhang (Pa Kua Chang) 
  
 (Contributors: William Breazeal  - breazeal@tweedledee.ucsb.edu, 
                Mike Martelle - 3mbm@qlink.queensu.ca) 
  
 Intro: 
  
 Baguazhang is one of the three orthodox "internal" styles of Chinese 
 martial art (the other two being Taijiquan and Xingyiquan). 
 Translated, Bagua means "Eight Trigram".  This refers to the eight 
 basic principles described in the ancient metaphysical treatise the 
 Yijing (I-Ching), or "Book of Changes".  Bagua is meant to be the 
 physical manifestation of these eight principles. "Zhang" means "palm" 
 and designates Baguazhang as a style of martial art which emphasizes 
  
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