Are there many martial arts which are actually particularly old? At least in anything like their current form? My impression was that in past times when hand to hand combat was more common and important, and more frequently involved people genuinely trying to hurt one another, nearly all forms that people bothered to train and study emphasized weapons.
Well, the Chinese martial arts are pretty old. It is true, though, that the contemporary forms of most currently popular martial arts arose in the XIX and the XX century.
Another point is that traditional martial arts, even if focused on hand-to-hand fighting, often include weapons training. Tai Chi, for example, has sword and spear forms.
Are there many martial arts which are actually particularly old? At least in anything like their current form? My impression was that in past times when hand to hand combat was more common and important, and more frequently involved people genuinely trying to hurt one another, nearly all forms that people bothered to train and study emphasized weapons.
Well, the Chinese martial arts are pretty old. It is true, though, that the contemporary forms of most currently popular martial arts arose in the XIX and the XX century.
Another point is that traditional martial arts, even if focused on hand-to-hand fighting, often include weapons training. Tai Chi, for example, has sword and spear forms.