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About The History of Combat

A Perspective by Sifu Ralph A. Latimer

Human beings have probably always killed one another. Modern science postulates that the use of fire is one of the key tools that marked the difference between early man and his primate cousins. However, I submit that the development of martial skills also marked the start of mankind's long march from being the hunted to being nature's deadliest hunter. Recent discoveries of charred antelope bones in a South African cave indicate that hominid bands were cooking with fire well over a million years ago. My question is...just how did this primordial man kill those antelope for his barbeques? The answer seems simple: he used weapons. And if he used weapons to kill animals, he surely used them to commit homicide.

It is impossible to say if mankind’s first use of a weapon was for combat or for hunting. However, it is easy to visualize that first primal man standing in a savannah sward wielding a long bone or a rock to bash in the skull of an antagonist. Basic instinct drives our innate ability to strike one another. We see our children naturally striking and hitting before the age of two. Even the meekest creature will strike out instinctually and reflexively when pushed into a fight or flight scenario. We are all created with a fighter inside. It is part of who and what we are.

Human combat (martial arts) has had a million years of evolution. Countless warriors have fought fierce battles throughout the millennia that precede the time when man began to keep written records of his thoughts and experiences. Our history is filled with cultures that deified warfare and glorified combat. Extraordinary warriors emerged who possessed great combat prowess, intelligence, and the determination to naturally became leaders, chieftains, kings, and martial masters. These commanding fighters shaped not only their own destinies, but also the destinies of those they interacted with. Their unshakeable self-confidence in combat and in all aspects of their lives made them truly extraordinary men. They were masters of self.

Between 8000-6000 B.C. communities flourished from the eastern coastal regions to the central areas of what we now call China. These Neolithic cultures developed following the introduction of agriculture. With farming and animal domestication came a transformation from hunting and gathering to a more settled lifestyle. By 4000 B.C. settlements were capable of accumulating surpluses, and as a result trade was established with other communities. Wealth accumulated and with increased contact with other cultures, defense became paramount. In time, many communities erected walls and weaponry for protection. Building and employing these defenses required leadership, warriors, and labor, which in turn, contributed to social stratification. By the Bronze Age, a caste system evolved with a ruling military elite. Martial masters crafted the beginning of dynasties and became kings. In the beginning the right to rule was based on might, and then followed by right of ancestral lineage. Organized warfare in China began in 2193 B.C., with the first historical Chinese civil war and has continued to this day.

From the earliest Dynasties warriors and generals practiced and perfected their combat skills. These soldiers and generals were bound for a lifetime of servitude to their Emperor. The only way to leave military service was to die or move to another state and hope they let you live. Another option became available after the introduction of Buddhism into China during the Han Dynasty in 200 B.C. Monks could adopt new names and were allowed to detach themselves from the real world, just as if they had died. This became an acceptable avenue to be excused from military service. Many warriors and officers entered into monastic life as a means to retire from government service. Some of these brought their martial mastery with them.

Monks first began learning hand to hand combat from these former warriors to enhance their physical and mental abilities. Around 420 - 590 (Northern and Southern Dynasties) monks started to use their combat skills for warfare against invaders and bandits. Monasteries flourished throughout southern China in the following centuries. Generations of kung fu masters lived, developed and taught their systematized combat art, and passed their knowledge onto succeeding generations of students.

In the early 1800's, a young thirty-something monk, Leoung Kick, decided to leave monastic life in the Kwan-Yin monastery in the village of Pon Hong, located in the Guangdong Province of Southern China. Leoung Kick, an orphan who lived in the monastery since the age of 10, took with him two Buddhist training texts which likely date back 500 years to the Ming Dynasty. Leoung Kick’s art and these books have remained within what would become the Chin family, where the techniques and forms were taught and passed down from generation to generation. Around 1920, a young five-year-old, Chin Siu Dek (Grand Master Woo’s real name), began training with his Great Uncle Chin Siu Hung, and thus begun the destiny of a man who would become a legend in his own time.

A million years of developing combat has seen the extraordinary rise above the common man to become larger than life. Grandmaster Woo was one of the greatest of these extraordinary men to have ever lived. He applied his art to his life and created his own dynasty. I am privileged to have known him and I am privileged to be a teacher of his art. I will forever be grateful for what Kung Fu San Soo has given me.