MARTIAL ARTS (as submitted to Planetary Magazine)

Submitted by Luciana Pimentel on Wednesday, October 20, 2004 at 10:47:58 AM EST.

People started fighting to protect themselves and their families, and as time went by, fighting styles have been created around the world, especially in Asia.
In some countries, the peasants and the civilian were not allowed to use weapons, so they created arts that use only the body. Karate is one of these styles, created by the Okinawa fishermen, to use against the Samurais.
Nowadays, Martial Arts are used for self improvement, as it teaches you discipline and self control, and as sports. But some people still learn how to fight for self-defense.
Here, in Brazil, the most practiced fighting styles are jujutsu (also called Jiu-Jitsu), which was created in Japan, and was used to grapple and attack armored people with joint locks, as hand and foot blows were not effective against the armor; and Capoeira, the only fighting style created in Brazil, by the slaves. As it looked like a dance, they could practice it.
Nowadays, people that practice martial arts are usually seeking for self-improvement and body shaping. A few people use them to oppress those who are not as strong as they are.
There are some people here in Brazil who teach martial arts to poor kids and teenagers, so they become more disciplined, focused and stay away from drugs and streets.

Class P22
Diego Lucena Távora
Eric Tatsuya Ota

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