Martial arts have been made famous ever since its introduction into Hollywood mainstream cinema and by the legendary Bruce Lee. Unlike most sports, this one, irrespective of the styles, is dominated by people who during the colonial period were know as the yellow people or the yellow race – Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc..
Their colonial masters were supposedly superior than them in all forms of warfare but in the area of hand-to-hand combat suffered humiliating defeat. The martial arts – King Fu, Judo, Karate – were no match for the westerners. In today’s world, the realm of martial arts has got a major fillip with new styles being developed by mixing the traditional styles of martial arts with other forms of traditional hand-to-hand combat techniques. But whatever the end result, the Asians still dominate the field.
What does martial arts entail? A person who wants to be a master in any form of martial arts need to be agile and flexible. They need to be able to hit hard and fast, preferably repeatedly within a very short time. They need to jump high and hit. Now imagine a Westerner – he is heavy built, tall and muscular. Because of his size he will find it difficult to hit and then draw back within a short time. His feet and hands have to travel greater distance to complete a full manoeuvre. He will have a tough time jumping very high with his weight. When this man faces an Asian, he is at a disadvantage.
The Asian is smaller and lighter in size. He can jump higher and move faster. His hands and feet will have to traverse a lesser distance and enable him to hit faster. The only disadvantage he has is the weight of his punch or kick but that is more than balanced by his speed. So, unless the Westerner has enough strength to control his weight completely, he will find it difficult to face the Asian. It is, thus, not surprising that the yellow races dominate the martial arts – or should I say the Yellow Sport!
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