The Future of Asian Traditional Martial Arts

Abstract

Contemporary Asia is in the process of not only developing industrialization and democratization, but also establishing Asian homogeneity and intercommunity through the universal cultural phenomenon of sports originating from the West. This paper considers the future of traditional Asian martial arts through Allen Guttmann’s seven characteristics of modern sport. In future, Asia, especially Northeast Asia; South Korea, China, and Japan are likely to become the world’s leading powerhouses based on their infinite potential in human, material and ideological resources. The Olympics will be hosted by three Asian countries in four years: in 2018, the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea, in 2020 the Tokyo Summer Olympics in Japan, and in 2022 the Beijing Winter Olympics in China, respectively. This paper examines the development of traditional Asian martial arts in China, Japan and South Korea against the background of modernization and globalization. Also, discussions regarding impediments to the efforts and measures for improvement are provided. Asian martial arts have been transformed in both nature and content and the notion of the characteristics of modern sports Guttmann proposes is prominent.