Ancient Egyptian Martial Arts Part 2 by Brian Burgin Originally Published in: August 1, 1999 As stated in my previous article,

ancient Egypt had its own early martial arts of wrestling, stick fighting, and boxing. Most likely, these arts influenced the later arts of Greece, India, and China. However, inspiration for these later arts did not come from the Egyptian arts alone. Egyptian concepts those not necessarily related to ancient Egyptian martial arts fundamentally influenced modern martial arts. This article will reach back to and before Egypt and explore the origins of two of these concepts. To begin, it is important to first discuss the extent and manner of borrowing from early martial arts by those later. Not surprisingly, the later martial arts were different from the arts of old - they were not simply copies of the old arts. There are many reasons for this. One, any art's lineage and succession can be easily broken with age. Over thousands of years, there is a reasonable chance that sometimes a master will die with no true successor. Two, teaching to outsiders is classically forbidden. As martial arts provide a means to kill, there was great risk in teaching outsiders who could become future enemies. Three, martial arts must undergo gradual adaptation and evolution to survive. Since the peoples and environments changed over the years, the martial arts of later days had to be different. New enemies and environments required new techniques. Thus, the techniques of the early arts were not likely useful to the later arts. Considering what could be borrowed effectively from the early arts, one may conclude that the later arts borrowed concepts rather than techniques. These concepts, to be incorporated into the later arts, would further have to be applicable across and last thousands of years. Thus, the concepts chosen were those representing the foundations of the later arts rather than those on the periphery those on the periphery being those applicable only to a specific age. Here, concepts on the periphery are too specialized, are dependent on the environment, and do not last through the ages. There are many foundations found in modern martial arts, but most exist as symbols. Symbols are especially important and were used extensively because they can represent many concepts at once. Moreover, they are not exact and can be applied and reapplied differently depending on the situation. This dynamism is exactly what the later arts needed and wanted in borrowing from early arts. A dynamic symbol can vary in application yet still retain its original meaning. Thus, a symbol of old could be fitted to the periphery concepts and yet at the same time remain intact. In fact, the pairing of the symbol with the periphery completed the symbol's meaning. In this way, whole arts evolved based on the same core concepts with all just as effective in their own ways and environments. The dragon, as seen in the previous article, was one of these foundation symbols. Its power to influence later arts lied, as stated here, in its incompleteness. As a mythological animal, it was a symbol and thus was not fully defined. Its characteristics and what it represented were slightly altered over time to match necessary situations. The core meanings of the dragon symbol have remained, however, to be used again and again throughout history. Modern Chinese martial arts contain two important foundation symbols. These symbols are the dragon and the phoenix. While the two occur in other modern cultures, their Chinese versions are the most important to the study of the Chinese arts. The Chinese dragon is a large beast with a long snake-like body. It has no wings yet can fly and swim well. The Chinese phoenix is a rarer immortal bird. Figure 1: A Chinese Dragon and Phoenix The two animals are placed above the other animals in the Chinese martial tradition. A simple reason for this lies in the fact that the two are mythological and exist as more complex beings than the other animals. Another reason is that the two are associated with things beyond the

corporeal world and are thus given a higher status. The dragon of the Chinese martial arts is the same as the dragon of Chinese culture. In China, the dragon, a symbol of wisdom and divine power, was associated with the emperor. The phoenix, an elegant bird of great spiritual strength, was associated with the empress. Although these two animals are mythological and appear to not exist in our time, references to them span many cultures throughout history and around the world. The Egyptian, Greek, Indian, Chinese, Arabian, and Mayan civilizations all included dragon and phoenix myths. As stated previously, the dragon and the serpent were synonymous in many ancient cultures. But, as one moves forward in time, diversification of the unified symbol can be seen. This is consistent with the trend in the evolution of the martial arts as stated earlier. In China, there are three symbols for the serpent - the mythological dragon, the mythological hsiai-chai, and the snake. The mythological dragon is further divided according to whether it has horns or not and by its function in Chinese myth. The hsiai-chai has a single horn and walks on four legs. It is most akin to the crocodile. The mythological dragon surfaced as a symbol in China as early as the Shang dynasty, 1600-1100 BC. Evidence comes from Chinese hieroglyphs of this period. This is the period of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. As argued in the previous article, the crocodile is the dragon of ancient Egypt. Worship of this dragon dates to 2400 BC. Here, the crocodile god, Sobek, was worshipped at Faiyum in upper Egypt. Figure 2: A Statue of Sobek Hence, the Egyptian worship of the dragon pre-dates the Chinese symbol. Now, the Egyptian symbol further pre-dates its worship. In other words, the dragon had to develop first as a symbol in ancient Egypt before it could be worshipped. Evidence of the dragon as a symbol within Egyptian culture dates to the pre-dynastic era. Crocodiles lived in the Nile River most likely before humanity ever populated the region. Thus, the ancient Egyptians must have known of the crocodile even before the unification of kingdoms before 3000 BC. Therefore, the dragon as a symbol within ancient Egypt most likely developed well before Egyptian martial arts. In fact, the dragon, as a symbol, pre-dates ancient Egypt. The cultures of old Mesopotamia had a dragon symbol. The Sumerians, predecessors to the Babylonians, and other Semites had a serpent symbol matching closely to that of a modern dragon. One web page describes their serpent as a winged being, dragon-like, supposedly a lifegiver worthy of worship. Although the physical representation is slightly different, this symbols life-giving character is paralleled in the Egyptian symbol. Here, the Egyptian crocodile god, Sobek, was associated with water, fertility, and life. In Hebrew, the word seraph means a burning one. The seraphim were the guardians of the throne of God as stated in The Bible. Of particular interest is the fact that the word seraph is equivalent to the Semite word for serpent. Thus, there is a strong correlation between the dragon and the angels of ancient texts. It has always seemed puzzling that the modern dragon symbols of western civilization were characteristically evil while those of the east were characteristically good. It may well be that, taking into consideration this angelic connection, the difference lies in the difference between good and evil angels. A fallen angel has been portrayed as a serpent in many ancient texts. As legend states, the serpent of old brought knowledge to Adam and Eve. Hence forth, the dragon was the symbol of wisdom. So too, the good angels brought wisdom to man. The Aramaic texts state that Enoch was the first among the children of men born of the Earth and had learned writing, science, and wisdom from the angels. The good dragons of the east and the evil of the west are not angels and devils in physical form. The modern dragon has evolved in physical form over time - the Egyptian dragon was the crocodile and the Chinese dragon is more like a serpent. Most likely, the modern dragon symbols evolved into their present forms as a mixture of the characteristics of both good and evil angels - the wings of angels, the fire of the seraphim, and the scales and body of the serpent. Further references were most likely made to physical forms of common animals within the domain of these civilizations the snake and crocodile in particular. While their physical forms are a combination of the good and evil, their core meanings remained

true. Therefore, modern dragons represent a middle ground between the fallen and faithful angel in physical representation yet are split in meaning. Each culture, then, chose to represent the dragon as good or evil. In some cases, there was more than one dragon within a culture with each representative of either good or evil. Of interest to Chinese martial artists are the dragons representative of good for these are the most associated with the Chinese martial dragon. The Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, and Mayan civilizations had dragons representative of good. In Babylon, eight shining copper dragons guarded the gates. The guardian aspect of the dragon exists throughout Egyptian, Greek, and Chinese cultures. In Egypt, Sobek was guardian of the pharaoh in the Thirteenth Dynasty. In Greece, the great and wise serpent, called Ladon, guarded the tree of golden apples of the Hesperides. Other than the Biblical connection to angels of old, the dragon has been associated with dinosaurs. While seemingly hard to believe, ancient man may have come across dinosaurs or dinosaur remains and devised the concept of the dragon from such encounters. The dinosaur and the dragon seem closely akin both were large and powerful lizards. So too, the accounts of the Leviathan, a dragon referenced in The Bible, convey remarkably an image of an aquatic dinosaur. Regardless of its origin, the dragon as a symbol is wonderfully ancient. Being a modern symbol, the Chinese dragon has developed into a compound being. Chinese texts describe the dragon as having the antlers of a deer, the head of a camel, the eyes of a hare, the neck of a serpent, the belly of a crocodile, the claws of an eagle, the paws of a tiger, and the ears of a buffalo. Figure 3: A Chinese Dragon This fusion of the greatest qualities of numerous animals into one supreme animal demonstrates clearly the strength and station of the dragon in Chinese culture. So too, the dragon is described as having the ability to alter its form to morph into any form it chooses with ease. This shapeshifting quality can be seen in the gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt. As depicted in ancient hieroglyphs, the same Egyptian deity could appear in many varied forms. The Chinese phoenix is the compliment to the dragon. While the dragon is a lizard, the phoenix is a bird. Thus, as lizards are akin to yet different than birds, so too are the dragon and the phoenix. As a lizard, the dragon is of the earth abiding there. The phoenix, however, is a bird and is more akin to the skies and to heaven. As an immortal bird, the phoenix is not of earth and is said to abide in the immortal lands. Through the phoenix, one may find spiritual enlightenment. Through the dragon, one may find earthly strength. Thus, the dragon is associated with the earthly qualities of wisdom, physical strength, life, war, and adaptation. The phoenix, in contrast, is analogous to the qualities of heaven - virtue, peace, prosperity, rebirth, and renewal. Both the dragon and the phoenix are seen as the most powerful beings in Chinese culture. Both represent the attainment of the highest levels of all three Taoist qualities jing, qi, and shen. As the Chinese dragon was given the best qualities of numerous animals, so too was the phoenix. However, the animal bases are different. The Chinese phoenix was depicted as having the forehead of a crane, bill of a fowl, the throat of a swallow, the neck of a snake, the shell of a tortoise, the stripes of a dragon, and the tail of a fish. Figure 4: A Chinese Phoenix The legend of the phoenix was known throughout history. Put simply, the legend speaks of the singular bird that lives for five hundred years in the immortal lands, journeys to mortal lands to die, and is reborn in fire. Evidence of the legend and the phoenix symbol has been found in the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Greece, India, and Central America. The ancient Egyptians phoenix was the Bennu or sacred heron symbolizing resurrection and immortality. Figure 5:

The Egyptian Bennu The Greek and Arabian myths represented the phoenix as type of great eagle yet associated it with the same legend and meanings. Figure 6: An Eagle-like Phoenix As seen before with the dragon symbol, the phoenix is modified in physical form across the different cultures yet remains intact in meaning. Evidence of the phoenix as a symbol in ancient Egypt dates to as early as 3100 BC. At this time, Ptah, the creator god, was worshipped. He is depicted carrying a phoenix-headed scepter called an Uas that was symbolic of mastery. Sometimes, the Egyptians drew the phoenix with the body of a man and the wings of a bird. Figure 7: An Egyptian Bipedal Phoenix This representation seems to lend human attributes to the phoenixs god-like self. Moreover, the Sumerians and Phoenicians associated the phoenix with Enoch who was the seventh from Adam. Enoch, it is said, did not die but was translated (made immortal) by God and taken up to abide in heaven. Thus, as a new immortal human being, Enoch represented the ability of man to be reborn as immortal and to rise to heaven. This symbolism matches that within the phoenix legend and the modern phoenix today. Among other things, the modern phoenix in China today represents the same potential for spiritual rebirth. Furthermore, the modern phoenix symbol, it is not surprising, represents the same qualities of good character associated with Enoch in ancient texts wisdom, perseverance, harmony, and peace. As can be seen, the phoenix, like the dragon, pre-dated ancient Egypt. These two symbols were pervasive in both ancient cultures and martial arts. One can speculate why martial artists selected such symbols over other symbols. It seems that the truth has always been that martial arts traditions have been selected from existing traditions. Thus presumably, the dragon and the phoenix, given their age and associations, were chosen recurrently due to their worth as symbols of a continuum or tradition of tradition. In this way, they may have been used to mirror that same continuum aspect found within martial arts. This article, I hope, has brought the reader more insight into the origins of modern martial arts. As can be seen, history can be quite profound and yet obscure at the same time. One must remember that history is not something to be feared. Instead, history is something quite the opposite a thing to be sought. Alluding to this idea, I close now with a quote from the Tao Te Ching: Just realize where you come from: this is the essence of wisdom.

References: Image References: Figure 1: Lycos Pictures Figure 2: Sobek Figure 3: Chinese Dragons Figure 4: Zee Stone Gallery Figure 5: The Legend of the Phoenix Figure 6: The Gods and Other Mythical Creatures Figure 7: The Philosophical Research Society Other References: Cultural Diffusion

Chinese Dragon The Reptilians: Humanity's Historical Link to the Serpent Race Eve's Experiences in the Garden of Eden The Serpent as Divinity Mythology of the Phoenix Ptah, the Universal Architect God The Secret Doctrine Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary Other Various webpages