Editing History of martial arts (section)

==Early history==
[[Image:Young_boxers_fresco,_Akrotiri,_Greece.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] youths boxing, reconstruction of a [[Knossos]] fresco (1500 BC). Earliest evidence for use of gloves.{{Dubious|date=June 2011}}]]
The earliest evidence for specifics of martial arts as practiced in the past comes from depictions of fights, both in [[figurative art]] and in [[early literature]], besides analysis of archaeological evidence, especially of [[weapon]]ry.  The oldest work of art depicting scenes of battle, dating back 3400&nbsp;BC,<ref>[http://www.kobukaijujitsu.com/grapplingstyles.html World grappling styles] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101053822/http://www.kobukaijujitsu.com/grapplingstyles.html |date=2015-01-01 }}. Retrieved 2013-06-22.</ref> was the [[Ancient Egypt]]ian paintings showing some form of struggle.<ref name="iwonawalery">Iwona Czerwinska Pawluk and Walery Zukow (2011). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=NY81p9dVI70C&dq=Egyptian+paintings+showing+some+form+of+struggle+comparable+to+the+stocks&pg=PA21 Humanities dimension of physiotherapy, rehabilitation, nursing and public health]''. p. 21</ref> Dating back to 3000&nbsp;BC in [[Mesopotamia]] ([[Babylon]]), reliefs and the poems depicting struggle were found.<ref name="iwonawalery" /> In [[Vietnam]], drawings and sketches from 2879&nbsp;BCE describe certain ways of combat using sword, stick, bow, and spears.<ref name="iwonawalery" />{{Better source|reason=|date=March 2015}}

The [[spear]] has been in use since the [[Lower Paleolithic]] and retained its central importance well into the 2nd millennium AD. The [[Bow (weapon)|bow]] appears in the [[Upper Paleolithic]] and is likewise only gradually replaced by the [[crossbow]], and eventually [[firearm]]s, in the Present Day. True [[bladed weapon]]s appear in the [[Neolithic]] with the [[stone axe]], and diversify in shape in the course of the [[Bronze Age]] ([[khopesh]]/[[kopis]], [[Bronze Age sword|sword]], [[dagger]])

Some early examples are the depiction of [[wrestling]] techniques in a [[tomb]] of the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt]] at [[Beni Hasan]] (c. 2000 BC) and pictorial representations of fist fighting in the [[Minoan civilization]] dating to the 2nd millennium BCE.

In ancient [[China]], [[Yellow Emperor]] (2698 BC) is described as a famous [[general]] who, before becoming [[China]]’s leader, wrote lengthy treatises on [[medicine]], [[astrology]] and the [[martial arts]].  Literary descriptions of combat began in the 2nd millennium BC, with mention of weaponry and combat in texts like the [[Gilgamesh epic]] or the [[Rigveda|Rig-Veda]]. Detailed description of Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age hand-to-hand combat with spear, sword and shield are found in the ''[[Iliad]]'' (c. 8th century BC) and also the ''[[Mahabharatha]]''.