| Mankind does not have any natural weapons.
Of Course, Orangutans are extremely strong, as well as Gorillas, even mankind's closest relative; Homo Neandertalis, based upon studies of bones structure were up to 10 times stronger. A Neanderthal 5 year old would have been as physcially developed as a human 8 year old. Furthermore, even less developed human species; Australopithacus, Homo erectus etc were all stronger in comparison to Homo Sapien.
Could you take on a tiger, orangutan, or even a Angry Cow?
We need to consider man's power & natural weapons relative to the predators & animals which surrounded him.
Mankind is peculiarly much weaker than many animals of the same size in the natural world. Just as many men today could not fight an orangutan, neither could our ancestors; so at the heart of the issue is the physical deficiency of homo sapien compared to the rest of the animal kingdom. No amount of our ancestors "battering" or natural percussive attacks were enough to make mankind a sensible predator & no where near the top of the food chain.
So I stick to my original "a priori" and consider that mankind does not have any natural weapons. They thus had to create weapons. However, that is not to say that weapons developed BEFORE martial arts proper. But this is an issue that will have to reside in hypothosis, since we'll never really know for sure...
__________________ "Tradition comes from when a master realises a truth, then teaches it to others; his source was the world around him. The tradition begins when students follow the doctrine but fail to see the truth it teaches. Martial Arts, like religion, are now the gospel.
So I assert; Seek not to follow in the footsteps of great men, but seek that which they themselves had sought." Magister, on the Eskirmological Law of Institutionalisation |