history

Legend has it that the monk Lama Darmon brought art from China to Indonesia at the time of the Yuan Dynasty (1280-1368). [1] However, it is not known where the monk landed or where he lived and taught. In addition, he is often said to have been a Shaolin monk and / or a Taoist monk, although his name identifies him as a lama. At the same time, there is also a current claiming that Darmon was a Tibetan monk who lived and taught in Java from 1912 to 1942 under the name of Liem Ping Wan. [3] The latter, however, by no means explains why Kuntao on Sulu, the Philippines and Mindanao is considered a traditional martial art and cultural heritage. The only thing that is certain is that Kuntao is very much intertwined with the East Indonesian, Malayan, Brunei and South Philipinian cultures.

 

However, historians believe that Kuntao has spread through this area as part of trade relations between Southeast Asia and China. Trade relations between Southeast Asia and China can be traced back to the 1st century. n. Chr. trace how z. For example, based on Chinese ceramics, which were found during excavations on the islands of Java and Sumatra from this period, set. In addition, one discovered warrior sculptures from Sumatra, whose armor has unmistakable Chinese features. Southeast Asian kuntaostiles are a bit different from the Chinese and Taiwanese styles as they have been adapted to the local environment as well as to the original Southeast Asian styles and weapons. However, as martial arts in Asia are often passed on to direct relatives within family groups, mutual knowledge exchange seems unlikely in this regard.

Kuntao in the Philippines