Martial Arts People
Founders, masters, officials and famous fighters
Achille Marozzo
Bolognese fencing master (1484–1553), pupil of Guido Antonio di Luca and author of the treatise Opera Nova (1536) on fighting with the sword, polearms and duels.
ItalyAdriano Emperado
Hawaiian martial arts teacher of Filipino descent (1926–2009), one of the five founders of Kajukenbo and its longtime main teacher with the title Sijo.
United StatesAgastya
Legendary sage of the Tamil tradition, regarded as the father of Siddha medicine and founder of silambam and varma kalai with 108 vital points; historically unverified.
IndiaAh Dat Ta
Legendary Tibetan lama whom tradition regards as the originator of the Lion's Roar and Pak Hok Pai (Tibetan White Crane) styles; he is not documented as a historical person.
ChinaAlbrecht Dürer
Nuremberg painter and engraver who around 1512 compiled the illustrated combat manuscript Öplodidaskalia on wrestling, the longsword, the dagger and the messer.
GermanyAleksei Kadochnikov
Russian close-combat instructor (1935–2019) from Krasnodar, after whom the Kadochnikov system is named, author of fourteen books and a patent for a self-defence method.
RussiaAlexander Retuinskih
Russian boxer, sambist and judoka who founded and patented Systema ROSS, a methodology for raising combat performance, in 1991; until then he was a partner of Alexei Kadochnikov.
Anatoly Kharlampiyev
Soviet wrestler and coach (1906–1979), one of the three founders of sambo, a student of Vasili Oshchepkov and author of the 1949 book Borba Sambo.
Andre Paurenfeyndt
Austrian fencer from Ernsbrunn, author of the treatise Ergrundung Ritterlicher Kunst der Fechterey (Vienna, 1516), the first illustrated printed fencing treatise.
Andreas Liegnitzer
A German fencing master from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries, author of the only prose treatise in the Liechtenauer tradition on combat with sword and buckler.
Angel Cabales
Filipino eskrimador (1917–1991), creator of the Serrada Escrima system, who in 1966 opened the first public eskrima school in the United States, in Stockton.
Anko Itosu
Okinawan karate master from Shuri who from 1901 introduced karate into schools, created the five Pinan (Heian) katas and wrote the Ten Precepts of Karate in 1908.
JapanAntonio Ilustrisimo
Filipino master of sword and stick fighting from Cebu (died 1997), after whom Kalis Ilustrisimo is named, who began teaching outsiders only at the age of 72.
PhilippinesAntonio Manciolino
Italian fencing master of the Bolognese school, author of the treatise Opera Nova (Venice, 1531) on the sword, buckler and other weapons, with ten basic guards.
Anuar Abdul Wahab
Malaysian silat teacher and grandmaster, founder of Silat Gayung Fatani and the organization PSGFM (1976), creator of the Silat Olahraga competition format.
MalaysiaAraki Muninsai
Founder of the Araki-ryu school from around 1573, renowned for his torite technique; even the chronicle Honcho Bugei Shoden has no information on his origins or deeds.
Asayama Ichidensai Shigetatsu
A Japanese jujutsu master, founder of the Asayama Ichiden-ryu school focused on atemi strikes, gyakute joint locks and fighting with a short wooden staff.
Azuma Takashi
Japanese karateka (1949–2021), founder of the organization Daido Juku (1981) and of the Kudo style, which combines strikes with throws and ground fighting.
Bak Mei
A semi-legendary Taoist ascetic of the 17th century whom tradition ranks among the five survivors of the destruction of Shaolin and links to the Bak Mei style.
Baltazar Sayoc
Patriarch of the family martial art Sayoc Kali, which he called "Dugo ng Bansa", and founder of the Sayoc International Schools for Kali (1983).