# How does an art go through a revival?



## Kittan Bachika (Feb 12, 2010)

I was wondering about this while reading this wikipedia entry on Sunmudo. I am wondering how did they revive it? Where did they find the knowledge and practitioners if the art died out?


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## seasoned (Feb 13, 2010)

Everything has a season, martial arts is no exception. For something to be revived, all it takes is what was needed in the first place. Dedication, vision, and hard work.


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## Humble Student (Feb 13, 2010)

seasoned said:


> Everything has a season, martial arts is no exception. For something to be revived, all it takes is what was needed in the first place. Dedication, vision, and hard work.


 I could not have said it better.


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## Kittan Bachika (Feb 13, 2010)

seasoned said:


> Everything has a season, martial arts is no exception. For something to be revived, all it takes is what was needed in the first place. Dedication, vision, and hard work.



That's beautiful man. But how do you even start such a huge task? How do you know you are even reviving it properly? Or is it all on faith?


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## seasoned (Feb 14, 2010)

Kittan Bachika said:


> That's beautiful man. But how do you even start such a huge task? How do you know you are even reviving it properly? Or is it all on faith?


In order for a revival, there was some direction lost. Perhaps a death. Once that fire is gone it takes someone of equal vision to put it back on a path, and this can only come from within.


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## Daniel Sullivan (Feb 23, 2010)

I have heard about people doing restoration of European sword arts based upon old fighting manuals.  I would suppose that to restore an art, and still have it be that art and not just a modern art that takes the name, enough material must exist in order to have a foundation to build upon.  A substantial amount of study into the time period that the art existed in would also be in order, focusing on the fighting conventions of the day as well as any linguistic peculiarities that would have an effect on how historical texts dealing with the art are understood.

Daniel


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## harlan (Feb 23, 2010)

One word: Hollywood. 

Put it in a movie (or worse, a game), and you can count on imitators, and new students beating a path to new studios headed by unknown 'masters'. The 'boom and bust' cycle in MA prompted by media exposure. But after the dust settles, the residual awareness is 'out there', and earnest students keep looking for the 'real deal'. Resulting in a revival.


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## LuckyKBoxer (Feb 23, 2010)

What Daniel said up above..
I liken it to Pankration. and Jim Arvantis reviving it.
Pankration as a Greek martial art was supposedly dead, not practiced in centuries and he supposedly revived it by going over the existing written and pictoral evidence of its existence and connecting the dots with his own common sense, and similar martial arts answers.... is it the same as the original? I doubt it is completely, is it better or worse? I would guess it has some positives and some negatives... but without the existing written and pictoral evidence of its existence he would have had nowhere to go.. without current similar styles to relate to he would have no point of reference, and without common sense and trial and error and passion he would not have had the drive to do it.


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## terryl965 (Feb 23, 2010)

seasoned said:


> Everything has a season, martial arts is no exception. For something to be revived, all it takes is what was needed in the first place. Dedication, vision, and hard work.


 

Beautiful, wonderful, best way of saying it Bravo!!!!


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