[Eternal_Bear]

One of the most tantalizing cases of East-West interaction involves the Greeks in Central Asia. Alexander the Great established a number of Greek cities deep in that area around 300 BC. Every Greek city had a gymnasium where physical culture (including boxing and wrestling) was cultivated and sytematically studied. Some have speculated that early Chinese traders (and they were in contact with China) may have carried the idea of the gymansium back to China where they were modified into martial arts institutes which began about that period.

[Cronos]

may have carried the idea of the gymansium back to China where they were modified into martial arts institutes which began about that period.

Actually, the idea of Martial arts started in the Southern parts of the Indian continent. There is still a martial art form there that dates to pre-Buddhist times. This martial art form (or similar kinds) was taken by Indian Buddhist missionaries sent by the Indian Emperor Ashoka to China. The Chinese (and later the Japanese) used this and developed the higher martial arts.