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Its unarmed techniques were especially prized within Chinese culture and were an important influence on the martial arts of Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia. Much less well known in the West are varma adi (“hitting the vital spots”) and other martial arts traditions of South Asia. In the early modern era, as unarmed combat became obsolete, the emphasis of Asian martial arts tended to shift back toward religion. Japanese kenjutsu (“techniques of the sword”) became kendÅ (“the way of the sword”). Like the highly evolved civilizations of which they are a part, traditional Asian sports are ancient and various. Ball games of all sorts were quite popular among the Chinese. Descriptions of the game cuju, which resembled modern football , appeared as early as the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220). Games similar to modern badminton were also played in the 1st century. Finally, the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) scroll painting Grove of Violets depicts elegantly attired ladies playing chuiwan, a game ...