Original Martial Art

One of my core hypothesis about martial arts is there is one martial art, an original martial art, from whence the rest of martial arts sprang. That martial art would have been:

1. highly applicable to self defense, 
2. relevant to the battlefield, 
3. encouraged fighters to develop high levels of body strength, 
4. developed other attributes relevant to combat such as balance, reflexes, flexibility, and ring IQ,
5. relatively safe to practice in a wide range of environments with a minimum amount of safety equipment.
6. making so much sense that it would have been developed by different cultures at different times in history
7. leaving a number of examples still around today.

You have two fighters, no mats or other safety equipment. What rules can they fight with and still be relatively safe? Two fighters would try to score by:

1. Throwing each other on the ground, 
2. while staying on their own feet through the throw. 

These objectives make up the sport I call "The Original Martial Art." This art is appropriate for a large range of environments without safety equipment (slamming your body on the opponent in a throw adds greater risk of injury and thus a need for mats.) This art encourages the development of body strength and other desirable attributes in a fighter. This art is highly relevant to self defense (and on the battlefield) because no one wants to be prone when the opponent is still standing. This art is relevant to the battlefield because it helps you learn to push and pull around your opponent for strategic purposes:

"But weapons were sharp?" No, the consensus is that armor worked really well. The kind of Cold Steel Demo strike it would take to penetrate armor would be nearly impossible to land on a moving target. "But weapons weight 20+ lbs, so they would just crush anything inside the armor?" No, it is well documented most long swords were under 3 lbs, heavier weapons might have been 5 lbs.

If I am right, this Original Martial Art should still exist in many forms all over the world. Let's start with Iceland in 1325, with their art of Glima:

We can see a very slight variance from what I have described, where if both fighters go to the ground there can be a victory by getting up first, but clearly the objective is to put them on the ground without going to the ground yourself.

This is also the main objective of the grappling prescribed by German swordsmanship master Hans Talhoffer in 1459:

South of Europe, this art may be the basis of indigenous African wrestling:

Specifically Kokowa wrestling in Niger would be an expression of The Original Martial Art:

The Original Martial Art is also found in the indigenous grappling of Madagascar:

Though often starting from the knees like other Brazilian grappling styles, Brazilian indigenous grappling is focused on basically the same idea:

Though not always following through on their big throws (satisfied to pick up the opponent demonstrating they could have easily thrown them,) indigenous Cambodian wrestling seems to be another variation on The Original Martial Art:

Korean Wrestling could be another variation:

Mongolian Wrestling is probably the best example of The Original Martial Art:

Chinese wrestling adds a point system that favors staying on your feet, as well as the dynamic of scoring for getting your opponent out of the ring:

Tai Chi Push Hands fighting is the most common no-gi version of Chinese Wrestling, and is probably the most accessible form of The Original Martial Art:

From here, the Original Martial Art evolves in two different directions: a submission grappling direction, and a stand up striking direction. There are many other grappling styles that are similar to the ones above, but which emphasize staying on top of the opponent when you throw them. This is the beginning of submission grappling, with ground fighting techniques for manipulating the opponent into a pin. From there we add the submissions from the historical UK and Japan, and numerous submission grappling arts emerge, mostly sharing historical roots with Judo.

The striking direction this art evolves in adds basic hand strikes as an alternative way to take someone down, like Sumo:

Notice that the most popular form of African wrestling, Laamb, is very similar to Sumo in that it is this original martial art combined with hand strikes:

And the connection between Chinese Wrestling or Tai Chi Push Hands and Chinese Kickboxing is fairly obvious:

But good luck finding instruction in any of the above martial arts, as most of them are fairly exotic (for example Tai Chi classes that are serious about sparring are rare.) The most common combat sport that still values grappling take downs that allow the fighter to remain standing is Muay Thai:

Back in 8th Century, Sumo would have been much more like Muay Thai than what Sumo is like today, with virtually all strikes allowed. It is hard to imagine an Mongol Warrior complaining about another wrestler slipping in a knee strike, and Tai Chi contains numerous references to striking techniques often sparred with in the past. If you want to master the art of the ancient battlefield in today's world, the most important martial art for you to study is Muay Thai.