[HoneyBadger]

I think one of the most important differences between eastern and western martial arts is that many of the eastern martial arts-karate, kung-fu, and aikido in particular-focussed on bare-handed techniques. Europeans encountered these forms at a time when they had assumed gunpowder was the pinnacle of fighting, and the techniques-combined with the mysticism and romanticism of the East-appeared almost superhuman.

European techniques were overshadowed because they were so often combined with more primitive technologies-swords, daggers, horses, etc. So I think gunpowder and exoticism were the keys.