section_path: Etymology
section_name: Etymology
paragraph_text: Etymology
  
  "Martial arts" is a direct English translation of the Sino-Japanese word (Japanese: 武芸, romanized: bu-gei, Chinese: 武藝; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: bú-gē; pinyin: wǔyì). Literally, it refers to "武 martial" and "艺 arts".
  
  According to Paul Bowman, the term martial arts was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called " chopsocky " wave of the early 1970s.
  
  According to John Clements, the term martial arts itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning "arts of Mars ", the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe (European martial arts) as early as the 1550s.
  
  The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of East Asia (Asian martial arts) up until the 1970s, and the term Chinese boxing was also used to refer to Chinese martial arts until then.
  
  Some authors have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate terms on the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.