Martial arts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage.[1]

Although the term martial art has become associated with the fighting arts of East Asia, it originally referred to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s. The term is derived from Latin and means "arts of Mars", the Roman god of war.[2] Some authors have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate on the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.[3]

The martial art of boxing was practiced in ancient Thera.

Variation and scope[edit]

Martial arts may be categorized using a variety of criteria, including:

By technical focus[edit]







Sometimes, training with one specific weapon may be considered a style in its own right, especially in the case of Japanese martial arts, with disciplines such as kenjutsu and kendo (sword), bojutsu (staff), and kyūdō (archery). Similarly, modern martial arts and sports include modern fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat, and modern competitive archery.

By application or intent[edit]





Throughout the Asian arts, meditation may be incorporated as a part of training. In the arts influenced by Hindu-Buddhist philosophy, the practice itself may be used as an aid to attaining enlightenment.

Japanese styles, when concerning non-physical qualities of the combat, are often strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Concepts like "empty mind" and "beginner's mind" are recurrent. Aikido practitioners for instance, can have a strong philosophical belief of the flow of energy and peace fostering, as idealised by the art's founder Morihei Ueshiba.

Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the practitioner's spiritual and philosophical development. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as Taekkyon and taekwondo, is the value of "inner peace" in a practitioner, which is stressed to be only achievable through individual meditation and training. The Koreans believe that the use of physical force is only justifiable for self defense.[citation needed]


Some martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settings for various reasons, such as for evoking ferocity in preparation for battle or showing off skill in a more stylized manner, with capoeira being the most prominent example. Many such martial arts incorporate music, especially strong percussive rhythms. (See also war dance.)


Historical martial arts[edit]

Detail of the wrestling fresco in tomb 15 at Beni Hasan.

Human warfare dates back to the Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era. The oldest works of art depicting scenes of battle are cave paintings from eastern Spain (Spanish Levante) dated between 10,000 and 6,000 BC that show organized groups fighting with bows and arrows.[6][7] Similar evidence of warfare has been found in Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era mass burials, excavated in Germany and at Jebel Sahaba in Northern Sudan.[6]

Wrestling is the oldest combat sport, with origins in hand-to-hand combat. Belt wrestling was depicted in works of art from Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt circa 3000 BC, and later in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh.[8] The earliest known depiction of boxing comes from a Sumerian relief in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) from the 3rd millennium BC.[9]

Chinese martial arts originated during the legendary, possibly apocryphal, Xia Dynasty more than 4000 years ago. It is said the Yellow Emperor Huangdi (legendary date of ascension 2698 BC) introduced the earliest fighting systems to China. The Yellow Emperor is described as a famous general who before becoming China's leader, wrote lengthy treatises on medicine, astrology and martial arts. One of his main opponents was Chi You who was credited as the creator of jiao di, a forerunner to the modern art of Chinese wrestling.

The foundation of modern Asian martial arts is likely a blend of early Chinese and Indian martial arts. During the Warring States period of Chinese history (480-221 BC) extensive development in martial philosophy and strategy emerged, as described by Sun Tzu in The Art of War (c. 350 BC).[10] Legendary accounts link the origin of Shaolinquan to the spread of Buddhism from ancient India during the early 5th century AD, with the figure of Bodhidharma, to China.[11] Written evidence of martial arts in Southern India dates back to the Sangam literature of about the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD.[citation needed] The combat techniques of the Sangam period were the earliest precursors to Kalaripayattu.[12]



A number of historical combat manuals have survived from the European Middle Ages. This includes such styles as sword and shield, two-handed swordfighting and other types of melee weapons besides unarmed combat. Amongst these are transcriptions of Johannes Liechtenauer's mnemonic poem on the longsword dating back to the late fourteenth century. Likewise, Asian martial arts became well-documented during the medieval period, Japanese martial arts beginning with the establishment of the samurai nobility in the 12th century, Chinese martial arts with Ming era treatises such as Ji Xiao Xin Shu, Indian martial arts in medieval texts such as the Agni Purana and the Malla Purana, and Korean martial arts from the Joseon era and texts such as Muyejebo (1598).

European swordsmanship always had a sportive component, but the duel was always a possibility until World War I. Modern sport fencing began developing during the 19th century as the French and Italian military academies began codifying instruction. The Olympic games led to standard international rules, with the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime founded in 1913. Modern boxing originates with Jack Broughton's rules in the 18th century, and reaches its present form with the Marquess of Queensberry Rules of 1867.

Folk styles[edit]

Certain traditional combat sports and fighting styles exist all over the world, rooted in local culture and folklore. The most common of these are styles of folk wrestling, some of which have been practiced since antiquity and are found in the most remote areas. Other examples include forms of stick fighting and boxing. While these arts are based on historical traditions of folklore, they are not "historical" in the sense that they reconstruct or preserve a historical system from a specific era. They are rather contemporary regional sports that coexist with the modern forms of martial arts sports as they have developed since the 19th century, often including cross-fertilization between sports and folk styles; thus, the traditional Thai art of muay boran developed into the modern national sport of muay Thai, which in turn came to be practiced worldwide and contributed significantly to modern hybrid styles like kickboxing and mixed martial arts. Singlestick, an English martial art can be seen often utilized in morris dancing. Many European dances share elements of martial arts with examples including Ukrainian Hopak, Polish Zbójnicki (use of ciupaga), the Czech dance odzemek, and the Norwegian Halling.

Modern history[edit]

Late 19th to early 20th century




20th century (1914 to 1989)
Bruce Lee and his teacher Ip Man



The later 1960s and 1970s witnessed an increased media interest in Chinese martial arts, influenced by martial artist Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee is credited as one of the first instructors to openly teach Chinese martial arts to Westerners.[14] World Judo Championships have been held since 1956, Judo at the Summer Olympics was introduced in 1964. Karate World Championships were introduced in 1970.


Also during the 20th century, a number of martial arts were adapted for self-defense purposes for military hand-to-hand combat. World War II combatives, KAPAP (1930s) and Krav Maga (1950s) in Israel, Systema in Soviet-era Russia, and Sanshou in the People's Republic of China are examples of such systems. The US military de-emphasized hand-to-hand combat training during the Cold War period, but revived it with the introduction of LINE in 1989.

1990 to present

During the 1990s Brazilian jiu-jitsu became popular and proved to be effective in mixed martial arts competitions such as the UFC and PRIDE.[15]

In 1993 the first Pancrase event was held.[16] The K-1 rules of kickboxing were introduced based on 1980s Seidokaikan karate.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li are prominent martial artists who have become major movie figures. Their popularity and media presence has been at the forefront for promoting Chinese martial arts since the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

With the continual discovery of more medieval and Renaissance fighting manuals, the practice of Historical European Martial Arts and other Western Martial Arts have been growing[citation needed] in popularity across the United States and Europe.

On November 29, 2011, UNESCO inscribed Taekkyon onto its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List.[17]

Revival of Indian Martial Arts[edit]

Many styles of Indian martial arts were banned during the British rule of India.[18] Despite being outlawed by the British Raj, some Indian martial arts such as Kalaripayattu survived within the Indian subcontinent. Other martial arts from India, such as Silambam, while not widely practiced in India, continue to be practiced in other countries in the Indian cultural sphere such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Many other Indian martial arts such as Mardhani Khel and Paika Akhada survived by practitioners practicing the art in secret, or by telling the British government that it was a form of dance. While many regional Indian martial arts forms are fading into obscurity, martial arts such as Gatka and Kalaripayattu are experiencing a gradual resurgence.[19]

Testing and competition[edit]


Steven Ho executing a Jump Spin Hook Kick


Light- and medium-contact[edit]





Full-contact sparring or competition, where strikes or techniques are not pulled but used with full force as the name implies, has a number of tactical differences from light and medium-contact sparring. It is considered by some to be requisite in learning realistic unarmed combat.[20]

In full-contact sparring, the aim of a competitive match is to knock out the opponent or to force the opponent to submit. Where scoring takes place it may be a subsidiary measure, only used if no clear winner has been established by other means; in some competitions, such as the UFC 1, there was no scoring, though most now use some form of judging as a backup.[21] Due to these factors, full-contact matches tend to be more aggressive in character, but rule sets may still mandate the use of protective equipment, or limit the techniques allowed.

Nearly all mixed martial arts organizations such as UFC, Pancrase, Shooto use a form of full-contact rules as do professional boxing organizations and K-1. Kyokushin karate requires advanced practitioners to engage in bare-knuckled, full-contact sparring allowing kicks, knees and punching although punching to the head is disallowed while wearing only a karate gi and groin protector. Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo matches do not allow striking, but are full-contact in the sense that full force is applied in the permitted grappling and submission techniques. Competitions held by World Taekwondo requires the use of Headgear and padded vest, but are full contact in the sense that full force is applied to strikes to the head and body, and win by knockout is possible.

Martial sport[edit]

Several martial arts, such as judo, are Olympic sports.




Health and fitness benefits[edit]


Through systematic practice in the martial arts a person's physical fitness may be boosted (strength, stamina, speed, flexibility, movement coordination, etc.) as the whole body is exercised and the entire muscular system is activated.[citation needed] Beyond contributing to physical fitness, martial arts training also has benefits for mental health, contributing to self-esteem, self-control, emotional and spiritual well-being. For this reason, a number of martial arts schools have focused purely on therapeutic aspects, de-emphasizing the historical aspect of self-defense or combat completely.[citation needed]


Self-defense, military and law enforcement applications[edit]

U.S. Army Combatives instructor Matt Larsen demonstrates a chokehold.



Traditional hand-to-hand, knife, and spear techniques continue to see use in the composite systems developed for today's wars. Examples of this include European Unifight, the US Army's Combatives system developed by Matt Larsen, the Israeli army's KAPAP and Krav Maga, and the US Marine Corps's Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP). Unarmed dagger defenses identical to those found in the manual of Fiore dei Liberi and the Codex Wallerstein were integrated into the U.S. Army's training manuals in 1942[24] and continue to influence today's systems along with other traditional systems such as eskrima and silat.

The rifle-mounted bayonet which has its origin in the spear, has seen use by the United States Army, the United States Marine Corps, and the British Army as recently as the Iraq War.[25]


Martial arts industry[edit]


Hundreds of millions of people worldwide practice some form of martial art. Web Japan (sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs) claims there are 50 million karate practitioners worldwide.[27] The South Korean government in 2009 published an estimate that taekwondo is practiced by 70 million people in 190 countries.[28]




Martial arts fraud[edit]

Asian martial arts experienced a surge of popularity in the west during the 1970s, and the rising demand resulted in numerous low quality or fraudulent schools. Fueled by fictional depictions in martial arts movies, this led to the ninja craze of the 1980s in the United States.[31] There were also numerous fraudulent ads for martial arts training programs, inserted into comic books circa the 1960s and 1970s, which were read primarily by adolescent boys.[32]

When the martial arts came to the United States in the seventies, lower ranks (kyu) began to be given colorful belts to show progress. This proved to be commercially viable and colored-belt systems were adopted in many martial arts degree mills (also known as McDojos and belt factories) as a means to generate additional cash. This was covered in the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! episode "Martial Arts" (June 2010).

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "martial art | Definition, History, Types, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
  2. ^ Clements, John (January 2006). "A Short Introduction to Historical European Martial Arts" (PDF). Meibukan Magazine (Special Edition No. 1): 2–4. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 18, 2012.
  4. ^ "Internal Kung Fu". Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  6. ^ a b Hamblin, William J. (2006). Warfare in the ancient Near East to 1600 BC : holy warriors at the dawn of history (Repr. ed.). New York: Routledge. p. 15. ISBN 978-0415255899.
  7. ^ Nash, George, "Assessing rank and warfare strategy in prehistoric hunter-gatherer society: a study of representational warrior figures in rock-art from the Spanish Levant" in: M. Parker Pearson & I.J.N. Thorpe (eds.), Warfare, violence and slavery in prehistory: proceedings of a Prehistoric Society conference at Sheffield University, 2005, Archaeopress, ISBN 1-84171-816-5, 9781841718163, Fully online, Bristol University
  8. ^ "Wrestling". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  9. ^ Michael Poliakoff. "Encyclopædia Britannica entry for Boxing". Retrieved 18 May 2013.
  12. ^ "Actualizing Power and Crafting a Self in Kalarippayattu". Retrieved 2016-02-29.
  14. ^ "Jeet Kune Do". Archived from the original on 2014-07-17. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  15. ^ "fighting art used in the UFC". Archived from the original on 2010-05-23. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  16. ^ "The origins, history and rules from the early days of Pancrase circa 1993". 2014-03-29. Retrieved 2014-05-27.
  17. ^ "UNESCO Culture Sector - Intangible Heritage - 2003 Convention".
  18. ^ Tandon, Nikita. "Reviving the Lost Martial Arts of India". The Armchair Lounge. Archived from the original on 2018-08-21. Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  19. ^ Manoharan, Suresh K. "History of Varmakalai". Retrieved 2016-03-01.
  20. ^ "Aliveness 101". Straight Blast gym. Archived from the original on 2009-01-07. Retrieved 2008-11-03. – An essay on contact levels in training
  21. ^ Dave Meltzer (November 12, 2007). "First UFC forever altered combat sports". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved 2008-11-03.
  22. ^ Fu, Zhongwen (2006) [1996]. Mastering Yang Style Taijiquan. Berkeley, California: Blue Snake Books.
  23. ^ Bu, Bin; Haijun, Han; Yong, Liu; Chaohui, Zhang; Xiaoyuan, Yang; Singh, Maria Fiatarone (2010). "Effects of martial arts on health status: A systematic review". Journal of Evidence-Based Medicine. 3 (4): 205–219. doi:10.1111/j.1756-5391.2010.01107.x. PMID 21349072.
  25. ^ Sean Rayment (2004-06-13). "British battalion 'attacked every day for six weeks'". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group Limited. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  27. ^ "Martial Arts : Fact Sheet" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-08-13.
  28. ^ Kim, H.-S. (2009): Taekwondo: A new strategy for Brand Korea Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine (21 December 2009). Retrieved on 8 January 2010.
  29. ^ Jack W. Plunkett, Plunkett's Sports Industry Almanac 2009, ISBN 978-1-59392-140-8.
  30. ^ Black Belt Magazine September 2003, p. 20.
  31. ^ see e.g. Black Belt Magazine, June 1999, p. 78.
  32. ^ Tom Heintjes (June 20, 2017). "The Deadliest Ads Alive! | Hogan's Alley". Archived from the original on August 25, 2015. Retrieved 2015-08-13.