Martial arts
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Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of
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
According to John Clements, the term
The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of
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.[5]
Variation and scope
Martial arts may be categorized using a variety of criteria, including:[citation needed]
- Traditional/historical arts vs. contemporary styles: e.g., folk wrestling compared to modern hybrid martial arts.
- Techniques taught: armed vs. unarmed, and within these categories
- armed: by type of weapon (stick fightingetc.)
- unarmed: by type of combat (grappling, striking, stand-up fighting, ground fighting)
- armed: by type of weapon (
- By application or intent: choreography or demonstration of forms, physical fitness, meditation, etc.
- Within "external" vs. "internal"styles
By technical focus
Unarmed
Unarmed martial arts can be broadly grouped into those focusing on strikes, those focusing on grappling, and those that cover both fields, often described as hybrid martial arts.[citation needed]
- Punching: Boxing, Wing Chun
- Kicking: Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Capoeira, Savate, Karate, Kung Fu, Taekyyon
- Elbow Strike: Kung Fu, Karate, Muay Thai
- Knee Strike: Lethwei, Muay Thai, Bokator, Kung Fu
- Others using strikes: Taijiquan, Vovinam
Armed
The traditional martial arts that cover
Sometimes, training with one specific weapon may be considered a style in its own right, especially in the case of
By application or intent
Combat-oriented
Spirituality-oriented
Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the practitioner's spiritual and philosophical being. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as
Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the name of a Persian Martial arts inscribed by UNESCO for varzesh-e pahlavāni (Persian: آیین پهلوانی و زورخانهای, "heroic sport")[7] or varzesh-e bāstāni (ورزش باستانی; varzeš-e bāstānī, "ancient sport"), a traditional system of athletics originally used to train warriors in Iran (Persia), and first appearing under this name and form in the Safavid era, with similarities to systems in adjacent lands under other names.[8][9]
History
Historical martial arts
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 c. 3000 BC, and later in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh.[12] The earliest known depiction of boxing comes from a Sumerian relief in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) from the 3rd millennium BC.[13]
The foundation of modern
In Europe, the earliest sources of martial arts traditions date to
A number of historical
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.[citation needed]
Folk styles
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
]Modern history
Late 19th to early 20th century
The mid to late 19th century marks the beginning of the history of martial arts as modern sports developed out of earlier traditional fighting systems. In Europe, this concerns the developments of
Modern muay Thai rules date to the 1920s. In China, the modern history of martial arts begins in the Nanjing decade (1930s) following the foundation of the Central Guoshu Institute in 1928 under the Kuomintang government.[citation needed]
Western interest in
Fencing and
20th century (1914 to 1989)
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2021) |
The
As Western influence grew in Asia a greater number of military personnel spent time in China, Japan and South Korea during World War II and the
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.[24] World Judo Championships have been held since 1956, Judo at the Summer Olympics was introduced in 1964. Karate World Championships were introduced in 1970.
The "
Also during the 20th century, a number of martial arts were adapted for
1990 to present
In 1993, the first Pancrase event was held in Japan.[25] The K-1 rules of kickboxing were introduced, based on 1980s Seidokaikan karate.[26]
During the 1990s, Brazilian jiu-jitsu became popular and proved to be effective in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions such as the UFC and PRIDE.[27]
Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee were prominent martial artists who became major movie figures. Their popularity and media presence has been at the forefront for promoting Chinese martial arts in the Western world since the late 20th and early 21st centuries.[28]
With the continual discovery of more medieval and Renaissance fighting manuals, the practice of
On 29 November 2011,
Revival
Many styles of Indian martial arts were banned by the colonial authorities during the period of British rule in India, which led to a decline in their popularity.[30] Some, such as Kalaripayattu, were able to resist this decline by practicing in secret. Other Indian martial art, 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 colonial authorities 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.[31]
Testing and competition
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2021) |
Testing or evaluation is important to martial artists of many disciplines who wish to determine their progression or own level of skill in specific contexts. Students often undergo periodic testing and grading by their own teacher in order to advance to a higher level of recognized achievement, such as a different belt color or title. The type of testing used varies from system to system but may include forms or sparring.
Various forms and sparring are commonly used in martial art exhibitions and tournaments. Some competitions pit practitioners of different disciplines against each other using a common set of rules, these are referred to as mixed martial arts competitions. Rules for sparring vary between art and organization but can generally be divided into light-contact, medium-contact, and full-contact variants, reflecting the amount of force that should be used on an opponent.
Light- and medium-contact
These types of sparring restrict the amount of force that may be used to hit an opponent, in the case of light sparring this is usually to 'touch' contact, e.g. a punch should be 'pulled' as soon as or before contact is made. In medium-contact (sometimes referred to as semi-contact) the punch would not be 'pulled' but not hit with full force. As the amount of force used is restricted, the aim of these types of sparring is not to
A referee acts to monitor for fouls and to control the match, while judges mark down scores, as in boxing. Particular targets may be prohibited, certain techniques may be forbidden (such as headbutting or groin hits), and fighters may be required to wear protective equipment on their head, hands, chest, groin, shins or feet. Some grappling arts, such as aikido, use a similar method of compliant training that is equivalent to light or medium contact.
In some styles (such as fencing and some styles of taekwondo sparring), competitors score points based on the landing of a single technique or strike as judged by the referee, whereupon the referee will briefly stop the match, award a point, then restart the match. Alternatively, sparring may continue with the point noted by the judges. Some critics of point sparring feel that this method of training teaches habits that result in lower combat effectiveness. Lighter-contact sparring may be used exclusively, for children or in other situations when heavy contact would be inappropriate (such as beginners), medium-contact sparring is often used as training for full contact.
Full-contact
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.[32]
In full-contact sparring, the aim of a competitive match is to
Nearly all mixed martial arts organizations such as
Martial sport
Martial arts have crossed over into sports when forms of sparring become competitive, becoming a sport in its own right that is dissociated from the original combative origin, such as with western fencing. The Summer Olympic Games includes judo, taekwondo, western archery, boxing, javelin, wrestling and fencing as events, while Chinese wushu recently failed in its bid to be included, but is still actively performed in tournaments across the world. Practitioners in some arts such as kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu often train for sport matches, whereas those in other arts such as aikido generally spurn such competitions. Some schools believe that competition breeds better and more efficient practitioners, and gives a sense of good sportsmanship. Others believe that the rules under which competition takes place have diminished the combat effectiveness of martial arts or encourage a kind of practice which focuses on winning trophies rather than a focus such as cultivating a particular moral character.
The question of "which is the best martial art" has led to inter style competitions fought with very few rules allowing a variety of fighting styles to enter with few limitations. This was the origin of the first
Some martial artists compete in non-sparring competitions such as
Health and fitness benefits
Martial arts training aims to result in several benefits to trainees, such as their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.[35]
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
According to Bruce Lee, martial arts also have the nature of an art, since there is emotional communication and complete emotional expression.[citation needed]
Self-defense, military and law enforcement applications
Some traditional martial concepts have seen new use within modern military training. Perhaps the most recent example of this is point shooting which relies on muscle memory to more effectively use a firearm in a variety of awkward situations, much the way an iaidoka would master movements with their sword.
During the World War II era William E. Fairbairn and Eric A. Sykes were recruited by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to teach their martial art of Defendu (itself drawing on Western boxing and Jujutsu) and pistol shooting to UK, US, and Canadian special forces. The book Kill or Get Killed, written by Colonel Rex Applegate, was based on the Defendu taught by Sykes and Fairbairn. Both Fairbairn's Get Tough and Appelgate's Kill or Get Killed became classic works on hand-to-hand combat.[citation needed]
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
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.[37]
Many martial arts are also seen and used in Law Enforcement hand-to-hand training. For example, the Tokyo Riot Police's use of aikido.[38]
Martial arts industry
Martial arts since the 1970s has become a significant industry, a subset of the wider
Hundreds of millions of people worldwide practice some form of martial art. Web Japan (sponsored by the
The wholesale value of martial arts related sporting equipment shipped in the United States was estimated at US$314 million in 2007; participation in the same year was estimated at 6.9 million (ages 6 or older, 2% of US population).[41] R. A. Court, CEO of Martial Arts Channel, stated the total revenue of the US martial arts industry at US$40 billion and the number of US practitioners at 30 million in 2003.[42]
Equipment
Martial arts equipment can include that which is used for conditioning, protection and
Martial arts fraud
In the seventies, lower ranks (
See also
References
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- NewspaperArchive.
First there were "spaghetti westerns" made in Italy, and then the Spanish got into the act and they became "gaspacho westerns."
Now, there's going to be an invasion of "chow mein spies." It's the newest rage, the superhero Chinese agent, who takes on 84 adversaries at one time and pounds them into the ground — without a dangerous weapon, except his hands and his feet.
They're coming here under the label of "martial sciences," an umbrella label that takes in all of the oriental arts of self-defense, such as karate, jujitso, kung fu and so on.
They're made in Hong Kong and the biggest hero of them all at the moment, surely the biggest box-office attraction there, is a face pretty familiar to American television audiences. Remember Bruce Lee, the swift, agile oriental chauffeur in "The Green Hornet"?
(...) Lee already has starred in three Chinese boxer (another label) pictures and there are several dozen others available to the international market. They reportedly are sweeping the European market and have just started to infiltrate the American scene.
Warner Brothers has just released one called "The Five Fingers of Death" and, with Fred Weintraub as producer, is now involved in the first American-Chinese production of a martial-science picture, a film that stars Bruce (Kato) Lee. - ^ Donn F. Draeger and P'ng Chye Khim (1979). Shaolin Lohan Kung-fu. Tuttle Publishing.
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