Martial arts


Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat. They are practiced for a number of reasons ranging from; violent street fighting, self-defense, military and law enforcement; to non-violent exercising, ceremonial, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and to preserve the intangible cultural heritage of a nation. The term "martial arts" was originally used to refer to the traditions of East Asia, but has subsequently been applied to other practices which originated outside that region.

Etymology

According to John Clements, the term martial arts itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning the "arts of Mars", Mars being the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s.
The term martial arts was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films and martial artists such as Bruce Lee, during the so-called "chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s.
The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to Asian martial arts up until the 1970s, with the term Chinese boxing also being used to refer to Chinese martial arts until then.
Some authors have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be a more appropriate term as many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.

Variation and scope

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

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.
File:Stone bas relief at Banteay Srei in Cambodia from front.jpg|thumb|Strikes: punching and kicking techniques displayed at the Banteay Srei in Cambodia.
Strikes
File:Candi Prambanan - 100 Wrestling, Visnu Temple.jpg|thumbnail|right|Grappling: bas-relief of grappling techniques at Prambanan in Indonesia.
Grappling
The traditional martial arts that include armed combat often use a wide array of melee weapons such as bladed weapons and polearms. Such traditions include eskrima, silat, Kalaripayattu, kobudo, and historical European martial arts, especially those of the Italian Renaissance. Many Chinese martial arts also feature weapons as part of their curriculum.
Sometimes, the use and handling of a single weapon is considered a martial art, for example Japanese martial arts such as kenjutsu, kendo, bojutsu, and kyūdō. Other similar modern martial arts and sports include modern fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat, modern competitive archery and practical shooting.

By application or intent

Combat-oriented

Spirituality-oriented

Traditional Korean martial arts place great emphasis on the practitioner's spiritual development. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as Taekkyon, taekwondo, and Hapkido is the focus on "inner peace", which is said to be achievable only through meditation and training. Korean martial arts believe that the use of physical force can only be justified in self defense. Japanese martial arts are called "budo". The suffix "-do" translates to "way" or "path", as the martial art is meant to lead the practitioner towards a spiritually fulfilling life.
Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the UNESCO term for the Persian martial art of varzesh-e pahlavāni or varzesh-e bāstāni, a traditional system that was originally used to train warriors in Iran, first appearing in its current name and form during the Safavid era, it has similarities to other systems in the region and are referred to by different names in those places.

History

Historical martial arts

Human warfare dates back to the Epipalaeolithic and early Neolithic era. The oldest works of art depicting scenes of battle are cave paintings from eastern Spain dated to between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE that show organized groups fighting with bows and arrows. Similar evidence of warfare has also been found in Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era mass burials, excavated in Germany and at Jebel Sahaba in Northern Sudan.
Wrestling is the oldest combat sport, with origins in hand-to-hand combat. Depictions of Belt wrestling can be found in Mesopotamian and Ancient Egyptian works of art dating to, and later in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh. The earliest known depiction of boxing is a Sumerian relief found in Mesopotamia dating to the 3rd millennium BC.
The development of modern Chinese and Indian martial arts was likely facilitated by early cultural exchanges between China and India. During the Warring States period in China, extensive development in martial philosophy and strategy took place, as mentioned by Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Legendary accounts link the origin of Shaolinquan to the spread of Buddhism from ancient India during the early 5th century AD, and the coming of Bodhidharma, to China. Written evidence of martial arts in Southern India dates back to the Sangam literature. The combat techniques of the Sangam period are the earliest precursors of Kalaripayattu
In Europe, the earliest martial arts traditions date to Ancient Greece. Boxing, wrestling and pankration featured in the Ancient Olympic Games. The Romans produced gladiatorial combat as a public spectacle.
A number of combat manuals have survived from the European Middle Ages, and include such styles as sword and shield, two-handed swordfighting and other types of melee weapons in addition to unarmed combat. Amongst these are transcriptions of Johannes Liechtenauer's mnemonic poem on the longsword dating back to the late 14th 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 during the Ming era with 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 during the Joseon era with texts such as the Muyejebo.
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 rules. The Olympic games led to standard international rules, with the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime being founded in 1913. Modern boxing originates with the rules of Jack Broughton in the 18th century, and reached its present form under the Rules of the Marquess of Queensberry in 1867.

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 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 and 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. The English martial art of Singlestick, can often be seen used in morris dancing. Many European dances have elements derived from martial arts, these include the Ukrainian Hopak, Polish Zbójnicki, the Czech dance odzemek, and the Norwegian Halling.
Image:Cribb_vs_Molineaux_1811.jpg|thumb|Boxing in England, 1811

Modern history

Late 19th to early 20th century

The mid to late 19th century marks the beginning of martial arts as modern sports, developing out of earlier traditional fighting systems. In Europe, this included the development of boxing, wrestling and fencing as sports. In Japan, the same period marks the creation of modern judo, jujutsu, karate, and kendo based on earlier schools of martial arts which existed during the Edo period and which had been suppressed during the Meiji Restoration. In 1882, Kano Jigoro established the Kodokan School of judo, thus starting the sport of judo. Kano Jigoro had studied old forms jujutsu before establishing his judo school.
Modern Muay Thai rules date to the 1920s. In China, the modern history of martial arts begins in the Nanjing decade following the foundation of the Central Guoshu Institute in 1928 under the Kuomintang government.
Western interest in Asian martial arts arises towards the end of the 19th century, due to the increase in trade between the United States with China and Japan. Relatively few Westerners actually practiced the arts, considering it to be mere performance. Edward William Barton-Wright, a railway engineer who had studied jujutsu while working in Japan between 1894 and 1897, was the first man known to have taught Asian martial arts in Europe. He also founded an eclectic style named Bartitsu which combined jujutsu, judo, wrestling, boxing, savate and stick fighting.
Fencing and Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the 1896 Summer Olympics. FILA Wrestling World Championships and Boxing at the Summer Olympics were introduced in 1904. The tradition of awarding championship belts in wrestling and boxing can be traced to the Lonsdale Belt, introduced in 1909.