What are martial arts?
Martial Arts are exercise habits which, when practiced regularly, help the student develop into a healthy, well-coordinated person both physically and mentally. They also teach the student how to use both of these qualities for self defense, and help the student to deal more easily with the difficulties created by our stressful times.
Perhaps because of its literal translation as “the craft of war” and a poor representation by the media, martial arts are often associated with physical violence and general mayhem – but nothing could be further from the truth. Most martial arts in fact teach grace, discipline and non-aggression. Martial arts are coded systems of fighting or training styles used in armed and unarmed combat, without the use of modern weapons such as guns. The English term was translated from the Japanese bu gei or bujutsu, or the Chinese wu shu, which all mean “the craft of warfare”. There are hundreds of different martial arts around the world. Contrary to popular belief, martial arts are not strictly an Asian phenomenon and exist in almost every culture, at every level in society, and across all of human history. Every martial art organises its fighting techniques into a coherent, effective system. They have effective methods of instruction, and essential techniques that can be taught, learnt and memo
Comprised of the word “martial,” or warlike, and “art,” martial art is literally translated as art of war. Originally used in actual combat as fighting arts in East Asia, the martial arts now encompass hundreds of different styles of weaponless and armed fighting arts around the world. In recent years, many of the martial arts have developed into sports-physical activities or active pastimes that are governed by a set of rules or customs. Yet, the martial arts are distinctly unique sports, since they allow development to occur on many different levels simultaneously, and provide users with a means of understanding and bettering themselves. Some argue that there are martial arts and martial ways; martial art referring to the study of an art that emphasizes only physical techniques, and martial way emphasizing the study of both physical techniques and a philosophical or mental aspect. This view separates the practice. Essentially, the attitude of the student practicing the martial art de
In its broadest sense, the martial arts refer to self-defense techniques born in Asian countries which stress hand and foot combat. Mental discipline and the search for enlightenment are also part and parcel of most every martial art. While some martial arts focus on using one’s feet to attack or disarm an opponent, other martial arts concentrate on the use of one’s hands or making throws to render an opponent useless. Some of the more popular martial arts are: Tae Kwan Do, Kenpo, Judo, Hapkido, Kung Fu, Akido, and Karate. Each of these stresses the art form of the discipline itself. Through repeated practice of moves, steps, punches, and kicks, students of these martial arts develop, grace, strength, and mental discipline. The words Tae Kwan Do, translate to: “the way of foot and fist.” Though primarily an art where strikes with the foot are the focus, Tae Kwon Do also teaches the use of one’s hands to strike an opponent or to block an opponent’s kicks or punches. This Korean-born art
Martial Arts are the study of efficient fighting techniques. It is this efficiency which can allow a smaller person to defeat a larger person. The study of martial arts is done for a variety of reasons. Typically, people start martial arts in order to learn how to defend themselves. As they progress, often the motivation becomes one of self improvement and even spiritual health. There are all sorts of martial arts: soft styles, hard styles, self-defense oriented styles, sport styles, physical styles, spiritual styles, internal styles, external styles. Most systems encompass more than one of these categories. Back to table of contents …
