Martial arts
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Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. Today, martial arts are studied for various reasons including combat skills, fitness, self-defense, sport, self-cultivation (meditation), mental discipline, character development and building self-confidence. A practitioner of martial arts is referred to as a martial artist.
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[edit] Overview
Worldwide there is a great diversity of martial arts. Broadly speaking, martial arts share a common goal: to defeat a person physically or to defend oneself from physical threat. Within some martial arts there is a deep sense of spirituality. Each style has different facets that make them unique from other martial arts.
A common characteristic of martial arts is the systemization of fighting techniques. One common method of training, particularly in the Asian martial arts, is the form or kata (also called poomse, quan dao, kuen, tao lu, hyung, juru or tuls). This is a set routine of techniques performed alone, or sometimes with a partner.
Martial arts may focus on one or more of these areas:
Striking
- Striking - (e.g. Boxing, Karate, Wing Chun)
- Kicking - (e.g. Taekwondo, Capoeira, Savate, Sikaran, Kung fu)
Throwing
- Body Throwing - (e.g. Judo, Hapkido, Shuai Jiao, Sambo)
Immobilization
- Pinning Techniques, Hand Trapping, Weapon Disarming - (e.g. Naban, Varma Kalai, Wrestling, Jujutsu)
- Grappling - (e.g. Shuai Jiao, Mallayuddha, Aikido, Glima)
Weaponry
- Traditional Weaponry - (e.g. Kenjutsu, Gatka, Kapu Kuialua, Mau rakau, Fencing)
- Modern Weaponry - (e.g. Kapap, Eskrima, Jogo do Pau)
Some martial arts, particularly the traditional Chinese martial arts, also teach side disciplines such as bone-setting, qigong, acupuncture, acupressure (tui na), and other aspects of traditional Chinese medicine. Traditional Indian martial arts also teach aspects of traditional Indian medicine as side disciplines.
The martial arts, though commonly associated with East Asian cultures, are by no means unique to this region. For example, Native Americans have a tradition of open-handed martial arts that includes wrestling. Hawaiians also have historically practiced arts featuring small and large joint manipulation. Savate is a French kicking style developed by sailors and street fighters. Capoeira's athletic movements were developed in Brazil by slaves based on skills brought with them from Africa.
Many martial arts also strive to teach moral values and provide guidance for children who join the ranks of those learning the art. Many arts require those who achieve black belt or the equivalent to take an oath restricting their use of their knowledge. Martial artists may also receive specific instruction in mental and emotional discipline.
[edit] History
The history of martial arts around the world is complex. Most groups of people have had to physically defend themselves at some time and have developed fighting techniques for that purpose. Development of many martial arts was related to military development, but many of those techniques have been rendered technologically obsolete over the centuries. In the modern day, most populations would be more likely to face adversaries wielding firearms than melee weapons during battle. Furthermore, the preservation of a martial art requires many years of teaching at the hands of a good instructor to pass on the art for a single generation. Given these circumstances, not all martial arts from a particular era have been passed down to following generations.
[edit] Martial arts in Asia
[edit] Early history
The teaching of martial arts in Asia has historically followed the cultural traditions of teacher-disciple apprenticeship. Students are trained in a strictly hierarchical system by a master instructor: Sifu (師傅) in Cantonese; Shih fu (師父) (Wade-Giles), Shī fù (Pinyin) (lit., master-father) in Mandarin; Guru in Sanskrit, Hindi and Malay; Sensei (先生) in Japanese; Sa Bum Nim (사범님) in Korean; Kallari Gurukkal in Malayalam; Asaan in Tamil; and Achan in Thai. The instructor is expected to directly supervise their students' training, and the students are expected to memorize and recite as closely as possible the rules and basic training routines of the school.
In a Confucian influenced martial art, students with more seniority are considered older brothers and sisters; those with less seniority as younger brothers and sisters. Such clearly delineated relationships are intended to develop good character, patience and discipline.[citation needed] In the warrior Kshatriya caste of India, organised martial traditions were studied as a part of the Dharma (duty) of the caste. The senior teachers were called Gurus and taught martial arts at gurukuls to the shishyas (students).[citation needed]
Some method of certification can be involved, where one's skills would be tested for mastery before being allowed to study further; in some systems, especially in China, there may not have been any such certifications, only years of close personal practice and evaluation under a master, much like an apprenticeship, until the master deems one's skills satisfactory.[citation needed] This pedagogy, while still preserved and respected in many traditional styles, has weakened to varying degrees in others and is even actively rejected by some schools, especially in the West.
A number of martial arts were developed in ancient India, such as Mallayuddha (wrestling combat), Silambam (staff fighting), Kuttu Varisai (empty hand combat), Varma Kalai (the art of vital points), Adithada (kickboxing) and Kalari Payattu (way of the arena).[1]
In Indonesia and Malaysia, a large number of arts under the umbrella of Silat may also include Kateda and Sindo. Kuntao styles are found across this region. It is difficult to pin down the origin of these arts, which are claimed to be indigenous but nonetheless have much in common with the Indian martial arts, Qigong, Yiquan, and possibly Shaolin Wushu or Kung Fu. They have both internal and external qualities so perhaps could be seen as an original hybridization of other arts, the origins of which are lost in the mists of time.[citation needed]
Martial arts were also studied in Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam and almost every other corner of the Earth. This in turn led to further exploration of disciplines from China, Korea, and Japan for their historical and cultural value.
[edit] Modern history
The Western interest in East Asian Martial Arts dates back to the late 19th Century, due to the increase in trade between America and China and Japan. Relatively few Westerners actually practiced the arts, considering it to be mere performance. Many of the first demonstrations of the martial arts in the West were performed by Asians in vaudeville shows, which served to further reinforce the perception of the martial arts as dramatic performance.[citation needed]
Edward William Barton-Wright, a railway engineer who had studied Jujutsu while working in Japan between 1894-97, was the first man known to have taught Asian martial arts in Europe. He also founded an eclectic martial arts style named Bartitsu which combined jujutsu, judo, boxing, savate and stick fighting.
During the late 19th century and early 20th century, catch wrestling contests became immensely popular in Europe. These tournaments involved the likes of the Indian national wrestling champion Great Gama, Swiss champion John Lemm, Americans Frank Gotch, Ad Santel, Ed Lewis and Benjamin Roller, Mitsuyo Maeda from Japan and Estonian Georg Hackenschmidt. Travelling wrestlers and European tournaments brought together a variety of folk wrestling disciplines including the Indian variety of Pehlwani, Judo and Jujutsu from Japan, et cetera. Each of these disciplines contributed to the development of catch wrestling in their own way.[citation needed]
As Western influence grew in East Asia a greater number of military personnel spent time in China, Japan, Korea and elsewhere. Exposure to martial arts during the Korean war was also significant. Gradually some soldiers saw the value of Eastern martial arts and began training in them.
William E. Fairbairn, a Shanghai policeman and a leading Western expert on Asian fighting techniques, was recruited during World War II by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) to teach Jujutsu to UK, U.S. and Canadian Special Forces. The book Kill or Get Killed, written by Colonel Rex Applegate, became a classic military treatise on hand-to-hand combat. This fighting method was called "Defendu".[citation needed] Modern variations that can still trace an authentic lineage to Applegate are very few. "Combato" (Jen Do Tao) as taught by Bradley Steiner is one popular method, yet has no direct personal links to any legitimate authority on the subject. A prominent instructor of modern close-combat is Carl Cestari, who had a direct relationship with both Colonel Applegate and WWII self-defense pioneer Charlie Nelson.[citation needed] In 2006 Carl Cestari was named one of the top 10 "Most Dangerous Men On The Planet" by Black Belt Magazine.
With large numbers of American servicemen stationed in Japan after World War II, the adoption of techniques and the gradual transmission of entire systems of martial arts to the West started. It was in the 1950's, however, when this exportation of systems really began to gain momentum. Large groups of U.S. military personnel were taught Korean arts (Taekwondo) during the Korean conflict, and many of these brought their training home and continued to practice and teach after their demobilization.[citation needed] By the 1960s, Japanese arts like Karate and Judo had become very popular.[citation needed] The early 1970s saw martial arts movies, due in part to martial artist and actor Bruce Lee, furthered the popularity of martial arts.
This exportation of the martial arts led to such styles as sport karate, which became a major international sport, with professional fighters, big prizes, television coverage, and sponsorship deals.
The later 1970s and 1980s witnessed an increased media interest in the martial arts, thanks in part to Asian and Hollywood martial arts movies and very popular television shows like "Kung Fu" and "The Green Hornet" that incorporated martial arts moments or themes.
[edit] Martial arts in Europe
Martial arts with historical roots in Europe do not exist today to the same extent as in Asia. Boxing as well as forms of wrestling have endured. European martial arts have mostly adapted to changing technology so that while some traditional arts still exist, military personnel are trained in skills like flying helicopters and marksmanship. These skills, while combative in nature, do not fall under the traditional use of the term "martial arts."
Martial arts existed in classical European civilization, most notably in Greece where sport was integral to the way of life. Boxing (pygme, pyx), Wrestling (pale) and Pankration (from pan, meaning "all", and kratos, meaning "power" or "strength") were represented in the Ancient Olympic Games. The Romans produced Gladiatorial combat as public spectacle.
Glima is an unarmed Scandinavian martial art with, as some sources indicate, roots in the viking age. [2] The tradition of glima has been kept alive as Iceland's national sport.
Some traditional martial arts have been preserved in one form or another. For example, boxing, wrestling, archery, and fencing were preserved by being made into sports; of course this has changed the emphases of these arts significantly.
A number of historical fencing forms have survived, and many groups are working to reconstruct older European martial arts. The process of reconstruction combines intensive study of detailed combat treatises produced from 1400-1900 A.D. and practical training or "pressure testing" of various techniques and tactics. This includes such styles as sword and shield, two-handed swordfighting, jousting and other types of melee weapons combat. This reconstruction effort and modern outgrowth of the historical methods is generally referred to as Western Martial Arts
Another aspect of the reconstruction effort involves more historically recent martial arts and combat sports, such as those practiced during the 1800s and 1900s. A partial list would include bare-knuckle boxing, Bartitsu, quarterstaff, fencing according to late 1800s rules, etc. Some weapon systems have also survived as folk sports and as self-defense methods. These include stick-fighting systems such as Jogo do Pau of Portugal and the Juego del Palo style(s) of the Canary Islands.
Other martial arts were made into sports that we no longer recognize as combative, such as the pommel horse event in gymnastics. The pommel horse is called as such because it simulates a horse; the art comes from the necessity of a cavalryman to be able to change positions and fight effectively from the back of his mount. More ancient origins exist for the shot put and the javelin throw, both weapons utilized extensively by the Romans.
[edit] Martial arts in the Americas
The native peoples of North America had their own martial training which started at childhood. Many Native American men considered themselves warriors and trained to use the bows, knives, blowguns, spears, and warclubs. War clubs were the preferred martial weapon because Native American warriors could raise their social status by killing enemies in single combat face to face.[citation needed] Warriors honed their archery and war club skills through lifelong training. According to early historical accounts, they demonstrated impressive skill in using war clubs and were favorably compared to European fencing masters.[citation needed]
The European colonists (and later, Asian immigrants) brought over their own martial arts such as boxing, fencing and wrestling.
In 1831 Jim Bowie is reputed to have won a duel, killing three bandits with his soon-to-be-famous Bowie knife. Due to the sensationalism of American newspaper reports, the Bowie knife soon became the most popular personal blade being sold in the US. Schools of Bowie fighting quickly sprung up across the country, which probably drew from European influences and possibly drew from native influences.[citation needed]Capoeira, with roots in Africa, is a martial art originating in Brazil that involves a high degree of flexibility and endurance. It consists of kicks, elbow strikes, headbutts, and sweeps.
Gracie Jiu-jitsu or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a popular version of the original Japanese form. The pre-war years saw many Japanese people emigrate to Brazil, some of whom were proficient in Judo. Carlos Gracie and his brother Hélio Gracie adopted this system of fighting and restructured it into a comprehensive sport focusing mainly on groundwork due to their small physical stature. The system has become a popular martial art and proved to be effective in mixed martial arts sporting competitions such as the UFC and PRIDE.
As of 2003, over 1.5 million Americans practice martial arts.[3]
[edit] Martial arts internationally
Every village and tribe around the world had a few trained fighters who passed on their knowledge; however, it is difficult to pass on a fighting system, so almost all of these have been lost as their practical relevance has declined. A few have nonetheless survived for one reason or another, and a very few of those have seen a recent boom in popularity, perhaps related to the world music phenomenon or more simply because the internet has thrown them open to the world. Examples of this are Capoeira and some related arts in Cuba, Haiti and Trinidad and Tobago, which were preserved partly through their relationship with Candomblé, Santería, Vodun, and other syncretic religions.[citation needed] Of these, only Capoeira has risen to worldwide prominence.
Archery, Boxing, Fencing, Javelin, Judo, Wrestling and Tae Kwon Do are the martial arts that are featured as events in the modern Summer Olympic Games.
Martial arts also developed among military and police forces to be used as:
- arrest and self-defense methods. Examples include; Kapap a self-defense system developed by the Special armed forces of Israel, San Shou developed for Chinese armed forces, and Kombato developed for the Brazilian armed forces.
- lethal tactical arts for use in close quarter combat warfare, i.e. Military Martial Arts e.g. UAC (British), LINE (USA)
Other combatives systems having their origins in the modern military include Soviet Bojewoje (Combat) and Sambo.
[edit] Martial arts on the modern battlefield
Some traditional martial concepts have seen new use within modern military training. A good example of this is point shooting which relies on muscle memory to more effectively utilize a firearm in a variety of awkward situations, much the way an iaidoka would master movements with his or her sword.
In addition to these new forms, traditional hand-to-hand, knife and spear techniques continue to see use in composite systems. Examples of this include the US Army's Combatives, the Israeli army trains krav maga, the US Marine Corps's Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP), and Chinese San Shou. As urban combat and close quarters combat become increasingly the norm. These techniques are likely to see more use this century than last.
The bayonet, too, tracing its origins to the spear, may seem a relic of history to many, but the weapon has seen use by the British Army as recently as the Iraq war [1].
Unarmed dagger defenses identical to that found in the fechtbuch of Fiore dei Liberi and the Codex Wallerstein were integrated into the U.S. Army's training manuals in 1942. [4] Eskrima knife systems are favored today.
[edit] Testing and competition
In general, testing or evaluation is important to martial art practitioners of many disciplines who wish to determine their own level of skill in specific contexts. Students within individual martial art systems 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. Sparring can generally be divided into light- or medium-contact, and full-contact variants. Both 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.
[edit] Light and medium-contact sparring
Point sparring is a form of sparring that uses a point-based system of light- to medium-contact sparring in a marked-off area. A referee acts to monitor for fouls and to control the match, while judges mark down scores similar to boxing. Typically, particular targets are prohibited (such as the face and groin), certain techniques may be forbidden, and fighters are required to wear protective equipment on their head, hands, chest, groin, shins and/or feet. Competitors score points based on the solid landing of a single technique as judged by the referre, whereupon they will briefly stop the match, award a point, then restart it. Judges also help regulate the match and resolve disputes. After a set number of points are scored or when the time set for the match expires (for example, three minutes or five points), the match is ended. In a tournament format, winning fighters advance to final rounds until there is only one winner. These matches may be sorted by gender, weight class, level of expertise and even age.
Some critics of point-sparring feel that this method of training teaches habits that result in lower combat effectiveness than in continuous, full-contact sparring. Point sparring can teach competitors to pull their punches or not throw combination attacks, as the fighting is frequently stopped by judges to award points or declare fouls. This disruption alters the flow of actual combat and enforces what some see are the bad habits of not following through on attacks, lowering your guard, and relying on tactics that may score points but lack the power to disable or hurt an actual attacker.
[edit] Full-contact fighting
"Full-contact" sparring or fighting is considered by many to be requisite in learning realistic unarmed combat. The phrase refers to several aspects which differentiate it from light and medium-contact sessions. One example is the reduced or eliminated use of protective gear. For instance, Kyokushin karate is a style of karate that requires advanced practitioners to engage in bare-knuckled, full-contact sparring while wearing only a karate gi and groin protector. Full contact may also refer to a wider variety of permitted attacks and contact zones on the body, excluding a limited number of forbidden techniques such as biting, finger breaking, groin striking or attacking the eyes. The phrase could also indicate the employment of full-force attacks in order to disable the opponent, either by knockout or direct submission of defeat. If a point system is utilized, there is often a lower emphasis on scoring points to win by judges' decision.
Due to these factors, full-contact matches tend to be more aggressive in character. Nearly all MMA leagues such as UFC, PRIDE, Pancrase, Shooto and the AFC in the Philippines use full-contact rules, as do professional boxing organizations. Rulesets mandate the use of protective gloves and forbid certain techniques or actions during a match, such as punching the back of the head. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Judo matches do not allow striking, but are full-contact in the sense that full force is applied during grappling and submissions.
Some practitioners believe that physically defeating the enemy, as opposed to winning a sport match by rules, is the only important matter in hand-to-hand combat. Other styles treat martial arts only as matters of self-defense or life-and-death situations. Many of these practitioners may prefer not to participate in most types of rule-based martial art competition (even one such as vale tudo), electing instead to study fighting techniques with little or no regard to competitive rules or, perhaps, ethical concerns and the law (the techniques practiced may include attacking vulnerable spots such as the groin or the eyes). Nonetheless, others maintain that, given proper precautions such as a referee and a ring doctor, full-contact matches with basic rules could serve as a useful gauge of one's overall fighting ability, encompassing broad categories including striking, grappling and finishing hold.
[edit] Martial arts as sport
Judo and Tae Kwon Do as well as western archery, boxing, javelin, wrestling and fencing are currently events in the Summer Olympic Games. 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 and Wing Chun 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 the more traditional focus of combat effectiveness, or in Asian cultures, of developing the Confucian person, which eschews showing off (see Confucius, also renaissance man.)
As part of the response to sport martial arts, new forms of competition are being held such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the U.S. or Pancrase and the PRIDE in Japan which are also known as mixed martial arts (or MMA) events. The original UFC was fought under very few rules allowing all martial arts styles to enter and not be limited by the rule set.
Some martial artists also compete in non-sparring competitions such as breaking or choreographed techniques poomse or kata. Modern variations of the martial arts include dance-influenced competitions such as tricking.
[edit] Martial arts and dance
As mentioned above, some martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settings for various reasons, such as for evoking ferocity/pumping adrenaline in preparation of battle or showing off skill in a more stylised manner.
Examples of such war dances include:
-
- gymnopaidiai - ancient Sparta
- Haka - New Zealand
- Sabre Dance - depicted in Khachaturian's ballet Gayane
- Maasai "jumping" dance
- Aduk-Aduk - Brunei
- Ayyalah - Qatar
- Khattak Dance - Afghanistan
- Brazil's Capoeira (and many other African and diasporic combat styles)
- Dannsa Biodag - Scotland's
- Hula & Lua - Hand and Eye coordination and Martial Arts used by Hawaiian Warriors
[edit] Styles of martial arts
-
- For a detailed list of martial arts styles see: List of martial arts
Since the inception of martial arts, new techniques and ideologies have been born and old concepts changed. Some schools of martial arts pride themselves on centuries old techniques passed down from one living master to another, leaving the martial art almost wholly intact in reference to the original art. Other groups have split from these traditional schools over time for a variety of reasons - political disagreement within the organization, a difference in opinion over martial spirit, ideology, form, technique, or application, or expulsion. In many cases, the new group will borrow elements from one or more previous schools and modify them, adding and subtracting to create a personalized fusion of two or more martial arts, ultimately resulting in a single newer one. Similarly, other groups grew up around combining multiple incomplete martial arts that taught only one aspect of a fight into a large conglomeration of these, theoretically providing a complete martial system. For instance, the individual arts of swordsmanship, spear work, dagger play, boxing, and wrestling from different schools may be combined under a single cohesive art in the effort to unite them all in one individual. Other martial arts have lost their living heritage, and must now be reconstructed from period texts and imagery.
Other martial arts have evolved to encompass a more competitive and safe sporting environment or a focus on the improvement of the individual of the martial art. While competition and spiritual aspects have likely been present from the earliest martial forms, it is the shift in primary objective from killing another individual to relatively safe sport combat or improvement of one's mind or physique that marks the difference in focus.
Over time, the number of martial arts has grown and multiplied, with hundreds and thousands of schools and organizations around the world currently working towards a myriad of goals and practicing a huge variety of styles.
[edit] Further resources
- For a detailed list of martial arts, see List of martial arts
- For a detailed list of martial arts weapons, see List of martial arts weapons
- For a detailed list of fictional martial arts, see List of fictional martial arts
- For other related topics, see List of martial arts-related topics
- For a martial arts FAQ see [2]
- Martial arts search engine [3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Indian martial arts
- ^ The Way of the Vikings by Lars Magnar Enoksen
- ^ Martial arts in America
- ^ Vail, Jason. Medieval and Renaissance Dagger Combat page 91-95. Paladin Press, 2006.
