Martial Arts

Martial art,

any of various fighting sports or skills,mainly of East Asian origin, such as kung fu (Pinyin gongfu), judo, karate, and kendo. Martial arts can be divided into the armed and unarmed arts. The former include archery, spearmanship, and swordsmanship; the latter, which originated in China, emphasize striking with the feet and hands or grappling. In Japan, traditionally a warrior s training emphasized archery, swordsmanship, unarmed combat, and swimming in armour. Members of other classes interested in combat concentrated on arts using the staff, everyday work implements (such as thrashing flails, sickles, and knives), and unarmed combat. Perhaps the most versatile practice was ninjutsu, which was developed for military spies in feudal

Japan and also included training in disguise, escape, concealment, geography, meteorology, medicine, and explosives. In modern times, derivatives of some of the armed martial arts, such as kendo (fencing) andkyüdo (archery), are practiced as sports. Derivatives of the unarmed forms of combat, such as judo, sumo, karate, and tae kwon do, are practiced, as are self-defense forms such as aikido, hapkido, and kung fu. Simplified forms of tai chi chuan (taijiquan), a Chinese form of unarmed combat, are popular as healthful exercise, quite divorced from martial origins. Derivatives of many of the armed and unarmed forms are practiced as a means of spiritual development.

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.

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.a 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.

STEP Education Hub - Martial Arts Class

Technical focus

Unarmed

Unarmed martial arts can be broadly grouped into those Focusing on strikes, those focusing on qrappling, and those that cover both fields, often described as hybrid martial arts

Strikes

Punching: Boxing, Wing Chun, Karate

Kicking: Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Capoeira, Savate

Others using strikes: Lethwei, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Pencak Silat, Kalaripayattu

Grappling

Throwing: Hapkido, Judo, Sumo, Wrestling, Aikido

Joint lock/Chokeholds/Submission holds

Judo, Jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Sambo, Catch wrestling Pinning Techniques Judo, Wrestling, Aikido

Armed

The traditional martial arts that cover armed combat often encompass a wide spectrum of melee weapons, including bladed weapons and polearms. Such traditions include eskrima, silat, kalaripayat, kobudo, and historical

European martial arts, especially those of the German

Renaissance. Many Chinese martial arts also feature weapons as part of their curriculum.

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 kyūdo (archery). Similarly, modern martial arts and sports include modern fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat, and modern competitive archery.

Many styles of Indian martial arts were banned during the British rule of India.19 Some, such as Kalaripayattu, survived in areas of the Indian subcontinent outside direct British control. 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.

HEALTH & BENEFITS

Martial arts training aims to result in several benefits to trainees, Such as their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

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 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.

According to Bruce Lee, martial arts also have the nature of an art, since there is emotional communication and complete emotional expression.

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Written By - Himanshu Sharma