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What is Martial-Arts -
Basic Review
By Nonstaff Writer
"Martial arts" is a general term for various types of fighting arts
that originated in the Orient. They are bodies of codified practices
or traditions of unarmed and armed combat, usually without the use
of guns and other modern weapons. "Martial arts" was translated in
1920 in Takenobu's Japanese-English Dictionary from Japanese bu-gei
or bu-jutsu: "the craft/accomplishment of military affairs". This
definition is translated directly from the Chinese term, wushu. This
is literally "martial art", meaning all manner of Chinese martial
arts.
This term is slightly anomalous in its English usage. Its strict
meaning should be "arts for military use" (flying fighter aircraft,
sniper training, and so forth) but in normal usage it is used to
refer to formalized systems of training to fight without modern
technology. It is nevertheless valuable to distinguish between
fighting systems intended for soldiers in battle (even without
modern technology) and fighting systems intended for sport or for
civilian self-defense. The technical characteristics of these three
kinds of fighting system are rather different.
Most martial arts practiced today came from China, Japan, and Korea.
There are hundreds of martial arts, each divided into specific
styles or systems. Thus, choosing a fighting style that suits you
can be sometimes confusing.
Technically, the martial arts fall into two categories, percussive
and nonpercussive. In percussive martial arts, such as karate-do and
tae kwon do, people kick and strike with their hands, feet, elbows,
knees, and head. Nonpercussive martial arts involve throwing,
locking, and neutralizing the opponent without striking him or her.
Judo and aikido are the most popular martial arts in this category.
Weapons are often used in advanced training in martial arts to
preserve ancient tradition. But in some martial arts, weapons are
part of the basic training.
What differentiates the martial arts from mere unarmed brawling are
the organization of their techniques into a coherent system and the
codification of effective teaching methods. One common training
technique is to have a series of routines called forms which can
serve as a dictionary of essential techniques to be memorized and
drawn from at need. Martial arts are also characterized by the
controlled, mindful application of force in ways selected for
empirical effectiveness. In this sense, boxing, fencing, archery,
and wrestling can also be considered martial arts.
Today, people practice the martial arts for exercise, as a means of
self-defense, and as a sport. Martial sports have many variations,
from judo and traditional karate, in which the blows are pulled
short of contact, to kick-boxing or full-contact karate, in which
the objective is to win by knockout, as in professional boxing.
So whatever fighting style you choose, always remember to use it for
the common good. |
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