Martial art

Martial arts, also known as fighting systems, are bodies of codified practices or traditions of training for combat, usually without the use of guns and other modern weapons. Today, people study martial arts for various reasons including competition, fitness, self-defense, self-cultivation (meditation), mental or character development, and self-confidence.

Related Topics:
Combat - Gun - Competition - Fitness - Self-defense - Meditation

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"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 (??; pinyin: w? shù; Cantonese: mou seut; Vietnamese: Võ-Thu?t), literally, "martial art", meaning all manner of Chinese martial arts.

Related Topics:
Dictionary - Japanese - Military - Wushu - Pinyin - Cantonese - Vietnamese

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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.

Related Topics:
Fighter aircraft - Sniper

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