Martial Arts

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Martial Arts, various methods of unarmed combat, originally used in warfare in the Far East

The martial arts are popular in many parts of the world today as means of self-defense, competitive sports, and exercises for physical fitness. Among the better known forms are karate, kung fu, jujitsu, judo, aikido, tai chi chuan, tae kwon do, sumo wrestling, and kendo.

In some forms of the martial arts, practitioners customarily wear colored belts to denote rank. A white belt indicates a novice; a black belt signifies proficiency at various levels. The levels of black belt are designated by dan (Japanese for “degree”). For example, first dan, or first degree black belt, signifies a beginner black belt; fifth dan, or fifth degree black belt, usually signifies a master.

Tactics basic to the martial arts include hand, arm, and foot blows; knee kicks; throws and trips; gripping or immobilizing; and blocks or parries using wrist, forearm, or elbow.
 

karate, a Japanese art of self-defense in which sharp blows and kicks are administered to pressure-sensitive points on the body of an opponent.
Japanese : kara, empty + te, hand.

Kung fu (Chinese boxing) is, with karate, the most popularly known of all the martial arts. It employs kicks, strikes, throws, body turns, dodges, holds, crouches and starts, leaps and falls, handsprings and somersaults. These movements include more techniques involving the open hand, such as claws and rips, than those used in karate.

Jujitsu or jiujitsu (from Japanese Ju, for “gentle”), uses holds, chokes, throws, trips, joint locks, kicks, and atemi (strikes to vital body areas). The techniques are gentle only in the sense that they are directed toward deflecting or controlling an attack; however, they can maim or kill.

Judo is a popular wrestling form developed from jujitsu in 1882 by Jigoro Kano, a Japanese educator. Like jujitsu, it attempts to turn an attacker's force to one's own advantage. Techniques include throwing and grappling. Judo was first included in the Olympic Games in 1964.

Aikido was, like judo, derived from jujitsu within the last century. In aikido, an attack is avoided with flowing, circular movements. The opponent can then be brought to the ground with painful, immobilizing joint locks. Aikido is, with tai chi chuan, the gentlest martial art and is not practiced as a competitive sport.

Tai chi chuan, more popularly referred to as tai chi, is an ancient Chinese exercise and fighting system, still practiced in China and elsewhere in the world, mainly for its health benefits. It employs slow, graceful movements that are stylized renditions of original arm and foot blows.

Tae kwon do is a type of fighting system that originated in Korea and that employs kicking, punching, and various evasive techniques. Most famous for its kicks, tae kwon do incorporates jumping and kicking into characteristic maneuvers called “flying kicks.” Tae kwon do spread worldwide from Korea in the 1960s and the first World Tae Kwon Do Championship took place in Seoul, South Korea, in 1973.

Sumo wrestling, a popular Japanese combative sport, pits huge men against one another in an attempt to force a wrestler out of the ring, or to bring his body, below the knees, to the mat. The rules of sumo wrestling prohibit kicking, gouging, hair pulling, and the like, but allow such actions as pushing, pulling, slapping, throwing, and grappling. Traditionally, sumo wrestlers are Japanese, although Americans have recently won sumo championships and proved themselves capable wrestlers.

Kendo, or Japanese fencing, is a sport derived from ancient sword fighting, now using bamboo swords.

Worldwide contemporary interest in the martial arts often focuses on their spiritual aspects, as means of increasing self-confidence, assertiveness, and concentration. Personal defense is also increasingly an important issue, particularly for women and the elderly. Special programs in many of the martial arts have been designed to train a smaller or more fragile person to handle a larger, stronger assailant. The martial arts have also recently become popular not only as competitive sports and as ways of maintaining physical fitness but as forms of self-expression, similar to dance or gymnastics. This is, in fact, the main purpose of wu shu (martial arts) as practiced today in China.