What makes up a martial art?

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What makes up a martial art?

A martial art simply is any skill that is intrinsic in warfare. The word martial means "military." So historically, a martial art is a military art. The first things that usually come to mind when discussing modern fighting systems are leaping, kicking, punching, blocking, inverting elbows, twisting necks, throwing, and weapon fighting. But also horsemanship, javelin throwing, archery, spear fighting, halberd fighting, wrestling, knife fighting, rifle, shotgun, and pistol firing, demolitions, logistics, and battle strategy can all be described as the field of martial arts. Anything that a soldier might do in battle is a martial art.

By martial art usually it is meant aikido, arnis, boxing, capoeria, chow gar, choy la fut, hapkido, hsing'i, hun gar, jeet kune do, jow gar, judo, jujitsu, karate, kempo, kick boxing, krav maga, kung fu, pa kua, penjak silat, praying mantis, savate, shaolin, tae kwon do, tai chi, white crane, wing chun, wu shu and more! It is clear to see the list is very big and it is actually get to see how many martial arts systems there do you think and how many methods of self defense can be formulated.

There is a long running joke in the martial arts, that basically says when someone says theirs is the best style, what they really mean is "I study X". Keep an open mind and open eyes, and you will find the style or styles that best fit your needs.

Often within a martial arts school it is taught that 'this exact style is the best system and it was created to beat all the others'. Of course every martial artist would seem to think their style is the best because that is the style they have chosen to do, but in actuality what they are saying is 'this is the best style for me as it suits myattitude and I like the teaching environment'.

Just because a style doesn't focus on whatever it is you are interested in doesn't make it a bad style, it just makes it not the right style for you. Be wary of anyone who says otherwise. #1) Safety - You must maintain 100% safety when entering into the opponents attack range, this means to control any dangers that could occur by being in control of them. (Methods of entry must be sophisticated yet simple, fast as well as safe!)

#2) Attack - Pertinant is the ability to attack when you decide, with no worry or problems. The attack should be made up of a great handling of the opponents weapons. (Attacks must be structured to have within them a 100% defense!)

#3) The ability to change and - Techniques, attacks and defenses must flow but not necessarily at a constant pace. Adaptability to choose what's next is vital!

Whatever martial arts you choose take your time so you do experiment a little before you decide and enqire with the school what combat systems equipment they utilize to get the best from your training.

This article was written by P. Sundbye who has been training in various martialarts for the last 11 years including Wing Chun Kung Fu, Aikido, Tong Long and the Lee Total Control system.


Read more on this topic at Are the Martial Arts Still Under Development? Composed by SEO