For as long as historical records have been kept, mankind has been involved in conflict. Whether over food, territories, wealth or religion, the conflicts that have shaped the world have also spawned a number of unique styles of fighting -- the so-called martial arts. Most countries have an indigenous martial art that has developed over centuries of practice. Although each martial art is different, they can all be categorized according to their primary techniques.
Striking Martial Arts
Striking martial arts are characterized by the use of the hands, feet, knees and elbows as weapons. Japanese karate, French savate, muay Thai from Thailand and Western boxing are all examples of striking martial arts. The aim of the strikes is to injure or knock out your opponent. Some striking martial arts are practiced as sports where there is a point scoring system. The techniques in striking martial arts -- kicks and punches -- are usually performed from a standing position and the fighters stand facing each other toe-to-toe in a ring or other designated fighting area.
Grappling Martial Arts
Japanese judo, akido and sumo, Brazilian jiu jitsu and Eastern and Western forms of wrestling are examples of grappling martial arts. Most grappling martial arts limit or do not permit striking; practitioners use throws, joint locks and chokes to overcome an opponent. The fighters generally start their confrontations in the standing position but grappling martial artists usually end up on the ground. Once on the ground, a fighter tries to achieve a dominant position so he can apply a painful joint lock or choke to win the fight.
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed martial arts is recognized sport but also a term that can be used to describe a multidisciplinary form of fighting such as Russian sambo, Korean hapkido or Japanese ninjitsu. These martial arts combine striking and grappling techniques into a singular fighting system. Fights usually start in the standing position where fighters trade punches and kicks and fights can be won by knockout. However, fighters can also throw and use joint locks and chokes to win a fight.
Weapons-based Martial Arts
Many martial arts use weapons such as swords, knives and sticks, but some martial arts are completely weapons-based and exclude grappling, throwing and striking techniques. Kendo fighters use long wooden swords and the sport is sometimes called Japanese fencing. Practitioners of escrima, from the Philippines, use pairs of short wooden sticks. Fencing, an Olympic sport, is a dueling martial art that offers the choice of three different sword styles: the epee, saber and foil. Each weapon has its own distinct set of rules and scoring system.
References
- "The Practical Encyclopedia of Martial Arts"; Fay Goodman; 2004
- "The Original Martial Arts Encyclopedia: Tradition, History, Pioneers"; John Corcoran, Emil Farkas and Stuart Sobel; 1993
- "Fencing: Techniques of Foil, Epee and Sabre"; Brian Pitman; 1988
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