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General Martial ArtsDiscuss General Martial Arts here
I have been a somewhat avid enthusiast of martial arts for several years. I my self have always used the broad term "martial arts" when I'm talking about the broad variety of combative systems. But There are some times when I ask myself, "is martial arts the correct term for the arts of fighting?" I am not sure many people even know what the word "martial" means. I wonder if everyone feels the same way.
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Martial arts, also known as fighting systems, are bodies of codified practices or traditions of unarmed and armed combat.
"Martial arts" was translated in 1920 in Takenobu's Japanese-English Dictionary from Japanese bu-gei or bu-jutsu which means "the craft or accomplishment of military affairs".
This definition is translated directly from the Chinese term, Wushu (py wu shù, Cantonese, mou seut), to literally, "martial art", referring to all manner of Chinese martial arts.
This term is slightly anomalous in its English usage. Its strict meaning should be "arts for military use" which would include such modern applications such as; flying fighter aircraft, sniper training, and so forth,
First is the word "Martial" meaning militarist trait and to some degree relates to war or the warrior way.
Second is "Arts", which is to give expression, or have skill acquired by experience, study, or observation.
A martial art is any skill that can be applied in warfare. The word martial means "military." So, a martial art is a military art. Most people don't really consider that when they think of the martial arts. The first things that usually come to mind are leaping, kicking, punching, blocking, inverting elbows, twisting necks, throwing, and sword fighting. That is a very narrow view of the martial arts, though. Did it occur to you that horsemanship, javelin throwing, archery, spear fighting, halberd fighting, wrestling, knife fighting, rifle, shotgun, and pistol shooting, demolitions, logistics, and battle strategy are all martial arts? Anything that a soldier might do in battle is a martial art.
Styles: Taekwon Do, Tang Soo Do, Wrestling, Soo Bahk Do, Iaido, Jujutsu, Karate, and a tiny bit of wushu
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Originally, many of the Martial Arts we see today decended from traditions which included more of the things you talked about (strategy, horsemanship, spear/javelin throwing, archery, etc.) Others never did. It all depended on when and where they developed and what the conditions were. Many Japanese systems include more than just swordmanship (Kenjutsu) and unarmed fighting (what we today call Jujutsu), they also included strategy, Archery (Kyudo), Horsemanship, Spear (yari), Halberd (Naginata), and much more. As societies became more 'civilized' there was less need for the drastic weapon based styles, and more need on personal unarmed combat (or at least self protection against unarmed or lightly armed assailants). With the advent of the firearm and it becoming more and more popular, many arts were losing ground and losing face (the Boxer Rebellion in China pretty much proved this).
Today, there is more of an emphasis on health and sport so even more of the traditional curriculum is brushed aside in many school and many styles/systems are promoting only one aspect. Also, in many parts of the world, the United States of America, for example, laws are being twisted so that if one defends oneself 'excessively' legal reprocussions may still result. Therefore the military applications, originally meant to sustain life on the battlefield by ending the conflict in the fastest, most efficient way possible are not exactly appropriate for the streets.
Also, the 'Bu' in Budo (translated as martial way) and Bujutsu (martial technique) (also 'Wu' in 'Wushu' and 'Mu' in 'Mudo' [Korean equivilant of Budo]) all come from a Chinese character (Japanese: Kanji) which shows a shield stopping a spear. Bu literally means to stop conflict. So Bujutsu would be a technique for stopping conflict. Budo, the way of stopping conflict. Just food for thought.
Martial arts did come from simple and ancient fighting styles that occured in a time when firearms were not invented But it would not be convenient to call snipers, gunmen, marksmen, strategists, tacticians and fighter pilots as martial artists, would it? Sniping, firearms, marksmanship, battle strategy and aerial fighting are skills related to war, so they would qualify as modern military arts or martial arts.
This eventually falls to the question of what isn't a martial art. With modern warfare, things like computer hacking become involved. (If people consider the intelligence gathering aspect of ninjitsu a martial art, why not hacking as a modern ninjitsu?) I think that a requirement for martial arts is for it to still have the artistic quality to it: a beauty in the way things happen and not a bottom line focus on what things are happening.
i think one key thing we are leaving out is the "do" aspect of martial arts... "the way of".... i a very broad definition, any thing that teaches you the way of being a warrior (the philosophy behind it too) should be considered a MA, and if it just teaches fighting or causing pain then it is not a MA.
Martial arts did come from simple and ancient fighting styles that occured in a time when firearms were not invented But it would not be convenient to call snipers, gunmen, marksmen, strategists, tacticians and fighter pilots as martial artists, would it? Sniping, firearms, marksmanship, battle strategy and aerial fighting are skills related to war, so they would qualify as modern military arts or martial arts.
I think even though that broad definition would mean that those were martial arts, i still dont think that they are. For example, Tae Kwan Doe requires you to learn moves, and you can always learn more and more, sniping however, all you need to do is learn how to aim, and read the wind, etc., and you can be considered basically a master. Real martial arts I believe require you to always commit yourself to train and learn.
I think even though that broad definition would mean that those were martial arts, i still dont think that they are. For example, Tae Kwan Doe requires you to learn moves, and you can always learn more and more, sniping however, all you need to do is learn how to aim, and read the wind, etc., and you can be considered basically a master. Real martial arts I believe require you to always commit yourself to train and learn.
why do we call them "martial arts"
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