A short overview of martial arts and their application
This newsletter aims to give a limited view of the martial arts which there are to choose from. It will serve as a guide to the different forms and help the beginner choose the right martial art. It will also focus on some of the mental aspects and philosophy behind the different martial arts.
Most martial arts originated in Asia. To understand what a martial art is we must consider its origin. Martial arts of today are mostly sports competitions deriving from the unarmed combat part of what was once the military system of fighting. So the complete martial art’s cover both unarmed and armed combat and is essentially the same as any military training today but applied in a much different way.
The list of martial arts is long and I will not claim to know or describe everyone. This is a short introduction to the different martial arts. Most of the martial arts are Asian and have their origin there. The most known western martial art is boxing. Modern boxing originated from a form of free fighting that resembled street fighting. Then around the end of the 19th century gloves were worn and rules were changed so that people could no longer use kicks and holds and so on. Modern boxing is only punches but since that is all boxers do they are usually very effective at it. Boxing is trained with a lot of focus on speed and is the most restricted martial art with respect to rules.
The striking martial arts describe a wide range of martial arts where kicks and punches and sometimes knees and elbows are used to stop the opponent. The most well known is kick-boxing which in the American form originated from the traditional Japanese art Karate. Then gloves were added and harder combat could begin. The European form of kickboxing originates partly from the Thai art of Muay Thai which is probably the most influential striking art these days. Muay Thai or simply thai boxing is the sport version of the much older unarmed combast system of the thai military. In its present state kicks, punches, knees and elbows are allowed to all parts of the body. Some throws are even allowed. Muay Thai is known for its clinches where the opponents secure a grip around the necks of their opponents and then knee the opponents in the rib or belly. From this position it is also possible to elbow your opponent.
This newsletter aims to give a limited view of the martial arts which there are to choose from. It will serve as a guide to the different forms and help the beginner choose the right martial art. It will also focus on some of the mental aspects and philosophy behind the different martial arts.
Most martial arts originated in Asia. To understand what a martial art is we must consider its origin. Martial arts of today are mostly sports competitions deriving from the unarmed combat part of what was once the military system of fighting. So the complete martial art’s cover both unarmed and armed combat and is essentially the same as any military training today but applied in a much different way.
The list of martial arts is long and I will not claim to know or describe everyone. This is a short introduction to the different martial arts. Most of the martial arts are Asian and have their origin there. The most known western martial art is boxing. Modern boxing originated from a form of free fighting that resembled street fighting. Then around the end of the 19th century gloves were worn and rules were changed so that people could no longer use kicks and holds and so on. Modern boxing is only punches but since that is all boxers do they are usually very effective at it. Boxing is trained with a lot of focus on speed and is the most restricted martial art with respect to rules.
The striking martial arts describe a wide range of martial arts where kicks and punches and sometimes knees and elbows are used to stop the opponent. The most well known is kick-boxing which in the American form originated from the traditional Japanese art Karate. Then gloves were added and harder combat could begin. The European form of kickboxing originates partly from the Thai art of Muay Thai which is probably the most influential striking art these days. Muay Thai or simply thai boxing is the sport version of the much older unarmed combast system of the thai military. In its present state kicks, punches, knees and elbows are allowed to all parts of the body. Some throws are even allowed. Muay Thai is known for its clinches where the opponents secure a grip around the necks of their opponents and then knee the opponents in the rib or belly. From this position it is also possible to elbow your opponent.
Karate and Taekwondo are some of the more traditional forms of striking martial. Taekwondo is fought mostly as sport competition where only kicks are allowed. Very fast kicks and sometimes spectacular kicks is the trademark of Taekwondo. Karate on the other hand is more traditional and emphasizes on forms, the so called katas where the Karateka will make a series of attacks and defenses against an invisible opponent. This is to deepen the knowledge of the art and to train the different moves.
The other part of the martial arts could be called the grappling arts. These include Judo, Jiu-Jitsu and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. In these martial arts the competition is usually about throwing your opponent or securing a dominant position or making a leg lock or another submission which means forcing the opponent to submit by extending the joints. The original form Jiu-Jutsu was the Japanese military unarmed combat system. It had focus on throws, kicks and punches and locks and joint manipulations.
Judo is known as the gentle way by its founder Kano. He reformed jiu-jutsu by making the moves more dependent on skill and balance than force. In this way judo became the national sport of Japan. Judo is a major Olympic discipline where the Judokas wins by making a throw ehere the opponent lands on the back. This throw is called ippon. It is also possible to win by submitting your opponent on the ground or pinning your opponent down for 30 seconds. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu founded by the Gracie family focuses almost only on ground work. It derives from Judo and the founder Gracie was trained by judokas.
In the grappling arts there are also arts such as Aikido which uses no attacks, only defensive moves. Then there is a whole range of Chinese martial arts usually known as kung fu. These martial arts include wing-tzun a dynamic martial focusing on attacking straight down the center line and controlling the opponent with the hands in close combat.
A similar approach is found in the Filipino fighting systems such as Eskrima where close combats and weapon’s training is central. Here the emphasis is on movement and learning fundamental weapon skills such that any object might be employed as weapon.
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