Martial arts

Variation and scope

Martial arts may be categorized using a variety of criteria, including:

• Traditional/historical arts vs. contemporary styles: e.g., folk wrestling compared to modern hybrid martial arts.
• Techniques taught: armed vs. unarmed, and within these categories by type of weapon (swordsmanship, stick fighting etc.) or by type of combat (grappling vs. striking, stand-up fighting vs. ground fighting)
• By application or intent: self-defense, combat sport, choreography or demonstration of forms, physical fitness, meditation, etc.
• Within Chinese tradition: "external" vs. "internal" styles

By technical focus

Unarmed

Unarmed martial arts can be broadly grouped into those focusing on strikes, those focusing on grappling, and those that cover both fields, often described as hybrid martial arts.

Strikes

• Punching: Boxing, Wing Chun, Karate
• Kicking: Taekwondo, Capoeira, Savate
• Others using strikes: Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Pencak Silat

Grappling

• Throwing: Hapkido, Judo, Sumo, Wrestling, Aikido
• Joint lock/Chokeholds/Submission holds: Judo, Jujutsu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Sambo, Kung Fu
• Pinning Techniques: Judo, Wrestling, Aikido

Armed

The traditional martial arts that cover armed combat often encompass a wide spectrum of melee weapons, including bladed weapons and polearms. Such traditions include eskrima, silat, kalaripayat, kobudo, and historical European martial arts, especially those of the German Renaissance. Many Chinese martial arts also feature weapons as part of their curriculum.

Sometimes, training with one specific weapon may be considered a style in its own right, especially in the case of Japanese martial arts, with disciplines such as kenjutsu and kendo (sword), bojutsu (staff), and kyudo (archery). Similarly, modern martial arts and sports include modern fencing, stick-fighting systems like canne de combat, and modern competitive archery.

By application or intent

Combat-oriented

Health-oriented

Many martial arts, especially those from Asia, also teach side disciplines which pertain to medicinal practices. This is particularly prevalent in traditional Asian martial arts which may teach bone-setting, herbalism, and other aspects of traditional medicine.^[3]

Spirituality-oriented

Martial arts can also be linked with religion and spirituality. Numerous systems are reputed to have been founded, disseminated, or practiced by monks or nuns.

Throughout the Asian arts, meditation may be incorporated as part of training. In those arts influenced by Hindu-Buddhist philosophy, the practice itself may be used as an aid to attaining enlightenment.

Japanese styles, when concerning non-physical qualities of the combat, are often strongly influenced by Mahayana Buddhist philosophy. Concepts like "empty mind" and "beginner's mind" are recurrent. Aikido practitioners for instance, can have a strong philosophical belief of the flow of energy and peace fostering, as idealised by the art's founder Morihei Ueshiba.

Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the practitioner's spiritual and philosophical development. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as Taekkyon and taekwondo, is the value of "inner peace" in a practitioner, which is stressed to be only achievable through individual meditation and training. The Koreans believe that the use of physical force is only justifiable for defense.^{[citation needed]}

Systema draws upon breathing and relaxation techniques, as well as elements of Russian Orthodox thought, to foster self-conscience and calmness, and to benefit the practitioner in different levels: the physical, the psychological and the spiritual.^[4]

Some martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settings for various reasons, such as for evoking ferocity in preparation for battle or showing off skill in a more stylized manner, with capoeira being the most prominent example. Many such martial arts incorporate music, especially strong percussive rhythms. (See also war dance.)