Individuals tend to think of martial arts as being oriental, Kung Fu type fighting. However, the word 'martial' derives from the Latin word 'mars, martis', who was the Roman god of war. 'Martial', consequently, means 'to do with war or fighting'. As a result, martial can refer to Western methods of fighting too such as boxing and wrestling.
These martial arts have been around for thousands of years at least and originated on the battlefield where one's competence in fighting was literally a matter of life and death. Wrestling was in the Olympic Games more than 2,000 years ago.
Likewise, many of the oriental martial arts are equally old and came into existence because peasants were not allowed to keep arms in the social structures of the times.
Despite the age of these martial arts, they did not become popular in the Developed world until Bruce Lee made them famous with his Kung Fu films in the early Seventies. It is a little known fact that when Lee was dispatched to America at the age of 18 to avoid the wrath of a local Hong Kong mafia chief, he hoped to teach traditional martial arts, but was forbidden permission by the local Chinese community.
There was an accepted law that non-Chinese were not to be taught Chinese martial arts. Lee disregarded the rule, and he claimed to have been sent death threats from powerful Chinese gangland leaders from America and Hong Kong. Lee taught martial arts to a small group of well-known Caucasians and even invented his own style known as Jeet Kune Do.
Jeet Kune Do used Lee's astonishing speed and power in its moves. Three of Lee's showcase moves were:
The Power Side Kick: with one kick, he could kick a 300 pound sack to hit a standard ceiling
The One Inch Punch: he could knock a trained fighter over with a punch that had travelled only one inch
The Lightning Snatch: with his arm by his side, he could snatch a nickel from an open palm three feet away and leave a penny behind in 5/100 ths of a second.
Individuals wished to be able to do the same. However, there are many different sorts of martial arts and many countries have their own individual style of fighting.
China has Judo and Kung Fu; Japan has Karate; Brazil has Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; Thailand has Muay Thai.. There are numerous other, mostly oriental styles, too, like Tae Kwando and Aikido but also French Kick Boxing.
Some martial arts are more defensive in character, but others are definitely aggressive.: Judo and Aikido are examples of defensive styles and Karate and boxing are much more aggressive in character. However, all martial arts teach self-discipline and the students develop more self-assurance.
Martial arts are experiencing a resurgence in popularity at the moment, largely owing to UFC bouts or mixed martial arts. You might not approve of the violence of mixed martial arts, but it cannot be denied that numerous kids are learning a few martial arts, Western and Oriental, because of these popular TV fights.
These martial arts have been around for thousands of years at least and originated on the battlefield where one's competence in fighting was literally a matter of life and death. Wrestling was in the Olympic Games more than 2,000 years ago.
Likewise, many of the oriental martial arts are equally old and came into existence because peasants were not allowed to keep arms in the social structures of the times.
Despite the age of these martial arts, they did not become popular in the Developed world until Bruce Lee made them famous with his Kung Fu films in the early Seventies. It is a little known fact that when Lee was dispatched to America at the age of 18 to avoid the wrath of a local Hong Kong mafia chief, he hoped to teach traditional martial arts, but was forbidden permission by the local Chinese community.
There was an accepted law that non-Chinese were not to be taught Chinese martial arts. Lee disregarded the rule, and he claimed to have been sent death threats from powerful Chinese gangland leaders from America and Hong Kong. Lee taught martial arts to a small group of well-known Caucasians and even invented his own style known as Jeet Kune Do.
Jeet Kune Do used Lee's astonishing speed and power in its moves. Three of Lee's showcase moves were:
The Power Side Kick: with one kick, he could kick a 300 pound sack to hit a standard ceiling
The One Inch Punch: he could knock a trained fighter over with a punch that had travelled only one inch
The Lightning Snatch: with his arm by his side, he could snatch a nickel from an open palm three feet away and leave a penny behind in 5/100 ths of a second.
Individuals wished to be able to do the same. However, there are many different sorts of martial arts and many countries have their own individual style of fighting.
China has Judo and Kung Fu; Japan has Karate; Brazil has Brazilian Jiu Jitsu; Thailand has Muay Thai.. There are numerous other, mostly oriental styles, too, like Tae Kwando and Aikido but also French Kick Boxing.
Some martial arts are more defensive in character, but others are definitely aggressive.: Judo and Aikido are examples of defensive styles and Karate and boxing are much more aggressive in character. However, all martial arts teach self-discipline and the students develop more self-assurance.
Martial arts are experiencing a resurgence in popularity at the moment, largely owing to UFC bouts or mixed martial arts. You might not approve of the violence of mixed martial arts, but it cannot be denied that numerous kids are learning a few martial arts, Western and Oriental, because of these popular TV fights.
About the Author:
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is now concerned with the academy of mixed martial arts. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Mixed Martial Arts Quotes