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54-636: The Venerable Chi Sin Sim Si is a legendary Chinese martial artist , said to have been one of the Five Elders , survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). He is linked to many southern Chinese martial arts including the five major family styles of Hung , Lau and Choy gar , Lee gar and Mok gar , Ng Ga Kuen/Ng Gar King and Wing Chun . Chi Sin

108-595: A higher level of recognized achievement, such as a different belt color or title. The type of testing used varies from system to system but may include forms or sparring . Various forms and sparring are commonly used in martial art exhibitions and tournaments. Some competitions pit practitioners of different disciplines against each other using a common set of rules, these are referred to as mixed martial arts competitions. Rules for sparring vary between art and organization but can generally be divided into light-contact , medium-contact , and full-contact variants, reflecting

162-415: A similar method of compliant training that is equivalent to light or medium contact. In some styles (such as fencing and some styles of taekwondo sparring), competitors score points based on the landing of a single technique or strike as judged by the referee, whereupon the referee will briefly stop the match, award a point, then restart the match. Alternatively, sparring may continue with the point noted by

216-1037: A traditional system of athletics originally used to train warriors in Iran ( Persia ), and first appearing under this name and form in the Safavid era, with similarities to systems in adjacent lands under other names. Human warfare dates back to the Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era. The oldest works of art depicting scenes of battle are cave paintings from eastern Spain ( Spanish Levante ) dated between 10,000 and 6,000 BCE that show organized groups fighting with bows and arrows. Similar evidence of warfare has been found in Epipalaeolithic to early Neolithic era mass burials , excavated in Germany and at Jebel Sahaba in Northern Sudan . Wrestling

270-486: 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 Italian 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

324-411: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence ; military and law enforcement applications; competition ; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment ; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage . "Martial arts"

378-486: Is a direct English translation of the Sino-Japanese word ( Japanese : 武芸 , romanized :  bu-gei , Chinese : 武藝 ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī : bú-gē ; pinyin : wǔyì ). Literally, it refers to "武 martial" and "艺 arts". The term martial arts was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee ) during

432-432: Is activated. Beyond contributing to physical fitness, martial arts training also has benefits for mental health , contributing to self-esteem , self-control , emotional and spiritual well-being. For this reason, a number of martial arts schools have focused purely on therapeutic aspects, de-emphasizing the historical aspect of self-defense or combat completely. Warriors Warriors seem to have been present in

486-532: Is likely facilitated by cultural exchanges of early Chinese and Indian martial arts . During the Warring States period of Chinese history (480–221 BC) extensive development in martial philosophy and strategy emerged, as described by Sun Tzu in The Art of War ( c.  350 BC ). Legendary accounts link the origin of Shaolinquan to the spread of Buddhism from ancient India during

540-765: Is said to have originally been a resident monk of the Original Northern Song Shan Shaolin Temple, in Henan . He was a survivor of the destruction of a Southern Shaolin Temple , situated in Fujian . Others say that Chi Sin and the other Five Elders escaped the burning of the temple at Quanzhou 泉州 in Fujian. They went their separate ways and Chi Sin built the second southern temple at Jiulian Shan 九連山 (Nine Lotus Mountain), also in Fujian. Chi Sin

594-452: Is still actively performed in tournaments across the world. Practitioners in some arts such as kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu often train for sport matches, whereas those in other arts such as aikido generally spurn such competitions. Some schools believe that competition breeds better and more efficient practitioners, and gives a sense of good sportsmanship. Others believe that the rules under which competition takes place have diminished

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648-564: Is the oldest combat sport , with origins in hand-to-hand combat . Belt wrestling was depicted in works of art from Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt c.  3000 BC , and later in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh . The earliest known depiction of boxing comes from a Sumerian relief in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) from the 3rd millennium BC. The foundation of modern East Asian martial arts and South Asian martial arts

702-482: 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 self defense. Pahlevani and zourkhaneh rituals is the name of a Persian Martial arts inscribed by UNESCO for varzesh-e pahlavāni ( Persian : آیین پهلوانی و زورخانه‌ای , "heroic sport") or varzesh-e bāstāni ( ورزش باستانی ; varzeš-e bāstānī , "ancient sport"),

756-570: The Ancient Olympic Games . The Romans produced gladiatorial combat as a public spectacle. A number of historical combat manuals have survived from the European Middle Ages . This includes such styles as sword and shield , two-handed swordfighting and other types of melee weapons besides unarmed combat. Amongst these are transcriptions of Johannes Liechtenauer 's mnemonic poem on the longsword dating back to

810-668: The Joseon era and texts such as Muyejebo (1598). European swordsmanship always had a sportive component, but the duel was always a possibility until World War I . Modern sport fencing began developing during the 19th century as the French and Italian military academies began codifying instruction. The Olympic games led to standard international rules, with the Féderation Internationale d'Escrime founded in 1913. Modern boxing originates with Jack Broughton 's rules in

864-635: The Kuomintang government. Western interest in Asian martial arts arises towards the end of the 19th century, due to the increase in trade between the United States with China and Japan. Relatively few Westerners actually practiced the arts, considering it to be mere performance. Edward William Barton-Wright , a railway engineer who had studied jujutsu while working in Japan between 1894 and 1897,

918-642: The Lonsdale Belt , introduced in 1909. The International Boxing Association was established in 1920. World Fencing Championships have been held since 1921. As Western influence grew in Asia a greater number of military personnel spent time in China, Japan and South Korea during World War II and the Korean War and were exposed to local fighting styles. Jujutsu, judo and karate first became popular among

972-687: The Meiji Restoration In 1882, Kano Jigoro established the Kodokan School of judo which began the sport of judo. Kano Jigoro had gathered the old knowledge of jujutsu before establishing his school of judo. Modern Muay Thai rules date to the 1920s. In China, the modern history of martial arts begins in the Nanjing decade (1930s) following the foundation of the Central Guoshu Institute in 1928 under

1026-570: The Renaissance began to incorporate conscription and raise armies from the general populace. A change in attitude was noted as well, as officers were told to treat their soldiers with moderation and respect. For example, men who fought in the American Civil War often elected their own officers. With the mobilization of citizens in the armies sometimes reaching the millions, societies often made efforts in order to maintain or revive

1080-647: The UFC 1 , there was no scoring, though most now use some form of judging as a backup. Due to these factors, full-contact matches tend to be more aggressive in character, but rule sets may still mandate the use of protective equipment, or limit the techniques allowed. Nearly all mixed martial arts organizations such as UFC , Pancrase , Shooto use a form of full-contact rules as do professional boxing organizations and K-1 . Kyokushin karate requires advanced practitioners to engage in bare-knuckled, full-contact sparring allowing kicks, knees and punching although punching to

1134-414: The elite aristocratic soldiers remained separated from the lower classes of stone-throwers. The samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of Japan from the 12th to the late 19th century. In contrast to the beliefs of the caste and clan-based warrior, who saw war as a place to attain valor and glory , warfare was a practical matter that could change the course of history. That

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1188-574: The 18th century, and reaches its present form with the Marquess of Queensberry Rules of 1867. Certain traditional combat sports and fighting styles exist all over the world, rooted in local culture and folklore. The most common of these are styles of folk wrestling , some of which have been practiced since antiquity and are found in the most remote areas. Other examples include forms of stick fighting and boxing. While these arts are based on historical traditions of folklore, they are not "historical" in

1242-694: The 1970s, and the term Chinese boxing was also used to refer to Chinese martial arts until then. Some authors have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate terms on the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors . Martial arts may be categorized using a variety of criteria, including: 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 Grappling The traditional martial arts that cover armed combat often encompass

1296-509: The 1970s, especially Bruce Lee films , popularized martial arts in global popular culture . A number of mainstream films produced during the 1980s also contributed significantly to the perception of martial arts in Western popular culture. These include The Karate Kid (1984) and Bloodsport (1988). This era produced some Hollywood action stars with martial arts background, such as Jean-Claude Van Damme and Chuck Norris . Also during

1350-647: The 20th century, a number of martial arts were adapted for self-defense purposes for military hand-to-hand combat . World War II combatives , KAPAP (1930s) and Krav Maga (1950s) in Israel, Systema in Soviet-era Russia, and Sanshou in the People's Republic of China are examples of such systems. The US military de-emphasized hand-to-hand combat training during the Cold War period , but revived it with

1404-644: The Czech dance odzemek , and the Norwegian Halling . The mid to late 19th century marks the beginning of the history of martial arts as modern sports developed out of earlier traditional fighting systems. In Europe, this concerns the developments of boxing , wrestling and fencing as sports. In Japan, the same period marks the formation of the modern forms of judo , jujutsu , karate , and kendo (among others) based on revivals of old schools of Edo period martial arts which had been suppressed during

1458-525: The USA inspired by the Brazilian Vale tudo tradition and along with other minimal rule competitions, most notably those from Japan such as Shooto and Pancrase , have evolved into the combat sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Some martial artists compete in non-sparring competitions such as breaking or choreographed routines of techniques such as poomse , kata and aka , or modern variations of

1512-406: The amount of force that should be used on an opponent. These types of sparring restrict the amount of force that may be used to hit an opponent, in the case of light sparring this is usually to 'touch' contact, e.g. a punch should be 'pulled' as soon as or before contact is made. In medium-contact (sometimes referred to as semi-contact) the punch would not be 'pulled' but not hit with full force. As

1566-522: The amount of force used is restricted, the aim of these types of sparring is not to knock out an opponent; a point system is used in competitions. A referee acts to monitor for fouls and to control the match, while judges mark down scores, as in boxing. Particular targets may be prohibited, certain techniques may be forbidden (such as headbutting or groin hits), and fighters may be required to wear protective equipment on their head, hands, chest, groin, shins or feet. Some grappling arts, such as aikido, use

1620-504: The art in secret, or by telling the colonial authorities that it was a form of dance. While many regional Indian martial arts forms are fading into obscurity, martial arts such as Gatka and Kalaripayattu are experiencing a gradual resurgence. Testing or evaluation is important to martial artists of many disciplines who wish to determine their progression or own level of skill in specific contexts. Students often undergo periodic testing and grading by their own teacher in order to advance to

1674-515: The case of Japanese martial arts , with disciplines such as kenjutsu and kendo (sword), bojutsu (staff), and kyūdō (archery). Similarly, modern martial arts and sports include modern fencing , stick-fighting systems like canne de combat , modern competitive archery and practical shooting . Traditional Korean martial arts place emphasis on the development of the practitioner's spiritual and philosophical being. A common theme in most Korean styles, such as Taekkyon , taekwondo , and Hapkido

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1728-610: The colonial authorities during the period of British rule in India , which led to a decline in their popularity. Some, such as Kalaripayattu , were able to resist this decline by practicing in secret. Other Indian martial art, such as Silambam , while not widely practiced in India, continue to be practiced in other countries in the Indian cultural sphere such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Many other Indian martial arts such as Mardhani Khel and Paika Akhada survived by practitioners practicing

1782-478: The combat effectiveness of martial arts or encourage a kind of practice which focuses on winning trophies rather than a focus such as cultivating a particular moral character. The question of "which is the best martial art" has led to inter style competitions fought with very few rules allowing a variety of fighting styles to enter with few limitations. This was the origin of the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament (later renamed UFC 1: The Beginning ) in

1836-572: The earliest pre-state societies. Scholars have argued that horse-riding Yamnaya warriors from the Pontic–Caspian steppe played a key role during the Indo-European migrations and the diffusion of Indo-European languages across Eurasia. Most of the basic weapons used by warriors appeared before the rise of most hierarchical systems. Bows and arrows , clubs , spears , swords , and other edged weapons were in widespread use. However, with

1890-597: The early 5th century CE , with the figure of Bodhidharma , to China. Written evidence of martial arts in Southern India dates back to the Sangam literature of about the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century AD. The combat techniques of the Sangam period were the earliest precursors to Kalaripayattu In Europe, the earliest sources of martial arts traditions date to Ancient Greece . Boxing ( pygme , pyx ), wrestling ( pale ) and pankration were represented in

1944-573: The forefront for promoting Chinese martial arts in the Western world since the late 20th and early 21st centuries. With the continual discovery of more medieval and Renaissance fighting manuals, the practice of Historical European Martial Arts and other Western Martial Arts have been growing in popularity across the United States and Europe. On 29 November 2011, UNESCO inscribed Taekkyon onto its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity List. Many styles of Indian martial arts were banned by

1998-440: The head is disallowed while wearing only a karate gi , mouthguard , groin guard for males , or chest guard worn under the karate gi for females . Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo matches do not allow striking, but are full-contact in the sense that full force is applied in the permitted grappling and submission techniques. Competitions held by World Taekwondo requires the use of Headgear and padded vest, but are full contact in

2052-481: The introduction of LINE in 1989. In 1993, the first Pancrase event was held in Japan. The K-1 rules of kickboxing were introduced, based on 1980s Seidokaikan karate. During the 1990s, Brazilian jiu-jitsu became popular and proved to be effective in mixed martial arts (MMA) competitions such as the UFC and PRIDE . Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee were prominent martial artists who became major movie figures. Their popularity and media presence has been at

2106-463: The judges. Some critics of point sparring feel that this method of training teaches habits that result in lower combat effectiveness. Lighter-contact sparring may be used exclusively, for children or in other situations when heavy contact would be inappropriate (such as beginners), medium-contact sparring is often used as training for full contact. Full-contact sparring or competition, where strikes or techniques are not pulled but used with full force as

2160-577: The late fourteenth century. Likewise, Asian martial arts became well-documented during the medieval period, Japanese martial arts beginning with the establishment of the samurai nobility in the 12th century, Chinese martial arts with Ming era treatises such as Ji Xiao Xin Shu , Indian martial arts in medieval texts such as the Agni Purana and the Malla Purana , and Korean martial arts from

2214-435: The legendary figures of Southern Shaolin and more widely, southern Chinese martial arts ('Nanquan/Nam Kuen') 南拳 are in some way associated with the legendary figure of Chi Sin such as Fong Sai-Yuk 方世玉, Ng Mui , Luk Ah Choi陸阿采, Lei Jou Fan 李祖寬, Wu Wai Kin 胡惠乾 and Hung Hei Gun 洪熙官 to name a few. Chi Sin has been portrayed in many Chinese martial arts movies. This Chinese biographical article related to martial artists

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2268-490: The mainstream from the 1950s–1960s. Due in part to Asian and Hollywood martial arts movies , most modern American martial arts are either Asian-derived or Asian influenced. The term kickboxing (キックボクシング) was created by the Japanese boxing promoter Osamu Noguchi for a variant of muay Thai and karate that he created in the 1950s. American kickboxing was developed in the 1970s, as a combination of boxing and karate. Taekwondo

2322-498: The martial arts which include dance-influenced competitions such as tricking. Martial traditions have been influenced by governments to become more sport-like for political purposes; the central impetus for the attempt by the People's Republic of China in transforming Chinese martial arts into the committee-regulated sport of wushu was suppressing what they saw as the potentially subversive aspects of martial training, especially under

2376-456: The name implies, has a number of tactical differences from light and medium-contact sparring. It is considered by some to be requisite in learning realistic unarmed combat. In full-contact sparring, the aim of a competitive match is to knock out the opponent or to force the opponent to submit . Where scoring takes place it may be a subsidiary measure, only used if no clear winner has been established by other means; in some competitions, such as

2430-421: The new findings of metallurgy , the aforementioned weapons had grown in effectiveness. When the first hierarchical systems evolved 5000 years ago, the gap between the rulers and the ruled had increased. Making war to extend the outreach of their territories, rulers often forced men from lower orders of society into the military role. That had been the first use of professional soldiers, a distinct difference from

2484-504: The sense that full force is applied to strikes to the head and body, and win by knockout is possible. Martial arts have crossed over into sports when forms of sparring become competitive, becoming a sport in its own right that is dissociated from the original combative origin, such as with western fencing. The Summer Olympic Games includes judo, taekwondo, western archery, boxing, javelin, wrestling and fencing as events, while Chinese wushu recently failed in its bid to be included, but

2538-763: The sense that they reconstruct or preserve a historical system from a specific era. They are rather contemporary regional sports that coexist with the modern forms of martial arts sports as they have developed since the 19th century, often including cross-fertilization between sports and folk styles; thus, the traditional Thai art of muay boran developed into the modern national sport of muay Thai , which in turn came to be practiced worldwide and contributed significantly to modern hybrid styles like kickboxing and mixed martial arts . Singlestick , an English martial art can be seen often used in morris dancing . Many European dances share elements of martial arts with examples including Ukrainian Hopak , Polish Zbójnicki (use of ciupaga ),

2592-508: The so-called " chopsocky " wave of the early 1970s. According to John Clements, the term martial arts itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning "arts of Mars ", the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe ( European martial arts ) as early as the 1550s. The term martial science , or martial sciences , was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of East Asia ( Asian martial arts ) up until

2646-406: The traditional system of family lineages. Martial arts training aims to result in several benefits to trainees, such as their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health. Through systematic practice in the martial arts a person's physical fitness may be boosted (strength, stamina, speed, flexibility, movement coordination, etc.) as the whole body is exercised and the entire muscular system

2700-485: The warrior communities. The warrior ethic in many societies later became the preserve of the ruling class . Egyptian pharaohs would depict themselves in war chariots , shooting at enemies, or smashing others with clubs. Fighting was considered a prestigious activity but only when associated with status and power. European mounted knights would often feel contempt for the foot soldiers recruited from lower classes. In Mesoamerican societies of pre-Columbian America,

2754-703: Was a revolutionary who planned to overthrow the Qing Government. However two of the Five Elders, Bak Mei and Fung Dou Dak joined forces with the Qing army and destroyed the second southern Shaolin Temple with a huge army outnumbering the monks 10 to 1. Chi Sin, the Abbot of the temple, was killed by Pak Mei in a duel during the attack. Chi Sin features prominently in "Legends of Southern Shaolin” 南少林傳奇 written by Chiew Sek (Cantonese) and published in 1993. All of

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2808-699: Was developed in the context of the Korean War in the 1950s. The later 1960s and 1970s witnessed an increased media interest in Chinese martial arts , influenced by martial artist Bruce Lee . Bruce Lee is credited as one of the first instructors to openly teach Chinese martial arts to Westerners. World Judo Championships have been held since 1956, Judo at the Summer Olympics was introduced in 1964. Karate World Championships were introduced in 1970. The " kung fu wave " of Hong Kong action cinema in

2862-517: Was the approach of the Roman legions , which had only the incentive of promotion, as well as a strict level of discipline. When Europe's standing armies of the 17th and the 18th centuries developed, discipline was at the core of their training. Officers had the role of transforming men that they viewed as lower class to become reliable fighting men. Inspired by the Ancient Greek ideals of the ' citizen soldier ', many European societies during

2916-522: Was the first man known to have taught Asian martial arts in Europe. He also founded an eclectic style named Bartitsu which combined jujutsu, judo, wrestling, boxing, savate and stick fighting . Fencing and Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the 1896 Summer Olympics . FILA Wrestling World Championships and Boxing at the Summer Olympics were introduced in 1904. The tradition of awarding championship belts in wrestling and boxing can be traced to

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