An Overview Of Martial Arts People tend to think of martial arts as being oriental, Kung Fu sort fighting. However, the word 'martial' derives from the Latin word 'mars, martis', who was the Roman god of war. 'Martial', therefore, 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 competency in fighting was literally a matter of life and death. Wrestling was in the Olympic Games over 2,000 years ago. Likewise, lots of the oriental martial arts are similarly old and came about because peasants were not permitted to keep arms in the social structures of the times. In spite of the age of these martial arts, they did not become popular in the West until Bruce Lee made them popular 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 anger of a local Hong Kong mafia chief, he wanted to teach traditional martial arts, but was forbidden authorization by the local Chinese community. There was an unwritten rule that non-Chinese were not to be taught Chinese martial arts. Lee ignored the rule, and he claimed to have received 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 called Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do used Lee's astonishing speed and power in its moves. Three of Lee's most famous 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 merely one inch The Lightning Snatch: with his arm by his side, he could snatch a nickel from an open hand 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 numerous different types of martial arts and numerous 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, as well, like Tae Kwando and Aikido but also French Kick Boxing. Some martial arts are more defensive in character, but others are positively belligerent.: Judo and Aikido are examples of defensive styles and Karate and boxing are much more belligerent in character. However, all martial arts teach self-control 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 may not approve of the brutality of mixed martial arts, but it cannot be denied that numerous kids are learning a couple of martial arts, Western and Oriental, because of these popular TV bouts. Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of topics, but is now involved with The Academy of Mixed Martial Arts. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Mixed Martial Arts Quotes