Although the earliest evidence of martial arts goes back millennia, the true roots are difficult to reconstruct. Inherent patterns of human aggression which inspire practice of mock combat (in particular wrestling) and optimization of serious close combat as cultural universals are doubtlessly inherited from the pre-human stage and were made into an "art" from the earliest emergence of that concept. Indeed, many universals of martial art are fixed by the specifics of human physiology and not dependent on a specific tradition or era.
Part of the Zliten mosaic from Libya (Leptis Magna), about 2nd century AD. It shows (left to right) a thraex fighting a murmillo, a hoplomachus standing with another murmillo (who is signaling his defeat to the referee), and one of a matched pair.
A gladiator (Latin: gladiator, "swordsman", from gladius, "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their lives and their legal and social standing by appearing in the arena. Most were despised as slaves, schooled under harsh conditions, socially marginalized, and segregated even in death.
Irrespective of their origin, gladiators offered spectators an example of Rome's martial ethics and, in fighting or dying well, they could inspire admiration and popular acclaim. They were celebrated in high and low art, and their value as entertainers was commemorated in precious and commonplace objects throughout the Roman world. (Full article...)
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Lethwei (Burmese: လက်ဝှေ့; IPA: [lɛʔ.ʍḛ]) or Burmese boxing is a full contact combat sport originating from Myanmar and is regarded as one of the most brutal martial arts in the world. Lethwei fighters are allowed to use stand-up striking techniques such as kicks, knees, elbows and punches, and the use of headbutts is also permitted. Fighters compete bareknuckle, wrapping their hands with only tape and gauze. Disallowed in most combat sports, headbutts are important weapons in a Lethwei fighter's arsenal, giving Lethwei its name of the "Art of nine limbs". This, combined with its bareknuckle nature, gave Lethwei a reputation for being one of the bloodiest and most violent martial arts. Although popular throughout modern Myanmar, Lethwei has been primarily and historically associated with the Karen people of the Kayin State; vast majority of competitive Lethwei fighters are ethnolinguistically of Karen descent. (Full article...)
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A fighter leans back to evade a round kick
Muay Thai (Thai: มวยไทย, RTGS: muai thai, pronounced[mūajtʰāj]ⓘ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a Thai martial art and full-contactcombat sport that uses stand-up striking, sweeps, and various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "Art of eight limbs", as it is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees and shins. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the late 20th to 21st century, when Westernised practitioners from Thailand began competing in kickboxing and mixed-rules matches as well as matches under Muay Thai rules around the world. The professional league is governed by The Professional Boxing Association of Thailand (P.A.T.), sanctioned by The Sports Authority of Thailand (S.A.T.).
Muay Thai is related to other martial art styles such as Muay Chaiya, Muay Boran, Muay Lao, Kun Khmer, Lethwei, Benjang and Tomoi. A practitioner of Muay Thai is known as a Nak Muay. Western practitioners in Thailand are sometimes called Nak Muay Farang, meaning "foreign boxer". (Full article...)
Taekwondo (/ˌtaɪkwɒnˈdoʊ,ˌtaɪˈkwɒndoʊ,ˌtɛkwənˈdoʊ/; Korean: 태권도; Hanja: 跆拳道; [t̪ʰɛ.k͈wʌ̹n.d̪o]ⓘ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving punching and kicking techniques. The word Taekwondo can be translated as tae ("strike with foot"), kwon ("strike with hand"), and do ("the art or way"). In addition to its five tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control and indomitable spirit, the sport requires three physical skills: poomsae (품새), kyorugi (겨루기) and gyeokpa (격파).
Poomsae are patterns that demonstrate a range of kicking, punching and blocking techniques, kyorugi involves the kind of sparring seen in the Olympics, and gyeokpa is the art of breaking wooden boards. Taekwondo also sometimes involves the use of weapons such as swords and nun-chucks. Taekwondo practitioners wear a uniform known as a dobok. (Full article...)
Chitō-ryū (千唐流) is a style of karate founded by Dr. Tsuyoshi Chitose (千歳 强直, Chitose Tsuyoshi), (1898-1984). The name of the style translates as: chi (千) - 1,000; tō (唐) - China; ryū (流) - style, school, "1,000 year old Chinese style." The character tō (唐) refers to the Tang dynasty of China. The style was officially founded in 1946.
Chitō-ryū is generally classified as a Japanese style because Chitose formulated and founded Chitō-ryū principally while living in Kumamoto, Japan. However, some modern practitioners feel it is better categorized as an Okinawan style given that its roots and techniques are firmly grounded in and derived from traditional Okinawan Tōde (唐手). This belief is warranted since the style's founder, Tsuyoshi Chitose, received first the rank of Judan, in 1958, and then the rank of Hanshi, in 1968, from the Zen Okinawa Karate Kobudo Rengo Kai (All Okinawa Union of Karate-do and Kobu-do). (Full article...)
Although the term "boxing" is commonly attributed to western boxing, in which only fists are involved, it has developed in different ways in different geographical areas and cultures of the World. In global terms, "boxing" today is also a set of combat sports focused on striking, in which two opponents face each other in a fight using at least their fists, and possibly involving other actions, such as kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and headbutts, depending on the rules. Some of these variants are the bare-knuckle boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, Lethwei, savate, and sanda. Boxing techniques have been incorporated into many martial arts, military systems, and other combat sports. (Full article...)
Final of the Challenge Réseau Ferré de France–Trophée Monal 2012, épée world cup tournament in Paris
Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. The three disciplines of modern fencing are the foil, the épée, and the sabre (also saber); each discipline uses a different kind of blade, which shares the same name, and employs its own rules. Most competitive fencers specialise in one discipline. The modern sport gained prominence near the end of the 19th century and is based on the traditional skill set of swordsmanship. The Italian school altered the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refined that system. Scoring points in a fencing competition is done by making contact with an opponent.
The 1904 Olympics Games featured a fourth discipline of fencing known as singlestick, but it was dropped after that year and is not a part of modern fencing. Competitive fencing was one of the first sports to be featured in the Olympics and, along with athletics, cycling, swimming, and gymnastics, has been featured in every modern Olympics. (Full article...)
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A version of the "four-direction throw" (shihōnage) with standing attacker (uke) and seated defender (Tori)
Aikido (Shinjitai:合気道, Kyūjitai:合氣道, aikidō, Japanese pronunciation:[aikiꜜdoː]) is a modern Japanese martial art which is split into many different styles including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai, and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in around 140 countries. It was originally developed by Morihei Ueshiba, as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy and religious beliefs. Ueshiba's goal was to create an art which practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attackers from injury. Aikido is often translated as "the way of unifying (with) life energy" or as "the way of harmonious spirit". According to the founder's philosophy, the primary goal in the practice of aikido is to overcome oneself instead of cultivating violence or aggressiveness. Morihei Ueshiba used the phrase masakatsu agatsu katsuhayabi" (正勝吾勝勝速日, "true victory, final victory over oneself, here and now") to refer to this principle.
Aikido's fundamental principles include: irimi (entering), atemi, kokyu-ho (breathing control), sankaku-ho (triangular principle), and tenkan (turning) movements which redirect the opponent's attack momentum. Its curriculum comprises various techniques, primarily throws and joint locks. It includes a weapons system encompassing the bokken, tantō, and jō. Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba's involvement with the Ōmoto-kyō religion. Ueshiba's early students' documents bear the term aiki-jūjutsu. (Full article...)
Lesnar began his MMA career for Hero's in 2007, and signed with the UFC in 2008. He quickly won the UFC Heavyweight Championship, but was sidelined with diverticulitis in 2009. On his return in 2010, Lesnar defeated Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Shane Carwin to unify the heavyweight championships and become the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion. After a couple of losses and further struggles with diverticulitis, Lesnar retired from MMA in 2011. He returned at UFC 200 in 2016 to defeat Mark Hunt, but his victory was overturned to a no-contest after he tested positive for a banned substance on UFC's anti-doping policy. He then retired from MMA for the second time in 2017. A box office sensation, he competed in some of the bestselling pay-per-view events in promotion history, including headlining UFC 91, UFC 100, UFC 116, and UFC 121. He also co-headlined UFC 200, briefly being the main headliner before that spot was given to Amanda Nunes vs. Miesha Tate. (Full article...)
Although beginning during the events of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, the plot is a retroactive continuity to the earliest period in the Mortal Kombat series: the events of the first three games (Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat II and Mortal Kombat 3, as well as the third game's two updates Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and Mortal Kombat Trilogy). The storyline involves the divine protector of Earth, Raiden, attempting to change the aftermath of the events of Armageddon by contacting his past self as he faces defeat at the hands of the evil emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn. While having characters and levels rendered in three-dimensions, the gameplay distances itself from the 3D graphics style seen in the last five games, bearing closer resemblance to that of the 2D era of the series, using a camera that is perpendicular to the two-dimensional playing field. Colloquially this is called 2.5D.
Upon release, Mortal Kombat received very positive reviews and won several awards for fighting game of the year. It was also a commercial success, selling one million copies in the first month alone. Due to its extremely violent content, the game was banned in Australia due to the lack of appropriate ratings category and South Korea and it has been reportedly indexed in Germany, the Australian ban was later lifted due to the introduction of an R18 classification and the game was released with many other R-rated games in May 2013. A sequel, Mortal Kombat X was released in 2015 with another direct follow-up, Mortal Kombat 11, releasing in April 2019.
Yabusame (流鏑馬) is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets.
This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. He organized yabusame as a form of practice. (Full article...)
The following are images from various martial arts-related articles on Wikipedia.
Image 1The Pancrastinae: a statue portraying the pancratium, an event which took place in the Roman Colosseum. Even as late as the Early Middle Ages, statues were put up in Rome and other cities to honor remarkable pankratiasts. This statue, now part of the Uffizi collection, is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original, circa 3rd century BC. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 2Throw during competition, leads to an ippon (from Judo)
Image 26Ancient Greek pankratiasts fighting. This drawing is an early 20th century copy of a scene from a Panathenaic amphora. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 27Depiction of fighting monks demonstrating their skills to visiting dignitaries (early 19th-century mural in the Shaolin Monastery). (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 28Harai goshi (払腰, sweeping hip), a koshi-waza (from Judo)
Image 40Pankratiast in fighting stance, Ancient Greek red-figure amphora, 440 BC. (from History of martial arts)
Image 41Groundfighting in MMA. Differently from other grappling-based martial arts, you are allowed to strike your opponent when fighting on the ground. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 42Bōgutsuki, a form of full-contact karate fought with armour, one of the competition formats for kumite (from Karate)
See the list on the right of Martial art related projects who organise work on these articles. You can also add your self to the list of Wikipedians by martial art
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The Pancrastinae: a statue portraying the pancratium, an event which took place in the Roman Colosseum. Even as late as the Early Middle Ages, statues were put up in Rome and other cities to honor remarkable pankratiasts. This statue, now part of the Uffizi collection, is a Roman copy of a lost Greek original, circa 3rd century BC. (from Mixed martial arts)
Throw during competition, leads to an ippon (from Judo)
A Chinese martial artist preparing to throw his opponent during a lei tai contest in ancient China (from Mixed martial arts)
Japanese judoka Takamasa Anai Vs French judoka Thierry Fabre during the 2010 World Judo Championships held in Tokyo (from Judo)
Gina Carano applying a ground-and-pound on her opponent (from Mixed martial arts)
GAMMA medallists on the podium at the 2023 African Games (from Mixed martial arts)
Fighter performs a takedown on his opponent. (from Mixed martial arts)
Bronze medal match at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (from Karate)
Gichin Funakoshi (from Karate)
MMA gloves. They are fingerless gloves which allow both striking and grappling to occur. (from Mixed martial arts)
Chōki Motobu in Naihanchi-dachi, one of the basic karate stances (from Karate)
A ring used by PRIDE (from Mixed martial arts)
Two judoka wearing judogi (from Judo)
Jigoro Kano, founder of judo (from Judo)
Masters of karate in Tokyo (c. 1930s), from left to right, Kanken Toyama, Hironori Otsuka, Takeshi Shimoda, Gichin Funakoshi, Chōki Motobu, Kenwa Mabuni, Genwa Nakasone, and Shinken Taira (from Karate)
Olympic Judo pictogram (from Judo)
Ancient Greek pankratiasts fighting. This drawing is an early 20th century copy of a scene from a Panathenaic amphora. (from Mixed martial arts)
Depiction of fighting monks demonstrating their skills to visiting dignitaries (early 19th-century mural in the Shaolin Monastery). (from Chinese martial arts)
Kung fu sword (from Chinese martial arts)
King Shō Shin (from Karate)
A ring-side doctor attends to a fighter following a loss. (from Mixed martial arts)
Mural at Shaolin temple from 1830's depicting forearm strikes and reverse kicks (from Chinese martial arts)
Ancient Chinese weapons (from Chinese martial arts)
Karatekas wearing different colored belts (from Karate)
Martial arts fan (from Chinese martial arts)
An octagon cage used by the UFC (from Mixed martial arts)
Pankratiast in fighting stance, Ancient Greek red-figure amphora, 440 BC. (from History of martial arts)
Groundfighting in MMA. Differently from other grappling-based martial arts, you are allowed to strike your opponent when fighting on the ground. (from Mixed martial arts)
Eisho-ji temple, Tokyo (from Judo)
Karate movements in Lappeenranta (from Karate)
Judo (1935) (from Judo)
Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu attempting to throw Toshiro Daigo with an uchi mata in the final of the 1951 All-Japan Judo Championships (from Judo)
Two children training in judo techniques (from Judo)
Kung fu in Iran (from Chinese martial arts)
Fol. 4v of the I.33 (from History of martial arts)
All-Japan Judo Championships, 2007 men's final (from Judo)
The judogi is made from a heavy weave to withstand the stress of throwing and grappling. (from Judo)
Two Brazilian fighters in a Sanda/Sanshou match. Sanda is a modernized form of Kung Fu and one of the two disciplines of Sport Wushu (from Chinese martial arts)
A "soccer kick", movement where the fighter kicks the head of a downed opponent. While common in vale tudo, early MMA and Japanese promotions, the soccer kick has been banned from the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. (from Mixed martial arts)
Modern forms are used in the sport of wushu, as seen in this staff routine (from Chinese martial arts)
Vale tudo match between thai boxer Flávio Molina and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Marcelo Behring, 1984 (from Mixed martial arts)
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