M a r t i a l A r t s
On our martial arts pages we introduce some of the major martial arts styles from different countries, a brief
introduction along with additional information is presented here. Please also join our
Martial Arts Forum where you can also discuss more or
share information about them:
China
China's main martial arts style commonly known as Kung Fu mainly evolved in the monasteries of China such as the famous Shaolin or Wudang monasteries. Originally developed by monks to defend their homes but later spread outside the walls and many of their secrets were passed down to the general population. More ...Okinawa
The birth place of Karate is the island of Okinawa. As the largest of the Ryuku islands Okinawa has always been influenced by the surrounding countries, particularly China and Japan. While Karate developed in its unique ways on the island, it was influenced by other styles from these near by countries. More ...Thailand
Thailand's most popular combative art is Muay Thai - also known as Thai boxing - became a widely practiced sport around the world. The origin of Muay Thai roots in the war times of Thailand where it was practiced by the warriors as a military art. More ...Japan
With its long history Japan has developed a wide array or martial art styles from different weapon usage - such as the famous Samurai sword - to a variety of hand to hand combative and defensive arts. With the development of modern weapons many of these arts placed less emphasis in wars or combats and became part of self defence for the general population. They continue to be popular and evolve further in modern times. More ...Korea
In Korea where the martial arts were first use as military art by warriors, defending their land or engaging other war lords to gain land. The characteristics of Korean martial arts are generally higy kicks that are often mixed with jumping kicks. Today these arts are mainly practiced as sport or self defense. More ...India
Indian martial arts refers to the fighting systems of the Indian subcontinent. A variety of terms are used for the English phrases “Indian martial arts”, usually deriving from Sanskrit or Dravidian sources. While they may seem to imply specific disciplines, by Classical times they were used generically for all fighting systems. More ...Philippines
On the Philippine islands several different yet basically similar martial art styles have developed placing emphasis on weapon usage, particarly the short sticks and short knives. Unique to most of the Filipino arts are the low stands, kneeling or ground fighting while the techniques are mainly focucing on the hands. More ...Burma
Burmese martial arts were developed centuries ago and the fighting systems collectively are referred to as 'thaing'. Bando is one of the most well knonw but often mistakenly used as a generic word for all Burmese martial arts, however Burmese martial art system consist many different stlyes. More ...Brazil
One of Brazil's oldest martial arts called Capoeira dates back to the times when slaves from Africa were brought to the country. Capoeira is believed to derived from the combative techniques of these people. Along with it the Brazilian version of Jiu Jitsu has claimed popularity especially through the modern MMA cage fightings. More ...Mixed Martial Arts
Originally promoted as a competition to find the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat, competitors from different fighting styles were pitted against one another in contests with relatively few rules. Later, individual fighters employed multiple martial arts into their style. MMA promoters were pressured to adopt additional rules to increase competitors' safety and to comply with sport regulations. More ...
