subject: Mixed Martial Arts- A Popular Self Defence Technique [print this page] Martial Arts,variouskindsoffighting arts, with or without weapons, most of which martial arts are now practiced throughout the world. About 100 million people participate in the martial arts as a means of self-defense, physical fitness, mental tranquility, and competition. There are about 200 distinct martial arts, and within each one are specific schools called styles or systems. These styles number in the thousands.
TYPES OF MARTIAL ARTS
Despitethearrayofmartial arts and styles, most of them share common techniques, and so they can be organized into broad categories that facilitate understanding. The primary way of classifying martial arts is by the basic physical technique they use: striking or grappling. Thestrikingtechnique, technically referred to as percussive, uses blows with the hands, elbows, feet, knees, and head. Such popular martial arts as karate, kung fu, and tae kwon do fall under this category. Grapplingarts,onthe other hand, primarily employ throwing, locking, and wrestling techniques. These arts seek to neutralize aggressive action by gaining control over an adversary without necessarily striking the person. The most popular grappling arts are jujutsu, judo, and aikido.
HISTORY
Themartialartsoriginated in ancient times in East Asia, but because their beginnings are shrouded in myth and legend, it is impossible to establish their exact history. Kung fu, which may have been based on a fighting style from India, is perhaps the oldest martial art. A form of it was practiced in China more than 2,000 years ago. For many centuries, Chinese martial arts were practiced solely in China, but in the 14th century, when the island of Okinawa started paying tribute to China, knowledge of the martial arts beganto spread.
