Portal:Martial arts

The Martial Arts Portal

United States Marine practicing martial arts, 2008

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. (Full article...)

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.

Specific martial traditions become identifiable in Classical Antiquity, with disciplines such as shuai jiao, Greek wrestling or those described in the Indian epics or the Spring and Autumn Annals of China. (Full article...)

Selected articles

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Jujutsu training at an agricultural school in Japan around 1920

Jujutsu (/dʒuːˈdʒɪtsuː/ joo-JIT-sue; Japanese: 柔術 jūjutsu, pronounced [dʑɯꜜːʑɯtsɯ] ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdue one or more weaponless or armed and armored opponents. Jujutsu developed from the warrior class around the 17th century in Japan. It was designed to supplement the swordsmanship of a warrior during combat. A subset of techniques from certain styles of jujutsu were used to develop many modern martial arts and combat sports, such as judo, aikido, sambo, ARB, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and mixed martial arts. (Full article...)
Image 2

Family crest of the Takeda clan.
Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu (大東流合気柔術), originally called Daitō-ryū Jujutsu (大東流柔術, Daitō-ryū Jūjutsu), is a Japanese martial art that first became widely known in the early 20th century under the headmastership of Takeda Sōkaku. Takeda had extensive training in several martial arts (including Kashima Shinden Jikishinkage-ryū and Sumo) and referred to the style he taught as "Daitō-ryū" (literally, "Great Eastern School"). Although the school's traditions claim to extend back centuries in Japanese history there are no known extant records regarding the ryū before Takeda. Whether Takeda is regarded as either the restorer or the founder of the art, the known history of Daitō-ryū begins with him. Takeda's best-known student was Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido. (Full article...)
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Greek wrestling (Greek: πάλη, translit. pálē), also known as Ancient Greek wrestling and Pále (πάλη), was the most popular organized sport in Ancient Greece. A point was scored when one player touched the ground with his back, hip or shoulder, or conceding defeat due to a submission-hold or was forced out of the wrestling-area. Three points had to be scored to win the match.

One particularly important position in this form of wrestling was one where one of the contestants was lying on his abdomen with the other on his back trying to strangle him (back mount). The athlete on the bottom would try to grasp an arm of the one on top and turn him over onto his back while the athlete on top would try to complete the choke without being rolled. (Full article...)
Image 4

Krav Maga course at an Israeli paratroopers school in 1955

Krav Maga (/ˌkrɑːv məˈɡɑː/ KRAHV mə-GAH; Hebrew: קרב מגע, IPA: [ˈkʁav maˈɡa]; lit. 'contact combat') is an Israeli martial art. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, judo, karate, boxing, and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situations and its extreme efficiency. (Full article...)
Image 5
Kung fu in Iran

Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (/ˈkʌŋ ˈfuː/; Chinese: 功夫; pinyin: gōngfu; Cantonese Yale: gūng fū), kuoshu (國術; guóshù) or wushu (武術; wǔshù), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common traits, identified as "families" of martial arts. Examples of such traits include Shaolinquan (少林拳) physical exercises involving All Other Animals (五形) mimicry or training methods inspired by Old Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles that focus on qi manipulation are called internal (内家拳; nèijiāquán), while others that concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness are called external (外家拳; wàijiāquán). Geographical association, as in northern (北拳; běiquán) and southern (南拳; nánquán), is another popular classification method. (Full article...)
Image 6

Angampora gripping technique at Korathota Angam Maduwa

Angampora is a Sinhalese martial art that combines combat techniques, self-defense, sport, exercise, and meditation. A key component of angampora is the namesake angam, which incorporates hand-to-hand fighting, and illangam, involving the use of indigenous weapons such as the ethunu kaduwa, staves, knives and swords. Another component known as maya angam, which uses spells and incantations for combat, is also said to have existed. Angampora's distinct feature lies in the use of pressure point attacks to inflict pain or permanently paralyze the opponent. Fighters usually make use of both striking and grappling techniques, and fight until the opponent is caught in a submission lock that they cannot escape. Usage of weapons is discretionary. Perimeters of fighting are defined in advance, and in some of the cases is a pit.

A number of paintings related to angampora are found at Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka. These include Embekka Devalaya, Gadaladeniya Rajamaha Viharaya, Temple of the Tooth, Saman Devalaya (Ratnapura) and Lankathilaka Rajamaha Viharaya. (Full article...)
Image 7
Statue of Jigoro Kano at the Kodokan institute.

The rivalry between the Kodokan school of judo and the Totsuka school of Yoshin-ryu jujutsu happened in the 1880s during the Meiji Restoration in Japan. Composed by several challenges and tournaments, and its result saw the decline of the traditional jujutsu schools and the rise of judo as an institutionalized martial art. Although surrounded in controversy and legend due to inconsistent sources, it has been considered a vital part of the history of judo. (Full article...)
Image 8

Capoeira or the Dance of War by Johann Moritz Rugendas, 1825, published in 1835

Capoeira (Portuguese pronunciation: [kapuˈe(j)ɾɐ]) is an Afro-Brazilian martial art and game that includes elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality.

It is known for its acrobatic and complex maneuvers, often involving hands on the ground and inverted kicks. It emphasizes flowing movements rather than fixed stances; the ginga, a rocking step, is usually the focal point of the technique. Though often said to be a martial art disguised as a dance, capoeira served not only as a form of self defense, but also as a way to maintain spirituality and culture. (Full article...)
Image 9
Togakure-ryū (戸隠流) is a historical tradition of ninjutsu known as the "School of the Hidden Door", allegedly founded during the Oho period (1161–1162) by Daisuke Nishina (仁科大助) (a.k.a. Daisuke Togakure (戸隠大助)), who learned his original fighting techniques from a Chinese monk named Kain Dōshi. However, the history and early lineage of Togakure-ryū may be impossible to verify due to the antiquity of the time period and its claimed historicity has been disputed by Watatani Kiyoshi, writer for the Bugei Ryūha Daijiten. After Togakure, the title of Sōke (head of school) was recorded by Toda Shinryuken Masamitsu to have been passed down through other practitioners that kept the style secret from the outside world.

Toshitsugu Takamatsu is the recorded 33rd Sōke of this school. According to Bujinkan sources he became well known throughout China and Japan for his martial arts prowess and his knowledge from studying ninjutsu that he then imparted on various Chinese nobles. Takamatsu passed the title of Sōke to Masaaki Hatsumi, the recorded 34th Sōke; it was Hatsumi who largely brought the style to public attention, and subsequently resulted in wide-scale media and public attention given to ninja and ninjutsu in the Western world. Hatsumi recently passed on the school to Takumi Tsutsui. (Full article...)
Image 10

Vale Tudo match between Flávio Molina and Marcelo Behring, at "Noite das Artes Marciais" event, 1984

Vale Tudo or vale-tudo (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvali ˈtudu]; English: Everything Goes/Everything Allowed), also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventually evolve into modern Mixed martial arts (MMA). For years "Vale Tudo" was used as a synonym for MMA in Brazil, but the term fell into disuse due to the emergence of stricter rules and the influence of the media to have a more "civilized" name. It is now used to refer to an early, more rules-free stage of the modern sport.

Vale Tudo initially started as an informal ruleset for fighters from different martial arts to fight each other. The Gracie family was known to organize their famous "Gracie Challenge", where they would fight other martial artists in Vale Tudo bouts to prove the efficiency and superiority of their own Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Many fighters eventually started to train specifically for Vale Tudo events, mixing striking and grappling, eventually advertising "Vale Tudo" as its own standalone style. For example, Marco Ruas referred to his hybrid style of Luta Livre submission grappling and Muay Thai striking simply as "Vale Tudo". (Full article...)

Selected biography

Michael Gomez (born Michael Armstrong; 21 June 1977) is a former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2009. He was born to an Irish Traveller family in Longford, Ireland, spending his early years in Dublin before moving to London and later Manchester, England, with his family at the age of nine. In boxing he was affectionately known as "The Predator", "The Irish Mexican" and "The Mancunian Mexican".

Despite finishing his career fighting in the lightweight division, Gomez is more notable for his fights at featherweight and super-featherweight. During his career he amassed a number of regional championships, most significantly the British super-featherweight title twice, from 1999 to 2004. He also held the WBU super featherweight title from 2004 to 2005.

Gomez, who has been compared to Johnny Tapia, has lived a turbulent life and was often involved in controversial fights. In Gomez's initial matches he suffered a number of losses to journeyman opposition but then went on a run of victories which stretched for almost four years. Of his 17 fights between February 2001 and March 2008, 16 ended in knockouts. Concerns arose about his drinking and failure to adhere to his diet and training regimes after a loss to László Bognár in 2001. Gomez appeared to be "back on track" in 2003, with his high-profile fight against Edinburgh-based fighter Alex Arthur for the British and WBA Inter-Continental super-featherweight titles, which Gomez won by knocking out Arthur in the fifth round.

In 2006, Gomez suffered a controversial loss to Peter McDonagh when, in the middle of a round, he dropped his guard and walked out of the ring, later saying he had retired from boxing. He returned to the ring after a 15-month interval. On 21 June 2008, Gomez lost what was seen as possibly his last bout: a last chance saloon opportunity to resurrect his career against rising star and Olympic silver medallist Amir Khan. Although scoring a surprise knockdown against Khan early on, the fight ended with Gomez being stopped in five rounds.

Gomez took the surname Gomez after his childhood hero Wilfredo Gómez. (Full article...)

Selected entertainment

The 2011 Money in the Bank was the second annual Money in the Bank professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by WWE. It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown brand divisions. It took place on July 17, 2011, at the Allstate Arena in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont, Illinois. This was the last Money in the Bank held under the first brand extension, which ended in August, but was reinstated in July 2016.

Seven matches were contested at the event, including one broadcast as a dark match. In the main event, CM Punk defeated John Cena to win the WWE Championship and thus, Cena was "fired". In other prominent matches, Christian defeated Randy Orton by disqualification and as per stipulation, he won the World Heavyweight Championship, Alberto Del Rio won the Raw Money in the Bank ladder match for a future WWE Championship match at a time of his choosing, and in the opening contest, Daniel Bryan won the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match for a future World Heavyweight Championship at a time of his choosing.

Money in the Bank was broadcast globally and received positive reviews from critics, with the main event receiving the most praise. For pay-per-view buys, 195,000 customers paid to watch the event compared with 165,000 for the previous year.

Sports portals

Selected image

Right, a bearded white man wearing a yellow loin-cloth wrestles with a black man, left, who is on one knee. Rich green background.

The Wrestlers is an oil painting on millboard by English artist William Etty, painted around 1840 and currently in the York Art Gallery, in York, England. It depicts a wrestling match between a black man and a white man, both glistening with sweat and under an intense light emphasising their curves and musculature. While little documentation of the painting exists prior to 1947, it is likely that it was painted over a period of three evenings at the life class of the Royal Academy. (Full article...)

General images -

The following are images from various martial arts-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Modern forms are used in the sport of wushu, as seen in this staff routine (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 2Kung fu sword (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 3Pankratiast in fighting stance, Ancient Greek red-figure amphora, 440 BC. (from History of martial arts)
Image 4Eisho-ji temple, Tokyo (from Judo)
Image 5Yuki Nakai fights UFC 1 finalist Gerard Gordeau at Vale Tudo Japan 1995 (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 6Judo (1935) (from Judo)
Image 7Martial arts fan (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 8Kung fu in Iran (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 9The judogi is made from a heavy weave to withstand the stress of throwing and grappling. (from Judo)
Image 10Karatekas wearing different colored belts (from Karate)
Image 11All-Japan Judo Championships, 2007 men's final (from Judo)
Image 12A scene of Ancient Greek pankratiasts fighting. Originally found on a Panathenaic amphora, Lamberg Collection. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 13A ring-side doctor attends to a fighter following a loss. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 14Two 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)
Image 15Karate in Naha before the war; (before 1946) (from Karate)
Image 16The 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 17Jigoro Kano and Yamashita Yoshitsugu performing Koshiki-no-kata (from Judo)
Image 18Masters 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)
Image 19The Yang style of tai chi being practiced on the Bund in Shanghai (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 20Japanese judoka Takamasa Anai Vs French judoka Thierry Fabre during the 2010 World Judo Championships held in Tokyo (from Judo)
Image 21Fol. 4v of the I.33 (from History of martial arts)
Image 22An Octagon cage used by the UFC. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 23jūdō (柔道, "Judo"), written in kanji (from Judo)
Image 24MMA fighter attempts a Triangle-Armbar submission on his opponent. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 25UFC 74 ; Clay Guida vs. Marcus Aurelio (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 26Bronze medal match at the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (from Karate)
Image 27Olympic Judo pictogram (from Judo)
Image 28MMA gloves. They are fingerless gloves which allow both striking and grappling to occur. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 29Harai goshi (払腰, sweeping hip), a koshi-waza (from Judo)
Image 30Vale tudo match between thai boxer Flávio Molina and Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner Marcelo Behring, 1984 (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 31Ancient Chinese weapons (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 32Two judoka wearing judogi (from Judo)
Image 33Dragon Ball's main protagonist Goku uses a variety and hybrid of east Asian martial arts styles, including Karate. (from Karate)
Image 34Bōgutsuki, a form of full-contact karate fought with armour, one of the competition formats for kumite (from Karate)
Image 35Gina Carano applying a ground-and-pound on her opponent. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 36Juji gatame (十字固, cross lock)(armbar), a kansetsu-waza (from Judo)
Image 37Fighter performs a takedown on his opponent. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 38Karate movements in Lappeenranta (from Karate)
Image 39Gichin Funakoshi (from Karate)
Image 40Chōki Motobu in Naihanchi-dachi, one of the basic karate stances (from Karate)
Image 41A "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)
Image 42Yoshihiko Yoshimatsu attempting to throw Toshiro Daigo with an uchi mata in the final of the 1951 All-Japan Judo Championships (from Judo)
Image 43Karate training in front of Shuri Castle in Naha (1938) (from Karate)
Image 44Throw during competition, leads to an ippon (from Judo)
Image 45Bruce Lee is known for practicing many martial arts styles, including Karate. (from Karate)
Image 46A Ring used by PRIDE. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 47King Shō Shin (from Karate)
Image 48Groundfighting 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 49Two children training in judo techniques (from Judo)
Image 50A Chinese martial artist preparing to throw his opponent during a lei tai contest in Ancient China. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 51International judo camp in Artjärvi, Orimattila, Finland (from Judo)
Image 52Jigoro Kano, founder of judo (from Judo)
Image 53Depiction of fighting monks demonstrating their skills to visiting dignitaries (early 19th-century mural in the Shaolin Monastery). (from Chinese martial arts)
Image 54Bruce Lee popularized the concept of mixed martial arts via his hybrid system of Jeet Kune Do during the late 1960s to early 1970s. (from Mixed martial arts)
Image 55Karatekas at a dojo with different colored belts (from Karate)
Image 56Mural at Shaolin temple from 1830's depicting forearm strikes and reverse kicks (from Chinese martial arts)

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Topics

Martial arts - Hard and soft - History - List of styles - Outline - Timeline

Regional origin - China - Europe - India - Indonesia - Japan - Korea - Philippines

Unarmed techniques - Chokehold - Clinch - Footwork - Elbow strike - Headbutt - Hold - Kick - Knee strike - Joint lock - Punch - Sweep - Takedown - Throw

Weapons - Archery - Duel - Knife fighting - Melee weapons - Shooting - Stick-fighting - Swordsmanship

Training - Kata - Practice weapon - Punching bag - Pushing hands - Randori - Sparring

Grappling - Brazilian jiu-jitsu - Judo - Jujutsu - Sambo - Sumo - Wrestling

Striking - Boxing - Capoeira - Karate - Kickboxing - Muay Thai - Lethwei - Sanshou - Savate - Taekwondo - Vovinam

Internal - Aikido - Aikijutsu - Baguazhang - Tai chi - Xing Yi Quan

Full contact / Combat sports - Professional boxing - Professional kickboxing - Knockdown karate - Mixed martial arts - Pankration - Submission wrestling

Self-defense / Combatives - Arnis - Bartitsu - Hapkido - Kajukenbo - Krav Maga - MCMAP - Pencak Silat - Systema - Wing Chun - Legal aspects

Eclectic / Hybrids - American Kenpo - Chun Kuk Do - Jeet Kune Do - Shooto - Shorinji Kempo - Unifight

Entertainment - Fighting game - Martial arts film (Chanbara) - Professional wrestling - Stage combat - Wuxia

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