TracyKarate, Joe, and everyone else who was arguing what makes a martial art:

[mushinmaster]

I think I've figured it out.
www.geocities.com/mushinmaster/definition.html

In this case, wrestling and boxing would be considered martial practices, and thai boxing would all depend on why it is practiced.

Opinions PLEASE!!!!!!

If you think anything about this idea, please, please, let me know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lithp]

Nice page. I agree! For example I think being a sniper is an art.

But what I've been struggling with is the question whether or not BJJ is a Martial Art. Was it used in war? Do street fights (one on one) count as war?

[crazyjoe380]

I TOLD YOU TRACY WAS A MORON!


good work !!

[soho]

Of course anyone can call anything they want a Martial art. To me it just means training to fight. Training to go up against another person. It can be in a format where there are rules or in a format where there are none. By this definition things like boxing, wrestling, bjj, Judo, Sumo, Vale Tudo, shootfighting, stickfighting, fencing savate, Thai boxing, even TKD etc... would fall under the term martial arts. Things that do not prepare you to go up against another person. Basically any style where you are not sparring in one form another would not be considered a martial art and would instead fall under the category of exercise or dance.

As to shooting and grenade throwing...if someone told me they were into martial arts and when I asked what kind they said grenade throwing...I might think they were a little strange.

[crazyjoe380]

tracy said he would fight a boxer using Yoga

[mushinmaster]

LithP:

I think its all about the ultimate goal - if the practitioner is seeking more than just how to kick ass, like peace, how to behave, how to think, how to conduct themselves in society, its a martial art.

Anyone can learn to kick ass in a short peroid of time, but learning how to live takes a lifetime. If you make BJJ a way of life, then it is a martial art.

Yeah i classify a fight between two people as a war. You can apply the same principles you do in a real war to this situation, and vice versa - read the Art of War and apply it to a fight - it works out pretty well. Its all the same thing really.

[Halloween Jack]

I see two definitions of martial arts. "Martial art" is two words, and how you define those words individually determines what "martial art" means to you.

In my first definition, I take the word "martial" to mean "suitable for combat," and the word "art" to mean "skill" or "craft." So the phrase "martial arts" means "skills developed for combat." According to this definition, to be considered a martial art you have to be training for combat (whether or not MMA and kickboxing matches count as combat depends on how broadly you define combat).


In the second definition, I take the word "martial" to mean "military" and the word "art" to mean a form of artistic expression, like painting or ballet. Although tae kwon do forms have little to do with learning how to fight, they can be considered "martial arts" because they're based on exercises and training methods used by military forces a very, very long time ago.

[mushinmaster]

I don't think I consider TKD a martial art, the stuff I've seen I consider it a hobby, recreation, or sport - kinda like bowling or golf.

Are you refering to my definition or stating your own?