Throughout the years, we have all watched with awe and mouths agape at the many impressive Martial Arts Movies.  No matter how clichéd or unusually mind-numbing the plot or the characters are, we never really cared much as long as the moves of the protagonists (or the antagonist, in that respect) are impressive, OR seemingly death-defying.

We all (well, the elders mostly) have witnessed how the formidable Bruce Lee knocked out hundreds of his enemies with his fists, legs and feet, whether he has a shirt on or not.

We all watched with astonishment as the incredible Jackie Chan performs stunts that I cannot hope to perform even if my whole family’s lives depended on it.

Or how about Donnie Yen—the one who so famously portrayed Ip Man (Bruce Lee’s master) in his recent movies? With his hands, we can forget about clumsy machine guns in modern warfare as his fists are fast enough to match even the fastest of ancient machineries called guns. Also, with him around, we can forget about action stars riding the fastest cars, because he has fast, bullet-like moves that could stop dead even the impossibly larger opponents!

Now, enough of that, I did not write this to mindlessly quote all of my favorite martial artists—I wrote this to tell about the things I’ve learned so far with the Arts.

What are the Martial Arts?

As some word experts would automatically tell you the etymological origin of the word, (Martial—meaning: of or relating to the military; Art—meaning: any manifestation of beauty) martial arts are far too beyond that.

The first martial art in the world was born in China—the incredibly formidable Shaolin Kung-Fu. This form were taught and learned by monks who swore that they would only use the Art in times of dire need and to protect the weak from evil.

In our present times, there now exists more than a hundred forms of martial arts that—if the Chinese are to be believed—were engendered from the Shaolin. True or not this piece of information may be, (as historical sources are also uncertain) we must hand it to the Chinese as they have been, if not always, the pioneers in the innovation and preservation of the venerable Arts.

Now, let us take a closer look to some of the most familiar and legendary forms of the Arts. Though, as said before, the Chinese are the pioneers in the Arts, there were also some countries that had created their own styles and managed to get them almost as well-known as the Shaolin Kung-Fu.

The Formidable Karate

The Karate is an indigenous martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands (now Okinawa) of Japan. This technique focuses mainly on striking but also makes use of grappling and locks in order to perform attack reversals. The practitioners of this Art are called Karateka.

I remembered how my father used to tell me that my grandfather was a black-belter karateka and he once took on 10 men (your regular tambays in streets that have nothing to do better in their lives but to start a brawl) at once and lived to tell the tale…. Do I believe it? yes, yes I do. For even now, at the age of 63, my grandfather is still in top shape and could still lift heavy weights.

The Karate had been also very famous as many Hollywood movies depicted this Art as the central plot device (Karate Kid, for one, comes to mind). Also, a lot buffed action stars as Jean Claude Van Damme, Tom Cruise, and Liam Neeson practice this Art.

       As said before, the Karate focuses mainly on striking, meaning that it uses punching, kicking, elbow, and knee strikes for attacking. Karate came from two Japanese words—Kara 空 meaning ‘empty’ and Te 手 meaning ‘hand’, thus, Karate is an ‘empty hand’ style of combating.

The Powerful Muay Thai 

(มวยไทย)

Next up is the powerful secret weapon of the Thais—the Art of the Eight Limbs—the Muay Thai. The Muay Thai, very much like the Karate, focuses on striking. Having that, Muay Thai is not very much like Karate for Muay Thai is much more flexible in using the body parts for striking the opponents. This Art had also been famous as several countries are already adopting it style. An example of another Art that was derived from this is the Yaw-Yan of the Philippines, otherwise known as the Dance of Death.

I’ve had not much experience with the Muay Thai, but observing the training of its learners, I would say that this Art is for hardcore lovers of Martial Arts as practices are totally intense.

Famous practitioners of this Art are Tony Jaa, Buakaw Por, and Pramuk, Alexey Ignashov, Daniel Ghiţă, Gökhan Saki, Diesel Noi, Apidej Sit Hrun, Ramon Dekkers, Saenchai Sor Kingstar, Yodsanklai Fairtex.

The Placid Wushu

(武術)

For our last feature martial art, we bring you back to China as we would now learn about its most popular and most engaging sport—Wushu. Don’t get irritated if you ask a practitioner of Wushu what is his martial art and he answers, with a smirk on his face, “martial art”. Because fact is, he is just telling the truth. Well, the translated truth. Because Wushu literally means ‘martial art’ when translated into English (Wu 武= military/martial and 術= art)

Unlike the first two, which were mainly martial arts, the Wushu is a sport, an exhibition, and of course, a martial art.

Being a sport, China hosts a lot of Wushu competitions annually and gives out handsome prizes to those who win.

Also an exhibition, Wushu is also a competition wherein practitioners show-off their most remarkable, most gravity-defying moves in order to win the hearts of the audience, impress the judges, and take the grand prize.

Lastly, being a martial art, we could say that Wushu is the calmest type mentioned in this feature as it does not use aggressive striking moves. Instead, it uses acrobatics and other evasive moves and reversals in order to vanquish the opponents.

Wushu competition events include:

a. Barehanded

長拳 Changquan (Long Fist)

南拳 Nanquan (Southern Fist)

太極拳 Taijiquan (or Tai chi chuan) (Taiji Fist)

b. Short Weapons

刀 Dao (knife)

劍 Jian (double-edged sword)

太極劍 Taijijian (Taiji double-edged sword)

南刀 Nandao (Southern single-edged sword)

c. Long Weapons

棍 Gun (Staff)

槍 Qiang (Spear)

南棍 Nangun (Southern cudgel)

Anyone is free to join, given of course that they have knowledge of the Art.

There you have it. These three martial arts are but only the few among the famous other martial arts out there. You, my dear readers, the prospect learners of the Art, are free to choose which you want to study. Just remember that having knowledge of such arts does not entitle you to bullying nor does it exempt you from any law your country may have against physical injury, homicide, murder, etc. And to cut the long story short, practice wisely and use thy knowledge for the greater good.