Jump to content

Portal:Martial arts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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

Selected biography

Maeda circa 1910
Mitsuyo Maeda (前田 光世, Maeda Mitsuyo, born November 18, 1878  – November 28, 1941) naturalized as Otávio Maeda (Portuguese pronunciation: [oˈtavju maˈedɐ]), was a Japanese-born Brazilian judōka and prizefighter in no holds barred competitions. He was known as Count Combat or Conde Koma in Spanish and Portuguese, a nickname he picked up in Spain in 1908. Along with Antônio Soshihiro Satake, he pioneered judo in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

Maeda was fundamental to the development of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, including through his teaching of Carlos Gracie and others of the Gracie family. He was also a promoter of Japanese emigration to Brazil. His accomplishments led to him being called the "toughest man who ever lived" and being referred to as the father of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. (Full article...)


Selected entertainment

The Hunted is a 1995 martial arts action-thriller film written and directed by J. F. Lawton in his mainstream directorial debut, and starring Christopher Lambert, John Lone, Joan Chen, Yoshio Harada and Yoko Shimada. Lambert plays Paul Racine, an American businessman who by accident earns the wrath of a modern-day ninja clan in Japan.

The film was shot in Nagoya, Japan, and Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on a $25 million budget, and premiered in February 1995, taking in $6.6 million in U.S. box office. Most critic reviews found the plot clichéed and the acting unconvincing, while some praised Harada's performance. The critically well-received soundtrack featured music by the Japanese taiko troupe Kodō, which pervades the film.


Sports portals

Selected image


Mounted archer rides on beach.
Mounted archer rides on beach.
Credit: Francesco Baldessari

Yabusame (流鏑馬) is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special "turnip-headed" arrows successively at three wooden targets.

This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period. Minamoto no Yoritomo became alarmed at the lack of archery skills his samurai possessed. He organized yabusame as a form of practice. (Full article...)


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

Selected quote


The ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of the participant.
Gichin Funakoshi, Karate-do: My Way of Life


Topics


Categories

Category puzzle
Category puzzle
Select [►] to view subcategories

Things you can do

See the list on the right of Martial art related projects who organise work on these articles. You can also add your self to the list of Wikipedians by martial art

Talk page tagging

If you come across a martial arts related article, adding the project template {{WikiProject Martial arts}} to the talk page will help identify them for improvement and linking to related articles. For Boxing, Fencing, Mixed martial arts and Sumo. Use {{WikiProject Boxing}}, {{WikiProject Fencing}}, {{WikiProject Mixed martial arts}} and {{WikiProject Sumo}} respectively.

Assessment
If possible please assess articles you tag using guidelines (Boxing, Mixed martial arts and Sumo).

Deletions

Monitor and contribute to deletion debates (Boxing).

Find images

Wikipedia requested images of martial artists, mixed martial artists and boxers.

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Discover Wikipedia using portals