Kinds of Violent Situations

Martial arts as a sport have gained worldwide recognition. It was represented by the Greek Civilization in ancient Olympic Games in the form of wrestling and ‘Pankration’. The grand spectacle of the combats of the Gladiators in the Roman Era was demonstration of martial arts. The World Summer Olympic Games feature Tae Kwon Do and Judo alongside the other forms like boxing, wrestling, archery and javelin which are western varieties of martial arts. The Wushu of China is also featured in international sport events though not recognized for inclusion in the Olympics. Other martial arts styles included in sport are the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and kickboxing. There are differing schools of opinions regarding practice of martial arts for competitive sport. It is believed by some that better sportsmanship and efficiency develop by competition improving the standard of martial arts. Others think that the rules and regulations that dictate the sport in competition reduce the combat efficacy of martial arts. They also feel a dilution in the art from participation in competitive sport where the focus is more on winning awards by acrobatic demonstration rather than developing morality which is the essence of martial arts philosophy. To free martial arts from the shackles of rules framed in competitive sport, new kinds of competitions are being held with minimum rules and allowing all types of martial arts. Examples of this new kind of martial arts sport are Ultimate Fighting Championship in the USA and the ‘PRIDE’ in Japan. These mixed martial arts events are not rigidly limited by rules. Other sporting exhibitions of martial arts are breaking, tricking (influenced by dance) and poomse or aka that uses choreography. During the Cultural Revolution in China, the Chinese rulers suppressed traditional martial arts to discouraged individual achievements and promoted Wushu as a martial arts sport under state control. Invention of firearms caused the decline of Martial arts in Europe. The traditional forms either disappeared or converted as form of sport. A good example is development of fencing in Europe as replacement of swordsmanship. Also developed in sport form was the men’s gymnastic event of pommel horse. Much before that however was the origin of shot put and javelin throw in the Roman period which was nothing but non-combative forms of martial arts turned into sport.

Martial arts were developed as a combat style for self-defense against physical threat. This art of self-defense was practiced by the ancient Chinese monks. The self-defense would follow the moral virtues like restraint, discipline, respect and humility. In Europe, these methods developed into various styles of stick fighting like the Portuguese ‘Jogo do Pau’ and the Irish ‘bataireacht’. The police and the military use martial arts as a method of self-defense and arresting criminals or enemies. For example, the Israeli armed forces developed self-defense systems called ‘Krav Maga’ and ‘Kapap’. The same for the Chinese armed forces are known as ‘San Shou’. The Brazilian army developed ‘Kombato’ as a martial arts self-defense method. Combat styles of martial arts for street fighting developed in Europe as exemplified by the French kicking style ‘savate’ used by the street fighters. The Wing Tsun martial art is a system of self-defense. The principles of energy are more in focus here than the fighting techniques. The tactile information is processed faster by human brain than visual information and this principal is followed in the Chi Sao or ‘sticking hands’ practice of martial arts that teaches reflexive response to an attack’s speed, force and direction. The Wing Tsun system of self-defending martial arts is a prompt and aggressive adaptation to the attacker’s strength and fighting style.

Martial arts have also found use in military combat and war. It is used as a tactical art for warfare from close range like the ‘LINE’ in USA and ‘UAC’ in Britain. Modern military combats have also evolved styles like the Russian ‘Sambo’. Training on modern military combat has modified traditional martial arts to suit the needs of war. For example, the ideas of the classical sword movements of ‘iaidoka’ have been applied for point shooting which is effective use of firearms in awkward situations in a war relying on muscle memory. The Special Forces of the USA, UK and Canada were taught Jujutsu during World War II for which a Western expert named William Fairbairn was employed by the Special Operations Executive. He specialized in Asian fighting techniques. ‘Defendu’, a method of hand to hand combat was popularized in the classic book on military warfare ‘Kill or Get Killed’ by Colonel Rex Applegate. For modern warfare, various martial arts combat techniques like combat with knife and spear and hand to hand fighting have been adopted. Examples are the Chinese San Shou, the Israeli ‘Kapap’ and the martial arts programs by the US Army and Marine. The US Army has been imparting training in traditional martial arts systems like Escrima and Kali. Such training also includes since the time of the World War II, dagger defense tactics by unarmed soldiers. In the recent Iraq war, the British Army and the US Army and Marine Corps have used rifle bayonet combat tactics of martial arts the way spear was traditionally used.