Martial Arts

Aikido (Japanese: 合気道 Hepburn: aikidō) [aikiꜜdoː] is a modern Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Ueshiba’s goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury.[1][2] Aikido is often translated as “the way of unifying (with) life energy”[3] or as “the way of harmonious spirit”.[4]

Aikido’s techniques include: irimi (entering), and tenkan (turning) movements (that redirect the opponent’s attack momentum), various types of throws and joint locks.[5]

Aikido derives mainly from the martial art of Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu, but began to diverge from it in the late 1920s, partly due to Ueshiba’s involvement with the Ōmoto-kyō religion. Ueshiba’s early students’ documents bear the term aiki-jūjutsu.[6]

Baguazhang (Chinese: 八卦掌; pinyin: Bāguà Zhǎng) is one of the three main Chinese martial arts of the Wudang school, the other two being Taijiquan and Xing Yi Quan. It is more broadly grouped as an internal practice (or neijia quan). Bāguà zhǎng literally means “eight trigram palm,” referring to the trigrams of the I Ching (Yijing), one of the canons of Taoism.[1][2]

Brazilian jiu-jitsu (/dʒuːˈdʒɪtsuː/; Portuguese: [ˈʒiw ˈʒit(i)su], [ˈʒu ˈʒit(i)su], [dʒiˈu dʒit(i)ˈsu]) (BJJ; Portuguese: jiu-jitsu brasileiro) is a martial art and combat sport system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. Brazilian jiu-jitsu was formed from Kodokan judo ground fighting (newaza) fundamentals that were taught by a number of Japanese individuals including Takeo Yano, Mitsuyo Maeda, Soshihiro Satake, and Isao Okano. Brazilian jiu-jitsu eventually came to be its own combat sport when Judo mainstream took an Olympic turn[8], and through the experiments, practices, and adaptation of judo, jujutsu and wrestling through Carlos and Hélio Gracie (who passed their knowledge on to their extended family) as well as other instructors who were likely students of the Judoka Maeda, such as Luiz França[9], and their later successors in Brazil and elsewhere.

BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend themselves or another against a bigger, stronger, heavier assailant by using proper technique, leverage, and most notably, taking the fight to the ground, and then applying joint locks and chokeholds to defeat the opponent. BJJ training can be used for sport grappling tournaments and in self-defense situations.[10]

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.[1] Takeda’s best-known student was Morihei Ueshiba, the founder of Aikido

Hapkido (UK: /ˌhæpkiːˈdoʊ/ HAP-kee-DOH,[1] US: /hɑːpˈkiːdoʊ/ hahp-KEE-doh,[2] also spelled hap ki do or hapki-do; from Korean hapgido [hap̚.k͈i.do]) is a highly eclectic Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, and throwing techniques similar to those of other martial arts, as well as kicks, punches, and other striking attacks. It also teaches the use of traditional weapons, including knife, sword, rope, ssang juhl bong (nunchaku), cane (ji pang ee), short stick (dan bong), and middle-length staff (joong bong, gun (analogous to the Japanese jō), and bō (Japanese)), which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.

Hapkido employs both long-range and close-range fighting techniques, utilizing jumping kicks and percussive hand strikes at longer ranges, and pressure point strikes, joint locks, and throws at closer fighting distances. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, redirection of force, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage over their opponents through footwork and body positioning to incorporate the use of leverage, avoiding the use of brute strength against brute strength.

The art was adapted from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu as it was taught by Choi Yong-Sool (최용술) when he returned to Korea after World War II after having lived in Japan for 30 years. This system was later combined by Choi´s disciples with kicking and striking techniques of indigenous and contemporary arts such as taekkyeon, and Tang Soo Do; as well as various throwing techniques and ground fighting from Japanese Judo.

Iaidō (居合道), abbreviated with iai (居合),[3] is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to a sudden attack.[4]

Iaido is associated with the smooth, controlled movements of drawing the sword from its scabbard (or saya), striking or cutting an opponent, removing blood from the blade, and then replacing the sword in the scabbard.[1] While beginning practitioners of iaido[5] may start learning with a wooden sword (bokken) depending on the teaching style of a particular instructor, most of the practitioners use the blunt edged sword, called iaitō.[6] Few, more experienced, iaido practitioners use a sharp edged sword (shinken).[7]

Judo (wikt:柔道 jūdō, meaning “gentle way”) was created as a physical, mental and moral pedagogy in Japan, in 1882, by Jigoro Kano (嘉納治五郎). It is generally categorized as a modern martial art which later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or takedown an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata, 形) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori, 乱取り). A judo practitioner is called a judoka

Jujutsu (/dʒuːˈdʒuːtsuː/ joo-JOOT-soo; Japanese: 柔術, jūjutsu About this soundlisten (help·info)), also known as Jujitsu or Jiu-Jitsu, is a Japanese martial art and a method of close combat for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses either a short weapon or none.[1][2]

“Jū” can be translated to mean “gentle, soft, supple, flexible, pliable, or yielding”. “Jutsu” can be translated to mean “art” or “technique” and represents manipulating the opponent’s force against themselves rather than confronting it with one’s own force.[1] Jujutsu developed to combat the samurai of feudal Japan as a method for defeating an armed and armored opponent in which one uses no weapon, or only a short weapon.[3] Because striking against an armored opponent proved ineffective, practitioners learned that the most efficient methods for neutralizing an enemy took the form of pins, joint locks, and throws. These techniques were developed around the principle of using an attacker’s energy against him, rather than directly opposing it.[4]

There are many variations of the art, which leads to a diversity of approaches. Jujutsu schools (ryū) may utilize all forms of grappling techniques to some degree (i.e. throwing, trapping, joint locks, holds, gouging, biting, disengagements, striking, and kicking). In addition to jujutsu, many schools teach the use of weapons. Today, Jujutsu is practiced in both traditional and modern sports forms. Derived sport forms include the Olympic sport and martial art of judo, which was developed by Kanō Jigorō in the late 19th century from several traditional styles of jujutsu, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which was derived from earlier (pre–World War II) versions of Kodokan judo.

Karate (空手) (/kəˈrɑːti/; Japanese pronunciation: [kaɾate] (About this soundlisten); Okinawan pronunciation: [kaɽati]) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called te (手), “hand”; tii in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese Kung Fu, particularly Fujian White Crane.[1][2] Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands and palm-heel strikes. Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints and vital-point strikes are also taught.[3] A karate practitioner is called a karateka (空手家).

The Ryukyu Kingdom was annexed by Japan in 1879. Karate was brought to Japanese archipelago in the early 20th century during a time of migration as Ryukyuans, especially from Okinawa, looked for work in Japan.[4] It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era.[5] In 1922, the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. In 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in mainland Japan and by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs.[6] In this era of escalating Japanese militarism,[7] the name was changed from 唐手 (“Chinese hand” or “Tang hand”)[8] to 空手 (“empty hand”) – both of which are pronounced karate in Japanese – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style.[9] After World War II, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.[10]

Kenpō (拳法) is the name of several Japanese martial arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word “quánfǎ”. This term is often informally transliterated as “kempo”, as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization,[1] but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel. The generic nature of the term combined with its widespread, cross-cultural adoption in the martial arts community has led to many divergent definitions. The word Kenpō translates thus: “Ken” meaning ‘Fist’ and “Po” meaning ‘Method’ or ‘Law’ as in ‘Law of gravity’, a correct interpretation of the word Kenpō would be ‘Fist Method’, the same meaning as ‘Quanfa’. However, it is often times misinterpreted as ‘the Law Of The Fist'[2] , which appeals to those looking for a more ‘imposing’ or aggressive sounding name.