THE TRANSLATION OF THE FAR EAST
The Oxford Dictionary defines ‘martial art’ as:
Various sports, which originated mainly in Japan, Korea, and China as forms of self-defense or attack, such as judo, karate, and kendo.
Dictionary.com defines it as:
any of the traditional forms of eastern combat or self-defense that use physical skill and unarmed coordination, such as karate, aikido, judo, or kung fu, often practiced as a sport.
Therefore, it is not surprising that people strongly associate martial arts with Eastern and Eastern traditions, and dismiss combat sports such as boxing and Greco-Roman wrestling. Furthermore, the colloquial ‘martial’ plus ‘art’ as a single term was first coined as a Japanese word translation ‘bujutsu’ in 1909 according to the online Etymology Dictionary, and in 1933 according to Wiktionary.
ANCIENT GREEK TO ANCIENT ROME
Also mentioned in Wiktionary, The term was already used as early as 1715 in Alexander Pope’s English translation of Homer’s Iliad.as well as the less famous William Sotheby’s 1831 translation. The online etymology dictionary also states that the term “martial” dates back to the 14th century. The use ‘martial law’ to signify military rule over civilians was first recorded in the 1530s. ‘Martial’ is derived from the ancient Roman god of war, Mars, after which our neighboring planet is named. Therefore, “martial” means to be like Mars or to be warlike.
Understanding the Iliad as a literary work on the ancient Greek mythology of the Trojan War, in fact the most notable, and understanding the use of the term ‘martial’ in the 16th century, we can establish that the use of ‘martial art’ before 1900 referred to classical western military training, action or skill rather than a Far Eastern art form or athletic discipline.
MODERN DEFINITION
As civilizations settled in peace, the practice of closed military systems for actual use became obsolete. Those that are still in practice became an art form, a discipline, and eventually a way of life. The history of Japan and the samurai serves as a perfect example of this and seems to have laid the foundation for many modern martial arts, perhaps for another discussion.
In our current generation, with the popularity of MMA and martial arts documentaries, it seems very evident that this term It is becoming an umbrella term that encompasses not only eastern traditional disciplines, but western combat sports as well, and even military melee systems such as Krav Maga and Marine Corps..
Wiktionary sums it up nicely, giving the different uses of the term:
- Commonly, any of several fighting styles that contain systematized methods of combat training, both armed and unarmed; it is often practiced as a sport, for example boxing, karate, judo, silat, wrestling or muay thai.
- military skills, competence in military strategy, prowess in war
1832… in all the ways in which the advantage of his country can be secured, martial arts and courage are those by which one more Swiss hopes to promote it. (Richard Chenevix, Essay on National Character: 4. On Patriotism, p. 481).
- (Jargon) by restriction, martial arts originating from East Asia and Southeast Asia; often practiced as a meditative medium, e.g. aikido, judo, kyudo
