Most martial arts have specialized clothing and equipment. The clothing will often display style-specific insignia in the form of badges. Japanese StylesJapanese styles such as Karate, Judo and Jujitsu make use of a durable, light, medium or heavy weight white uniform, usually made of cotton. The uniform is known as a gi. The pants tend to have a drawstring waist and is loose fitting for ease of movement. The jacket is folded across the chest, and tied with the belt, indicating the rank of the...
Most martial arts, especially the traditional ones, make use of a ranking system to determine the skill level of a practitioner.Belts
Often belts are used to indicate a practitioner’s rank, especially in the Japanese and Korean martial arts. In the Chinese martial arts a sash, instead of a belt, is often used. Usually a white belt indicates beginner-level, and a black belt advanced level. In between white and black belts there are a number of color belts. Once achieving black belt, most...
Foundational to almost all martial arts are the use of well balanced stances. Stances differ from style to style, but can typically be divided into ritual and practical stances. Ritual Stances
Ritual stances are used for formalities, and usually involve bowing postures. Some common ritual stances include kneeling meditation postures, kneeling and bowing (also known as the formal bow), standing and bowing, as well as attention stances, which...
Apart from its use in the military and for self-defense,they have a long history of being used for sport and recreation. SparringIt is well known that Ancient Greece enjoyed wrestling and other martial variants as both sport and recreation. During the Roman Empire, battling Gladiators were a major source of entertainment. To this day, people dueling is considered great entertainment, with millions of people watching boxing matches, UFC fights and other combat sports. Judo, Taekwondo, Archery...
Written by Sanko Lewis