Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various arts of self-defense, such as aikido, karate, judo, or tae kwon do, usually practiced as sport.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Commonly, any of several fighting styles which contain systematized methods of training for combat, both armed and unarmed; often practiced as a sport, e.g.
boxing ,karate ,judo , Silat,wrestling , orMuay Thai . - noun military skills, proficiency in military strategy, prowess in warfare
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of several Oriental arts of weaponless self-defense; usually practiced as a sport
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Collocation of martial + art, coined in 1933 as a loan translation of Japanese bujutsu. But already in Pope's Iliad (1715, 4.360), and in Sotheby's Iliad (1831, book 6).
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