Impaku

Kung Fu

The collective name for hundreds of Chinese fighting traditions. It has no founder: Bodhidharma is a legend spread only from the early 20th century.

ChinaHybrid

Karate

An Okinawan striking art reshaped in the 20th century into Japanese budo and an Olympic sport. Built on kata and hand and foot techniques.

JapanStriking

MMA

A full-contact sport combining strikes, throws and ground fighting; today the most widely followed fighting format in the world.

United StatesHybrid

Taekwondo

The Korean art of high, dynamic kicks, unified after the Second World War from nine schools. A full Olympic discipline since 2000.

South KoreaStriking

Wrestling

The oldest sporting form of unarmed combat — takedowns, throws and control of the opponent on the ground, without strikes.

GreeceGrappling

Muay Thai

Thai boxing, the art of eight limbs — fists, elbows, knees and shins, complemented by clinch work. It moved into the ring in the early twentieth century.

ThailandStriking

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

A Brazilian ground-fighting art built on joint locks and chokes; it lets technique control a stronger opponent.

BrazilGrappling

Boxing

Fighting with the fists alone, in gloves, weight classes and rounds — the oldest codified combat sport.

United KingdomStriking

Krav Maga

An Israeli self-defence system aimed at fast, simple responses to real danger rather than at competition.

IsraelHybrid

Judo

A Japanese art of throws and grappling, Olympic since 1964; its idea is to use the opponent's strength instead of your own.

JapanGrappling

Sumo

Japanese wrestling with over a thousand years of tradition; fought in a circular ring and, in the professional circuit, without weight classes.

JapanGrappling

Sambo

A Soviet system of grappling and joint locks combining judo with the folk wrestling of the USSR; the combat version also allows strikes.

RussiaGrappling

Aikido

A Japanese art of throws and joint locks with no sporting rivalry; the energy of an attack is redirected rather than stopped.

JapanGrappling

Kickboxing

A striking sport joining boxing hands with kicks. It appeared in the 1960s and 1970s in Japan and the United States at once, from a wish to give karate full contact.

United StatesStriking

Capoeira

A Brazilian martial art fused with dance and music; practised in a circle called the roda to the sound of the berimbau.

BrazilHybrid

Jeet Kune Do

Bruce Lee's system from the late 1960s, rejecting closed styles. He started from wing chun but concluded that any fixed system is a limitation.

United StatesHybrid

Kendo

Japanese swordsmanship with a bamboo sword in full protective armour; a direct continuation of the samurai art of the sword.

JapanWeapons

Ninjutsu

A Japanese system drawing on old ryuha, combining unarmed combat, weapons and movement in terrain; its historical continuity is disputed.

JapanHybrid

Eskrima

A Filipino weapon-based martial art — rattan stick, knife and improvised objects; you learn from the weapon, not from empty hands.

PhilippinesStriking

Hapkido

A Korean art combining joint locks and throws with a rich kicking repertoire; aimed at self-defence rather than competition.

South KoreaHybrid

🥋 All Martial Arts

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📖 Glossary of Terms

📜 Katas & Forms

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⚔️ Traditional Weapons

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