Foreword

There are hundreds of Fighting Arts in the World, many of which are called ‘Martial Arts’. Defining a ‘Martial Art’ is difficult and many experts may consider the collection in this encyclopaedia incomplete. 

We have included several fighting arts, like Judo and Sumo, which are principally sports, because they are perceived by the general public to be ‘Martial Arts’. Other combat skills of largely European origin, like boxing, fencing and archery have been excluded, because public perception does not place them in the ‘Martial Arts’ category.

Many arts are examined in detail, and they are grouped by country. There are large collections of Japanese, Korean and Chinese arts to study. Arts from the rest of the world are grouped together as ‘Other arts’.

The glossary contains a brief description of most of the popular Martial Arts, including many not examined in detail. The quiz contains hundreds of questions and answers to