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From ancient battlefields to modern spiritual development. An analysis of the armed and unarmed disciplines that shaped our federation's philosophy.
Martial arts can be fundamentally divided into the armed and unarmed arts. The former include archery, spearmanship, and swordsmanship; the latter, which originated later, emphasize striking with the feet and hands or grappling. This duality forms the basis of all combat training.
In Japan, traditionally a warrior’s training emphasized archery, swordsmanship, unarmed combat, and swimming in armour. However, members of other classes interested in combat concentrated on arts using the staff and everyday work implements—such as thrashing flails, sickles, and knives—alongside unarmed combat.
Perhaps the most versatile practice was ninjutsu. Developed for military spies in feudal Japan, it went beyond combat to include training in disguise, escape, concealment, geography, meteorology, medicine, and explosives.
In modern times, derivatives of some armed martial arts, such as kendō (fencing) and kyūdō (archery), are practiced as sports. Similarly, derivatives of unarmed combat—such as judo, sumo, karate, and tae kwon do—thrive as competitive sports, alongside dedicated self-defense forms like aikido, hapkido, and kung fu.
Beyond combat, forms like simplified tai chi chuan (taijiquan) are popular as healthful exercise, quite divorced from martial origins. Today, derivatives of many armed and unarmed forms are practiced primarily as a means of spiritual development and personal growth.