"Martial arts" is a general term for various types of fighting arts that originated in the Orient. They are bodies of codified practices or traditions of unarmed and armed combat, usually without the use of guns and other modern weapons. "Martial arts" was translated in 1920 in Takenobu's Japanese-English Dictionary from Japanese bu-gei or bu-jutsu: "the craft/accomplishment of military affairs". This definition is translated directly from the Chinese term, wushu. This is literally "martial art", meaning all manner of Chinese martial arts.

This term is slightly anomalous in its English usage. Its strict meaning should be "arts for military use" (flying fighter aircraft, sniper training, and so forth) but in normal usage it is used to refer to formalized systems of training to fight without modern technology. It is nevertheless valuable to distinguish between fighting systems intended for soldiers in battle (even without modern technology) and fighting systems intended for sport or for civilian self-defense. The technical characteristics of these three kinds of fighting system are rather different.

Most martial arts practiced today came from China, Japan, and Korea. There are hundreds of martial arts, each divided into specific styles or systems. Thus, choosing a fighting style that suits you can be sometimes confusing.

Technically, the martial arts fall into two categories, percussive and nonpercussive. In percussive martial arts, such as karate-do and tae kwon do, people kick and strike with their hands, feet, elbows, knees, and head. Nonpercussive martial arts involve throwing, locking, and neutralizing the opponent without striking him or her. Judo and aikido are the most popular martial arts in this category.

Weapons are often used in advanced training in martial arts to preserve ancient tradition. But in some martial arts, weapons are part of the basic training.

What differentiates the martial arts from mere unarmed brawling are the organization of their techniques into a coherent system and the codification of effective teaching methods. One common training technique is to have a series of routines called forms which can serve as a dictionary of essential techniques to be memorized and drawn from at need. Martial arts are also characterized by the controlled, mindful application of force in ways selected for empirical effectiveness. In this sense, boxing, fencing, archery, and wrestling can also be considered martial arts.

Today, people practice the martial arts for exercise, as a means of self-defense, and as a sport. Martial sports have many variations, from judo and traditional karate, in which the blows are pulled short of contact, to kick-boxing or full-contact karate, in which the objective is to win by knockout, as in professional boxing.

So whatever fighting style you choose, always remember to use it for the common good.

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