Aikido is considered to be a non-aggressive style, as the Aikido student does not instigate the attack. The basic principle of Aikido is "Do not fight force with force". Aikido uses very few punches and kicks. Instead, the attackers force is redirected into throws, locks and restraining techniques. Size, weight, age and physical strength differences of the opponents play only a small role, as the skilled Aikido practitioner is able to redirect the attackers energy, keeping his attacker in a constant of unbalance.

To be effective, Aikido takes longer to learn than most other martial arts. Aikido can be practiced to a late age because this martial art does not rely on flexibility, muscle speed, or strength. Thus it has become especially popular with women and senior citizens.

Aikido training teaches the use of several martial arts weapons such as Tento, Jo and Bokken. There is also a sport style of Aikido named Tomiki Aikdo.

Capoeira

Capoeira is an energetic, often acrobatic, dance-like style of martial art. Capoeira was first practiced by African slaves who were taken to work in Brazil. Capoeira is primarily based around kicking, as a slave's hands were normally manacled.

In Capoeira, many movements are carried out while in a handstand position, often resembling modern Breakdance moves.

There are a variety of forms of Capoeira, including where two people "play" fight each other inside a circle formed by spectators, while other members of the group play instruments and sing. The music dictates the speed or tempo of the movements.

Choy Li Fut Kung Fu

Choy Li Fut is a combination of many Chinese martial arts styles (including Southern and Northern styles), and includes the five animals - Tiger, Dragon, Crane, Leopard, Snake.

Choy Li Fut was developed in 1836 by Chan Heung, who learned martial arts from his uncle, a famous Shaolin Boxer. Chan Heung named his amalgation of Kung-Fu styles after his two teachers, Choy Fok and Li Yau-San. Fut means Buddha in Cantonese, and was added to the name of his new style as an acknowledgement of his uncle and Shaolin roots of the system.

Choy Li Fut is an effective self-defence system and contains a wide variety of techniques, including long and short range punches, kicks, sweeps and takedowns, lethal pressure point attacks, joint locks, and grappling. It also practices many of the traditional Kung Fu weapons.

Although rare outside of China, Choy Li Fut remains a very popular martial arts style in mainland China today.

Dim Mak (Death Touch)

Dim Mak, also know as Death Touch, is the ancient martial art of striking vital points of an opponent's body. These strikes are engineered to cause “knock-out”, death or delayed reaction in the opponent.

These vital points are the same as used for healing in acupuncture and other Asian healing arts. Dim Mak is an integral part of all martial arts. However, very few instructors know much of specific Dim Mak techniques, and those that do are reluctant to pass on this knowledge to their students.

Most pressure points are located along the center line, an important concept of many Kung Fu styles including Wing Chun Kung Fu. Pressure points exist in the arms, legs, back and head, and they are also considered when protecting major striking targets along the centre line.

Goju Kai Karate

Goju Kai Karate is very similar in techniques and Katas to Goju Ryu. Goju Kai tends to place more emphasis on the sport side of training rather than the body conditioning and supplementary exercises of Goju Ryu. The founder of Goju Kai, Yamaguchi Gogen, is credited for introducing free sparring to Karate. Previously, Okinawan Karate styles only used Katas and pre-defined attack/defense techniques in their training.

Many Goju Kai schools exist today all over the world, and the characteristic clenched fist logo of Goju Kai can easily be recognized. The insignia was designed by the late Gogen Yamaguchi in 1932, founder of Goju-Kai Karate-Do. In fact, the clenched fist insignia is vigorously protected by U.S. and international trademark and patent laws by those that currently hold the rights for it.

 Goju Ryu Karate

Goju Ryu Karate is one of the four original Okinawan styles of Karate. Okinawan Goju Ryu Karate employs hard and soft techniques with circular and linear movements. Goju Ryu has a great variety of hand and foot techniques.

Emphasis in Goju Ryu is placed on strengthening the body and mind with supplementary exercises. Goju Ryu's most famous exponent is Morio Higaonna - chief instructor of the International Okinawan Goju Ryu Karatedo Federation (I.O.G.K.F.).

Hapkido

Hapkido is a Korean martial art, and combines techniques from Karate, Aikido and Judo. It also draws influence from other native Korean martial arts. Characteristic for Hapkido are the wrist locks and throws that can look quite spectacular.

Developed in the 1940s and 50s, its founder Grandmaster Choi had learned martial arts first in Japan, in a school of Daito-Ryu Aiki-Jujutsu, an ancient form of Jujutsu that was practiced mostly by Samurai.

On Choi's return to Korea, he added many techniques to defend against particular types of attacks, and borrowed heavily from other styles. The name of what is known as Hapkido today changed several times, and famous students of Choi such as Ji Han Jae continued to develop the art and were instrumental in bringing Hapkido to the west, where it was taught to FBI and other US government agencies.

During this time Ji Han Jae met Bruce Lee, who was very impressed with the techniques of Hapkido. Ji Han Jae coached Bruce Lee, who then went on and incorporated certain aspects of Hapkido into the development of his own emerging style, Jeet Kune Do.

Hsing (Hsing-I Chuan, Xing Yi Quan)

Hsing (Hsing-I Chuan, sometimes also spelled Xing Yi Quan or Hsing Yi Chuan), is known as Mind Boxing, or in another translation, Form-Will-Boxing. The pronouciation of Hsing-I is "Shing-ee".

Hsing-I is characterised by five distinctive actions, namely the five fist elements. These elements are the Splitting Fist, Drilling Fist, Crushing Fist, Pounding Fist and the Crossing Fist. These five basic actions of splitting, drilling, pounding, crossing and crushing are related to the five elements of traditional Chinese medical theory and philosophy, ie. metal, water, fire, earth and wood, respectively.

In addition to these, Hsing also teaches the 12 styles of animal movements such as Dragon, Tiger, Horse, Cock, Turtle, Hawk, Swallow, Snake, Falcon, Eagle and Bear.

Each animal form has characteristic postures and stances, combined with a characteristic way of fighting.

Hsing-I belongs to the Chinese internal arts (together with Pa Kua and Tai-Chi), and shares some types of weapons training, namely the straight sword (Jen), the curved sword (Dao) and the long spear (Chiang). In contrast to Pa-Kua and Tai-Chi, movements in Hsing are more linear combined with a straight forward attack. The the emphasis is on developing very powerful strikes that are able to deliver inner energy (Chi) at the opponent.

Iaido

Iaido is the art of sword drawing. The emphasis is on killing the opponent with a strike from drawing the sword. Practiced for centuries by the Japanese Samurai, Iaido is now practiced with specially made Iaido swords that resemble the original Japanese Katana. These swords are not sharpened, reducing the risk of injury to its practitioners.

Jeet Kune Do

Jeet Kune Do is a relatively new martial art, developed by the martial arts master, Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee began his martial arts career studying Wing Chun Kung Fu under grandmaster Yip Man in Hong Kong, and then taught his art in the U.S. as Jun Fan Kung Fu.

Lee began by taking the best and most practical aspects of Wing Chun and combining these with elements of western boxing; trapping and grappling; and influences from a variety of other martial arts. This developed into a fighting style that he named Jeet Kune Do, the "Way of the Intercepting Fist".

Jeet Kune Do is not a new style of kung-fu or karate. Bruce Lee did not invent a new or composite style, nor did he modify a style to set it apart from any existing method. His concept was to free his followers from clinging to any style, pattern, or mold.

The effect Jeet Kune Do had was to expose the Chinese martial arts to the world, which subsequently created a worldwide rush by westerners to learn these martial arts. It also stimulated interest in the other martial arts including Japanese, Okinawan and Korean. No other man has had more influence on the spread of martial arts to the world than Bruce Lee.

 Judo

Judo is a martial art that makes use of throws, strangles and joint locks. There is no kicking or punching in Judo. Judo was originally developed from Jujutsu and was accepted as an Olympic sport in 1966.

The lethal techniques and strikes of Jujutsu have been removed from the syllabus, and Judo's founder Kano designed a syllabus that was meant to aid in the physical fitness of the Japanese people as well as their character development. As such, Judo was always designed more to be a sport than a self-defence system.

The black belt system, that pertains until today in many martial arts (also see: Goju Ryu Karate Belt System) is said to have first developed in Judo. Whereas in the West, great value is placed on the coveted achievement of a black belt, Japanese instructors see the black belt as a stage of the student when the real study of the martial art begins.

Jujutsu (Jujitsu)

Ju Jitsu (also often referred to as Jujutsu) is a fighting system that employs a wide range of techniques - including strikes, kicks, throws, joint locks and choking. In addition to this Jujitsu also teaches weapons technique. Techniques and influences from Jujitsu can be found in almost all of the martial arts.

Jujitsu developed in many independent schools in Japan over many centuries and as such does not have a clear lineage. As the syllabus of techniques in Jujutsu is very large, invidivual schools today may teach variations and/or a subset of the vast range of existing Jujutsu techniques.
 

As Jujutsu also provides many practical arm lock and submission techniques, jujutsu techniques have been popular with Police forces all over the world.

Kali (Escrima)

Kali, Escrima and Arnis are all essentially the same martial art, all originating from different areas of the Philippines. All of these utilise weapons such as sticks, knives, and swords. Techniques without weapons also taught include kicking, striking and grappling.

Kali was originally used as a method of fighting off the invading Spanish. Kali is now widely practiced both in the Philippines and abroad.

 Karate Empty Hand

Karate translates, as is generally accepted, to Empty Hand in Japanse. Karate is a martial art that uses weaponless techniques such as punching and kicking to overcome the opponent.

The development of Karate began in Okinawa, an island south of Japan. Okinawans travelled to China, where they learnt the Chinese martial arts. On their return to Okinawa they set about blending their own martial arts (initially simply called Te, "Hands") with what they had learnt in China and called it To-De, Chinese Hands. From this, 4 main styles of Karate developed - Goju Ryu, Shorin Ryu, Uechi Ryu and Shorei Ryu. Gichin Funakoshi, who trained under several Okinawan Karate masters, developed his own style of Karate that he named Shotokan.

Funakoshi introduced Shotokan to Japan in the early 20th century. Other Okinawan masters soon followed him - Chojun Miyagi with Goju Ryu and Kenwa Mabuni with Shito Ryu. From these masters many new styles were soon developed. For example Kyokushinkai by Mas Oyama, Goju Kai by Gogen Yamaguchi, Wado Ryu by Hinonori Ohtsuka.

There are now hundreds of different styles of karate across the world, but all can be traced back to the original four from Okinawa.

Kendo

Kendo is the Japanese sport of sword fighting where Shinai (bamboo swords), along with protective armour are used. This equipment is used for training in place of the razor-sharp metal swords that Japanese martial arts are famous for. A very popular sport in Japan, Kendo developed from the fighting art of Kenjutsu, which dates back to the 11th century and was the most important martial art of the samurai. Kenjutsu was practised by many famous swordsmen, such as Miyamoto Musashi, author of The Book of Five Rings.

Today's Kendo rules: In a match, the competitors wear special protective gear and strike at each others ead, chest or hand with the bamboo sword.

Of all martial arts currently practiced in the West, Kendo retains the most traditional image, not at least because of their traditional-looking protective armour and face mask and the typical Kendo-swords (Shinai).

Kickboxing

Kickboxing is not inherently a martial art, although most kickboxers originate from a martial arts background. Rules greatly vary but generally a certain number of kicks must be thrown per round or the fighter will have points deducted. Many boxers make the transition to kickboxing by training in the martial arts and learning how to kick.

Krav Maga

Krav Maga is an Israeli army method of unarmed combat now gaining popularity all over the world. It is considered a "no-nonsense" method of self-defence for a variety of situations. Originally developed during the liberation fighting of Israel, Krav Maga is now practiced by the entire Israeli military - especially its elite forces.

Krav Maga combines elements of boxing, Judo, and Jujitsu as well as the use of weapons such as knives and sticks. This weapon technique is taught to deal with modern day street situations where guns and knives are often involved. There are no kata or other traditional martial arts training exercises.

The techniques of Krav Maga are highly practical and effective for the street. Individuals can attain a high level of profiency within a relatively short period of instruction.

Picture shows Eyal Yanilov, the World Head Instructor for the International Krav Maga Federation (IKMF).

Kung Fu

Kung Fu is a broad term that is used to describe all martial arts of Chinese origin. Kung-Fu existing under many different names throught China's history. Initially Kung Fu was called Ch'uan Fa (fist way).

The Shaolin monastery housed many fugitives from justice, and many warriors turned monk, which sets the roots of Kung Fu in the Shaolin Temple in Northern China. In fact there were five different Shaolin temples in five districts, and so five distinct styles of Shaolin Kung Fu developed.

Martial arts historians stress that Kung-Fu did not start at the Shaolin temple, but simply began to flourish under Shaolin's influence. Kung-Fu became eventually categorised into Northern and Southern styles. In the south, Cantonese people pronounce Kung Fu as gung-fu. Southern styles use low stances and kicks and strong hand techniques because they are shorter and stockier than Northern (Mandarin) people. The Northern systems are characterised by stylish and difficult patterns and acrobatic legwork, presumably because it was colder in the North so hand movement was restricted by thick robes and the mountaineous terrain enforced the development of strong legs.

Kung Fu as one of the oldest martial arts has been a great influence to other and younger martial arts styles, such as Okinawan Karate styles and subsequently Japanese Karate styles.

In modern times, Wu-shu emerged as a mixture of circus-like acrobatics and martial arts, and in China, national competitions are held in this sport. Jet-Li is a famous exponent of Wu-Shu, popularising the art in the West by appearing in martial arts movies.

Kyokushinkai

Kyokushinkai was developed by Mas Oyama. Oyama studied Goju Ryu karate, Shotokan karate and some Korean martial arts which he developed into his own style called Kyokushinkai.

Oyama was an extremely strong man who popularised his art by inviting challengers to fight him and through stunts, such as killing bulls with his bare hands. Black belt gradings in Kyokushinkai are well known for their large number of kumite (sparring fights), sometimes as many as a 100.

Steve Arneil trained with Mas Oyama in Japan for five years and was the first non-Japanese person to complete the 100-man kumite. This feat was later also acheived by John Jarvis, at the time the head of Kyokushinkai for the Asia Pacific. Jarvis later changed to practising Okinawan Goju Ryu under Morio Higaonna.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai existed for centuries as a fighting martial art and is well known for its devastating knee, elbow and shin kicks. Muay Thai developed in Thailand and is popular today the world over as a ring sport for competition fighting. All strikes are allowed in the ring, unlike western boxing, which prohibits all but strikes with gloved fists.

Ninjutsu Iga Ryu

Ninjutsu is the practised art of the Ninja. The two oldest styles of Ninjutsu that are still practiced today are Iga Ryu and Koga Ryu. Ninja are skilled in a variety of martial arts including Judo, Jujutsu and swordsmanship. Ninja use a shorter sword than the Samurai and prefer to carry it strapped to their back. As well as these martial arts they are skilled in a variety of weapons - such as the shuriken (throwing star), throwing knives, stick fighting, and chain arts.

The Ninja originally were also experts at disguise and concealment, which enabled them to gather information or act as assassins for Japanese warlords. This was work that others, such as the Samurai - who were bound by their strict code of Bushido - were reluctant to perform.

Ninjutsu went through an incredible boom period in the mid eighties due to the emergence of famous Ninjutsu instructors, such as Stephen Hayes. Ninjutsu still remains popular the world over.

Pentjak Silat (Pencak Silat)

Pentjak Silat is an Indonesian martial art and began originally as a weapons style of combat. Pentjak Silat has borrowed much from its nearby neighbours of India and China, blending those fighting styles into their own. The result was a style containing kicking and striking techniques mixed with a variety of weapons techniques.

Amongst the thousands of Indonesian islands, there are hundreds of schools of Pentjak Silat, each with their own identity. Some of these also teach the arts of magic, healing and mystic powers.

Pa Kua

Pa Kua (pronouced "Ba-Gua", sometimes spelled Ba Kua or Ba Qua) is one of the Chinese internal systems, which practice Chi Gong breathing exercises as well as weapons and meditation (also see Tai Chi and Hsing-I).

Pa Kua is known for its evasive footwork, including the characteristic circle walking and the spiraling, coiling, drilling, twisting, and spinning movements, combined with powerful palm heel strikes.

Pa Kua is as much a martial arts combat style as it is a martial art taught for its health benefits.

Sambo

Sambo is a form of wrestling that employs strikes, takedowns, throws, joint-locks and teaches defence against weapons.

 Savate (French Boxing)

Savate, or French Boxing, was developed in the late 1700's and it said to have developed on French ships sailing the Indian Ocean and South China seas, where they learned kicking techniques from Asian cultures. Savate was first recognised in Marseille, an important port in the south of France where sailors of many countries came together. Savate made use of the boots of the time known as Savate to attack an opponent's legs and body.

A characteristic of this simple but effective method of self-defence is the manner in which kicks are always executed by the leg nearest the opponent, with the other leg taking the weight of the body. Savate uses both striking and foot techniques.

Shito Ryu

Shito Ryu was developed by Mabuni Kenwa, an Okinawan karate master who studied both the styles of Naha-te (Gojuryu) and Shuri-te (Shorinryu). Shito Ryu was formed by the combination of the kata and techniques of these two styles. Traditional Okinawan weapons are also taught in the Shito Ryu style of karate. Characteristic for Shito-Ryu are the square-on stances and linear strikes.

The most famous exponent of Shito Ryu is Fumio Demura who introduced the style to the world and has written several books - on both Shito Ryu and traditional Okinawan martial arts weapons. Martial arts weapons that Demura has written about include the Sai, Nunchaku and Tonfa.

Shorin Ryu

Shorin Ryu is one of the four original Okinawan styles of karate. Shorin Ryu makes use of hand techniques more than foot techniques and uses predominately high stances. Traditional weapons are also practiced in this martial art.

Shorinji Kempo

Shorinji Kempo was adapted from Chinese Kempo and is widely practiced in Japan. Shorinji Kempo combines religion, meditation and martial arts. It teaches a variety of techniques with striking and kicking as well as some Aikido style throws, locks and holds. Some Shorinji Kempo schools also teach a variety of healing methods.

Although Shorinji Kempo is a very complete and effective martial arts sytem, it is not as popular in the West as Karate, mainly because of the strong emphasis on religion and meditation.

Shotokan

Shotokan is one of the four main schools of Karate in Japan. It is best characterised by its long and deep stances and its use of more linear movements. Shotokan has little of the circular movements found in Okinawan styles of karate, nor does it have the body conditioning and supplementary training exercises.

Shotokon Karate is considered by many a sports style of Karate, where tournaments and point-sparring are central to the art.

Shukokai

Shukokai has foundations that lie in Shito Ryu, as the founder Chojiro Tani was a student in that style. Shukokai contains all the normal elements of striking and kicking found in other Japanese martial arts. Shukokai places more emphasis on speed and higher stances, which makes it a very suitable style for tournament karate.

Sumo (Sumo Wrestling)

Sumo, as a martial art, dates back to the early 8th century in Japan where it was originally part of religious ceremonies. Sumo was then later introduced to ceremonies held by the Imperial Court. Historically, it is interesting to note that Jujutsu is actually an offshoot of Sumo wrestling.

Originally Sumo contained elements of boxing and wrestling, but over time rules were gradually introduced which transformed it to resemble the Sumo wrestling that we know today.

The Sumo rules are simple: Two competitors wearing mawashi (silk belts) push and pull each other within a circle of 4.5 meters in diameter. The first person to leave the ring or touch the ground with any part of the body except the sole of the feet, loses the bout.

Sumo is now the national sport of Japan and immensely popular. It is also unique to Japan. Sumo wrestlers enjoy a very high regard in the Japanese society.

Most rikishi (Sumo wrestlers) are professional competitors weighing 100 to 200 kg.

Taekwondo (Tae Kwon Do)

Taekwondo (Tae-Kwon-Do, Fist-Foot-Way) is a martial art from Korea (sometimes also spelled Taegwondo). It is a blend of Shotokan Karate with other Chinese and Korean martial arts. Taekwondo places great emphasis on fast, spectacular kicking techniques with very few hand strikes. Competition rules in Taekwondo prohibit the use of throws, holding or grappling. Protective gear is usually worn to allow contact with the body.

Taekwondo tends to place more emphasis on the sport aspect of martial arts. Taekwondo is more of a long range fighting style, due to its use of more kicking than striking. Board breaking is used in belt grading in Taekwondo, to show the power of the techniques being taught (Kyokushin Kai is another martial art that also adheres to this practice).

Taekwondo is popular the world over and is probably the most widely practiced of the martial arts. Taekwondo is now recognised as an Olympic sport, which is sure to popularise it even more.

Tai Chi Chuan

Traditional Chinese martial arts styles can be described as Internal or External; Northern or Southern; Hard or Soft. Tai Chi Chuan is considered to be a soft southern style with an emphasis on slow soft movements. These movements are carried out while concentrating on breathing technique and balance.

Tai Chi Chuan is practiced worldwide for its health benefits and improved concentration. It is widely practised for the reduction of stress and tension - not as a combat martial art.

Tang Soo Do

Tang Soo Do is a blend of Korean and Chinese martial art styles, employing both kicking and striking techniques. Tang Soo Do is best described as both a hard and a soft martial art. The meaning of Tang Soo Do is often explained as "Way of the Chinese Hand".

In 1965, the Korea Tang Soo Do Association was established in an attempt to unite the Korean Martial Arts under one name. However, the Tang Soo Do practitioners chose to remain as traditionalists rather than join the sport oriented Tae Kwon Do organization.

Uechi Ryu

Uechi Ryu is one of the four original styles of karate in Okinawa. Uechi Ryu utilises many kicking and striking techniques drawn from Chinese Kempo. Uechi Ryu practices some of the Goju Ryu kata especially Sanchin, Sanseiru and Sesan. Uechi Ryu also draws other influences from Goju Ryu including low leg kicks, grappling and takedowns. Uechi Ryu is considered a hard style of karate, which is ideally suited to fighting at close range.

Wado Ryu

Wado Ryu was developed by Otsuka Hironori and is one of the four main styles of Japanese karate. Hironori used his knowledge of Shotokan Karate, Jujutsu, grappling and Tai Sabaki to form his own style. Wado Ryu does not practice many of the body toughening exercises common to other styles of karate, preferring rather to use Tai Sabaki (Body Movement) to evade attacks.

 Wing Chun

 Wing Chun was developed when several grandmasters of the Shaolin temple systemised the best parts of the Chinese martial arts, to form a martial art that was practical and faster to learn than the other styles. Wing Chun aims to deflect force in combat rather than meet force.

Wing Chun uses a centre line theory that is based around attacking vital targets along a central line of the body. Two weapons are taught, the dragon pole and butterfly knives, which are used as a pair. Wing Chun also uses the wooden dummy to practice striking and blocking techniques. Wing Chun also uses a partner exercise called Chi Sao, where two partners practice various arm exercises together, to gain better reflexes and response to attacks.

 Yoseikan