Martial arts are established systems and traditions of combat methods, practiced for a number of reasons: as self-defense, military and law enforcement applications, mental and spiritual development; As well as entertainment and the preservation of an intangible cultural heritage of a country.
Although the term martial art has been associated with the martial arts of East Asia, as early as the 1550’s it was originally called the combat systems of Europe. Derived from Latin, the term means “art of Mars,” the Roman god of war. Some authors have argued that martial arts or combat systems would be more appropriate based on the fact that many martial arts were never “martial” in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.