martial art

martial art

noun

Definition of MARTIAL ART

: any of several arts of combat and self defense (as karate and judo) that are widely practiced as sport

— martial artist noun

Examples of MARTIAL ART

1. He was trained in the martial arts.

First Known Use of MARTIAL ART

1928

Rhymes with MARTIAL ART

à la carte, anti-art, applecart, beauty part, bleeding heart, Bonaparte, counterpart, egg and dart, fall apart, flying start, for one's part, heart-to-heart, Liddell Hart, lose one's heart, mini-mart, on one's part, open-heart, plastic art, poles apart, purpleheart, Purple Heart, running start, set apart, take apart, underpart, upperpart

martial art

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of several arts of combat and self-defense that are widely practiced as sport. There are armed and unarmed varieties, most based on traditional fighting methods used in East Asia. In modern times, derivatives of armed martial arts include kendo (fencing with wooden swords) and kyudo (archery). Unarmed varieties include aikido, judo, karate, kung fu, and tae kwon do. Because of the influence of Taoism and Zen Buddhism, there is a strong emphasis in all the martial arts on the practitioner's mental and spiritual state. A hierarchy of expertise, ranging from the novice (“white belt”) to the master (“black belt”), is usually recognized. See also t'ai chi ch'uan; jujitsu.