Martial arts can be divided into five categories: stand-up or striking styles, grappling styles, low-impact forms, weapons-based styles, and mixed martial arts (MMA) (A Hybrid Sports Style). In addition, the rise of mixed martial arts (MMA) has resulted in a lot of style mixing in recent years, to the point where many dojos no longer look the same as they used to. Regardless, some of the more well-known styles are included here.
Famous Figures in Martial Arts Many persons have made important contributions to the martial arts. Here’s a small sample of them.
Itosu Anko:
Known as “the Grandfather of Karate” for his efforts in simplifying katas and forms for less level students, Anko (1831-1915) is commonly regarded as “the Grandfather of Karate.” He is credited with helping the art attain more mainstream appeal in these and other ways.
Helio Gracie:
At the age of 95, Gracie passed away in January 2009. He is widely regarded as the founder of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, having modified judo’s methods to emphasise leverage rather than power.
Helio Gracie’s son, Royce Gracie, won three of the UFC’s first four tournaments. This served to demonstrate to the rest of the world how effective his father’s invention, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, was. By the way, he did all of this while only weighing around 170-180 pounds in contests with no weight limits. His success in these early UFC tournaments dramatically revolutionised the sport of mixed martial arts.
Dr. Jigoro Kano:
At a period when all individualised hobbies in Japan were on the decrease (including Japanese jujutsu), Kano created Kodokan Judo with the hope that it would one day become mainstream enough to be considered a sport, and therefore less individualised. As a result, he was able to eliminate many of the techniques in jujutsu that he considered hazardous, and his goal came fulfilled. Judo became a recognised sport in 1910.
Bruce Lee was notable for more than only his acting in iconic films and television series such as The Green Hornet. He was also a pioneer in the arts, recognising that ineffective practises should be abandoned in favour of more effective ones. He was the creator of the martial art Jeet Kune Do, which was created to exist outside of the confines of other traditional martial arts. Lee died in Hong Kong on July 20, 1973, at the age of 32. His death was officially attributed to a cerebral edoema induced by a response to a prescribed medication.