•  What is Martial Arts?

Various sports/arts, which originated chiefly in Japan, Korea, China etc. as forms of self-defence or attack, such as judo, karate, wushu(kung fu), kobudo, aikido, hapkido, ju-jutsu, taekwondo etc.

Budo is a Japanese term describing modern Japanese Martial Arts.

• What is Karate?

An oriental system of unarmed combat using the hands and feet to deliver and block blows, widely practised as a sport.

Competitive Karate is composed of two disciplines: Kata (forms) and Kumite (sparring)

• What is Judo?

A sport of unarmed combat derived from ju-jitsu and intended to train the body and mind. It involves using holds and leverage to unbalance the opponent.

Judo's most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the objective is to either throw or take down an opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue an opponent with a pin, or force an opponent to submit with a joint lock or a choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defences are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).

• What is Wushu?

A Chinese martial arts, also known as Kung-Fu (Kungfu).

Competitive Wushu is composed of two disciplines: taolu (forms) and sanda (sparring). But it has other disciplines, like self defense, breaking hard objects, and other related practices, that are not performed in competitions.

• Difference between Wushu & Kung Fu (Kungfu)?

Kungfu, used in the sense of Chinese martial art, has many terms in the Chinese language. The present official term is "Wushu". Besides this term, another term that is most commonly used for what in the West would be conceptualized as "kungfu" is "quanfa", often shortened to "quan".

• What is Kobudo?

Kobudo literally meaning “ancient martial way,” refers to the weapons art of the Okinawan people.

Ryukyu kobudo is a hand-weapon art that finds its origins in the ancient Ryukyu Islands (present-day Okinawa). It uses a variety of long and short weapons, typically including the bo (staff, also known as kon), sai (iron fork), tonfa (millstone handle), nunchaku (horse bridle), and nicho kama (two sickles). Each has unique features, making them unlike other weapons found around the world.

The weapon art of Ryukyu kobudo and the weaponless art of karatedo were originally two sides of the same coin. While karatedo became remarkably popular, however, Ryukyu kobudo remained relatively unknown.

• Beneficiaries of Martial Arts Training:

Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; sports, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage

Martial arts training aims to result in several benefits to trainees, such as their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.

Through systematic practice in the martial arts a person's physical fitness may be boosted (strength, stamina, speed, flexibility, movement coordination, etc.) as the whole body is exercised and the entire muscular system is activated. Beyond contributing to physical fitness, martial arts training also has benefits for mental health, contributing to self-esteem, self-control, emotional and spiritual well-being. For this reason, a number of martial arts schools have focused purely on therapeutic aspects, de-emphasizing the historical aspect of self-defense or combat completely.