3.3 44 The Dao, which means the way , is the natural order of the universe. Rather than following particular rules, Daoists cultivate a sense of naturalness called ziran. MMA stands for mixed martial arts. Do you know what it refers to? Can you name any films based on martial arts? root: radice to worship: venerare 88 TO DO MARTIAL ARTS When you are learning about martial art, it is about respect. Jackie Chan WHAT ARE MARTIAL ARTS? The expression martial arts is very broad and includes a variety of physical activities which mainly originated in East-Asian countries such as Japan, China, and Korea. They are forms of attack and self-defence that include fighting techniques focused on hand to hand and foot combat. Etymology The term does not have its roots in Eastern Asia but in Europe. It literally means the arts of Mars , Mars being the Roman god of war and the patron god of soldiers who used to worship him before going to battle. The expression was used to indicate the combat techniques from Asia because of the combination of the action of fighting ( martial ) and the style ( art ) of combat offered by its various types. Spiritual origins It is not easy to trace a common origin of martial arts as they originated in different countries and in different periods, but their common root is very ancient, centred on military fighting and deeply connected with spirituality. The primary unifying aspect of East-Asian martial arts is, in fact, the influence they receive from Daoism and Zen Buddhism. The former is a Chinese philosophy and religion based on the balance between life and the universe, the latter is a monastic school of meditation that developed in China, Korea, and Japan. These two schools of thought have helped to place a strong emphasis on the mental and spiritual state of the practitioner, a state in which mind and body can react immediately as a unit to a changing situation around the combatant. Martial arts in the Olympic Games Fighting sports were among the first included in ancient Olympic Games: in 648 BC, pankration, an ancient precursor of modern mixed martial arts , became an Olympic event. Combat sports such as Greco-Roman wrestling and boxing have always been present in modern Olympics, but judo became an Olympic sport only in 1964 and taekwondo even later, in 2000. Karate made its Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 but was excluded from Paris 2024. Martial arts in popular culture The kung fu wave of action cinema which emerged in Hong Kong in the 1970s (like Bruce Lee s films) popularised martial arts, and a lot of famous films produced during the 1980s, whose stars had martial arts background, also contributed significantly to improving the knowledge about martial arts in western popular culture.