Editing Martial arts (section)

==Etymology==
[[File:Martial arts - Fragrant Hills.JPG|thumb|The Chen style Taijiquan class at Fragrant Hills Park, Beijing, China]]
"Martial arts" is a direct English translation of the Sino-Japanese word ({{Langx|ja|武芸|translit=bu-gei}}, {{Lang-zh|t=武藝|p=wǔyì|poj=bú-gē|first=poj, p}}). Literally, it refers to "武 martial" and "艺 arts".

The term ''martial arts'' was popularized by mainstream [[popular culture]] during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by [[Hong Kong action cinema|Hong Kong martial arts films]] (most famously those of [[Bruce Lee]]) during the so-called "[[chopsocky]]" wave of the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bowman |first1=Paul |title=The Invention of Martial Arts: Popular Culture Between Asia and America |date=2021 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-754033-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p-MJEAAAQBAJ}}</ref>

According to John Clements, the term ''[[:wikt:martial art|martial arts]]'' itself is derived from an older [[Latin]] term meaning "arts of [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]", the [[Roman mythology|Roman]] god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe ([[Historical European martial arts|European martial arts]]) as early as the 1550s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Clements|first=John|date=January 2006|title=A Short Introduction to Historical European Martial Arts|url=http://meibukanmagazine.org/Downloads/MMSpecialEdition1.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Meibukan Magazine|issue=Special Edition No. 1|pages=2–4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318130111/http://www.meibukanmagazine.org/Downloads/MMSpecialEdition1.pdf|archive-date=18 March 2012|access-date=21 December 2012}}</ref> 

The term '''martial science''', or '''martial sciences''', was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of [[East Asia]] ([[Asian martial arts]]) up until the 1970s, and the term ''Chinese boxing'' was also used to refer to [[Chinese martial arts]] until then.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lewis |first1=Dan |title=Newest Movie Craze: Chinese Agents |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/lima-news-apr-22-1973-p-30/ |access-date=15 April 2022 |work=[[Lima News]] |via=[[NewspaperArchive]] |date=22 April 1973 |page=30 |url-access=subscription |quote=First there were "spaghetti westerns" made in Italy, and then the Spanish got into the act and they became "gaspacho westerns." <br> Now, there's going to be an invasion of "chow mein spies." It's the newest rage, the superhero Chinese agent, who takes on 84 adversaries at one time and pounds them into the ground — without a dangerous weapon, except his hands and his feet. <br> They're coming here under the label of "martial sciences," an umbrella label that takes in all of the oriental arts of self-defense, such as karate, jujitso, kung fu and so on. <br> They're made in Hong Kong and the biggest hero of them all at the moment, surely the biggest box-office attraction there, is a face pretty familiar to American television audiences. Remember Bruce Lee, the swift, agile oriental chauffeur in "The Green Hornet"? <br> (...) Lee already has starred in three Chinese boxer (another label) pictures and there are several dozen others available to the international market. They reportedly are sweeping the European market and have just started to infiltrate the American scene. <br> Warner Brothers has just released one called "The Five Fingers of Death" and, with Fred Weintraub as producer, is now involved in the first American-Chinese production of a martial-science picture, a film that stars Bruce (Kato) Lee.}}</ref>

Some authors have argued that '''fighting arts''' or '''fighting systems''' would be more appropriate terms on the basis that many martial arts were never "martial" in the sense of being used or created by professional [[warriors]].<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Donn F. Draeger]] and P'ng Chye Khim | title=Shaolin Lohan Kung-fu |year=1979 |publisher=Tuttle Publishing}}</ref>