97 Fun Facts About Martial Arts

Karate was born in the Ryukyu Kingdom, which became part of which country?

Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879 and made it Okinawa Prefecture; karate grew there from native Ryukyuan fighting arts shaped by Chinese kung fu.

Who is widely considered the founder of Judo?

Jigoro Kano developed judo from jujutsu in 1882 to stress physical and mental education, adding randori (free sparring) and dropping striking and weapons training.

In Taekwondo, what does the term 'Tae' refer to?

'Tae' means foot or kick; 'kwon' means fist or striking with the hand, and 'do' is the way, so Taekwondo reads roughly as 'the way of foot and fist'.

Krav Maga was originally developed for the armed forces of which country?

Imi Lichtenfeld, who defended Jewish neighbourhoods in Bratislava in the 1930s, emigrated to Palestine and developed Krav Maga for the Israel Defense Forces after Israel's founding in 1948.

What piece of clothing is typically worn in many traditional Japanese martial arts like Karate and Judo?

The gi, short for keikogi, is the loose jacket-and-trousers uniform tied with a belt; Jigoro Kano's judo students wore its modern form by 1920 and karate adopted it in the 1920s.

Which martial art is most closely associated with the Shaolin Temple?

Shaolin kung fu is the Chinese martial art tied to the Shaolin Temple, founded on Mount Song in 495 AD; its monks' fighting reputation dates to the Tang dynasty.

Which Korean martial art, built around fast, high kicks, became a full Olympic medal sport at Sydney 2000?

Taekwondo debuted as a demonstration sport in 1988 and 1992 before winning full medal status at Sydney 2000.

Morihei Ueshiba founded which Japanese martial art focused on harmonious energy and fluid movement?

Morihei Ueshiba, often referred to as O'Sensei (Great Teacher), founded Aikido in the early 20th century. Aikido emphasizes blending with an attacker's motion and redirecting their force rather than confronting it directly.

Which martial art is known as 'The Art of Eight Limbs' for striking with punches, kicks, elbows and knees?

Muay Thai, Thailand's national sport, counts punches, kicks, elbows and knees as eight points of contact; it is also known as Thai boxing.

What does the white belt typically signify in many martial arts systems?

The white belt marks a beginner; in Jigoro Kano's judo, ungraded students (mudansha) wore white and only dan-grade holders wore black, a split introduced in the 1880s.

Capoeira, part fight, part dance, part music, originated in which country?

Enslaved Africans, mostly from Angola and Mozambique, developed it in colonial Brazil, disguising combat as dance.

Which Chinese martial art of slow, flowing movements is often practised for health?

Tai Chi Chuan (taijiquan) is the slow, flowing Chinese art often called 'meditation in motion'; its Chen, Yang and Wu styles can also be practised at fighting speed, and a simplified 24-form was published in 1956.

What did Bruce Lee call the hybrid martial arts philosophy he founded?

Jeet Kune Do, 'the Way of the Intercepting Fist', was named by Bruce Lee in 1967 as a philosophy rather than a fixed style, drawing on Wing Chun, boxing, fencing and Taoist thought.

In Japanese martial arts, what is the term for a training hall?

In Japanese martial arts, a 'dojo' is a training hall or place of immersion in the 'Way.' 'Sensei' is a teacher, 'sempai' is a senior student, and 'kata' refers to pre-arranged forms.

Which martial art, called the 'Gentle Art', focuses on leverage and submission holds?

BJJ is built on grappling, ground fighting and submission holds, letting a smaller fighter beat a stronger one through leverage.

Karate made its Olympic debut at which Summer Games?

Karate debuted at Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021) as one of five sports added for that edition, alongside surfing, skateboarding, sport climbing and baseball/softball, and was dropped for Paris 2024.

Which Japanese martial art made its Olympic debut at the 1964 Games?

Judo debuted at Tokyo 1964, was dropped for Mexico City 1968 and returned for good at Munich 1972; women's judo had to wait until Barcelona 1992.

'Father of Modern Karate' Gichin Funakoshi is credited with systematizing which style?

Shotokan means 'Shoto's hall', after Funakoshi's pen name Shoto ('pine waves'); his students gave that name to his Tokyo dojo in 1936, and the style took its name from it.

In Japanese martial arts, what is the short shout uttered when performing an attack called?

Kiai is the shout; 'rei' is the formal bow, 'zanshin' a state of relaxed awareness, and 'mawatte' simply means turn around.

Which martial art of Soviet origin takes its name from an acronym meaning 'self-defence without weapons'?

Sambo is an acronym of the Russian 'samozashchita bez oruzhiya' ('self-defence without weapons'); the USSR registered it as an official sport in 1938, and FILA recognised it as an international wrestling style in 1968.

Which substance do sumo wrestlers toss into the ring before a bout, a purification rite inherited from Shinto?

Salt purifies the dohyō in a ritual inherited from Shinto; wrestlers also rinse their mouths with 'power water' before fighting.

When a yokozuna loses to a lower-ranked wrestler, what do fans traditionally hurl into the ring?

The cushion-throwing is technically banned, but it still erupts whenever a grand champion is toppled by an underdog.

Hakuhō retired holding the record for top-division sumo championships — how many?

Hakuhō won 45 top-division championships, passing Taihō's long-standing mark of 32 in January 2015 and adding a dozen more before retiring in 2021.

Akebono, the first foreign-born yokozuna, grew up in which US state?

Born Chad Rowan in Waimānalo, he was trained by fellow Hawaiian Takamiyama and reached sumo's top rank in 1993.

Which Dutch judoka won gold at Tokyo 1964, the sport's first Olympic appearance?

Geesink had already broken Japan's monopoly by becoming the first non-Japanese world champion in 1961.

Karate master Mas Oyama was famed for bare-handed demonstrations against which animal?

His students claimed he fought 52 bulls in his lifetime, earning him the nickname 'Godhand'.

Chōjun Miyagi founded which Okinawan karate style?

Gōjū-ryū, 'hard-soft school', was founded by Chōjun Miyagi in Naha around 1930; Mas Oyama studied it under So Nei Chu before creating Kyokushin.

Hapkido was adapted from which Japanese art that Choi Yong-sool brought back to Korea?

Aikido descends from the same Daitō-ryū root, which is why the two arts share their first two characters.

Chuck Norris played a villain opposite Bruce Lee in which 1972 film?

In The Way of the Dragon (1972), which Lee also wrote and directed, Norris played Colt, the hired fighter Lee defeats in a climactic duel staged inside Rome's Colosseum.

Glíma is the traditional folk wrestling of which country?

Glíma is Iceland's national folk wrestling, brought by Norse settlers; wrestlers originally gripped each other's trousers, and a belt was introduced in 1905 to give a better hold.

Ancient Greek pankration had just two rules: no biting and no what?

Pankration banned only biting and eye gouging, and Sparta reportedly allowed even those; the event joined the ancient Olympic Games in 648 BC.

Which wrestling style bans all holds below the waist?

The rule dates to 1848, and Greco-Roman was the only wrestling style contested at the first modern Olympics in 1896.

What does 'Krav Maga' literally mean in Hebrew?

Krav Maga is Hebrew for 'contact combat' (krav = combat, maga = contact); Imi Lichtenfeld developed it for the Israel Defense Forces after Israel's founding in 1948.

Bruce Lee played the sidekick Kato in which 1960s American TV series?

The Green Hornet ran on ABC from 1966 to 1967, with Lee as the masked chauffeur Kato, and introduced him to US audiences before his Hong Kong stardom.

Which 7ft 2in basketball star, a former student of Bruce Lee, fought him on screen in 1978?

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who studied Jeet Kune Do under Lee in Los Angeles, played the towering final guardian in Game of Death, released in 1978, five years after Lee's death.

Jackie Chan trained as a child in which Peking Opera school performance troupe?

Jackie Chan joined the Seven Little Fortunes troupe at Yu Jim-yuen's China Drama Academy, performing as Yuen Lo alongside future stars Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.

In Rush Hour (1998), Jackie Chan's Hong Kong detective has which surname?

Chief Inspector Lee teamed with Chris Tucker's Carter for two sequels and became Chan's Hollywood breakthrough.

Who won the eight-man tournament at UFC 1 in 1993?

Royce Gracie, the slight Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter, submitted Gerard Gordeau in the final with a rear naked choke, winning $50,000 and changing combat sports.

Which Conan the Barbarian director suggested the UFC's octagonal chain-link cage?

Milius was a student of co-founder Rorion Gracie and wanted the fights to look brutal on television.

The 'Kimura' armlock is named for Masahiko Kimura's famous win over which Gracie?

Kimura beat Hélio Gracie in Rio de Janeiro in October 1951 with a reverse ude-garami, breaking Hélio's arm when he refused to tap; Hélio's corner threw in the towel and the lock took Kimura's name.

French judo heavyweight Teddy Riner was born on which Caribbean island?

Riner was born in Les Abymes, Guadeloupe, in 1989 and raised in Paris; he went almost a decade unbeaten, racking up 154 straight wins before Kokoro Kageura stopped him in February 2020.

Which wrestler who upset Karelin in 2000 keeps a frostbitten toe in a jar in his fridge?

Gardner lost the toe after a snowmobile accident stranded him overnight and dumped him in a freezing river.

Which Japanese wrestler was the first woman to win individual gold at four straight Olympics?

Icho won from Athens 2004 through Rio 2016 and added ten world titles along the way.

Mijaín López won a record fifth straight gold in one individual event at which Olympics?

At Paris 2024 the Cuban Greco-Roman giant won the 130 kg class for a fifth straight Games, becoming the first athlete with five golds in one individual event, and retired on the mat.

A kendo shinai practice sword is made from which material?

Bamboo swords and protective armour are credited to Naganuma Shirōzaemon Kunisato in the early 18th century.

Legend says Wing Chun is named after a woman taught by which Shaolin abbess?

Legend credits the nun Ng Mui, one of the Five Elders who fled the Shaolin Temple, with teaching Yim Wing Chun, whose name the style took; Ip Man later carried it to Hong Kong in 1949.

Arnis, also called eskrima or kali, is the national martial art of which country?

Arnis was declared the Philippines' national martial art and sport by law in 2009; its other name eskrima comes from esgrima, the Spanish word for fencing.

Kalaripayattu originated in which Indian state?

Kalaripayattu is the ancient martial art of Kerala on India's south-west coast; legend credits Parashurama with founding its first 108 kalaris (training grounds) after raising the land from the sea.

The name of French kickboxing art savate translates to what?

Savate is an old French word for a worn-out shoe or boot; Michel Casseux codified the Paris street-fighting style in the 1820s, while Marseille sailors called their kicking game 'chausson', after their slippers.

Which strike gives Myanmar's bareknuckle Lethwei its name 'Art of Nine Limbs'?

Lethwei adds the headbutt to Muay Thai's eight limbs of fists, elbows, knees and shins; fighters wrap their hands only in tape and gauze, making it one of the bloodiest combat sports.

The Shaolin Monastery sits on Mount Song in which Chinese province?

The Shaolin Monastery lies in Henan, about 48 km from Luoyang, the old Northern Wei capital, and 72 km from the provincial capital Zhengzhou.

Which Indian monk legendarily reached Shaolin in 527 and founded Chan Buddhism there?

Bodhidharma, the Indian monk honoured as Chan's first patriarch, is said to have reached Shaolin in 527 and meditated for nine years in a cave on Wuru Peak.

The Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo's headquarters, stands in which district of Seoul?

The Kukkiwon stands in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, south of the Han River; opened in 1972, it also houses the World Taekwondo Academy.

Choi Hong-hi, who named 'Taekwon-Do' in 1955, controversially introduced it to which country?

Choi Hong-hi, the South Korean general who founded the International Taekwon-Do Federation in 1966, took a demonstration team to North Korea in 1980, for which the South branded him a traitor.

Karate's first character once meant 'Tang' (Chinese); what has it meant since the 1930s?

Karate's first character changed from 唐 ('Tang', meaning Chinese) to 空 ('empty') in the 1930s, as Funakoshi and other masters sought a Japanese-sounding name amid rising militarism.

Okinawa's prefectural assembly designated which date as 'Karate Day'?

The 2005 resolution chose 25 October because on that date in 1936 Okinawan masters met in Naha and formally adopted the name 'karate' for the island's fighting art.

In karate, what is a makiwara?

A makiwara is a striking post: a padded, flexible board driven into the ground that karateka punch to condition the knuckles.

Legend says Muay Thai hero Nai Khanom Tom beat a string of boxers from which land?

His feat is celebrated on 17 March, Muay Thai Day, though scholars suspect the tale was invented in the 20th century.

Capoeira is played inside a ceremonial ring of people known as what?

The roda (Portuguese for 'wheel') is the circle of players and musicians in which capoeira is played to the berimbau's rhythm; UNESCO listed the capoeira circle as intangible heritage in 2014.

In official judo competition, one player wears white and the other wears which colour?

The IJF adopted a blue judogi for one contestant in the late 1990s, and Sydney 2000 was the first Olympics fought blue versus white, so referees and spectators can tell the fighters apart.

Pride FC was devised in 1997 to stage Nobuhiko Takada's fight against which Gracie?

Pride 1 in October 1997 was built around Rickson Gracie, who submitted Nobuhiko Takada by armbar before a Tokyo Dome crowd of some 47,000 and launched Japan's MMA boom.

As a nine-year-old in Dagestan, Khabib Nurmagomedov famously wrestled which animal?

A 1997 home video shows nine-year-old Khabib grappling a chained bear cub in Dagestan; he went on to retire from the UFC unbeaten at 29-0 in 2020.

Anderson Silva's UFC middleweight title reign lasted roughly how many days?

Silva held the UFC middleweight title from October 2006 to July 2013, a reign of 2,457 days with ten successful defences.

Which Russian held Pride's heavyweight title from 2003 until the promotion closed in 2007?

Fedor Emelianenko, 'The Last Emperor', took the Pride heavyweight belt from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira in March 2003 and never lost it before Pride closed in 2007; he also won four combat sambo world titles.

In The Karate Kid (1984), Daniel LaRusso moves to California from which state?

Daniel and his mother move from Newark, New Jersey, to Reseda in Los Angeles, where he meets Mr. Miyagi and runs afoul of the Cobra Kai bullies.

Cobra Kai first streamed in 2018 on which platform before moving to Netflix?

Cobra Kai premiered on YouTube Red in May 2018 and moved to Netflix in 2020 from its third season; it ran six seasons and 65 episodes, ending in February 2025.

In Kung Fu Panda, Po's adoptive father Mr. Ping is what kind of animal?

Mr. Ping is a goose who adopted the panda Po as a cub and runs the noodle shop where Po works before Oogway names him the Dragon Warrior.

Which sword is stolen in Ang Lee's 2000 wuxia film with Chow Yun-fat and Michelle Yeoh?

The Green Destiny, a 400-year-old jian, drives the plot of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which won four Academy Awards in 2001 including Best Foreign Language Film.

The Ninja Turtles' sensei Splinter is a mutant version of which animal?

A rat, modelled by creators Eastman and Laird on Daredevil's mentor Stick as part of their 1984 comic parody; he is the Turtles' wise adoptive father.

Donnie Yen's 2008 film Ip Man is set mainly in which Chinese city?

Ip Man is set in Foshan, Guangdong, in the 1930s and under Japanese occupation before Ip flees to Hong Kong; Sammo Hung choreographed the action and it won Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

In Ong-Bak (2003), Tony Jaa's hero goes to Bangkok to recover the stolen head of what?

Ting travels to Bangkok to retrieve the stolen head of Ong-Bak, his village's Buddha statue; Jaa performed the Muay Thai stunts without wires or CGI, launching him to international fame.

The Raid (2011), a showcase for Indonesian pencak silat, was directed by a filmmaker from where?

Gareth Evans shot the apartment-block siege in Jakarta with choreography by stars Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian.

Bloodsport (1988) was based on the disputed claims of which martial artist?

Van Damme plays Dux fighting the underground Kumite tournament in Hong Kong; it was his breakout role.

Martial-arts star Michelle Yeoh won which beauty title in 1983?

Yeoh, born in Ipoh, won Miss Malaysia in 1983 after training as a ballet dancer in England; the title led to a Hong Kong commercial with Jackie Chan and her action career.

Which US president jokingly asked 11-year-old wushu prodigy Jet Li to be his bodyguard?

On a 1974 White House visit with China's wushu team, 11-year-old Jet Li was asked by President Richard Nixon to be his bodyguard; Li replied that he wanted to protect his one billion Chinese countrymen.

Donnie Yen played the blind warrior Chirrut Îmwe in which Star Wars film?

Rogue One (2016) cast Yen as Chirrut Îmwe, the blind Guardian of the Whills who chants 'I am one with the Force'; Yen's mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a tai chi grandmaster.

In the 1970s TV series Kung Fu, what nickname did Master Po give young Caine?

Master Po called young Caine 'Grasshopper' after the boy failed to hear the insect at his feet; David Carradine's Kwai Chang Caine then wandered the Old West armed only with Shaolin training.

Bokator, whose name means 'pounding the lion', is the ancient battlefield art of which country?

Bokator is Cambodia's ancient battlefield art, shown in Angkor-era bas-reliefs; its origin myth tells of a warrior killing an attacking lion with a single knee strike, and UNESCO listed it in 2022.

In Nigeria's Hausa boxing art Dambe, what is the wrapped striking fist called?

In Dambe the wrapped striking hand is the 'spear' and the open lead hand the 'shield'; some fighters once dipped the cord-wrapped fist in resin and broken glass, a practice since outlawed.

Which Korean art was the first martial art inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Heritage list?

Listed in 2011, taekkyon nearly vanished under Japanese occupation before being revived after the Korean War.

Ninja were famously associated with Iga Province and which neighbouring district?

Kōka (Kōga), just across the border in Ōmi Province, paired with Iga as the ninja heartland; peasant-warriors there formed self-defence leagues during the Sengoku period's unrest.

Which Japanese art is built around drawing the sword and cutting in one smooth motion?

Iaido is the art of drawing the sword, cutting and resheathing in one flow; each kata begins and ends with the sword sheathed and is performed solo against imaginary opponents.

Baguazhang practitioners are famous for training by walking in what pattern?

Circle walking is baguazhang's core practice: students walk a circle six to twelve feet across, changing direction as they execute palm changes that reflect the eight trigrams of the I Ching.

Which family style is the oldest known form of tai chi?

Chen style, developed in Chenjiagou village in the 17th century, is the oldest; Yang Luchan learned it there in the early 1800s and founded the Yang style, from which Wu and Sun descend.

Jackie Chan's Drunken Master (1978) depicts which real-life Chinese folk hero?

Wong Fei-hung, the Hung Ga master and physician, has been played by Kwan Tak-hing, Jet Li and Jackie Chan; the Wong Fei-hung film series holds a Guinness record as the longest-running.

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) was produced by which Hong Kong studio?

Shaw Brothers, Hong Kong's dominant studio of the era, produced the film, with Gordon Liu as San Te under director Lau Kar-leung; it was released in the US as The Master Killer.

Which Hong Kong choreographer staged the wire-fu fights in The Matrix?

The Wachowskis scheduled four months of training for the cast, and Yuen worried about how unfit they were.

The Bride's yellow tracksuit in Kill Bill is a nod to which Bruce Lee film?

The yellow-and-black tracksuit copies the jumpsuit Bruce Lee wore in Game of Death (1978); Tarantino also named swordsmith Hattori Hanzō after Sonny Chiba's role in the TV series Shadow Warriors.

Judo's Kodokan opened in 1882 with twelve mats inside what kind of building?

Kano opened the Kodokan in 1882 with nine disciples in a twelve-mat room at Eishō-ji, a Buddhist temple in Tokyo's Shitaya district; the eight-storey Kodokan headquarters in Bunkyō opened in 1984.

Edith Garrud trained the 'Bodyguard' unit of which movement in jujutsu?

The unit protected Women's Social and Political Union leaders from arrest, and Garrud was Britain's first female jujutsu teacher.

Who coined the term 'kickboxing' in the 1960s?

Osamu Noguchi, a Japanese boxing promoter, coined 'kickboxing' in 1966 for a sport blending karate with Muay Thai rules, and founded the Kickboxing Association that year.

Sanda, formerly called sanshou, is the official full-contact kickboxing sport of which country?

Sanda is China's state-backed full-contact sport, contested at the Chinese National Games and the IWUF World Wushu Championships; it grew out of military training and the old bare-handed lei tai platform fights.

How many rounds does a traditional professional Muay Thai bout in Thailand have?

A traditional professional Muay Thai bout in Thailand runs five three-minute rounds with two-minute rests; fighters open with the wai khru ram muay ritual dance before the first bell.

The dan ranking system behind martial-arts black belts was first devised for which game?

The dan grades were first used in Go: Hon'inbō Dōsaku devised them in the 17th century, and Jigoro Kano borrowed the system for judo in 1883, from which black belts spread to other arts.

In judo, how long must a pin be held continuously to score ippon?

Under the IJF rules in force from 2018 a pin held for 20 seconds scores ippon and 10 seconds scores waza-ari; two waza-ari by the same athlete also add up to ippon.

The word shuriken literally means what?

Shuriken (手裏剣) literally means 'hand-hidden blade', a sword hidden in the hand; though called throwing stars in English, they came in many shapes, including straight bō-shuriken spikes.

Which Okinawan weapon is a stick with a perpendicular handle set a third of the way along?

The tonfa is a hardwood baton with a side handle about a third of the way along; its origin is debated between China and Southeast Asia, and the story that it began as a millstone handle is probably a myth.