Martial Arts in the Public Arena
(Northern Arizona University)
Over thousands of years, practitioners worldwide have created, applied, and modified the martial arts into numerous different styles. An integral component of human history, each individual style of martial arts has been adopted and adapted culturally to reflect spirituality, social relationships and behaviors, codes or honor or valor, as well as simply to practice as a combat or athletic sport. The practice and execution of martial arts from its conception to its current state of existence establishes a code of ethics and promotes healthy living practices and longevity. This paper describes and examines, from an anthropological perspective, the overall mental, emotional, and physical benefits of martial arts on the human body and mind as practiced in the past, present, and hopefully the future—in the public as well as the private sphere.