What exactly is a “martial art?”
The term “martial” refers to war or militarism or to a man’s masculinity or to the masculine side of a woman’s personality.
Fighting is not considered formally ladylike or feminine as an art, and women who engage in it are engaging the masculine or active dominant sides of their personalities. “Let every woman have her own husband,” as Apostle Paul concedes in the Bible. She has that male side of her personality whether or not she is actually married to a man. (Women who own property as such own property in the same respect, essentially “as” men.)
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In Chinese, the term kung fu refers to any skill that is acquired through learning or practice. It is a compound word composed of the words 功 (gōng) meaning "work", "achievement", or "merit", and 夫 (fū) originally meaning "man" or "person," but functions here as a suffix indicating someone who has attained skill or discipline through effort.
This is more or less what we would call tradecraft in more of a CIA-level context.
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Since Ryukyuans were banned from carrying swords under samurai rule, groups of young aristocrats created unarmed combat methods as a form of resistance, combining Chinese and local styles of martial arts. Training emphasized self-discipline. This blend of martial arts became known as kara-te 唐手, which translates to "Chinese hand."
It is not exactly honorable to term any method of combat “unarmed.” Knives and guns are merely objects, which may or may not be useful to either party in any particular situation of combat.
Hand-to-hand combat over the possession or control of guns and knives is not “unarmed” but merely an essential prerequisite to maintaining a physical hold on whatever weapons one does have, in order to use them effectively in combat and not let them fall into the hands of the enemy.
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"Taekwondo" can be translated as tae ("strike with foot"), kwon ("strike with hand"), and do ("the art or way").
It is more of the same. Close hand-to-hand combat. Not to be considered unarmed. You may need to kick that knife or gun out of the hand of the enemy and gain control of it yourself for victory.
Annabel Nugent
“Dancing” is not always an honorable activity, but men who are skilled at it should be considered formidable opponents at martial arts, not weak or gay or effeminate. It's a little bit of a off-beat lay preacher thing to consider any form of “dancing” as an abuse of one's own body. Whatever form of bodily exercise it is, a sedentary sheepish lifestyle is an even more severe abuse of one's body that is sure to cause even more rapid ageing and disability: “sloth” as a deadly sin which has often escaped Protestant notice.