Challenge - Accepted! Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Martial arts is a direct translation of the Chinese term "wushu". Not surprisingly - as "martial" comes from Mars, the Roman god of war - many of these disciplines have their origins in practices used for combat training. However, many of the traditional ones (especially those from East Asia) also have strong connections with spirituality and philosophy. For this reason, a number of martial arts have been granted the status of intangible cultural heritage of the countries where they originated. On the other hand, in spite of their long history and popularity, martial arts have been largely excluded from the Summer Olympics.

Unarmed martial arts focus on various grappling or striking techniques. The former include throwing, pinning, trapping, and holds. Martial arts focused on grappling are the well-known Japanese disciplines of Sumo (Japan's unofficial national sport), Aikido and Ju-jitsu, as well as Sambo, originally developed in the Soviet Union for the Red Army. Those that focus instead on striking include kicking and punching, as well as knee and elbow strikes. Taekwondo (South Korea's official national sport), Capoeira (Brazil's unofficial national sport) and Savate (derived from French street fighting techniques) emphasize kicks, while Wing Chun (from China) involves punching and hand-to-hand combat. Bokator, Cambodia's national sport, and one of the world's oldest fighting styles, is based on knee strikes, though other techniques are also used. Muay Thai (Thailand's unofficial national sport) combines striking with clinch fighting.

Other martial arts make use of weapons, bladed or otherwise. Japanese Kendo employs bamboo swords and full protective armour. Jogo do pau ("stick game"), as its name implies, is a traditional form of staff combat from the Iberian Peninsula. Eskrima, also known as Arnis or Kali, is the official national sport of the Philippines, which focuses on fighting with weapons such as sticks, knives or swords, but also on unarmed combat techniques.

Developed for the Israeli Defence Forces, Krav Maga ("contact combat") is one of the many modern hybrid (or eclectic) martial arts, which combines techniques from various unarmed combat sports for both self-defense and offensive purposes. Another hybrid martial art, Jeet Kune Do ("way of the intercepting fist"), was created by famous actor and martial artist Bruce Lee by combining elements of various East Asian martial arts, as well as boxing, fencing and wrestling, with Zen Buddhist and Taoist philosophies.

Of the seven sports listed as wrong answers, Kabaddi is a contact team sport from the Indian subcontinent, while Lacrosse - also a contact team sport - is originally from North America. Dressage is an equestrian sport, while Buzkashi, Afghanistan's national sport, is also known as "dead goat polo". Jai alai is a variation of Basque pelota; Parkour is an athletic training discipline; and pétanque is a French sport similar to bocce and lawn bowls.