Commonly, any of several fighting styles which contain systematised methods of training for combat, both armed and unarmed; often practised as a sport, e.g. boxing, karate, judo, Silat, wrestling, or Muay Thai
any of several Oriental arts of weaponless self-defense; usually practiced as a sport; "he had a black belt in the martial arts
A martial art is one of the methods of fighting, often without weapons, that come from the Far East, for example kung fu, karate, or judo. Any of several Asian arts of combat or self-defense, such as aikido, karate, judo, or tae kwon do, usually practiced as sport. Often used in the plural. a sport such as judo or karate, in which you fight with your hands and feet. Martial arts were developed in Eastern Asia. Any of several arts of combat and self-defense that are widely practiced as sport. There are armed and unarmed varieties, most based on traditional fighting methods used in East Asia. In modern times, derivatives of armed martial arts include kendo (fencing with wooden swords) and kyudo (archery). Unarmed varieties include aikido, judo, karate, kung fu, and tae kwon do. Because of the influence of Taoism and Zen Buddhism, there is a strong emphasis in all the martial arts on the practitioner's mental and spiritual state. A hierarchy of expertise, ranging from the novice ("white belt") to the master ("black belt"), is usually recognized. See also t'ai chi ch'uan; jujitsu
() Collocation of martial + art, coined in 1933 as a loan translation of Japanese bujutsu.
But already in Pope's Iliad (1715, 4.360), and in Sotheby's Iliad (1831, book 6).