Is boxing a martial art?

Remmy

Hi perhaps a silly question but is boxing a martial art?And if not what constitutes a martial art?

Is it just a catch all term for all arts or codes of practice people study?

SanoVitae

Remmy wrote: »

Hi perhaps a silly question but is boxing a martial art?And if not what constitutes a martial art?

Is it just a catch all term for all arts or codes of practice people study?

I would say it's a martial art. However, I would imagine the average person on the street wouldn't, instead associating the term with fighting styles originating from Asia (e.g. karate, kung-fu, etc).

arybvtcw0eolkf

SanoVitae wrote: »

I would say it's a martial art. However, I would imagine the average person on the street wouldn't, instead associating the term with fighting styles originating from Asia (e.g. karate, kung-fu, etc).

+1.

Unpossible

I would consider boxing and wrestling martial arts, however as SanoVitae said most people probably only think of asian arts (and maybe MMA) when using the term "martial arts"

maguffin

Have a read of this Wikipedia description of boxing, especially the Early History bit....boxing is pretty old..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing

maguffin

joeyhehir

Martial arts means anything that involves training for combat/warfare.

Ever watched Dressage in the Olympics? All the movements are old warfare moves. The stamps are jumping on bodies... the different sideways movements are for positioning the rider to shoot in different directions... there is another movement for ramming spear holders where the horse surges forward with one jump.

Alot of older sports come from practicing for warfare.. Hammer, javalin etc I think their are a load of martial arts out their but lately "martial arts" seems to have become "any fighting style from the east".

Even "chess" has derived from strategy training for generals.

There are simply loads of martial arts out there.....

yomchi

Boxing is one of the oldest martial systems. There are many out there that would be classed as a martial art but not recognised as one, fencing being another.

Niall Keane

Don't forget hurling!

themandan6611

George St Pierre, supreme mixed martial artist, used some pretty fine boxing on Saturday.

Remmy

Thanks for the replies lads.I'd always consider it a martial art myself it would seem strange not to.Its an interesting enough topic.Does anyone know any good books on the history of boxing or something similar?

Remmy

themandan6611 wrote: »

George St Pierre, supreme mixed martial artist, used some pretty fine boxing on Saturday.

He has yeah.Andrei arlovski has some pretty slick standup/boxing skills aswell.

joeyhehir

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boxing-Cultural-History-Kasia-Boddy/dp/1861893698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292326488&sr=1-1

Remmy

joeyhehir wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Boxing-Cultural-History-Kasia-Boddy/dp/1861893698/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292326488&sr=1-1

thanks for the suggestion.I looked up the review of it on amazon and it looks the buisness alright!

Are there any autobiographys by boxers that are worth a read?

cowzerp

Remmy wrote: »

thanks for the suggestion.I looked up the review of it on amazon and it looks the buisness alright!

Are there any autobiographys by boxers that are worth a read?

becoming holyfield is a great read..

joeyhehir

http://www.amazon.de/Zigeuner-Geschichte-Johann-Trollmann-Harder/dp/3492049028

This book tells the incredable story of Johan Trollman. The nazi's killed him... A man of real courage.... trouble is it is in german....

Charlie3dan

I'm not sure I would consider anything that involves training for combat/ warfare a martial art

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFvql-O1GWQ

joeyhehir

Just a matter of opinion...

Martial = war like

Art = A superior skill that you can learned by study, practice or observation

Charlie3dan

Personally, I think martial arts are differentiated from fight sport by Budo, but that's not to say they have any more or less merit than fight sport.

pearsquasher

I think that there is more to "Art" than simply acquired skill - superior or not.

"Art" in all other disciplines.... painting, ballet, sculpture etc implies a large degree of self-expression on the part of the artist and I think this is true of the "martial" artist. We all practice martial skills but I think martial artistry is as rare as any other artistry. Put it this way, we can all paint a scene but very few can capture a scene the way the great artists do - like Cezanne, Van Gogh etc. So if I paint some trees .....am I an artist? Not really!

This is the same for the art of fighting. However.... while most art is visual or aural.....a true martial art is mainly tactile. The "observer" has to be involved physically to get the art of it. So when a true martial artist controls you're body(and mind)... its VERY different to when a person who's very strong or flexible does it. There is something more to it......

I think this artistry is expressed very well by very few people... like other arts.

With boxing..... we can see the artistry in the likes of Muhammod Ali. He had something more than just skill....

So to some up.. the term "Martial art" has become a loose definition of a range of physical styles/skills..... but a true martial "art" is what somebody who has attained mastery in martial skills does...... not necessarily what the the rest of us are doing. But paint enough trees under the eye of a master... and maybe your own style will come out and folks will call you "an artist".

JohnMc1

Remmy wrote: »

Hi perhaps a silly question but is boxing a martial art?And if not what constitutes a martial art?

Is it just a catch all term for all arts or codes of practice people study?

Boxing [and wrestling ] are Martial Arts. Its just that the casual public just perceives stuff like Karate,Tkd Kung-Fu, Judo [basically anything with a Gi or as most non-MA people call them pajamas.] and not Boxing or wrestling.