Are wrestling and boxing martial arts?

Question

Do you consider wrestling (both Greco-Roman and freestyle) and boxing martial arts? Why or why not?

Answer 1

I see there are a lot of good answers already but I won't let that stop me.

Wrestling and boxing are martial arts, just like skeet shooting is still training to use a firearm. Just because something is used in sport does not mean it becomes deprecated for real-life use.

I know martial artist who disdain Kata/forms because they are convinced you can't use them for anything. While you'd never defend yourself with a Kata/form, unless you were fighting a mime, they teach body control, balance, movement, etc, all of which are very important when fighting.

Anything that is systematic and developed to aid in bodily defense or attacks, no matter how stylized, is a martial art. Folks who don't understand that are missing a very basic point.

Answer 2

Martial arts means simply: The methods of war. War is a conflict between opponents. By these definitions (from the dictionary, not my opinion) any time you use a skill to defeat an opponent can be considered a martial art.

What this means is that boxing, wrestling, chess, even tennis and football can technically be considered martial arts. Now, don't get your panties in a wad, let me finish. You have all heard the saying "Don't bring a knife to a gunfight". Pete Sampras isn't going to open up a can of whoop@ss on a guy with his racket. He has a skill for a particular type of contest. All martial arts teach specific techniques to deal with a specific situation, whether it's street self defense, tournament competition, or just self expression. Being able to do one of those things doesn't make you good at the others.

You can agree with me or not. But by definition, boxing and wrestling are martial arts.

Answer 3

Yes, any combat sport can be called martial arts. Both of those I might add are an important part to MMA training. Many of the martial artist that I train with are also college wrestlers, and I must say that their take downs into the ground and pound or submission are pretty impressive. Those are both some of the most ancient martial arts, just look to ancient Greece and you will see.

Answer 4

i think so. Greco -roman wrestling is tactical and has technique slightly diffrent from the WWE which acts not competes. Freestyle bocing is a form of martial arts as long as its not putting a fixed show out to viewers, since technique and tactics are applied in the sport.

Answer 5

Yes, Martial Look up the word. Arts look up the word. And the answer would be YES. In fact I would consider BALLET a martial art. Any instructor would be glad to take over a Ballet class.

Answer 6

Dis is all from Wiki :
Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. Today, martial arts are studied for various reasons including combat skills, fitness, self-defense, sport, self-cultivation (meditation), mental discipline, character development and building self-confidence. A practitioner of martial arts is referred to as a martial artist.

Striking

Punching - (e.g. Boxing, Karate, ShaoLin Long Fist, Muay Thai, Wing Chun)
Kicking - (e.g. Capoeira, Savate, Sikaran, Hung Gar, Taekwondo)
Grappling

Throwing - (e.g. Glima, Judo, Jujutsu, Sambo)
Pinning Techniques - (e.g. Wrestling, Judo)
Joint lock - (e.g. Aikido, Chin Na, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Malla-yuddha)


Includes both ur arts in there so apparently yes they are.

Answer 7

yes they are.

Can you use either one of them in a fight?

Absolutely.

boxing is more of a martial art than point sparring tkd.

thier marital ability might be inhibited by certain rules, however that doesn't make it any less of a fighting ability than kyokoshin karate or sambo.

and "reinactors" are of course going to say thier "game" is a martial art- but unless the emphasis is on learning to fight for the sake of learning to fight, and not giving "agincort" speeches, then it is just a "game".

That is what separates SCA LARPing (live action role-playing) from legitimate WMA where the students learn historically accurate techniques and the focus is not on whose kingdom has the fattest wench, it is how do I improve my skills and learn proper historical fighting techniques through realitic sparring and training.

Answer 8

Yes they are. They are both physical combative sports which can be classified as martial arts.

Answer 9

they are used in mixed martial arts fiting so yes

Answer 10

I see them more as sports. I used to medieval reinact and that was classed as martail arts well that what they told me. Im going to go for sprot. There on the sprots channel.. but then im not sure.