martial art

Meanings

1. Any of several fighting styles which contain systematized methods of training for combat, both armed and unarmed; often practiced as a sport, e.g. boxing, karate, judo, silat, wrestling, or Muay Thai.
2. Military skills, proficiency in military strategy, prowess in warfare.

Etymology

Calque of Japanese 武術 (bujutsu), which is itself borrowed from Chinese 武術 /武术 (wǔshù). However, the term had been already mentioned in Pope's Iliad (1715, 4.360), and in Sotheby's Iliad (1831, book 6).