Martial arts is a system of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. Today, people study martial arts for various reasons including sport, fitness, self-defense, self-cultivation (meditation), mental discipline and character development, and self-confidence.

A practitioner of martial arts is called a martial artist.

Worldwide there is a great diversity of martial arts; which, broadly speaking, share a common goal: to physically defeat a person or defend oneself. In many martial arts, training goes beyond fighting to include personal, mental, and spiritual development.

A common characteristic of martial arts is the systemization of fighting techniques. One common traditional method of training, particularly in the East Asian martial arts, is the form or kata (also called poomse, ch'ůan t'ao, kuen, tao lu, hyung, or tuls), which is a set routine of techniques performed alone, or sometimes with a partner.