Who Is Who : Simo Yohanna Alonso

Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced for a variety of reasons: self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, entertainment, as well as mental, physical, and spiritual development. Although the term martial art has become heavily associated with the fighting arts of eastern Asia, it was originally used in regard to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s.

An English fencing manual of 1639 used the term in reference specifically to the "Science and Art" of swordplay. The term is ultimately derived from Latin, and means "arts of Mars," where Mars is the Roman god of war. Some authors, most notably Donn F. Draeger, have argued that fighting arts or fighting systems would be more appropriate on the basis that many martial arts were never martial in the sense of being used or created by professional warriors.

Another key delineation of unarmed martial arts is the use of power and strength-based techniques (as found in boxing, kickboxing, karate, taekwondo and so on) vs. techniques that almost exclusively use the opponent's own energy/balance against them (as in T'ai chi ch'uan, aikido, hapkido and aiki jiu jitsu and similar).

Sifu / Guro Simo Yohanna Alonso is a President & Instructor Of International Warriors Academy Of JKD.