Almost all cultures have Martial Arts of one form or another that can trace their history back centuries. The definition of 'tradition martial art' may need to be narrowed. Any training that is aimed at combat, whether it is the use of a gun, sword, bow, spear, or any other weapon is a martial art.
The European countries that created their own martial arts were,
Italy,
Germany,
Scotland,
Ancient Greece,
Spain,
Scandinavia,
Ancient Britain, (the Celts).
In Ancient times the Celts, Brittanians and Gauls used the Ancient British martial arts, (Celtic martial arts), most everyone else in Britain used the Greek martial arts. In the Middieval times Italy and Germany had the most widely used martial arts in Europe, (Italian was the most common), during this period in Scandinavia the Vikings used "Viking Martial Arts". During the Renaissance most countries chose between the Spanish, German or Italian martial arts, (again, Italian being the most common), during the Renaissance, many countries, (such as France and Switzerland), used the Italian style of martial arts but modified it to meet their standards and called it "French" when really it was just the Italian martial arts, just with the spear, sword or axe raised higher in the standard guard with other minor changes. Scottish martial arts were used mainly in Britain, but some in Brittani.
Chat with our AI personalities
Martial arts are those skills taught to be used in combat. They include all forms of weapons and unarmed combat. They have been developed over thousands of years in every country in the world.
There are Taekwondo students in nearly every country around the world. Most of them are affiliated with a major, international Federation. Since there are so many different, independent associations and Taekwondo clubs, it is difficult to get an accurate count of how many or where they all are.
With Taekwondo having the core Martial Art curriculum, and a separate sport identity, there are both Martial Artists, and tournament competitors training all over the world. Many organizations host their own tournaments, but the Kukkiwon, World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul, South Korea has given birth to an International sports governing authority called the World Taekwondo Federation. Through their efforts, Taekwondo has been recognized as an Olympic event since 1988 (Demonstration sport at the Summer Games in Seoul, Korea), and an official full medal sport since 2000 (Sydney, Australia).
For a list of Continental Unions, and member National Associations recognized by the World Taekwondo Federation for Olympic sports, see the related link below.