Taekwondo is a Korean martial art, characterized by its emphasis on head-height kicks, jumping spinning kicks, and fast kicking techniques. Beginning in 1945, shortly after the end of World War II and the Japanese Occupation, new martial arts schools called 'Kwan' opened in Seoul. These schools were established by Korean martial artists with backgrounds in (mostly) Japanese and Chinese martial arts. At the time, indigenous disciplines (such as Taekkyeon) were all but forgotten, due to years of decline and repression by the Japanese colonial government. The umbrella term traditional Taekwondo typically refers to the martial arts practiced by the kwans during the 1940s and 1950s, though in reality the term "Taekwondo" had not yet been coined at that time, and indeed each Kwan(school) was practicing its own unique fighting style. In 1952, South Korean President Lee Seung-man witnessed a martial arts demonstration by ROK officer Choi Hong-hi and Nam Tae-hi from the 29th Infantry Division. He misrecognized the technique on display as Taekkyeon, and urged martial arts to be introduced to the army under a single system. Beginning in 1955 the leaders of the kwans began discussing in earnest the possibility of creating a unified Korean martial art. Until then, Tang Soo Do was used to name Korean Karate, using the Korean hanja pronunciation of the Japanese kanji (唐手道). The name Tae Soo Do (跆手道) was also used to describe a unified style of Korean martial arts. This name consists of the hanja 跆(tae) "to stomp, trample", 手(su) "hand", and 道(do) "way, discipline". Choi Hong-hi advocated the use of the name Tae Kwon Do, i.e. replacing 手(su) "hand" with 拳(kwon or gwon) "fist", the term also used for "martial arts" in Chinese 'Quán'. The name was also the closest to the pronunciation of Taekkyeon, in accordance with the views of the president. The new name was initially slow to catch on among the leaders of the kwans. During this time Taekwondo was also adopted for use by the South Korean military, which increased its popularity among civilian martial arts schools. In 1959 the Korea Taekwondo Association or KTA (then-Korea Tang Soo Do Association) was established to facilitate the unification of Korean martial arts. General Choi, of the Oh Do Kwan, wanted all the other member kwans of the KTA to adopt his own Chan Hon-style of Taekwondo, as a unified style. This was, however, met with resistance as the other kwans instead wanted a unified style to be created based on inputs from all the kwans, to serve as a way to bring on the heritage and characteristics of all of the styles, not just the style of a single kwan. As a response to this, along with disagreements about teaching Taekwondo in North Korea and unifying the whole Korean Peninsula, Choi broke with the KTA in 1966, in order to establish the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF)— a separate governing body devoted to institutionalizing his own style of Taekwondo in Canada. Initially, the South Korean president, having close ties to General Choi, gave General Choi's ITF limited support. However, the South Korean government wished to avoid North Korean influence on the martial art. Conversely, ITF president Choi Hong-hi sought support for his style of Taekwondo from all quarters, including North Korea. In response, in 1972 South Korea withdrew its support for the ITF. The ITF continued to function as an independent federation, then headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Choi continued to develop the ITF-style, notably with the 1983 publication of his Encyclopedia of Taekwondo. After Choi's retirement, the ITF split in 2001 and then again in 2002 to create three separate federations each of which continues to operate today under the same name. In 1972 the KTA and the South Korean government's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism established the Kukkiwon as the new national academy for Taekwondo. Kukkiwon now serves many of the functions previously served by the KTA, in terms of defining a government-sponsored unified style of Taekwondo. In 1973 the KTA and Kukkiwon supported the establishment of the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF, renamed to World Taekwondo in 2017 due to confusion with the initialism) to promote the sportive side of Kukki-Taekwondo. WT competitions employ Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo. For this reason, Kukkiwon-style Taekwondo is often referred to as WT-style Taekwondo, sport-style Taekwondo, or Olympic-style Taekwondo, though in reality the style is defined by the Kukkiwon, not the WT. Since 2000, Taekwondo has been one of only two Asian martial arts (the other being judo) that are included in the Olympic Games. It started as a demonstration event at the 1988 games in Seoul, a year after becoming a medal event at the Pan Am Games, and became an official medal event at the 2000 games in Sydney. In 2010, Taekwondo was accepted as a Commonwealth Games sport.

Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian cultural practice – simultaneously a fight and a dance – that can be interpreted as a tradition, a sport, and even an art form. Capoeira players form a circle at the center of which two players engage with one another. The movements require great bodily dexterity. The other players around the circle sing, chant, clap and play percussive instruments. Capoeira circles are formed by a group of people of any gender and comprise a master, counter-master, and disciples. The master is the bearer and guardian of the knowledge of the circle and is expected to teach the repertoire and to maintain the group’s cohesion and its observance to a ritual code. The master usually plays a single-string percussion instrument, starts the chants, and leads the game’s timing and rhythm. All participants are expected to know how to make and play the instrument, sing a shared repertoire of chants, improvise songs, know and respect the codes of ethics and conduct, and perform the movements, steps, and strikes. The capoeira circle is a place where knowledge and skills are learned by observation and imitation. It also functions as an affirmation of mutual respect between communities, groups, and individuals and promotes social integration and the memory of resistance to historical oppression.

The Martial Arts of Renaissance Europe (MARE) is the martial arts form in Europe from the 13th to the 17th century, consisting of Historical swordsmanship, Classical fencing, Sport fencing, Theatrical fencing. Despite the fact there is a more than 2,400-year-old military tradition within the Western civilization of close-combat proficiency, few subjects have received as unfortunate neglect by historians and academics than the martial arts of Western Europe. But a growing amount of modern research has centered on the historical methods of using various types of Medieval and Renaissance swords and weaponry in historically accurate and martially sound manners. This emerging study of historical European martial arts involves a fascinating combination of military history, fencing history, literature, art, language, and archaeology. The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts (ARMA), founded in 1992, has been studying and practicing historical fencing and the exploration and promotion of the Western martial heritage.

Formally referred to as lobokkatao, bokator is an ancient Cambodian martial art that was developed by Angkor as a close-quarter combat system. It is also engraved on the walls of Angkor Wat temple. Bokator was designed with one main purpose: to win on the battlefield. It uses a diverse array of elbow and knee strikes, shin kick, submission, and grapple. Fighters are basically can use every part of the body to attack their opponents, and a bamboo stick or short bat may be used. Fighters wear krama(scarf) around the waist, and sangvar(blue and red silk cords) toed around the biceps. The color of the krama signifies the combatant’s level: white – green – blue – red – brown – black – gold. There are about 10,000 movements from 341 sets which are based on the study of life in nature, by observing animals(horse, eagle, monkey, snake, lion, elephant, duck, etc.) and mimicking their styles and natural weapons like a fang, tusk, and claw. Once upon a time, before the century, there was a small village in the jungle that was being preyed upon and attacked by a man-eating lion. To protect the village, a local warrior who was armed only with a knife, tracked down the lion and killed it with the techniques that would become known as Bokator. The term itself translates into “pounding a lion”, with bok meaning to pound and tor meaning lion. However, the second half of the 20th century was a hard time for Bokator because it had been deliberately neglected by the Pol Pot regime(1975-1979). Those who practiced traditional arts were systematically exterminated by the Khmer Rouge, fled as refugees, or stopped teaching and hid. After the Khmer Rouge regime, the Vietnamese occupation of Cambodia began and native martial arts were completely outlawed. Grandmaster San Kim Sean is largely credited with reviving the bokator. During the Pol Pot era, San had to flee Cambodia under accusations by the Vietnamese of teaching hapkido and bokator and starting to form an army, an accusation of which he was innocent. In 1995, he returned home to revive the dying bokator but he found that it was still too dangerous to teach bokator, so he went into seclusion in the mountains where he spent his time meditating. In 2001, he moved to Phnom Penh, got permission from the new king, and began teaching bokator to local youth. Then he went on a journey searching for the remaining masters to document all the techniques. He brought the masters and formed the Cambodia Youth Kun Federation in 2004. The first national championship was held in Phnom Penh in 2006 at the Olympic Stadium.