摘要
The term martial art is used as a heading to discuss a wide range of combative styles; however, the term is deployed in ways that exposes a disconnection between the term and the styles to which it is referring. In this paper, I explore the disconnection between the martial arts and posit that martial art is an oxymoron as described by Michel de Certeau. As an alternative to the oxymoronic use of martial art, I examine two conceptions of practice： the first advanced by Alasdair Maclntyre and applied to martial arts by Charles Hackney; the second advanced by Todd May and amended with ideas from Noel Carroll. The latter conception of practice begins to establish a new way to consider the relationships among the combative styles and how these can be incorporated into the term martial arts, thereby quelling the disconnection between the term and the styles.
