Various styles of Oriental combat, either empty hand or with weapons. Thousands of styles of martial arts exist. Martial arts originally were developed to achieve victory in battle. Over the centuries, however, they became philosophical and spiritual disciplines for cultivating a deeper meaning in life, and became steeped in Buddhism, Taoism, Shintoism, and Zen. They remained shrouded in secrecy until the Korean War, and since then have been exported increasingly to the West. Empy hand martial arts are the most popular in the West.

Regadless of style, the key to all martial arts is sillful use of the universal life force (ch'i in Chinese and ki in Japanese), which permeates all things and can be directed throughout the body. Most martial arts have feats of incredible power, such as powerbreaking, which is the breaking of thick pieces of wood, layers of tile or bricks, and so on with the hand, foot, elbow, head, or even fingertips. In Kung Fu, the "iron palm" is a single blow with the hand that kills. Other, lesser-known Oriental martial arts have gained a following in the West. For example, Tae Kwon-Do is a thirteen-hundred-year-old style from Korea.