Martial Sport

Judo and Tae Kwon Do as well as western archery, boxing, javelin, wrestling and fencing are currently events in the Summer Olympic Games. Chinese wushu recently failed in its bid to be included, but is still actively performed in tournaments across the world. Practitioners in some arts such as kickboxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu often train for sport matches, whereas those in other arts such as Aikido and Wing Chun generally spurn such competitions. Some schools believe that competition breeds better and more efficient practitioners, and gives a sense of good sportsmanship. Others believe that the rules under which competition takes place have diminished the combat effectiveness of Martial arts or encourage a kind of practice, which focuses on winning trophies rather than a focus such as cultivating a particular moral character.
As part of the response to sport martial arts, new forms of competition are being held such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the U.S. or Pancrase, and the PRIDE in Japan, which are also known as mixed martial arts (or MMA) events. The original UFC was fought under very few rules allowing all martial arts styles to enter and not be limited by the rule set.
Some martial artists also compete in non-sparring competitions such as breaking or choreographed techniques poomse, kata or aka. Modern variations of the martial arts include dance-influenced competitions such as tricking.
Some martial traditions have been influenced by governments to become more sport-like for political purposes. The central impetus for the attempt by the People's Republic of China in transforming Chinese martial arts into the committee-regulated sport of Wushu was suppressing what they saw as the potentially subversive aspects of martial training, especially under the traditional system of family lineages