This section of our guide covers combat sports, where participants face off in one-on-one battles, striving to win by earning points, forcing a submission, or securing a knockout.

The earliest depictions of combat sports date back to ancient times. Egyptian murals from around 2000 BC show wrestling scenes, and the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the oldest known literary works, describes grappling matches in ancient Mesopotamia. Combat sports were integral to the Olympic Games in ancient Greece, where wrestling and boxing were prominently featured.

Throughout the Middle Ages, combat sports evolved with the rise of tournaments and jousting among knights, while the Renaissance period saw the emergence of fencing and some of the martial arts.

Today, combat sports are highly organized and regulated, with international competitions and governing bodies ensuring fair play and safety measures.

Hundreds of sports can be categorized as combat sports, but they can be broadly classified into two main types: striking and grappling.

Striking sports are those that involve techniques where competitors use their hands, feet, elbows, and knees to strike their opponents. Boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Taekwondo would fall within this classification.

Grappling sports involve techniques that focus on throws, takedowns, joint locks, and chokes, and include wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and Sambo.

A third classification of combat sports might be termed combat simulations. These include paintball, airsoft, laser tag, archer tag, nerf wars, water wars, and Super Soaker battles. While these don't neatly fit into some of the definitions of combat sports, the fact that their very nature simulates combat indicates that they should also be featured here.

These may also be considered shooting sports, but the essence of these sports more closely aligns with combat than shooting skills, as compared to such sports as target shooting, archery, skeet shooting, and so on.

Combat sports are defined by direct, physical engagement between participants, often involving strategies to outmaneuver and defeat the opponent. Sports such as paintball involve direct, tactical engagements where participants actively seek to hit opponents, simulating combat scenarios. This is similar to the direct confrontation characteristic of boxing or MMA.

In combat sports, the primary objective is to outscore, submit, or incapacitate the opponent through physical means. In paintball and airsoft, the goal is to eliminate opponents by marking them with paint or hitting them with pellets, requiring strategic movement, teamwork, and tactical planning. This contrasts with shooting sports like target shooting or archery, where the primary focus is precision and accuracy in hitting static targets.

Given the nature of engagement, objective, required skills, simulation of combat scenarios, and competitive format, paintball, airsoft, and even Super Soaker battles share more characteristics with combat sports than with traditional shooting sports.

Each combat sport has unique techniques and strategies. For example, boxing includes jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts, along with defensive maneuvers like slipping, bobbing, and weaving. Judo techniques include various throws, pins, and submission holds.

In combat sports, the fighting areas will vary according to the sport. Boxing commonly occurs in a square ring with ropes, typically 16-20 feet on each side, while MMA uses an octagonal cage, often called "The Octagon." Wrestling and judo are practiced on a padded mat area with specific dimensions and markings for competition. In contrast, paintball competitions are held in specially designed fields that vary widely in layout and terrain, from indoor arenas to wooded areas to urban environments.

Combat sports offer a blend of physical prowess, strategy, and cultural heritage. Whether through striking, grappling, or combat simulation, participants engage in these sports for recreation, entertainment, or competition.

The fifty most common combat sports are Boxing, MMA, Brazilia Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Judo, Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Karate, Sambo, Krav Maga, Kung Fu, Capoeria, Aikido, Hapkido, Kendo, Silat, Wing Chun, Jeet Kune Do, Savate, Sumo, Lethwei, Pankration, Shootfighting, Vale Tudo, Eskrima, Systema, Ninjutsu, Jujutsu, Shorinji Kempo, Sanda, Combat Sambo, Greco-Roman Wrestling, Freestyle Wrestling, Catch Wrestling, Paintball, Glima, Bokator, Dambe, Taekkyeon, Hwa Rang Do, Bartitsu, Canne de Combat, Gatka, Kalaripayattu, Malla-yuddha, Pehlwani, Shuai Jiao, Mongolian Wrestling, Kurash, Ssireum, Sambo, and Jogo do Pau.

Some combat sports are known and practice internationally, while others are familiar only to certain parts of the world.

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