I didn't mean to let this go off into a discussion on when something is 'art', but by this definition playing soccer is an 'art' too. When one leaves the notion that fighting is the goal, then I guess it can become an 'art'; but that's not what people mean when they say 'martial art'. They like to still have it be associated with effective fighting, yet at the same time also have it float in a cloud of mysticism.
What I'm saying is - either some style is a dance or stylized movement form, or it's a system to fight effectively. The first I don't mind calling 'art', frankly I don't care much about it. The second is not 'art', it's science - it's about finding (through hypotheses, falsifying them, empirical testing, the whole yadda yadda) the most effective way to inflict various forms of damage to a human body (one can debate how far the use of tools can go in this - if swords are OK, why not landmines; but that's a different discussion).
What I'm saying is - either some style is a dance or stylized movement form, or it's a system to fight effectively. The first I don't mind calling 'art', frankly I don't care much about it. The second is not 'art', it's science - it's about finding (through hypotheses, falsifying them, empirical testing, the whole yadda yadda) the most effective way to inflict various forms of damage to a human body (one can debate how far the use of tools can go in this - if swords are OK, why not landmines; but that's a different discussion).