The martial arts styles can be divided into several categories, depending upon the dominant techniques they expound. These include:

1. Stand Up styles: Stand up styles are so called because the fighter fights on his feet using a combination of punches, kicks and footwork techniques. Karate, Kung Fu, Taekwondo, Boxing/Kickboxing, Krav Maga, Wushu and San Shou are some of the art forms in this category.

The stand up styles use nimble footwork, distance and timing to defeat an opponent. Here physical conditioning is paramount because the body needs to be in peak condition for lightning fast responses.

Some stand up fighting styles such as boxing and Wing Chun emphasize the use of hands. Others, like Taekwondo, focus on kicking. Hapkido propagates counter-fighting, use of locks, blocking and other techniques.

2. Grappling or ground fighting styles: This style, as the name suggests, focuses on the wrestling part of fighting. In this, the players employ wrestling techniques, which requires them to be on the ground quite often. Brazilian Jiujitsu, Shootoo, Sambo and Greco-Roman wrestling are all martial arts that fall in this category.

Grappling has only a limited number of stand up fighting techniques. In this form of fighting, the martial arts artist concentrates on taking an opponent down and getting the better of the fighter by using a choke, a lock or any other grappling technique.

Though grappling art forms appear to be less graceful and artistic than stand up styles, this art form has nothing to do with brute strength. Grappling is a precise art that requires the artist to not only to be in good physical condition but also have knowledge of the human anatomy. This is because awareness of the body helps the grappler to sense the opponent's intention through the body movements and therefore control the fight.

3. Throwing styles and weapon-based styles: These styles, as the name suggests, involve throwing opponents from a stand up position and using weapons respectively. The first uses throws, trips and locks as weapons to disrupt the opponent's balance while the other actually uses weapons to overcome the enemy. Judo, Aikido, Chiao and Hapkido are some throwing styles while Iado, Kendo and Kali are weapon based.

4. Low impact or meditative styles: These styles may have been developed originally for combat, but through the ages they have developed into art forms that are more for the peak performance of the body. These focus on breathing, internal energy and stress relief along with low impact exercises. Tai Chi and Chi Gong are a part of this style.

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