How to express martial arts action in fiction?
In the context of an actual as opposed to training fight scene in a fictional narrative, how would one express martial arts action?
Generally, martial arts has a distinctive disciplined but powerful visual style as it uses specific moves and poses as opposed to just blocking and throwing punches, so how could it be depicted so that it is separated from conventional unarmed combat, whilst retaining the 'artistic', I suppose, quality of martial arts?
This page does help to a small degree; however, it tends to use technicality (I want to describe the fight without explicitly naming any martial art), rather than imagery, which seems to suggest telling rather than showing, which I would like to avoid.
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I would echo part of Myron's answer. I have a highly trained close combat martial artist in one of my stories. I personally only have a year of martial arts training, but I know enough about it and anatomy to do web research.
My approach is to avoid all lingo and nomenclature; all I describe is the openings my fighter sees and the reasons that blows are effective: This kick ruptures the liver, that blow rips the esophagus. I do get "clinical" when I feel the results need to be explained: The blade stuck in the back of his hand, severing the median nerve bundle that controlled his thumb and fingers. His hand spasmed and the sword dropped.
So I will refer to specific blood vessels, tendons, nerves or bones, with enough context for the reader to know what I (the author) refer to, and enough for the reader to see my character knows exactly what they are doing and why. In my story, at least, I feel any specific martial arts terminology directed at the reader would only confuse them.
There may be call to use it between characters that are both knowledgeable. All professions develop their own lingo of single words or phrases, a shorthand to quickly communicate a lot of meaning. When that is needed, I tend to invent something more literal than poetic, or use something real but intentionally choose words from a wide variety of fighting styles, I want my fighter to be MMA with access to any style, I don't want a knowledgeable reader to say "That isn't Jiu Jitsu" or "No Karate expert would do that".
As Thomas says, there are literally thousands of martial arts systems and a professional fighter with a lifetime of training might easily switch between several approaches, depending on their opponent's skill level and numbers.
As far as real fist fights are concerned, against amateurs, I have known four bar bouncers, and their strategy is typically the same. Deflect or dodge blows, and go for a disabling strike (knockout or other fight-ender). The typical "fight" of an amateur against a bar bouncer is one or two seconds long.
Training to duck or dodge head or neck strikes is paramount: Not getting knocked out (or knocked into disorientation) can literally save your life, There is nothing more vulnerable than lying unconscious in the street and getting face stomped and kicked. One stomp or kick to the throat or head can kill, even inadvertently.
Oh, and in a fistfight, don't punch with your fists! It is too easy to break a small bone in your knuckle or hand if you punch solid bone (in the skull, the edge of the jaw, an elbow brought up to block). A broken bone in your hand disables your primary weapon: Out of pain, but even if adrenalin keeps you from feeling it there is the slipperiness of blood and the loss of structural support. It is the reason boxers are allowed such heavily cushioned gloves, so their ring matches can last.
The heel of the hand is very hard to break, can be used almost anywhere a fist can be used, and is more effective than the fist without endangering fingers (which are also free to then grab or do more damage).
I would also agree with the advice to keep the focus on the character experiencing the fight; in my writing fights seldom go to plan, especially against multiple opponents. Opponents do unexpected things (like dodge a punch or run at the first strike), my fighter can lose his balance or slip, a knockout punch can fail to knock somebody out, etc.
I try to never portray either heroes or villains as infallible. Always triumphant is okay, but knowing my heroes can make mistakes and be injured or be forced to improvise sustains tension in their fights.
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The simple answer is simply to describe the awareness of the fight. I've been doing martial arts for three years now, so I know that your mentality shifts a lot depending on what style you are using. However, there is a common theme of looking for a weakness in your opponent and exploiting it. While I have never been in a plain 'fist-fight', I would assume the mentality there is more just about trying to hit your opponent as hard as you can, and not caring or knowing where or how to hit them.
The more detailed answer is below:
Combat
Before you address martial arts in fiction, you want to avoid the combat trap I (and apparently many others) have fallen into. If this doesn't apply to you, great. Skip this section.
The combat trap is essentially where an author will lapse into relating all the moves of the fight. You see this a lot where the fight is supposed to be fancy, with a lot of 'moves' involved, but it applies to any fight.
He ducked the blow, slipping under Bob's outstretched fist. He quickly threw out his own fist in a fast jab, sending it into Bob's ribs with a satisfying crunch.
Bob grunted, doubling up, but lashed out with a right hook. He slipped backwards, barely avoiding the blow. Unfortunately, the sudden movement upset his balance, and he staggered backwards. Bob, seeing his opportunity, leapt after him.
He was off-balance; any block he tried would be weak, so he simply dropped to the ground. Bob landed on top of him, but he was already squirming to the side. Bob tried wrapping his arms around his neck, but he wormed his own arms under Bob's, breaking the choke.
The problem here is that repetitive telling - while okay in short bursts - is dry, often hard to understand (if you can't describe the moves well enough), and eventually boring if it continues the length of most fights. On top of that, the fight by itself rarely adds anything to the story, unless the moves themselves are central to the plot. The trick to fix this is to focus on the character doing the fighting, and not the fight itself. This makes the fight more personal because you can see the protagonist's thoughts as he fights (which prevents it from being dry and boring), and also can do something for the story, as the character can realize things and make decisions during a fight he otherwise wouldn't. If a particular move is hard to explain, you can simply leave it up to the reader's imagination, and focus on the thoughts of the fighter instead:
He ducked the blow easily, a little surprised. What was Bob thinking? He was a professional boxer; Bob had no chance. He didn't want to hurt Bob; a quick reminder would do. From under Bob's guard, he sent his fist forward in a quick jab, feeling it connect with Bob's ribs with a crunch. Enough to hurt, but not seriously injure.
Bob grunted, doubling up, but quickly lashed out with a right hook. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards, barely avoiding the blow. He was off balance, he knew it. He had to get his feet under him, but now Bob was lunging forwards, perhaps sensing his advantage.
There was nothing for it. He couldn't block anything while he was still off-balance. He dropped to the ground, and felt Bob land on him a second later. Got to get out! he thought. He knew if Bob got his full weight on him, he would have a hard time escaping. He squirmed to the side. Bob wrapped an arm around him, trying to choke him, but he writhed his arm under Bob's, twisting at the elbow to break the choke.
You can see how the character is much more involved in the fight, while all the moves are still related.
Martial Arts
The same trick applies to martial arts. Focus on the character rather than the action. There is an added level of difficulty in describing martial arts though. That's because a lot of the moves are genuinely hard to describe to someone who has never seen them.
In a fraction of a second, he lined up his shoulder with his opponent. He could see the unprotected area on the chest where he would strike. His left foot forwards, he brought his back foot to the front and leapt, propelling himself high into the air. From there he had all the time in the world. His opponent's guard went up, leaving his chest wide open. All he had to do was turn so his other side faced his opponent, wait for gravity to start pulling him down, and then shoot his right leg out in a straight line, sailing cleanly into his opponent's chest. Dead center.
If you know of a way to plainly describe complex moves, by all means use it (and let me know too). But usually, you have to let the reader imagine the majority of the move, and only describe the finishing product. That is, after all, what is important.
He stepped forward and leapt into the air, spinning around as his opponent's guard went up, opening his chest to attack. He waited a split second while gravity took over once more, and then, when he was level, shot his foot out, catching his opponent in the chest. Dead center.
You can see how it's a lot easier to understand. Add in focusing on the character rather than the actions, and you have it.
Artistry
Your question deals specifically with the artistic elements of martial arts and how to distinguish it from regular combat. As I said in my opening paragraph, a lot of that comes down to awareness.
Again, disclaimer: I haven't been in an actual fist-fight. However, I would guess that the discipline to break down your opponent's guard and figure out where and how to strike is not there. Maybe if you're a professional boxer. But for someone with no training, I doubt it.
Martial arts is all about figuring out how to get past your opponent's guard. If you can't get past it, then you need to make him move it to create an opening. For Tae Kwon-Do, this can mean kicking off to the side so he moves to block it, then kicking fast from the other side while he is unprotected. In Jiu-Jitsu, this can mean pretending to struggle to choke from one side, when in reality your other arm is getting into position.
There's also a lot of discipline involved. In Jiu-Jitsu, you can wipe yourself out fast if you struggle against your opponent. Knowing exactly what you need to do to keep him from choking you or breaking your arm, and doing nothing else can help you relax, as well as allow you to assess the situation and figure out how to distract your opponent, or get out of the hold. For example, you can spend a lot of time trying to pull at the arm that is choking you. In reality, you just need to get your arm under it and create a gap for your chin. With your chin in there, it's impossible to be choked. You can then relax, and start getting out.
Conclusion/tl;dr
Describing the discipline, awareness, and the breakdown of the fight will go a long ways towards differentiating martial arts from regular fist-fights. Contrary to popular belief, martial arts is not some sort of 'dance'. It is combat. The only difference is that it has focus and direction. Describe those, and describe the emotions and thoughts of your characters, and you'll have a martial arts scene readers will want to read.
Best of luck in your endeavors!
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