Hybrid martial arts (also known as hybrid fighting systems) refer to martial arts or fighting systems that incorporate techniques and theories from several particular martial arts.
While numerous martial arts borrow or adapt from other arts and to some extent could be considered hybrids, a hybrid martial art emphasizes its stylistic origins. Other terms such as mixed martial arts and combatives may be seen as synonyms or near-synonyms of hybrid martial arts, but such terms have other meanings as well: mixed martial arts or MMA has come to refer to a type of combat sport, while combatives is associated with the United States Army.