i see what the reacurring them is above and for newer styles i guess you would be right. But lets goo way back to maybe ancient egypt/roman, when styles would have been formulated for armies, not the common populance and what the word martial art means: Of, relating to, or suggestive of war.
Martial:
Relating to or connected with the armed forces or the profession of arms.
Characteristic of or befitting a warrior.
Art:
Activity pursued as a livelihood: business, calling, career, craft, employment, job, line, métier, occupation, profession, pursuit, trade, vocation, work. Slang racket. Archaic employ. See action/inaction.
Natural or acquired facility in a specific activity: ability, adeptness, command, craft, expertise, expertness, knack, mastery, proficiency, skill, technique. Informal know-how. See ability/inability, knowledge/ignorance.
Deceitful cleverness: artfulness, artifice, craft, craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, wiliness. See honest/dishonest, means.
Basically, these says to me, an art based around war/fare, and as such would originally been used by armies (moving on from Okiwanawen* styles)
And would not the first Martial Art systems have been created to help maximise the efficiency of soldiers?
imcrazy, i never presumed that peasants ect, were not fit, merely that because they were not required to march everyday with small rations (as would happen in campaigns) they may not be as fit as a soldier doing active service. i also never mentioned japan, but considering the term martial art didnt even appear in dictionaries untill the last century, and that its first definition did include karate ( i think...) anyway, i hope that cleared up what i was trying to say

the basic idea of km was to develop something that could be tought to a soldier quickly and teach him to be able to fight H2H. there is little if any art or spirituality, and it assumes that the practicioner is strong, tough and fit. there is little or nothing fancy to the style, lots of low kicks, punches, elbows, knees. lots of work on targets. lots of work on agression training. some mat work, but no fancy wrist grabs or pressure points (might take too long to learn well).