In the beginning, one can reasonably presume that the martial arts were intended as a means to train for martial purposes, aka, battle, but today, such a position is generally not founded.
This is not a "bad thing".
The role the arts play in today’s society could more correctly be described as a means to train to avoid battle in at least two respects.
First, the development and channeling of martial skill has a real tendency to satisfy an inherent need for combat and thereby divert it from venues less safe for such demonstration — bars being a common example.
Moreover, martial arts is far more than a physical skill. If this were not true, lifting weights is just as good. But on the contrary, training for combat, mock or otherwise, leads to a set of attitudes and a physical self carriage that repells would-be attackers.
Of course, neither of these effects is 100% in any case, nor is either effect even present in some cases, but on balance, our modern day training for unarmed combat will more often than not result in less actual combat, which is just fine by me, ’cause practice is way more safe than the real thing.
(non)Martial Arts
Can I create VARYING text links to my index page to make it rank for multiple searches?
That would be diluting, not strengthening. Strong reputation is where all the links say the same thing. If they say different things, it weakens the original reputation in return for, equally weak, reputation on the additional terms.
But there isn’t anything inherently wrong with ‘weak’ reputation, just as a slow runner can win a race if only slower runners show up, a weak reputation might be enough if the other pages are weaker still.
Use optilink to measure the number and quality of links for the top pages, account for the other factors like page title and page rank, and make a decision. Often, you will find that additional pages focused on your additional terms is a better solution, but not always.