When we think of martial arts, for most of us Asia comes to mind. While most of the major arts did come from the Asian area, not all of them did. We will focus on the Asian because they are the most popular.
The weapons fall into two major categories. This first would be those of the warrior classes. In our western mind set, this would usually be the equivalent of royalty. These include weapons of war. You would find the usual weapons that many are well aware of. You have the sword, various knives, different kind of spears as well as archery weapons.
Most of these professional warriors would have trained with these weapons from early childhood until their death. It was a life long commitment and they were very good at using them.
Since these professional and royalty often took over other countries rebellion was a constant threat. Even in their own countries rebel forces could be a problem. Because of this, the lower classes would have been barred from owning weapons. This did not stop them from creating many types of very effective weapons that originally served a different purpose.
Farming utensils were the most often choice. If the warriors looked into it, all they would find was agricultural tools. These would be basic weapons, but with practice the person could become an expert that could beat a warrior in combat.
Some examples of these would be things such as a handle to a rake or hoe. Without the end put on it, it became a staff. This is a very effective weapon even against a sword. You had a better reach to get around the sword, and could do a lot of damage with such a staff. Another version of this weapon would be a spear. Not the type used in warfare, but the type one would use for fishing. It was a staff, but it had a barbed spear point to harpoon the fish. If used against an adversary, it was a weapon to be reckoned with. The tonfu was a handle that was used to grind grains into types of flour. When it was taken off the wheel that it was used to turn it became the same principle as the night stick that modern police officers use even today. Another weapon that a farmer or peasant would be allowed to have would be the bow and arrow. Of course the theory was it would be used for hunting not to fight. When push came to shove, what you are hunting can change from animals to other people. There were many others such us the nun-chucks. The actual use for these is up in debate, but either way, the farmers were allowed to have them in their possession.
This is a very short list, it has left many out, but it does give you a brief overview of some of the weapons of ancient times that have survived to modern times. Martial artists continue to train with both types of weapons. Some like the tonfu and the staff are still in use by many martial artists. We cannot forget that the peasants made many of these weapons right under the warriors noses and against the law. The effectiveness of them is shown by the fact they are still in use today.