What type of Martial Arts are you looking to do?

Striking: Punching, Kicking, and Blows

The "striking" category includes many of the popular martial arts many people in Western culture are aware of. If you've ever seen a martial arts movie on television, and the fights were a series of punches, blocks, and kicks, you probably saw a martial art that emphasizes striking. Heck, even Rocky Balboa was a master of a "striking" martial art!

In striking, the emphasis is placed on quickness and power - can you knock out your opponent with quick blows that take him off-guard? If so, you might be able to neutralize any size or weight advantage the opponent has. Learning how to strike also includes learning to believe in yourself and having the power to break wood using only your fist.

Martial arts that emphasize striking: Boxing, Kickboxing, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai

Grappling: Locking and Throwing

In the Mixed Martial Arts world, grappling is what you often hear referred to as "ground game." In grappling, your power and technique is directly pitted against your opponent's as you wrestle out the match on the ground. Being an effective grappler means being able to defend yourself at a tremendous disadvantage, as well as capitalize on a "takedown" - when you bring your opponent to the ground.

Martial arts that emphasize grappling: Wrestling, Judo, Jujutsu, Brazilian Jujutsu, Sambo

Weapons: Extending Your Body's Radius

Striking and grappling have one thing in common: they both force you to rely on the weapons you always have available in your body, such as your arms and legs. When it comes to weapons, you are essentially extending the amount of damage and the potential area you can strike in with a foreign object. In other words, you're using something outside of your body to take down an opponent.

Martial arts that emphasize weapons: Fencing, Kendo

Photo Credits: Frank Peters

Originally posted 2009-08-20 03:29:06.

Confidence or Cockiness?

In Bruce Lee's "Jeet Kune Do," he strove to create a type of martial art that would incorporate the others, not striving to be flashy at all, but instead simply be the most effective as possible against an opponent. In Lee's own philosophy, he told people that they should strive to be like water, in that water is flexible, ever-flowing, but can also be focused to make a formidable force.

Understanding confidence from this perspective is important. The urge to dominate other people is not what defines martial arts - if that were the case, then you've come to the wrong place. Instead, true confidence comes from discovering the power within yourself to create a true system of self-defense that simply works.

What is that system? True self-defense would mean never fighting; living a life of peace. And many martial arts stress that the warrior is meant to be at peace, and that war is what happens when people fail to achieve it.

Can you tell the difference between confidence and cockiness in this context? A confident martial artist will have no need to show off their fighting skills; a cocky martial artist, who is not confident but instead feels the need to prove something, is actually less effective because of his or her arrogance.

Embrace the functional ideas of Jeet Kune Do; strive for what works, not what impresses other people. If you're in martial arts to become cocky, you're in the wrong discipline. If, however, you want to learn martial arts in order to gain confidence, then you're on the right path. Find a martial art that aligns with your values of true self-confidence, not something that feeds your ego's need to dominate other people. You'll learn that self-confidence was the true path all along.

Photo Credits: Igor Bespamyatnov

Originally posted 2009-12-15 03:51:26.

Muay Thai

The martial arts have been developing for thousands of years, so it makes sense that in today's culture, you can find so many disciplines and sub-disciplines within the "martial arts" realm. But what kind of martial arts define what is going on today, and what are people interested in learning? Some of the answers may surprise you. Here are some of today's most popular martial arts, and the countries of their origin.

Muay Thai. Famously associated with Thailand - heck, it is called "Thai" land - Muay Thai is a type of fighting style that you'll hear a lot about if you tune into today's mixed martial arts events. It is similar to kickboxing in its style and makes an emphasis that just about any limb or part of the body can be used as a weapon against your opponent.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu. If you haven't heard of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, then it's probably fair to say that you don't pay much attention to mixed martial arts. Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a vital component to many fighters' style, including fighters like B.J. Penn and Wanderlei Silva. Country of origin? Brazil, of course, where it continues to thrive.

Tae Kwon Do. Loosely translated as "the way of the fist and foot" or the art of punching and kicking, Tae Kwon Do is traditionally associated with South Korea, coming to more popularity after the end of World War II. In the United States, you'll be able to find a variety of Tae Kwon Do classes, even if there might not be any Karate classes to sign up to!

Karate. Speaking of Karate - originating in Okinowa - one of the world's most famous martial arts emphasizes fighting without weapons. If you find yourself in a self-defense situation with no weapons, then your body and the world around you have to become your weapons. That's the philosophy behind Karate, which is a style of martial arts practically synonymous with the phrase "martial arts" in the first place.

Judo. Also originating in Japan, Judo is a type of fighting that emphasizes using an opponent's strength and weight against him. You'll find this kind of strategy also emphasized in the always-popular jiu-jitsu. Judo also emphasizes submissions and locks as part of someone's weapons against opponents who may be more powerful than yourself.

Photo Credits: loura

Originally posted 2010-01-05 03:39:09.

What is the point of breaking boards?

The at-home television viewer might find him or herself openly questioning the validity of breaking boards: after all, when do these types of situations really need to be used in real life?

But there is a method to the madness of breaking boards, and once you come to understand it, you'll also understand why they remain a great benchmark for many people who are pursuing their goals.

First, try to understand that breaking boards is often more of a psychological test than a physical one. The people who break boards are born with the same appendages and bones as the rest of us - what they've achieved through practice, most anyone can achieve through similar work and dedication.

How is it a psychological test? Breaking through something that appears impossible to break measures one's beliefs. Many martial artists will tell you that if you don't believe you can break a board, you won't be able to do it. It's only through confidence and experience that the beliefs develop and you begin to realize that you do have the power - if you put your energy into breaking those boards.

These martial artists will also tell you that when it comes to breaking larger amounts of wood, ice, or concrete, that belief becomes that much more vital. Attacking these hard objects with nothing but flesh puts them at a real risk of injury. It's through belief and mental discipline that these oddly-seeming feats can be achieved.

If you've ever seen someone walk on hot coals, you've witnessed the same principle taking place. The human body is more than capable of walking over hot coals: it's the mind that needs work.

In martial arts, it's not always about the technique behind the fist - it's about the mind controlling the fist. And breaking boards is a great way to put that mind to the test.

Photo Credits: lepiaf.geo

Originally posted 2009-07-22 05:41:32.