Grappling.

"Striking" is one strategy in mixed martial arts, but it is not a distinct martial art because it more resembles a category of fighting - many martial arts like boxing make a use of striking. It is similar for grappling. Grappling can be used in martial arts like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but this doesn't make grappling its own martial art. To call grappling a martial art is a little bit like calling "punching" a fighting style.

Grappling can be great exercise when you focus on grappling exclusively with an opponent who also enjoys martial arts. Like wrestling, it requires you to use a lot of your body as you try to gain a physical edge over your opponent. Striking can be a good exercise, too, but it usually requires you to spar in pads, and even to get hit, so it is better to use striking for training rather than a regular exercise.

In grappling, you might use individual techniques like throws, chokeholds, submissions, and joint locks in order to make your opponent lose a martial arts match. Depending on the kind of martial art you're using, this style of fighting may or may not be allowed.

Does grappling sound like something you might be good at? If so, you may find it fun to try mixed martial arts, or individual disciplines like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. But grappling in and of itself would probably not be considered a martial art by the people you talk to.

Photo Credits: parhessiastes

Originally posted 2009-10-16 03:41:25.

Improve your confidence.

How? By improving your confidence. Is this really the case? If you don't believe me, here are three ways sparring improves your confidence in the other areas of your life:

• Sparring forces you to trust yourself. When you're sparring with a partner, there's only one way you can win: through your own action. You're not going to win unless you have the self-belief that tells you that you can win. That's how sparring will improve your belief in yourself: by forcing you into a situation in which you must trust yourself, or lose. Trusting yourself is one of the most important features of confidence: when you trust yourself, you are both relaxed and alert. You believe you can win. And when you practice this kind of self-trust habitually, it leaks into your life as a whole.
• Sparring simulates real-world danger. It's one thing to punch and kick at the air, but there's something different when you actually fight someone else, isn't there? The rules you've learned seem to go out the window and you wonder how you simply win this match in front of you. Sparring teaches you that there are variables you don't always count on when faced with someone else. Not only that, it gives you practice in working against someone who has his or her own interest at heart.

Let's use another sport as an example: golfing. You can read all you want to about golfing - proper grip, how to transfer your weight when swining, proper mental techniques - but they don't mean much until you actually strike that first ball. It's the same way with sparring, and you'll learn that confidence is often achieved through experience.

• Sparring gets you to confront a real obstacle. Part of developing self-confidence is about striking down obstacles. This doesn't mean that you want to obliterate your opponent; it simply means that you have to take on an obstacle head-on. When you spar, there is someone standing between you and your goals: will you stand to the challenge or go back into your shell? When you find that you can stand up to challenges, your self-confidence increases.

Photo Credits: parhessiastes

Originally posted 2009-07-23 05:49:09.

Takedown in Judo

A takedown's premise is very simple: utilizing positioning and leverage, you try to get your opponent down to the ground, with you following, resulting in you having the better position. This is actually different in substance to simply throwing or knocking down your opponent - the premise of a "takedown" is that you're "taking them down" with you. For martial artists that perform better by wrestling on the ground, a takedown might be necessary to win a match.

Takedowns can happen in a number of ways, even if the result is the same. Usually, it comes as the result of two martial artists being locked up against each other, either one of them unable to break free. Generally, the person who can get lowest while maintaining the most control possible will be able to take the other person down because of leverage. But takedowns can also take place suddenly, such as when one fighter "tackles" the other quickly, using his body to knock his opponent down.

If you're interested in learning how to take down an opponent, you're going to have to decide which discipline of martial arts is best suited for you. You'll obviously want to avoid disciplines like boxing and Tae Kwon Do - both of which emphasize striking. Look up some of the best martial arts for learning takedowns, such as Judo, and you'll be able to learn more about how you can use an opponent's weight and energy against him in order to come out with the best possible position.

Much of what goes into a takedown relies on putting you in a better position than you started with. If you can master the "takedown," you can turn things around in your favor quickly. But if you're not used to a takedown, it can also work against you, as an opponent can use it against you.

Photo Credits: parhessiastes

Originally posted 2009-07-30 05:12:12.