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.

Use these 4 tips to improve your matches!

It's not about being big.

The old phrase "the bigger they are, the harder they fall" can be true in martial arts. Sports like jiujitsu are often built around the premise that your opponent's weight and momentum can quickly be turned on them. That's why it's not always about being the bigger or stronger one, but the one who can utilize leverage and martial arts principles.

Understand that winning a sparring match isn't about being big or small, it's about having the stronger presence of mind. Your beliefs and skills will be more important than your body weight; the more advanced your skills, the more you'll be able to maximize your own.

Enhance your strikes.

Putting the force of your body weight behind your strikes will add more power to your moves, catching your sparring opponent off-guard and letting them know you're not to be trifled with. An amateur will punch with his hand - a professional will punch from his shoulder. You will seem to gain strength and power out of nowhere if you can properly leverage your body weight.

Take advantage of your opponent's weight.

Taking advantage of your knowledge of body weight means you should be able to use that knowledge on your opponent. For example, you can grab their hand, but it's more powerful to grab the area that controls more weight - the wrist. The more control you have over your opponent's weight, the less power they'll be able to muster to fight back. It's important to understand how to use your own weight so that you know how to keep an opponent off balance.

Staying grounded.

When defending, it's important that you don't lose your cool and forget to keep balanced and grounded. It's much harder to attack someone who has strong footing than someone who is distracted and off their guard. Try to stay balanced as much as possible - oftentimes the person with the best balance wins the sparring match.

Photo Credits: parhessiastes

Originally posted 2009-08-19 03:09:31.

Tae Kwon Do.

Tae Kwon Do has strong roots in Korea, where it is believed that it first had its beginnings some two thousand years ago. The essential premise of Tae Kwon Do - built on striking quickly with both the fists and the feet - is that attacks and defenses come very quickly, which is why people have the fight-or-flight instinct. Tae Kwon Do seeks to optimize a fighter's ability to respond to these situations by teaching them the art of punching, kicking, and blocking.

While many martial arts do not totally resemble many preconceptions that many of us in the West would have, Tae Kwon Do is a martial art that looks similar to other striking arts like Karate or Kung Fu. With the emphasis on the limps and not necessarily on body weight and positioning like in jiu jitsu, Tae Kwon Do is considered in the West to be one of the most popular styles of fighting around.

Because Tae Kwon Do's roots go back so far, many people believe that it is the oldest and most ancient martial art in existence. Although other forms of fighting, especially in Western cultures like ancient Sparta, are still remembered today, Tae Kwon Do is one of the oldest martial arts that is still in practice.

Today's smaller globe and the modern popularity of martial arts have given Tae Kwon Do a resurgence in popularity, where world champions are often more recognized and acknowledged for their accomplishments. Although Tae Kwon Do is not as popular as the mixed martial arts (MMA), including jiu jitsu, it remains one of the most widely-used styles of fighting across the world.

If you're interested in learning more about the history of martial arts and about other disciplines, make sure to enter in a Web search on karate or kung fu. These disciplines more closely resemble Tae Kwon Do than western disciplines like wrestling.

Photo Credits: cheetah100

Originally posted 2009-07-29 05:04:07.

1-2-3-4-5.

#1: Self-discipline.

There is no achievement without discipline, primarily because without discipline, you won't have the fortitude to continue to work towards a goal. You can't effect a lot of change in your physical or mental fitness if you don't have the discipline to maintain a habit - even when that habit is not necessarily pleasant to maintain. Self-discipline is considered one of the great reasons to take up a martial art - but you also have to find it within yourself.

#2: Self-confidence.

If you tell yourself "I can't beat this opponent," then the opponent has already won. When you lack self-confidence, you don't need to do any fighting, because you've already laid out your plan for yourself. You know you're going to lose, and you do. Self-confidence does not necessarily mean that you'll always have total belief in yourself. But it does mean that you should trust yourself to perform well.

#3: Belief.

Do you believe that what you've learned is going to work when you spar? Do you believe that you are one of the best fighters in the room? Do you believe that you're a great martial artist? If not, then you're probably none of these things. Belief can create a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you believe that you are going to win more than your opponent believes it, you stand a good chance at winning.

#4: Vision.

If you can't see yourself fighting with strong discipline and courage, then how do you ever expect to achieve that level of confidence? You have to create a vision of yourself as successful before you become successful. You can do this through training and hard work, but you can also put time aside in order to practice visualizing yourself as successful.

#5: Persistence.

Nothing is achieved without persistence. Without it, you aren't able to make any lasting changes in yourself or your environment. If you give up at the most difficult times, you lose opportunities to grow as a person.

Photo Credits: Arjana

Originally posted 2009-08-05 05:32:43.

Ju.Do.

Many people have heard the word "judo," but only know it as a martial art - how it is distinguished from the other martial arts isn't clear to them. But those who study judo and other martial arts know that there is a great degree in difference between the fighting forms, and that judo is an art form in and of itself. In order to help you learn more about judo, here are five facts that will help you get started.

• Fact #1: "Judo" comes from two words. Like many other martial arts with foreign backgrounds, the word "Judo" actually comes from different words put together. "Ju" refers to something that is gentle, and "do" means "the way" or "the path." In other words, Judo translates as "the gentle way," which gives you some insights as to how Judo is styled as a martial art.
• Fact #2: Judo developed in the mid-1800's. Jujitsu was perhaps the most commonly practiced Japanese martial art before the 1800's, as many Samurai warriors would practice it as a way to defeat opponents with swords and armor. With the arrival of Western influence, guns became more prevalent and swords became outdated, leading to a demand for a new type of martial art.
• Fact #3: Judo is based on making your opponent's energy work against them. When Judo was developed, it was developed on the premise that it could work well as a sport, not necessarily as an improved method of combat. With the arrival of sports and teams, judo became popular as a way of exploring competition and athletics, not necessarily killing or defeating an opponent.
• Fact #4: Judo became an Olympic sport in 1964. Judo rose in popularity during the early 20th Century and eventually saw an increased popularity so high that in 1964 it was accepted into the Olympics.
• Fact #5: Judo is primarily defensive in nature. Many people don't think that Judo functions as a martial art in and of itself because it is limited in its scope: it seeks to emphasize self-defense by using your opponent's energy against them, and does not emphasize striking or wrestling.

Judo is perhaps a prime example of a martial art that has contributed to world though rather than promoted violence, since it has mostly been used as a way of making sport.

Photo Credits: parhessiastes

Originally posted 2009-07-20 05:27:38.

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.

What is mental presence?

Mental Presence: A Definition

When you're sparring with someone, you usually have two ways of interpreting their presence. You have what you see (the physical presence), and you have what you don't see (mental presence). The mental presence of your opponent will partially be shaped by your own interpretation of him. If you're scared, their mental presence will be larger. If you're confident, it will grow smaller.

Whoever has the larger mental presence will often have the advantage in a fight. Mental presence is often boosted when the opponent is not sure about you - uncertainty can quickly turn into fear. When you are much faster than your opponent originally estimated, you gain a boost in mental presence.

How to Develop a Larger Mental Presence

The more confidence you build, the more mental presence you'll have. Of course, this is easier said than done. In order to build confidence, you'll have to practice being assertive. In sparring matches, concentrate on being assertive even if it's at the expense of your fighting skills. It will be important to isolate one skill - your fearlessness and assertiveness - in order to build it up for a while. Once you feel comfortable standing tall and being assertive, bring your skills back into the mix. You should find that you perform much better.

Surprise is the quickest way to build mental presence. If you don't appear strong but your moves have the added strength of assertiveness behind them, your opponent will be more in the dark as to your true abilities. The more uncertainty and surprise you can generate in your opponent, the more mental presence you'll have.

Remember that mental presence comes from within. It comes through the self-discipline to work on your confidence and skills. It also comes from understanding your opponent's mind and knowing how human beings typically react when surprised or caught off-guard. To have mental presence, it's important that you take action as opposed to reacting.

Photo Credits: thivierr

Originally posted 2009-08-17 03:37:16.

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.

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.