Realistic Answers about Martial Arts

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Since the dawn of time, physical combat has played a role in nearly every culture and civilization across the world. Differences in cultures and societies bring many different combat disciplines, commonly called martial arts, to the forefront.

Martial arts have been widely popularized by action movies featuring martial artists as heroes or villains. Perhaps the most popular is Bruce Lee, who led the wave of martial arts films in the West and created a fascination with the discipline.

Although there are many practitioners and places to learn martial arts, there is much misinformation concerning the martial arts. The following questions deal with many of the common misperceptions concerning martial arts, their purpose, types of martial arts, and how the martial arts apply in real world fighting situations. Hopefully these questions and answers will help give beginniners and people interested in martial arts a more realistic view of what the martial arts are about and how they fit into the modern world.

What are Martial Arts?

In the loosest sense, the term "martial arts" essentially means "military arts," so any training system that prepares an individual for combat or self-defense is technically martial arts. The typical perception is that martial arts are fighting styles -- like karate or kung fu -- that originate from the Far East that can transform the smallest person into a deadly fighting machine. Although these examples are martial arts, modern martial arts also include: boxing, grappling techniques, such as Brazillian jujitsu, and even the training that police officers receive, concerning how to use a pistol. Many traditional martial arts are not necessarily preparing a student for street fights, so much as it's teaching discipline and maintaining physical condition.

What is the best martial art?

There is no definitive "best" martial art, since this is subjective and dependant on the person and why they want to learn marital arts. Many martial arts are perceived to be deadly, but most of them are some mixture of sport, fighting art, exercise, and philosophy.

If you want practical self-defense that you can use in real world situations, a philosophy based martial arts like gongfus, aikido, or kendo may not be the best use of your time. More practical martial arts include jujitsu, karate, muay thai, tae kwon do, and ninjitsu, although there are many others that fit into this category. The best martial art for you will depend on your goals and fitness level.

What is meant by "soft" and "hard" martial arts?

Soft and hard refer to the striking and blocking style utilized by a martial art. A soft style focuses on redirecting energy, especially your opponent's energy, to throw or put them off balance to strike or move into a better position. Soft styles teach students moves that require little energy and are easy to recover from or regain balance if they're blocked. Examples include aikido and ninjitsu.

Hard fighting styles, on the other hand, are centered more on offensive moves, rather than redirecting an opponent's energy or weight. The striking techniques in hard styles deliver a lot of power and some painful blocks. Hard striking means that a person can be knocked off-balance much easier, in comparison to soft styles. A few hard fighting styles are karate, tae kwon do, and muay thai.

If masters of different martial arts styles were to fight in a one-on-one tournament, which style would be most likely to win?

This is an age old question that depends upon many different factors. A lot of martial arts experts and critics claim that if masters of different disciplines were to face off in multiple rounds, it is unlikely that one combatant would win every time. There would be a lot of split decisions, especially since a true martial arts master has studied and learned different aspects of other martial arts styles. Many of these types of fights may be determined by which master knows his opponent's style the best and anticipates the attacks. However, in UFC fighting events, many past champions have been grapplers practicing Brazillian jujitsu. This fighting style has produced many champions in mixed martial arts tournaments because it focuses on getting your opponent off their feet and making them fight on the ground -- where grapplers will prevail almost every time, since that is the core of their fighting style.

What martial arts styles are best for self-defense in real settings?

Just about any martial art training will be beneficial in a street fight or confrontation compared to not having it, but certain disciplines are designed for actual combat. Both hard and soft styles can work well for self-defense, but many people feel that hard styles are more effective since they teach you to strike first and strike hard, while soft styles are more technical and teach you to redirect your opponent's energy. Some martial arts styles that have street credit are: jujutsu, karate, muay thai, tae kwon do, and ninjutsu.

Ground fighting disciplines can also be very effective, especially if you want to neutralize a person, without leaving any marks or causing long-term damage. However, ground fighting is not a good option if you have to fight more than one person.

The biggest benefit of learning a martial art if you're in a street fight is that you practice fighting on a regular basis and, for most people, a street fight is their practice.

What are some things to look for in a martial arts school?

Although many movies portray martial arts as teaching discipline and respect, the people in martial arts classes are just as likely to be jerks as anyone else. Attending a martial arts school where disrespectful attitudes and actions are permitted can be difficult, especially for a beginner.

You will also want to speak with the instructor to find out if his ideals and thoughts are in line with yours. One important factor is how involved the instructor is with the students and if students receive personalized attention or not. Also, an instructor that doesn't separate form and function (what looks good and what works) may not be the best to learn the martial arts from.

Before getting involved with a martial arts school, you will want to do your research on the style taught, as well as that particular school.

Are there any moves or martial arts styles that teach street fighting?

Many martial arts styles do translate to the streets, but many martial arts instructors will refuse to teach you if you tell them you want to learn martial arts for street fighting. The vast majority of martial arts masters don't advocate fighting unless it is absolutely necessary. There are many reasons for this, but one of the biggest is the danger you put yourself in by deciding to stay in a situation and fight. Many street fights end badly. The human body can be a very fragile thing, especially when it collides with concrete, table corners and all the other things that come into play in a street fight. Martial arts masters will tell you, regardless of belt ranking, experience, or anything else, there is someone out there who can mop the floor with them in some situations. If you pick enough fights, rest assured you'll find that person.

If martial arts instructors are so experienced, why would they want to avoid a fight?

Logically, there are more reasons to leave quietly than fight, even if you believe you have the upper hand. Unless you are in a controlled situation, you never know who you're up against and how far they are willing to go to win the fight. People who pick a lot of fights typically gravitate towards extremes. Generally, they think they're really tough, that they have a lot of fight experience, or that they've picked up some dirty little tricks that will always turn the fight in their favor. This may include cheap shots, but weapons are never out of the question -- not to mention, their friends could intervene at anytime. Even if you "win" a fight, you may end up in court over assault charges, especially if it is known that you practice martial arts.

What is the deadliest martial art?

Realistically, in a real fight, someone with no fight experience or training can kill someone. The human body is fragile and things can easily get out of hand. Many people believe that there are pressure points that can kill or disable someone with a light blow. While there may be some truth to this, most deaths from fighting come from someone's head hitting concrete or getting stabbed. As far as martial arts that lend themselves to incapacitating people, many of the hard styles fall into this category, as does Brazillian jujitsu. Brazillian jujitsu is a ground fighting technique and will teach you how to lock people in submission holds or choke them out. Muay thai is considered one of the most dangerous martial arts because it was designed to be used for combat. However, several muay thai moves are not usually taught and are banned from use in competitions because they are moves that, if executed properly, will kill someone instantly.

Is there an effective system for knife fighting in real world situations?

Let's be clear about what kind of knife fights take place in the real world. For the most part, especially in the Western hemisphere, knives aren't involved in most fights and most fights are very spontaneous. Many knife fighting systems teach dueling, which allows you to square off with your opponent and makes you aware that you both have a knife. In the West, this scenario hardly ever occurs. If a knife plays a role in a street fight in the West, it is much more likely to be concealed until used to strike. In this scenario, a knife fighting system doesn't apply because it is unlikely that you will even be able to draw a knife if you have one. Also, many experts will tell you that the way people attack with knives and effective ways of defending yourself against these attacks will vary from country to country.

Why should someone participate in martial arts to get into shape, instead of doing other exercise?

One of the biggest health benefits of martial arts is that it strengthens and tones your entire body, instead of targeting specific muscle groups. Anytime you throw a punch, kick, or move into position, it requires the use of many different muscles, including arms, legs, back, and abs. It also gives you a virtually non-stop cardio workout. As opposed to other forms of exercise -- like running or weightlifting -- martial arts gives you a much more balanced workout and is, in many cases, much easier on joints and tendons if your school provides a controlled environment that doesn't allow situations that may cause injury to students.

Just remember that this information is for you to benefit from. Why not give it ago.

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