What's Martial Arts All About?

With hard styles much importance is place upon muscle strength. This is why in hard styles strength training will be part of your training routine and your movements will mostly be in direct and straight lines of great force. Some popular examples of hard styles are Karate, Judo and Ju Jitsu.

With soft styles you focus upon using energy, therefore energy training will be part of your training programme. In soft styles your movements will be curved and never ever in straight lines like hard styles. Popular soft styles include Tai Chi and Aikido.

In martial arts the suits worn are very similar but some will be made out of stronger material than others. For martial arts which require punching/kicking you should purchase protective equipment. It would be wise to ask your martial arts teacher on what equipment in exactly needed as it all varies.

In most martial arts you can work your way through a certain series of gradings. When being graded your teacher will ask you to perform a certain set of techniques which are required to pass that grading. If your teacher thinks that you demonstrated well then they will award you with the grading.

Karate is great for unarmed combat and it focuses on developing very powerful kicks and punches. It is wise to remember that karate is a very demanding martial arts which works your both physically and mentally. So, with karate remember that no matter what level of fitness you are at you will always encounter something that will make you work harder than normal.

Ju Jitsu is both dangerous and efficient. Ju Jitsu has many techniques when can very easily cause serious harm if not used in the correct way, this is why the student has to abide to a code of discipline. I would not recommend taking up Ju Jitsu if you don't have a good temper and don't want to experience any discomfort when training as the techniques are demanding.

Tai Chi is a soft style and training focuses upon internal energy. Tai Chi has slow and gentle movements and does not staring your body and can really be learned by anyone. Tai Chi is not for those who want a high flying butt kicking martial arts like the ones they see in video games.

Now that you have an overall idea of martial arts, I suggest that you get in touch with your local instructor or check out the links below to learn more.

Martial Arts Wikipedia Page
Karate Wikipedia Page
Tai Chi Wikipedia Page
Judo Wikipedia Page
The Akban Martial Arts and Fitness Wiki
Martial Arts Videos