How to Pick a Martial Art
Studying a martial art can be a fun and exciting journey. It can help you to develop strength, fitness, and self-confidence. But with so many different styles, how do you decide which one to study? It can take years to develop proficiency in a style, and the art that you choose to study should match your personality, body type and goals as a fighter.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
How to Choose a Martial Art
-
1
Determine your goals in studying a martial art. If your goal is fitness, then pick one that emphasizes hard work and good cardiovascular fitness. Something like Thai kickboxing or western-style boxing are good choices. If your goal is to develop an understanding of tradition and culture, and you're interested in the more spiritual side of the martial arts, then a soft style such as aikido or tai chi might be more appropriate. If your goal is self defense, then a very practical style such as krav maga, which is taught to soldiers and police, might be what you're looking for. If you are interested in developing flexibility and speed, then tae kwon do, hapkido or wu shu might be what you are looking for. If you'd like to know how to fight on the ground and use leverage, then Brazilian jiu-jitsu or wrestling is what you should study.
-
2
Decide what style your body type and coordination level will go with. If you are 5 feet 8 inches tall, weigh 200 pounds and are not that flexible, then Western boxing or krav maga, which rely on brute force, might be better suited for you. If you are small, flexible and coordinated, then your body is better suited for the high-flying, high-kicking arts of wu shu and tae kwon do. If you're older and not as flexible or graceful, then tai chi and aikido are probably more your speed.
-
-
3
Choose an instructor whose personality and training style fit your needs. Some instructors are very rigid, hierarchical and formal, and pay a lot of attention to the belt system. Others are informal and don't care about belts and testing at all. Again, this depends on what your goals are. Oftentimes, having a black belt can give you a false sense of security. Just because you have tested and satisfied all of the proficiencies to scale the belt system, it doesn't necessarily mean you can defend yourself. In fact, it can sometimes do just the opposite because when studying to acquire belts you often learn a system of rules to follow that doesn't necessarily apply to a real-world situation.
-
4
Decide whether you want a realistic street-fighting style or whether you want to learn something more for sport or art like a dance. The more practical styles will emphasize sparring and actually have students hitting one another in a controlled environment, with pads and gloves. Thai kickboxing, Western boxing, krav maga and self-defense anti-rape courses are some of the things you should look at. Tae kwon do, karate, judo and hapkido are all competition sports, and while some of it can apply in a street fight much of it doesn't, because the emphasis here is on forms or movements and advancement in belts rather than practical sparring.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Make sure to look around and see if the different schools you visit offer free trial classes that will give you an idea of what the classes are like.
Serious injuries can occur while sparring. Make sure that the instructor insists on using protective gear such as mouthpieces and pads.
