What to buy and What not to buy when starting in the martial arts. Students just beginning in the martial arts get confused about what is required versus what is optional. This article discusses this difference and the items that the author feels should be required.
Buying your first Taekwondo uniform can be stressful and exciting at the same time. Here are 4 must’s when you go and start your shopping whether in a local martial arts store or online.
Important and powerful systems are characterized by close-contact, aggressive, explosive punches and blocks that are often thrown in decisive combinations. Here are three different types of martial arts that specialize in that strategy.
Some of the lesser known martial arts are some of the most interesting. One reason for this is that they where created to take on a very specific opponent. Three of these martial arts are; Fut Gar Kung Fu, Emei Quan, and Pak Hok Pai.
Although the term was not coined until the 17th century, jujutsu is famed for being the unarmed combat method of the samurai. The art forms the basis of judo and Brazilian jujutsu and incorporates pins, joint locks, and throws. It is particularly effective in one-on-one confrontations.
Dating back thousands of years, bojutsu was probably a battlefield martial art, used for training troops. It was adopted by the police in the Edo period (1603-1868) and it is likely that this influenced many of the techniques in existence today, most notably those aimed not at killing, but rather at harming or restraining unruly prisoners.
Most commonly practiced by the Kabye people in Togo, Evala is a traditional wrestling art from west Africa. For young men in the area, it is considered the penultimate element in a rite of passage into adulthood, which includes climbing three mountains, intensive mental and physical training, and circumcision.
The basic, definitive concept in judo is that of ippon, or a decisive victory over an opponent. This notion is inherited from the martial arts origin of the sport where the conflict was a matter of life or death for those involved.
One of the ultimate defensive kicks is the front snap kick, but you must be done correctly or it won’t work. This article covers how to properly do a front snap kick for both offense and defense.
In modern judo the only locking techniques permitted are armlocks and the only joint considered to be a legitimate target is the elbow joint. In the USA strangles are sometimes described as choke-locks or choke-holds, but there is no torsion or breaking action applied to the cervical vertebrae – such actions are potentially highly injurious and are not permitted as a broken neck could result. From the perspective of combat the curious aspect is that the elbow is probably the least easily damaged joint of the body and a relatively difficult target.