The perspective of people that I’ve met so far in my life over the subject of Martial Arts falls into the following 3 categories:
- Its Kung-Fu! Something the Chinese do in movies. It’s savage. – 75% Agree
- Its a skill you learn to beating up people and pick fights. It’s savage. – 20% Agree
- Its a dignified sport and a way of life. – 5% Agree
Its always been sad to know this, but I feel differently about it, not just because I have been indulging in the sport since 6th grade, but also because I have studied a lot about it, and as always conforming to a rational judgement based on knowledge rather than ignorance.
But you know what, anyone can learn some or the other form of martial art, and truly enjoy the benefits.
What may those benefits be, if I may ask, my dear Watson…
- Freedom from any sort of body aches or pains, largely attributed to a sedentary lifestyle. In short, great health!
- Personality Improvement. By improvement, I don’t mean to say there’s anything wrong with you, I just want to emphasize that a martial artist learns to think with clarity, has sharper reflexes, a sharper perception of events…these are quite useful assets for your personality, aren’t they?
- Total Expression of the self through your body. This is the one that comes on top two levels of the Maselow’s Need Pyramid.
- Being just downright COOL! 😀
So, I’d say, even if I didn’t convince you to be a “fan” of martial art, I’d suggest you try learning the easier Martial Arts such as Judo, Taekwondo, Aikido, or maybe even Krav Maga (if you want to be as cool as Jack Bauer in the 24 TV series ;)), and see for yourself, how freakishly cool you’ll become, and FIT!
Go ahead, bash em up!! Dishum dishum!! 😀
Related articles
- Getting Fit With Martial Arts (everydayhealth.com)
- Adding Krav Maga to Your Exercise Routine (everydayhealth.com)
- The Path of a Martial Artist (dead-logic.blogspot.com)
Eeshan's Blog 
I won’t consider Judo, Taekwondo, Aikido as easier Martial Arts as they are quite stylized and you need a descend set of techniques to vary your fighting. Krav Maga or especially the south east asian Martial Arts like Silat, Kali/Eskrima/Arnis and so on are in my opinion a lot easier to learn for a beginner as they often consist of repeating principles.
Anyways, just out of pure curiosity, what kind of Martial Arts are you practicing?
That is precisely the reason why people refrain from trying out Martial Arts because they think it has too many rules and requires a lot of discipline, or in other words, its too boring. People can try the basics without ascending the levels, the goal is fitness here, not graduation.
I practice Jeet Kune Do, and the reason why, is what I just wrote above. I started off with Taekwondo but after I read about Jeet Kune Do, I thought it was just right for me. Rather than a fixed discipline, Bruce Lee mentions directives and techniques which one may develop into his own. Its literally freestyle, and that’s what I like. 😀
Thanks for your opinion. 🙂
I wasn’t thinking about graduations, but of pulling something useful for yourself of a certain Martial Arts and I suspect that a very formalized Martial Arts might be counterproductive as you are too busy with learning certain techniques instead of concentrating on yourself.
Since I was young I wanted to start with Martial Arts, but for various reasons I never joined one. Two years ago a friend asked me to join a training session of a Kali Sikaran group and as I’ve already been thinking about starting with Muay Thai (mostly because of fitness reasons) I agreed and got rapidly fond of that more principal driven approach which gives you the freedom to evolve.
Nevertheless, this shouldn’t be any kind of flame war of who is practicing the better Martial Arts, as I think there isn’t something like that. As long as it works for the practitioner it’s perfect.
No, of course not, this won’t be a war, unless we’re actually sparring 😉
I just want Martial Arts to get the exposure it deserves, and not just remain confined to only a few people. We know what the benefits are, and that’s what I feel everyone should get, if they embark on this journey.
And I totally agree with your statement, “As long as it works for the practitioner it’s perfect.”. 😀
I’v been inspired by martial arts offlate , the main reason being I saw “The karate Kid ” Once more last week ! And OMG , i saw it thrice this week ! 😉
Sadly , I’m a girl ! 😦 I still am gona learn KARate ! 😉
What if you found out that Hitler knew Kung Fu? 😉
Haha, why sadly? What’s wrong with being a girl and being interested in martial arts?!