The need to defend ourselves can come up from time to time. There are a lot of situations when we are not at fault and other people try to bully us. We might also notice a situation where a stronger person is trying to oppress a weaker person for no reason. With self-defence skills, it will be easier to bail out ourselves, family members, friends or weaker people when they are being bullied, especially for no reason. There are many types of martial arts available. By reading about the different types of martial arts, it will be easier to select the type of martial arts that suits your interest. For most types of martial arts, it is very important to look for quality martial art equipment before starting to practice with somebody.The different types of popular martial arts are discussed below.
Karate
Karate is easily one of the most popular types of martial arts across the world. It features many self-defence styles that include open-handed chops, punches, and kicks. The first use of karate is said to be when a martial artist came up with a martial art form that had influences from China. Kara was originally used to refer to China and Karate meant Chinese hand. However, an empty hand is the translation of karate in Japanese. Several ranking levels in karate reflects expertise. Just like several martial art types, different colours of belts are used to denote the ranks in karate and the highest expertise level is denoted by a black belt.
Jujitsu
This martial art type was developed in Japan and China. Jiu Jitsu is regarded as both judo and aikido’s forerunner. The 3 martial arts types listed above are based on grappling. This is a technique where you are within proximity of your opponent. Hence, it significantly features body contact and can include strangling holds and throws intended to throw the opponent to the floor where you can continue the fight at an advantage. During this type of martial art, you utilize the momentum of your attacker to carry out joint locks (where you force the joint of your opponents such as their knee or elbow beyond the normal motion rate intending to cause injury or pain) to restrict your opponent. There is the Brazilian jujitsu that is based on choking your opponent which you continue to fight on the floor.
Aikido
Similar to Jiu Jitsu, Aikido is a type of martial art in Japan that means unification of your spiritual energy or the way for harmony. Also known as ki, the strength and momentum of your opponent are utilized to achieve your goal. This is sometimes referred to as non-resistance. Aikido does not involve the use of kicks and fewer hand strikes are carried out. Fighters utilize more pushing movements and turning motions alongside joint locks.
Judo
This type of martial arts and sports started in Japan. Similar to aikido and jujitsu, grappling is the major fighting style. However, the emphasis is on throwing your opponent to the floor and pinning them. Judo martial art is very popular though there are other combat sports like thai boxing or Jiu Jitsu.
Hapkido
This is a martial art in Korea that allows the use of various weapons such as canes, ropes, and belts. The weapons are used alongside moves that include hand strikes to pressure points on the body, throws, joint locks and kicks.
Kung fu
Kung fu is another popular martial art in China that has many fighting styles. The fighting styles sometimes include acrobatic elements like high kicks, jumps, and flips. There are two schools that you can loosely divide kung fu into. There is the school that focuses on close-range rapid punching and arm work as well as the school that focuses on leg work and kicks carried out in an acrobatic form. There are forms of kung fu that encourage the fighters to be very forceful as well as those that encourage a yielding model in which the force of the attacker is utilized against them. Some kung fu schools focus on visualization and relaxation techniques.
Capoeira
This is a martial art in Brazil that originated from Angolan slaves that used dance to disguise their self-defence moves. It includes kicks, punches, flips and acrobatics.
Krav maga
This was developed by Israel’s defence force. Krav maga is a Hebrew word that means battle combat. It emphasizes hand to hand combat that features hand strives, wrestling, and grappling. The fighters are encouraged to use any ordinary item in their environment including garbage can lid and tree branch to fight off their opponent. With this skill, it is easier to fight off a much heavier and larger opponent. The classes are mostly taught by people who were once a part of Israel’s defence force.
Tae kwon do
This is a martial art in Korea that is regarded to be among the oldest in the world. Kicking is particularly emphasized in this type of martial art. The art also includes punches, throws, joint locks, and hand strikes.
Tai chi
This is also called tai chi chuan. It is a martial art in China that includes slow-motion postures and choreography. In some cases, weapons such as a sword are used in the fight. The martial art was started by a Chinese monk that saw a crane’s fluid movement fending a snake off. He combined the movements with Taoist techniques of breathing. In today’s Western world, tai chi is used more as an exercise form as opposed to a martial art skill.