Reasons to take up martial arts training

The first thing to do when you want to take up martial arts training is ask yourself what is it that you want to achieve. This is important because it gives you a perspective and makes the training process an enjoyable one.

Some of the reasons why you should take up martial arts are:

1. Fitness/ Fun: People usually join a martial arts course to become fitter and get into shape. Martial arts is a great way to do so. It improves your physical condition by improving endurance, strength, flexibility, speed and helps reduce overall stress levels.

2. Self Defense: Quite obviously this is a great reason to learn martial arts. Martial arts came into being so that people could defend themselves. There are certain art forms, however, that focus primarily on self-defense; Hapkido and Krav Maga being the most common ones.

3. Interest in traditional or cultural arts: Some people take a lot of interest in the cultural aspects of martial arts. To them, the discipline, the traditions, the philosophy appears very attractive. Martial arts are as much a spiritual pursuit as a physical one. So if you have similar inclinations opt for a course that is traditional and rooted in time, you can choose from: Shaolin Kung Fu, Shotokan Karate, Kuk Sool Won, Iado, Wing Chun or Bujinkan.

4. Full Contact/ Combat Sport: You may want to sign up for a martial arts class because you like the thrill of a full contact sport. Though most martial arts do not encourage unprovoked confrontation, you could pick up a course that will give you plenty of action during training and meets. You can pick styles that are an amalgamation of multiple styles like San Shou, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

5. Sport, Tricks & Competition or "Xtreme" Martial Arts: The television today constantly beams down extreme martial arts that have evolved primarily as a spectator sport. These combine basic martial arts moves with difficult jumps, kicks and flips. The focus here is sports and not really on competition and perfection of art. The term competition here refers to more to the display of acquired skills rather than a serious challenge in which opponents face each other in the ancient traditions of the game. Taekwondo for example focuses on the sport aspect as do some new schools of karate. Most of these institutes are run by current or former champions.

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