Pick Your Favourite Martial Art as Your Hobby

The human body can be quite lethal and if we shape it in that direction, it has full potential to serve as a mechanism for self-defence. The best way for your body to realize its potential for self-defence is to devote your time to learning martial arts, which can give you the upper hand against your opponents, even if you lack size or raw strength. Mastering martial arts is not an easy thing to accomplish, it takes great resolve to do a repetitive task over and over again until you reach an impeccable finesse for just a single move, not to mention that you need to develop an instinctive reaction to threatening situations and take a stance required to defend yourself. Many martial arts are now international sports in which people compete by demonstrating their skills and overpowering their opponents at the same time. Here are some of the most popular martial arts that would be interesting to take as a hobby, and maybe adopt them afterwards as a way of life.

Karate

Karate is a Japanese word and it means “empty hand” which suggests that you need nothing more than your hands to defeat someone. Karate is the most famous of all martial arts and is now practiced all over the world. The main characteristics of Karate are fierce punches and kicks along with hard blocking moves.

Tae Kwon Do

A Korean expression roughly translated meaning “the way of the foot”, and it is a fighting style that involves a lot of kicks. The logic behind Tae Kwon Do is that legs are longer and stronger than arms, thus making them a more efficient tool for inflicting damage. This is an Olympic discipline, widely practised by both males and females all across the globe.

Judo

Judo means “gentle way”, and is also one of the most popular martial arts. The basic idea behind judo is to render the strength and size of your opponent useless, by forcing them to lose their balance and throwing them on the ground. Judo also forces opponents into submission throughout joint-locks and chokeholds. It was found by Jigoro Kano, who was a victim of bullying during his youth, and decided to come up with an efficient way to defend himself.

Krav Maga

A fighting technique adopted by military and police forces all over the world, but it is not a sport in which one can compete. Krav Maga was invented in Israel, and its prior focus is on disarming an opponent and inflicting a lot of damage. Krav Maga is a fighting style which can be easily applied in real life situations, and it teaches its students to ignore distractions and concentrate on injuring the opponent.

Capoeira


Created in the 19th century by African slaves, and it resembles break dancing, since it was disguised as a dance to begin with. It mainly consists of acrobatic jumps and kicks along with sweeps and head butts. It also demands a lot of strategy and precision in order to be fully effective as a fighting style.

It is all fun and games until someone loses an eye


As the saying goes “no pain, no gain” - the same can be applied to martial arts. Mastering any fighting style involves a lot pain and injuries, during the process of learning. The injuries sustained during trainings can be serious indeed, so make sure that you visit your doctor to check if you are alright. Your joints can easily be dislocated, and bone fracture is quite common as well, so bear in mind that pushing yourself is going to be quite counterproductive in this case. If you are planning on training, you need to allow your body to heal, otherwise you won’t be able to perform like you are supposed to. You need to be prepared for a lot of wounds and bruises that may alter your appearance, so, make sure your face is properly protected. In case you receive a nasty blow, visit a dentist to see whether your teeth are fine, since fracturing your jaw is also a likely scenario that may occur and you may need dental implant if you lose your teeth, which is all the more reason to be extra vigilant when training.