The first and last thing you need to remember about martial arts is that it is a field of discipline that is supposed to prepare you for combat. It is not simply a set of movements that look great to spectators. Every movement, every breath done by the martial artist is meant to accomplish something during a combat encounter. If you are ready for the idea of using your martial arts skills for combat situations, then you are ready to train and progress in martial arts.

Inasmuch as the term “Martial Arts” literally means “the art of Mars” (Mars being the god of war in Roman mythology), you should be prepared to invest in martial arts equipment to train for highly combative situations. Though some cultures frown upon women taking part in martial arts, there are other cultures that expect women to learn martial arts too – like in ancient Japan, wives of samurai warriors were expected to defend the home if attacked in the absence of their husbands.

Martial arts can be subdivided as to what skills they seem to prioritize – this will tell you what types of martial arts equipment you need to use. For striking, you may need the “wooden dummy” that is used as Chinese martial arts equipment – this type of Chinese martial arts equipment tries to train your mind to anticipate where angles of attack would come from. For kicking sports like Taekwondo, the necessary martial arts equipment to use would be a mouth-guard and a head-guard (for both male and female jins or fighters.) Male jins need other martial arts equipment like a crotch guard or sport cup so that their groin is not exposed to injury. Chest protectors are standard martial arts equipment for amateur matches and Olympic-level matches. However, in real life you should expect such protective martial arts equipment to be absent so some sparring matches involve absence of any protective gear, so you get used to being in real-life combat situations.

Uniforms are standard martial arts equipment for nearly all martial arts nowadays. Often, you can distinguish what type of martial arts is being done based on what the fighters are wearing. But uniforms are not just pleasant to look at – since they are made of thick material, they are pretty durable so that they can withstand constant strikes and friction during combat situations. Uniforms nowadays are also made of breathable material like thick cotton so that fighters don’t overheat or feel too uncomfortable in the heat of a match.

Since martial arts were developed for combat, often fighters or martial artists might be members of the military. In the Western context then, it may be necessary to have access to important martial arts equipment such as strength training equipment. Though in the past, the weight of your opponent may have been enough to workout with, nowadays many martial arts recognize that strength training is quite important too. So if you can find a way to buy your own gym equipment (as your investment into necessary martial arts equipment) or at least rent them by the hour, that would help you develop strength and power for your matches.

In many Chinese martial arts, there are other forms of martial arts equipment that Western martial arts do not require. Some Chinese disciplines will require you to break wooden blocks or planks with your fist. This simple yet staple among Chinese martial arts equipment tests your power, focus, and ability to marshal your chi (energy) into your fist where it meets the wood. Another type of necessary martial arts equipment for the Chinese martial arts would be concrete blocks. Some instructors may ask you to break these concrete blocks with your fist, feet, or even your head.

As you can see, the Chinese martial arts require a different set of martial arts equipment compared to the Western type of martial arts. Do invest in the type of martial arts equipment appropriate for your discipline. Martial arts equipment will help you be a stronger, better and more confident fighter in the end.

http://www.Prokarate.com offers a full online catalog of MMA supplies, Boxing Equipment, and Martial Arts weapons.

Author: Phil Burney
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

If your goal is to improve your fitness or lose weight but you need to do something more exciting than jogging on a treadmill to keep you motivated, perhaps you should consider doing a martial art like boxing, kickboxing, karate, or judo.

In this article we list the top 10 reasons to consider doing a martial art for fitness and weight loss to help you decide if doing one is right for you.

1. Doing martial arts for weight loss

It’s no coincidence that gyms, personal trainers and producers of exercise videos and DVD’s are now heavily incorporating training techniques and exercises from a wide variety of martial arts in their workouts.

Boxercise, Tae Bo, Cardio-Kickboxing, Kung Fu Aerobics, and personal trainers using punching bags, focus mitts and kicking pads in their sessions are just a couple of examples of how martial arts training is being used in cardio workouts for fitness and weight loss.

Because martial art training is typically high intensity and usually lasts for at least an hour in most cases, it burns a maximum number of kilojoules or calories per workout and is therefore great for anyone who wants to lose weight and lose it fast.

2. Doing martial arts for fitness

Most martial arts incorporate exercises and drills that improve cardiovascular fitness and endurance, help build muscle strength and improve muscle flexibility so they are perfect for anyone wanting to improve their overall fitness.

Cardiovascular fitness improvements require us to regularly elevate our heart rate for extended periods and most martial arts training can help us do that.

Improving the strength, size and shape of our muscles requires us to regularly subject them to some form of resistance training. Martial arts training helps provide this training by requiring us to perform exercises like push-ups and squats using our own body weight for resistance.

Improved flexibility is a natural byproduct of martial arts training because most, if not all styles of martial art incorporate stretching exercises in their workouts.

As a result of providing all of these fitness benefits, martial artists like boxers and kickboxers are widely regarded as being among the fittest athletes in the world and practitioners of karate, judo, etc are considered among the strongest pound-for-pound and most flexible athletes in the world.

3. Doing martial arts and self-defense

One of the most obvious benefits of doing a martial art is that it provides us with the fitness, strength, skill and techniques necessary to protect ourselves from being attacked by others who are out to harm us if the need should ever arise.

Like an insurance policy, we hope you’re never in a position to have to use your martial arts training to defend yourself, but it’s great to know this ability is there just in case.

Because they are primarily concerned with elevating our heart rates to burn energy and improve our fitness, many of the workouts listed above like Tae Bo, Boxercise, etc don’t really provide this benefit to the same extent as doing martial arts training with a dedicated teacher in a martial arts school that only provides one service – to teach you a specific martial art.

Many people mistakenly believe that because they punch a focus mitt 50 times during a session with their personal trainer that they know how to punch properly and can therefore defend themselves if they need to. This is a big mistake and we hope these people never find themselves in a situation where this belief is tested.

Unless they’ve had many years of martial arts training themselves, most personal trainers and gym instructors will not be able to offer advice about your punching and kicking technique, they are only really qualified to hold the focus mitts or kick-pad for you while you punch or kick them.

Remember, while probably great at what they do, these trainers are more like aerobics instructors than specifically qualified martial arts instructors.

4. Doing martial arts and self-confidence

In addition to providing us with the ability to defend ourselves, one of the greatest personal benefits that martial art training provides is a high degree of self-confidence.

This self-confidence partly results from the knowledge that we are much better equipped to defend ourselves given that we have done some martial arts training, but it also comes from a sense of achievement once we begin to master the techniques taught to us and the new confidence that results from feeling fitter and stronger and looking fitter and stronger.

Given that one of the first things to suffer, and one of the hardest things to reestablish afterwards, when we become overweight is our self-confidence this benefit is of particular value to those of us who have a weight problem.

5. Doing martial arts to improve body balance and coordination

As well as helping us to become fitter and stronger, martial art training typically involves the mastery of a range of techniques that requires us to be well-balanced and have superior body coordination.

In learning to master these techniques we naturally improve our balance and our coordination which helps us with other aspects of our daily life.

6. Doing martial arts for variety

Martial art training provides great variety in two ways.

Firstly, martial arts training sessions themselves have great variety built into them by including warm-ups and cool-downs, stretching exercises, strength building exercises, cardio exercises and exercises designed to improve and teach us a wide variety of techniques.

This variety is great for our mind as well as our body.

Secondly, there are such a wide variety of martial arts to study that we should be able to easily find one that suits our particular goals and interests.

Whether we prefer to do a martial art that primarily revolves around striking or grappling techniques or a perfect mix of both, or we want to study a highly technical or very simple style, the choice is great.

7. Doing martial arts teaches discipline and provides motivation

Everybody knows that studying a martial art requires and teaches discipline.

Because it is also goal orientated, training in one of the many martial arts also provides a great deal of motivation.

Lack of discipline and motivation are the most often quoted reasons for weight loss failures and for this reason, doing a martial art for weight loss and fitness may help many of us who lack the required discipline and motivation to achieve our weight loss goals to overcome these common barriers to success.

8. Doing martial arts for spirituality

One definition of spirituality is “Activities which renew, lift up, comfort, heal and inspire both ourselves and those with whom we interact.”

Martial art training has been practiced by millions of people over many centuries because among other things, it has a great ability to spiritually uplift us.

As well as forging a better connection between our mind and body, it also has the ability to forge a better connection between us and our world and us and others.

9. Doing martial arts training is relatively inexpensive

Compared to joining some gyms and hiring some personal trainers, training at a martial arts school or dojo is relatively inexpensive.

Many martial arts schools charge a very modest monthly fee for training and the beauty of this is you can train when and as often as it suits you.

In addition to low ongoing training costs, buying a uniform and any equipment you may need to train in most cases will be relatively inexpensive as well.

10. Doing martial arts has a social aspect

Many people who start doing martial arts training for weight loss, improved fitness or self-defense end up enjoying it most for its social aspects.

As well as training and learning with others with similar goals, many martial arts trainees help encourage and motivate each other and end up becoming very good friends.

Many martial arts instructors too have very friendly dispositions and foster a fun and friendly environment in which to train which endears them to their students who typically also become close friends.

Conclusion

If your goal is to improve your fitness or lose weight but you need to do something more exciting than jogging on a treadmill to keep you motivated, perhaps you should consider doing a martial art like boxing, kickboxing, karate, or judo.

In this article we listed the top 10 reasons to consider doing a martial art for fitness and weight loss to help you decide if doing one is right for you.

Scott Haywood is the editor of Australia’s leading weight loss and healthy lifestyle website weightloss.com.au

Author: Scott Haywood
Article Source: EzineArticles.com

MMA fighter and instructor Jorge Sarat doing some pre-fight training at the Toyoda Center in Grand Rapids, MI. The Toyoda Center is one of West Michgan’s first and finest martial arts schools in Michigan. Jorge has been fighting in MMA fights for several years and has a strong record. Come in and train with Jorge, Chad Pomeroy and the rest of the Challenger Fight Team at the Toyoda Aikido and MMA Center.

So, you’ve now scheduled some visits with martial arts schools in your area. Hopefully you’ve been following along through all of the previous lessons and have been able to gather some good information. Remember, choosing a martial arts school in your area should not be a quick decision. You will be investing your valuable time and money into something that should be fun, exciting, practical and enjoyable. If you make the wrong choice right out of the gate you will, most likely, be turned off to martial arts forever. We want to make sure your first experience is a positive one and that takes a little bit of research on your part.

Now that you are headed off to visit a few schools there are a few things you need to know. First, although I would think this is common sense, we find many clients do not: make sure you schedule your visit DURING a typical class time. If you happen to just “drop in” to a dojo or dojang that you’re driving by and theres no classes going on, you can still get a good feel for the facility and possibly the owner or staff, but you’ll still have to watch the instructor in action before you can really decide if its the right school and right martial art for you.

So, here are the basic rules for visiting martial arts schools in your area.

1st. Dont go alone. Not that you necessarily need to be worried about your safety, its simply that having another person with you will help with your decision. The other person will typically be more objective than you since you may be too invested in “wanting” it to be right.

2nd. Use the question list from lesson 3. Its one thing to watch a class and get a good feeling about the facility and the instruction, but there are still a bunch of questions you’ll need answers to before you can make an informed decision when choosing a martial arts school in your area.

3rd. Trust your gut! This is a big one and its actually a good self defense lesson as well. Most attack situations, and their avoidance, can be traced back to a “gut feeling” the victim had but ignored. You will get some gut feelings while you are visiting martial arts schools and the best thing to do is to trust what you’re feeling. If the place feels good and right to you, give it a try. If the place has an odd feeling that you just can put your finger on, get some more answers or maybe schedule another visit.

See you next time for another lesson to help you better choose a martial arts school in your area.