What Is The Best Type Of Martial Arts To Learn

This post is about martial arts, more importantly, “What is the best type of martial arts to learn”. Martial arts exists in every nation in one form or another. Its primary function was to promote health by unifying the body and mind as one. Today’s society uses martial arts for exercise and combat.

There’s nothing wrong with this and I say this because I’m a practitioner of martial arts. Today I will share with you my views on martial arts, using the experience and knowledge I have acquired over the last 40 years as a student, National and International competitor, Instructor and International coach. This post will pack a punch and the occasional kick so sit back and enjoy the fight.

What Is The Best Type Of Martial Arts To Learn.

Let’s get straight down to it. What is the best type of martial arts to learn? I have over 40 years experience in this field and believe me this is not an easy question to answer.

I think the best way forward to is to identify why you want to learn a martial art and how much time can you dedicate to learning it properly.

Why Do You Want To Learn Martial Arts?

It’s simple question. Be honest with yourself! So you want to be fitter and you’ve realised that martial arts is great for fitness. Yes, I agree, it is but it can offer you so much more.

I bet your next thought will be for self-defence. Again I would agree with you, martial arts is and always will be a great form of self-defence and not because that’s all it’s about but because of the confidence it promotes.

Adults and children can benefit from learning a form of martial art but which one is best. To answer your question with true honesty I would have to say, there isn’t one form of martial art that is the best!

There’s many that say they are the best but I have found them lacking in various departments.

Freestyle Karate – Semi Contact Kickboxing.

I teach this particular art at my school and on its own it’s not the best martial art to learn but it’s a great place start. It has great speed, offers fantastic fitness benefits and is great for children of all ages.

There’s quite a few governing bodies around that promotes National, International and World competitions. So if you fancy becoming a British, European or World champion you’re in the right place!

It promotes confidence from almost day one, you can learn it in English and achieving a high standard in it, is easy if you have an accomplished Instructor who is skilled in his field.

This discipline offers super quick punches, kicks, sweeps and footwork. It will teach you how to avoid, block and counter attacks from a variety of angles. For most people this is exactly what they’re looking for. It doesn’t make it the best martial art but it gives you what you need.

Kung Fu.

If you want to take your learning to a deeper place then try Kung – Fu. All traditional arts are deep in culture, for a majority of Westerners this can be off-putting. I get it! You have a busy lifestyle and so your time is limited, but that doesn’t mean you can’t study a traditional art.

It really means that you will have to train smarter, do some at home as well as at your martial arts school.

Kung – Fu is a Chinese martial art and works on smooth fluid movements. Using a soft and hard approach to combat, it also promotes how to get the best from your body. You can learn how to use traditional weapons, such as the Chinese Broadsword, 6ft BO staff and Butterfly knives, Trident and more!

Staying balanced in everything you do is the key. Let your movements and your breath become one. I have studied this art for over 40 years and I’m still learning. One of the things I love about Kung – Fu is the pressure point application. For me this is an amazing concept that should be applied to every martial art.

Unfortunately this still doesn’t make it the best martial art!

Judo.

I hope you’re still with me. My next stop is with Judo. This is a very well-known and loved art, it is based on throws, locks and submission holds. It is of Japanese origin as is Karate but whereas Karate is a standing art, Judo is more of a ground art.

Judo is quite powerful and it offers some stand up work with some groundwork which makes me think it has more to offer! Now this might tick a box or two or even all your boxes. What I’m trying to say is that there really is an art for everyone, even though what I’m trying to identify here is, what is the best type of martial art to learn.

Again this can be learnt by children and adults. I wouldn’t advise that anyone with a history of back problems take it up!

Brazilian Ju – Jitsu.

This discipline has quite a few sections to it and therefore comes quite close to being the best in my eyes. This art is made up of 3 disciplines, these are:

• Judo.
  
• Aikido.
  
• Karate.

This is the raw form of Ju – Jitsu. When you add Brazilian to it, it then becomes a little bit more. The change that takes place makes it more aggressive, with a big dependency on groundwork/fighting!

This discipline for a lot of people will tick all the boxes and for them it’s the best. Ground fighting as become big business, fighters, coaches and instructors far and wide have all added ground fighting to their criteria.

I can truly understand why!

But this speaks volumes of how much Brazilian Ju – Jitsu has to offer. The benefits are amazing too, the fitness you can achieve is second to none but this depends up on your willingness to get up close and personal with a stranger!

Conclusion – What Is The Best Type Of Martial Arts To Learn.

I’ve racked my brains and tried to point out what is the best type of martial art to learn might be. It’s really not an easy question to answer but I’ve tried.

My conclusion is simple, you need a martial art that is practical for our time, that offers you a variety of skills. Please remember martial arts is not just about combat, so remember your chosen art should also have a background, but so should your instructor.

Ground fighting is ground fighting and whereas this is sold to potential students as the place where a fight ends up. Think a little further ahead and you’ll come to the same conclusion as I and that is, no one wants to roll around on a concrete or tarmac floor!

Our bodies are not designed for that and the injuries we would sustain from rolling around on this type of surface is crazy!

I hope you’ve managed to keep up with all I wanted to say.  If you have any comments or questions please leave them below.

UTG.