Martial Arts In Today's Society

Martial Arts schools in the United States that are listed in the phone book number over 7,000. This includes boxing, judo, mma, karate, muy thai and countless others. The quality of the teachers is probably as varied as the number of schools.

There are red belts, masters, grand masters , senseis and many other names for the teachers of all these arts. Personal opinion suggests that any grand master or red belt should be questioned because the higher the belt I have found the bigger the ego and in martial arts the ego should be left at the door!

The shift recently to mma which is short for mixed martial arts signals a breaking away form the traditional styles to a more practical way of fighting. This can have its merits but I believe that one should have a strong base of one or two other martial arts. It is easier to integrate other fighting methods when you have a traditional fighting arts background.

The life of a martial arts school is either long or quite short. A good martial artist does not necessarily make for a good businessman. This is unfortunate because there are a lot of schools out there that make a lot of money but teach crap. In a real life situation at least 75% of practicing martial artists will have a difficult time. This is because real life situations are not practiced in the training hall or dojo.

The resulting injuries that will result usually discourage the teacher from getting into very intense training. A hurt student will either be out of commission or will quit. This does not help the bottom line of any martial arts school.

Martial arts training is great for the mind, the body and stress relief but unless you are training in real life and real time then you are deluding yourself to think that you can adequately defend yourself in most situations. A person who is geared for violence has a distinct advantage over a martial artist who trains on a mat. make no mistake that the violent offender has the upper hand especially considering the fact that he knows when he is going to attack. Chances are it will be when you are not aware of the attack.

Stay aware and chances are you will at least see the threat coming. Running away is not a bad strategy so stay in shape also if running needs to be an option. One last thing to consider is what happens if you do get the upper hand and disable or maim the attacker?

If you have a belt of any type and the attacker does not you will need to prove that you used the amount of force that was necessary to protect yourself. Excessive force even if it is justified will go against you in a court of law.

The other thing is injuries that will occur in any type of school you join. Get used to it or find a very soft style that minimizes physical contact. When injuries occur use the rice method and maybe even try the martial arts ultra sports balm by Best Balms. Train hard, be aware, stay focused and do not quit!