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Martial Arts Movies

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:35:33 +0000

When it comes to movie genres, none are as entertaining as martial art movies, which always leave you glued to your seat. The plot can be pretty poor at times, but that doesn’t necessarily matter as you sit there eagerly awaiting the next epic fight scene. However, there are some great martial art films that combine an amazing plot with fantastic action scenes. Here are our favourites!

Ip Man

The fight scenes in this film are so awesome that after you have finished watching it, you’ll want to book yourself in for some Wing Chun training. This is a biographical film that tells the story of Ip Man: a Wing Chun master and Bruce Lee’s mentor. This is a must-watch, not only because of the fight scenes, but because it gives an insight into life in Southern China in the 1930s.

Enter the Dragon and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

It would be blasphemous of us not to include any Bruce Lee movies in this article. While some martial art film enthusiasts would declare that The Chinese Connection is a better film, we just cannot ignore Enter the Dragon. Okay, so it doesn’t have the best plot ever made, but it does show Bruce Lee destroying a plethora of bad guys. In our view, this is what makes it awesome!

Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has won four academy awards and they were all well warranted. Set during the Qing Dynasty, this film is frequently named as one of the best martial arts films of all time. The fight scenes in this film are exhilarating and will leave you sitting on the edge of your seat – making this a must watch for martial art fans.

Groups of Martial Arts

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:28:32 +0000

There are different groups of martial arts and having an understanding of them will help you choose the one that best fits your style. These Martial Arts are grouped into three categories: those involving strikes, those focused on grappling, and a mix of strikes and grappling. Understanding these different groups goes a long way to understanding how each martial art style is structured and helps to assist in learning martial arts.

Martial Arts – Strike

There are several martial art styles that revolve around strikes. Kickboxing is a style of martial arts that involves the fighter dishing out strikes of punches and kicks. It is inspired by aerobics practice and has been linked to the ancient practice of Muay Thai. Other martial art styles that involves strikes includes Karate, boxing, Taekwondo and Kung-Fu amongst others. All these styles are centered on dishing strikes to weaken opponents.

Grappling styles and Hybrid styles

Another group of martial arts have to do with grappling. This style of fighting involves the grappling and throwing down of an opponent. The idea is to show dominance by pinning the opponent into submission. Some of these styles involve the use of takedowns and throws to win an opponent. Martial art styles that involves grappling are wrestling, Aikido, Judo, Jujitsu, Shuai Jiao, Hapkido and many others.

Hybrid styles involve the combination of strikes and grappling. This group came about as a result of many martial arts schools (dojo) teaching a combination of the striking and grappling styles. The mixed martial arts (MMA) is a typical hybrid martial arts that involves using tactics of both grappling and striking styles to defeat an opponent. Fighting styles that fall in this category, apart from MMA, are Ninjustu, Jeetkundo and Wing Chun.

Health and Fitness Benefits of Martial Arts

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:22:43 +0000

The term ‘martial’ is derived from ‘Mars’; the name of the Roman god of war. Martial arts refers to all the various systems of training for combat, that have been systematised and designed to physically build up the body to defend against threats and opponents. Martial arts bestows a number of amazing health benefits, as well as instilling discipline and confidence in its students.

Fitness Benefits of Martial Arts

Martial arts offer a number of fitness benefits; from increasing flexibility and agility, and improving coordination skills, to maintaining a good posture. These are all beneficial to your health and make you look and feel better. Martial arts also help you burn calories, hone a toned physique and maintain a healthy body weight. This sport provides a full body workout, therefore increasing your overall stamina and endurance.

Health Benefits of Martial Arts

According to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, only one in five adults successfully completes the recommended amount of exercise. Martial arts training and drills can help a great deal by ramping up one’s heart and building cardiovascular endurance, thus optimising the positive impact of aerobic respiration. Moreover, students of martial arts can greatly increase their muscle mass and their body will become more toned overall.

While the physical benefits of marital arts are obvious, the mental benefits should not be discounted. It has been confirmed that martial arts can be a form of mental therapy; reducing stress levels, building self discipline, confidence and a good self esteem through simply improving physical fitness. Martial arts can be practiced for its combative abilities but also, maybe more importantly, for its health benefits.

About Karate Belts

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:13:41 +0000

Jigaro Kano, the founder of Judo, is credited with first using belts of various colours to indicate proficiency and progression. Originally, there were only three ranks: Beginner (new, clean, White Belt), Intermediate (dirty from training, Brown Belt) and Advanced (even dirtier from training, Black Belt). Karate teachers took up the idea of colours, but there are variations in the order of colours used depending on the Karate style and country.

The Obi

Obis, or belts, are worn in a variety of martial arts including Karate. They are earned by students showing a commitment to training, together with a practical examination. Typically, the belt will be about 5 cms in width and made from thick cotton. Depending on the level (minor/Kyu to major/Dan), belts will either have a uniform colour or have one or two stripes of white or a contrasting colour.

Karate Grades and Belt colours

Whilst the different styles of Karate all use the coloured belt system to denote rank or grade, the actual colours, stripes and order vary between styles. As an example, in Shokotan Karate the “minor” or Kyu grades start with Beginner (White Belt). This is followed by 9th Kyu (Orange) and students work up the grades through Red, Yellow, Green, Purple, Purple/White stripe, Brown, Brown/White stripe to Brown/2 White stripes (1st Kyu).

Having reached 1st Kyu, students will then progress to the “major” or Dan grades, this time starting at 1st Dan and working up to 10th Dan – All wear a Black Belt. Dan grades 7-10 are honorary and usually awarded for special merit or age. Wado-ryu and Shito-ryu Karate styles use essentially the same colours, just in slightly different orders for the kyu grades. Shito-Ryu uses black and blue belts for Dan levels.

History of Martial Arts

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 09:05:29 +0000

Martial arts is a form of self-defence, and it is interesting to explore its origin. All over the world, early human civilisations were engaged in various conflicts, using martial arts unique to their culture. Martial arts can attribute their origin to man’s natural desire to defend himself. Unfortunately, most of the history of martial arts was not recorded; however, Asian martial arts were the exception, and are thus now the most renowned.

The origin and spread of Asian martial arts

The origin of Asian martial arts dates back to 2,500 years ago when Buddhism began to spread in India and eventually made its way into China; resulting in the spread of Indian martial arts and spirituality. The legend that tells of this diffusion is that of Bodhidharma, a monk, who is said to have created the Shaolin Arts which marked a turning point for Kung Fu and led to its eventual institutionalization.

Modern martial arts

Over the years, martial artists from Korea and Japan travelled to China to learn Kung Fu, which they then incorporated into their unique martial art styles, such as Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Judo. In this day and age, martial arts have become more popular and impresses many; practitioners and onlookers, alike. Judo and Tae Kwon Do has now been included into the Olympics and more are likely to follow.

The many benefits of martial arts training have remained a constant factor in its popularity. Martial arts does not only strengthen your body, mind and spirit; but many also refer to it as a sport that results in self-discovery. I would even say that martial arts will help you to learn the necessary skills and cultivate the confidence that you need to go after your dreams. Why not start practicing martial arts?

About Tai chi

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 08:46:41 +0000

Tai Chi (or Taiji) is a form of martial arts that is practiced for its health benefits and for defensive training. The term Taiji refers to yin and yang, and although Tai Chi was originally created as a martial art, it’s also practiced for other reasons. These reasons range from competitive wrestling to achieving greater longevity. As a result, there are lots of different styles of Tai Chi.

Styles of Tai Chi

There are 5 major styles of Tai Chi – The Chen, Yang, Wu Hao, Wu and Sun styles. There are, however, dozens of other styles and most of them can be traced to the original Tai Chi style of the Chen family. The Chen style is the first Tai Chi style and can be recognized by alternating fast and slow motion, and bursts of power.

The philosophy of Tai Chi and Weapons

The main philosophy of Tai Chi is that if you use hardness to resist brute force, both sides will get hurt to some degree. According to Tai Chi, injuries like that are a natural consequence that occurs when brute force meets brute force. Students of Tai Chi are instead taught to not resist or directly fight an incoming force but to safely redirect the attack’s force.

A huge variety of weapons are used in Tai Chi. For example, in modern Tai Chi they use two varieties of swords – the jian, a double edged sword, and the dao, a curved sabre. They also make use of a folding fan, wooden staffs and spears. In more traditional and older styles of Tai Chi, they also use other weapons, including feng huo lun, which are circular-shaped blades with points.

What to know about martial arts?

Bette Kuhic — Tue, 08 Jan 2019 08:41:47 +0000

Martial arts is a spiritual, mental or physical activity that is geared towards achieving certain goals. These goals may vary depending on the martial art in question, but it could be to improve health and fitness, for self-defense, spiritual nourishment, military combat, and much more. Most of these arts originated from the East; Japan, China, and Korea and are even featured in the world of sporting events, like the Olympics.

Types of Martial arts

There are numerous martial arts disciplines in the world, with most of them being major sports worldwide. Martial arts teach discipline, and for that reason, some institutions and schools incorporate them into their curricula. Governments also incorporate these arts into their disciplined forces for combat, mental, and physical purposes. Examples of martial arts include; Karate, Judo, Boxing, Tae-Kwon-Do, Kick-Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, Aikido, and Tai-Chi.

Tai-Chi

Originating in China, this art is considered an extremely healthy activity to partake in. This is because Tai-Chi incorporates mental, spiritual and physical exercises. It is a non-competitive art that actuates deep breathing and gentle stretching. Each stretch posture syncs to another one without a pause, which ensures that the body is in constant motion throughout. Many who practice this art make it a lifetime routine.

You can learn Tai-Chi online, via books, videos or a qualified trainer. Tai-Chi is a gentle art, so for this reason, it doesn’t strain your muscles. This art can, therefore, be practiced by the aged, which is a big plus. Some of the proven health benefits you can acquire from Tai-Chi include; muscle strength, increased energy, increased stamina, improved flexibility, decreased stress, decreased anxiety and depression, and improved agility and balance.