When people think about martial arts training or sports training for athletes, the images that come to mind are those of punishing schedules, sweating bodies, reddened limbs and being out of breath. Yes, of course all this is true because physical improvement and athletic mastery, at the highest levels, takes enormous hard work, discipline and sustained effort.

How many people though contemplate the mental side of training? Few people realise the power the mind has over how much we train as well as how often and how successful we can be …

What kind of martial art training is right for you?
There are styles of martial arts and hand to hand combat to suit everyone regardless of sex or age. When you begin your quest to find the art for you should do some preliminary research and compare the different styles and philosophies/aims behind each fighting technique.
What is your aim in starting a martial art?

Increased levels of fitness?
More confidence in yourself?
Better fighting techniques?
Self defense and protection skills?
Possible competitive aspects and opportunities?

Whatever system of combat you choose you will probably develop a …

Anyone coming from a Chinese martial arts background or training in one of the many of the fighting disciplines, will have at some point come across the ‘Muk Yang Jong’ or ‘wooden dummy’. They were designed to provide a human-like opponent upon which a student would be able to practice different combinations of punches, strikes and kicks without doing serious damage to a real live person!

Upon the central ‘trunk’ of the dummy, you will find several wooden ‘arms’ and ‘leg’ or legs that a practitioner can aim for and defend …

Close combat is combat fighting ‘up close and personal’. This is the real deal. There are no ‘roundhouse’ kicks and tip-toe stances here.
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If you find yourself in a close combat situation or about to get into one, you better abandon any notions of keeping your clothes clean. Imagine dancing intimately with your partner on a night out. Well close combat is like that only the other person doesn’t want to dance they really want to hurt you or worse!
Often in close combat the ultimate goal is the incapacitation or …

Martial Arts Training or ‘The Arts of War’ developed from a need to protect oneself, one’s family and community from any outside attack by rival groups, raiders, conquering forces and so on. Over time, many regions of the world developed very different styles of martial art fighting techniques.

Martial Arts today are practised all over the world and not just by the communities that originated them. Wherever you are on the planet you can bet you are not far away from a class or teacher who will be able to …