Today we’re going to talk about 3 of the most common martial arts in the modern world. Although this doesn’t include all of the martial arts, these are the 3 most practiced.   Kung-Fu is extremely popular for people looking for a more classical version of martial arts due to its large traditional basis.   Muay Thai and BJJ  are customarily used by MMA fighters.

We will start by taking a look at Kung-Fu.  Kung-Fu got its beginnings in China, where it was developed for the monks.   Even though nowadays anyone in the world is able to partake in it, it used to be off limits to most people.   It wasn’t that long ago that it was kept strictly for the monks. Kung-Fu relies on a lot of kicks and punches.   It occasionally contains a few joint locks and throws, however these are usually insufficient.  They’re not like Judo, and it’s not quite like karate, because it’s more of a soft style.  Kung-Fu uses a lot of concepts and body mechanics, whereas karate’s more considered a hard, force against force style.   Kung-Fu, however, uses a soft against hard style.  Because of this many people think that Kung-Fu cannot provide any good self-defense techniques but Kung-Fu actually has some powerful techniques if used properly.

Made popular by MMA, Muay Thai is the next art we will go over.  Muay Thai is a Thai martial art. You see it a lot in kick-boxing competitions that happen all throughout Thailand. Young boys in Thailand are sometimes taken away from home to learn to fight for money.  Often they go till knock-out or until someone quits.  Knees, elbows, and round-house kicks are the primary focus of Muay Thai.  Thanks to the devastating knees and elbows of Muay Thai, this style is a great source of self defense moves.  Their competitions are known for being extremely brutal, but in America you can still practice Muay Thai at a good gym and be safe, because hopefully they’ll be using good, protective padding.

Lastly is BJJ, also known as Brazilian Jujitsu.BJJ is an excellent style that provides many devastating self defense techniques. Because of MMA, BJJ is one of the more widely known martial arts.  When it first came out, no one had ever really heard of it or knew what it was.   However, it was here to stay when the Gracie brothers brought it to the UFC.   Royce Gracie shocked early spectators by defeating nearly all of his opponents with ease.  By doing that, the world kind of woke up and said, wow, there’s something going on with this Brazilian Jujitsu, we should all learn it.   Nowadays, BJJ is used by the majority of those in MMA.  It doesn’t have as much power as it used to carry, but it’s still a great style if you like to grapple.  BJJ’s focused mainly on the grappling aspect, so there’s going to be a lot of chokes and arm bars, knee locks, submissions.  There are no punches or strikes, other than very basic ones.   Once getting your opponent on the ground, the main purpose of Brazilian Jujitsu is to cause them to give up when you do a joint submission or a choke.

That’s a look at some of the more popular martial arts.  However, there are many more popular martial arts out there.   This was just a little glance at some of the more popular ones.  However, by reading this list, hopefully you have an idea of what you’d like to learn.  If you are interested in learning a martial art, be sure to check out your local schools and find one that fits you best.   Don’t just settle for the first school you see. Make sure you try a few schools to see which one you like the most before committing to a certain one.    A lot of places permit you to test out some classes for free before signing up.

 

Marshal Jones
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