Martial Arts Training is Absolutely Essential to Include in your Lifestyle

What are the martial arts? It is simply the study of--and training in--combat. This study and training can include weapons fighting and tactical warfare (hence the word martial), but in general, and especially on this website, the martial arts refers to combat fighting using only the weapons of your own body.

What are the advantages of training for combat? Does this mean you will become a more violent person? Hardly! You will learn to use the tool of violence, but as you become more skilled in this, you will also learn that "with great power comes great responsibility" (Spiderman, anyone?). You will be a lot less likely to fight someone on the street out of pure ego, because you know you can really hurt them. You will be a lot more likely to want to avoid a fight in any way you can. So the first advantage is the ability to defend yourself, and control your own ego.

The second advantage is the confidence that you will gain from being a martial artist. I'm not just talking about the confidence to protect yourself and your family should the need arise--though this is a very real benefit--but I'm also talking about confidence in public speaking, confidence in business, confidence in school, confidence in leadership, confidence in social situations, confidence in your beliefs, etc. Confidence in one area of your life tends to spill over into other areas as well. This is a tremendous benefit.

The third benefit is fitness. Unless you have spent some real time and put in some real effort training in a martial art, you just cannot truly realize how much this type of training will increase your strength, flexibility, and stamina. True martial arts training (not the watered-down, chain-store type where they do some forms, yell a few times, and promote you to the next belt ranking without any real work at all... AVOID these types of places!) will thoroughly exhaust you from head to toe, making you physically and mentally strong. And I mean STRONG.

The fourth benefit to training in the martial arts is Community. I have seen many, many athletes who have stopped being athletic once they left school (whether high school or college) or started a family. It is a real pity that "Adults" tend to think being an athlete is over once they are "grown up". My friends, this should not be! In China, people train in the martial arts well into their old age! I'm talking 80's and 90's! Martial arts training will increase your lifespan, and bring you into contact with a lot of other people who are fitness-inclined. The result? A stronger community overall, and happier people. It does not matter how out-of-shape you are now, EVERYONE should join a sports league (if you really aren't interested in the martial arts, don't let anything stop you from joining an athletic league of any other kind!). There are amateur leagues in football, rugby, soccer, racquetball, tennis, running, inline skating, road biking, mountain biking, rock climbing, baseball, softball, lacrosse and a lot more! You just need to get out there and L@@K. Seek and you will Find!

There are two different kinds of martial arts training: combat sports and self-defense (or hand-to-hand combat). If you train for the combat sports, great. You probably already know a lot about bodyweight conditioning, and can defend yourself better than somebody who has never had any martial art training. Hopefully, you will find something useful here : )

Buz Campion, whose credentials as a martial artist are quite impressive, has put together a little ebook for you called The Secret Power of Simple Self Defence Tactics. In it, he will teach you the few good techniques you need to protect yourself. After all, you may not have time to train for hours at a traditional dojo every day. Even if you did, learning dozens upon dozens of techniques is pointless unless you're into competition. If you want to learn to defend yourself, just stick to the basics. Buz also teaches you how to condition your skills into your mind so that if you are attacked, defending yourself will be a natural response. He also talks about things like the laws of survival, how to control your fear under attack, and how to recognize key targets on an attacker's body. Pretty hardcore self-defense stuff.

Allow me to reminisce for a moment here. My very first martial arts training comes from my high school wrestling experience, and I can say confidently that if we went through every technique solo, without practicing them on each other during training, we would not be very efficient wrestlers at the tournaments. After learning each technique, the good coaches I’ve had made us wrestle against each other for real, practicing these techniques on each other until they were hard-wired into our brains.

Since then, I have taken Kung-Fu classes where we copied the movements of the sifu (instructor, master, or expert) but hardly ever sparred on each other. It is nice to be able to execute graceful moves in good form, but I doubt they would be very useful in fending off a real attack, for the very reason that makes wrestling an effective martial art: only by actually practicing the techniques in simulated fights (sparring), will these moves get ingrained into your mind and body.

If you can, cross-train one standup style that appeals to you and one grappling style. Cross-training will make you more skilled and confident in any situation you should find yourself in. If you like, find a good instructor of weapons fighting as well, to round out your training. But I know guys who train in weapons fighting only, and not in empty-hand, and I think it is a mistake. You won't always have a weapon on you, and you may find yourself in the worst situation: being unarmed and facing somebody wielding a weapon. In this scenario, if you do not know how to use your own body to overcome the opponent, fear may overwhelm and overcome you, and you will lose your life. Learn to use the natural weapons of your own body FIRST.

If you are already a martial artist and want to learn how to train for Martial Combat Power, taught by the world-famous Pavel Tsatsouline, I urge you to check it out: Pavel Tsatsouline's Martial Combat Power

For actual combat training, there is, of course, no substitute for training under somebody who is a skilled fighter. If you happen to know one personally, you can ask him to train you. Either you could pay him, or he could do it for free if you are friends. If you do not, you can pick a dojo in your area and train there. But use caution! There are many different types of dojos with many different goals. Some are "traditional" arts places, which tend to put a lot of emphasis on the "old ways" and doing lots of forms perfectly. This is great if you just want to learn a particular style, like Shotokan or Kenpo Karate. Then there are schools that are purely self-defense. You cannot train here if you wanted to compete in the UFC, for example, because reality-based self-defense training teaches you to use moves that are illegal in sport fighting, such as groin kicks, eye gouging, and elbow breaking. Very useful stuff if you want to learn to defend yourself and never plan to fight for sport. Then there are schools that are combat sport schools. In these schools, you will learn how to fight, and you will get in very good shape. If this is your thing, go for it. It's very important to consider these three reasons for training BEFORE you decide on a particular school. Don't just limit yourself to one school, either, when you are shopping around. I urge you to visit as many as you can, speak to the instructors, and watch or participate in a class. Many dojos offer a free trial class, but don't feel like you have to sign up there just because you took a free class. Take your time and make the right decision before you choose a dojo.

There is another option: training at home. If you train at home, you have to realize there are some drawbacks. For example, if you train all by yourself, you can learn all the forms but might find yourself frozen like a deer in headlights when actually attacked by a thug on the street. This happens because the reality of fighting (adrenaline flowing like mad, heart beating like crazy, tunnel vision, drug-crazed attacker who seems oblivious to pain, multiple attackers, attackers with weapons, etc.) is much different from training for fighting. If you do train at home, I urge you to find a training partner, if you can, to train with, but be very careful that you do not hurt each other!

That said, a home training course is a great step for newbies in the martial arts, or people who have martial arts experience, but want to diversify and branch out into other areas. If one of these is you, I have the perfect solution for you: Sammy Franco.

Sammy Franco is legendary as a fighter. He has many years of street fighting experience and martial arts training, and best of all, he has an endless number of products dedicated to an endless variety of fighting aspects. For example, if you want to learn or improve your trapping skills, he has a DVD for that. Want to learn ground fighting? Power punching? Choking techniques? How to fight with more rage and intensity? How to become a warrior? How to fight an armed attacker? He has a DVD for every single one of those topics, and more. There is a ton you can learn from him. Do yourself a favor and go check out Mr. Franco's products at

Believe me, one day you'll be extremely glad you did!!

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