Last time we categorized martial arts in 3 categories. Those categories were striking, throwing, and grappling. Read about those categories in part one, here. Now we will further categorize martial arts into 3 more categories. I call these categories “The Art”, “The Fight”, and “The Competition”. I will elaborate more on these categories and I hope you gain the insight needed to help you pick a martial art to start more easily.
Let’s start off with “The Art”. These are martial arts that have a focus on performance. The practitioners of the art usually find themselves memorizing a series of movements, commonly called forms. Some of these arts include Karate and Wushu. To practice technique practitioners repeat forms over and over again to maintain their technique, improve their technique, or learn new techniques. Though multiple people are learning these forms, the movements done in the form start to reflect the uniqueness of the practitioners. The forms start to reflect the practitioner in an artistic way, to say the least. Learning forms help practitioners execute techniques without consciously thinking about them. They begin to learn how to move your body as a martial artist and start to do so naturally. Due to the nature of forms evolving with the practitioner and the forms getting more complicated as the practitioner learns more, those who study martial arts in this form will tend to find themselves getting more and more in shape over time. As a plus, a lot of martial arts that fall in “The Art” category will also tend to fall in either “The Competition” and “The Fight” category or both.
We will now talk about “The Competition”. Arts that fall in this category have a strong emphasis on having practitioners compete in tournaments. Examples of arts that fall in this category are Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do. In these arts, you not only tend to learn forms and self defense, but also you get the opportunity to test your skills in a competitive environment. Because of the competitive nature of these arts, practitioners tend to also have an emphasis on fitness. Practitioners tend to want to be in the best shape they can before competing.
The competitions usually have several categories, and those categories vary depending on art and style. Some categories usually include board breaking, sparring, team sparring, team forms, and weapons. Competition arts also usually have a focus that is not strongly emphasized by “The Art” and “The Fight” arts, and that is “control”. Competition arts usually ensure practitioners understand how to control their bodies such that they can strike fast and hard, or strike fast and soft, or even control the amount of force they use in techniques. This allows practitioners to not only use just enough force needed to win a competition but as well as allow practitioners to learn how to conserve energy when sparring. This skill also transfers into the self defense portion, a lot of arts in this category usually teach self defense as well, where practitioners learn to be able to use just enough force needed to stop an aggressive as well judging the amount of force someone is trying to use to hurt them. Arts that fall under “The Competition” teach practitioners how to get into the best shape they can, pressure test the techniques they are learning, and learn how to control their techniques well.
Now let’s discuss “The Fight”. These are martial arts that have a strong focus on combat. The practitioner will learn a lot of self-defense techniques, learn to maximize the amount of force they are using in their techniques, and they will learn effective fighting maneuvers in general. A practitioner of martial arts that falls in this category may not find many competitions in these arts and may find there are a few forms but not many, if any at all. The primary focus is on combat! Some of these arts include some forms of Japanese Jujutsu and Krav Maga.
Practitioners will know how it feels to be in combat and how to respond in different situations of combat. That is to say practitioners are frequently simulating combat with their fellow classmates in a realistic fashion and in a controlled and safe environment. Some of the arts in this category go as far as incorporating how to effectively and safely use and disarm modern day weapons. If you want to learn how to fight, enjoy physical contact, and simulate real life combat, these arts are good for you! . (Also I want to note, if you find yourself in a school, where the students are encouraged to actually hurt each other while practicing, that school may not be safe and you may want to consider learning at a different school).
A martial art can fall into several of these categories or it can just fall into one. When looking for an art to practice, keep these categories in mind, as well as the other categories we previously discussed, striking, throwing, and grappling. Thinking about these when looking for an art may help you find one you will enjoy. For example if you are looking for an art that falls into “The Fight” and “The Competition” and it is a grappling and throwing art, you may want to consider Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If you are looking for a school that has a focus on “The Art” and “The Competition”, and does some striking you may want to consider a school that teaches Wushu and San Da. If you are looking for a school where you can get all the characteristics of “The Fight”, “The Competition”, and “The Art”, as well as learning how to strike, throw, and grapple you may want to consider a school that teaches both Taekwondo and Hapkido.
I hope you have more knowledge now to help you narrow down your martial arts search so you can start your martial art journey! If you have any questions feel free to contact the Urban Martial Artists on our “Contact Page” or through our “Facebook” or “Instagram” pages.
