Tag: martial arts

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Children in Martial Arts

Introduction

“Letting kids in the door is the worst thing that ever happened to martial arts.”

There’s nothing inherently wrong with children learning self-defense and combat sports, but this business of “what is a martial art” is muddied today.

What Is A Martial Art

I posit that any activity where there is grappling, or where the goal is to hit the other person, and especially any activity commonly practiced in or on a place commonly called a “dojo”, “dojang”, “kwoon”, “ring”, “mat”, or cage, is called a martial art today.

That probably covers it, and my list creates a deliberately broad itinerary: Taekwondo, Karate, Kung Fu, MMA, boxing, wrestling, jujitsu, fencing, kendo… ok, I could go on and list thousands of styles, sub-styles, and variations. I do not agree that these are all martial arts per se, by the way, but that’s for a different discussion. For now, let us casually take a look at them by first grouping them.

Types Of Styles

The easiest styles to consider grouping are wrestling, boxing, pankration, sumo, MMA, fencing, kickboxing. For purposes of this post, I’ll broadly categorize these styles as “Type 1 martial arts”. And only because they have one thing in common – I’ll get to that in a moment.

The other styles include Taekwondo, Karate, Kung Fu, Tang Soo Do, Hapkido, Aikido. For purposes of this post, I’ll categorize them as “Type 2 martial arts”. And only because they, too, have one thing in common.

Can you spot the differences between the two groups? One obvious thing is that in Type 1, the list has no capital letters (MMA does, but that’s because the style itself is an acronym whose namesake does not normally use them), while the Type 2 group is all pronouns, capitalizing their names.

Differences Between Types Of Styles

Considering Type 1, were these ruined because of children? Absolutely not. Children have been in these sports for eons, and it has never been a problem. Children excel in these by virtue of their weight classes and their skill. No matter how much money a child’s parents throw into the sport, the only thing that will excel them is their proficiency. They’ll HAVE to put in the effort. No effort = No progress. Period.

Now consider the Type 2 group. In this group, everyone advances at levels which are denoted by something that they wear. It is by culture that the instructor promotes the practitioner, not the student. When the instructor decides that the student is ready, then the student is ready. It doesn’t matter that the student can’t fight their way out of a paper bag, or that they can’t get out of the way of a haymaker. What matters is that the student can perform an arbitrary set of movements, be it simple techniques, a choreographed set of complex movements, breaking a board, or even simple sparring.

Do you see the difference? In Type 1 groups, people excel by virtue of their skill. In Type 2 groups, people excel by virtue of their instructor. Type 1 groups will not excel if they have a poor coach, but Type 2 groups can excel if they have poor instructors.

Exceptions

There are styles that can break this mold, I’ll add them back into the 1st category, to include Brazilian Jujitsu and Jujitsu. These styles are capitalized in their names, but advancement requires skill, not subjectivity from an instructor.

Is there a case that a bad Type 1 instructor can improperly promote a student? Sure, absolutely. The reality, though, is that this is not the culture of these styles and does not happen nearly as often as it does with the Type 2 group, and further, the student, upon seeing themselves getting thrashed about will soon discover the worthlessness of their promotion. Also, there are some schools in the Type 2 category which will only advance their students upon the objective demonstration of skill, but that is usually a function of the instructor / school, not of the style.

There is also another subtle difference between the groups. The first group is designed for sport. The second group… well, that’s where things get complicated. These groups can be subdivided into two sub-groups, “traditional” and “non-traditional”. Ok, to be more to the point, I’ll state “sport” and “non-sport”.

Sport

The important thing to note about the Type 1 and Type 2 (sport) groups is that these styles are all designed with sport in mind. Fairness, one-on-one, regulated by a referee or judge. The person you are up against is similar in weight, age, gender, and skill level. It is always about “fighting” – scoring points by hitting, grappling, making them go out of bounds, making them give up. Here one uses techniques which are by design used to hurt or place the opponent into submission. As such, there is no focus on self-defense or martial applicability. When the neutral guy with the uniform says stop, or the bell rings, you stop. You shake hands, rest a minute, then try again. There are rules about what you can use and where you use them. For example, boxing says “no grappling”; wrestling says “no hitting”; fencing says “only foil/epee/saber, but no hitting or grappling”, and so on. Always one-on-one. Always barefoot or with specific protection (a la fencing, or padding as used in boxing or kickboxing). The techniques can certainly be used for self-defense, and more than occasionally they are. But the average student isn’t taught for self-defense.

Non-Sport Study

The important thing to note about Type 2 (non-sport) is that the focus isn’t necessarily about sport. Some don’t compete at all. But other than that, well, there’s quite a bit of variety. Here’s a few:

Some styles have their students exclusively train for historical context (Bong Guk Kum Bop, Shutokukan, and HEMA, for example).

Some instructors train their students primarily for aesthetics (some Karate, Aikido, and Taekwondo schools are noted for this.)

Some instructors train their students primarily for health (many Taekwondo, Karate, Tai Chi, Kung Fu schools are noted for this.)

Some instructors train their students primarily for self-defense (Aikido, and many Karate, Taekwondo, and Kung Fu schools are noted for this.)

And of course, instructors can and do incorporate any combination of these disciplines of sport, aesthetics, health, history, and self-defense into their curriculum.

Back To Children

And therein lies the problem with children. There’s nothing wrong with teaching children any of these disciplines, of course. The problem is what is being taught and whether or not anything is being learned.

Suitability

Take self-defense, for example. I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a demonstration of gun and knife self-defense skit being performed by a bunch of 8 and 10 year olds. The presentation shows effort and potential skill, but it also shows what they’ve been – and importantly, what has not been – taught. That a child is taught knife and gun disarms borders on recklessness. Kids pay to be taught gun disarms? I see nothing inherently wrong with this, except for two glaring facts. The first is that they are physically immature to be learning these techniques, and the instructors know this (or they’re ignorant; either way shows shoddy instruction). The disarms always are from the point of view of another child gun or knife wielder – a far less common scenario. But against an adult, the child wouldn’t likely stand a chance with the techniques they use. So realism here is gone, and the child ignorantly thinks s/he’s mastered the skill.

Money Pit

The other issue is that the instructors know the child won’t stick around long enough to take the shoddy instruction they were given, and refine it into something that will work once they get older and larger. The instructor, then, is playing a numbers game: give them something cool to learn in order to break up the monotony of actual stuff they need to learn.

So I wonder, do kids competing in Judo have to throw adults? If not, then why?

Hold on to that reason for a moment.

Then why are these same kids learning to do the same throws in their self-defense classes? Either they should be learning to throw others of the same size (and let’s face it, most do), but that’s not realistic, since the likely perpetrator is either a school bully (where the face-off is more sport-like, such as one-on-one, a face-to-face challenge, etc). Or the perpetrator is an adult.

If the kid is taught self-defense against the bully, then, when the kid quits martial arts, their only context of self-defense is a school bully, which is a very different dynamic than a confrontation in the street, which more often involves weapons and multiple opponents.

The child, then, received bad instruction. Perhaps, if the child stayed in martial arts, they could refine their knowledge as they grow older, but statistically, they’re more likely to quit after 4-5 years.

Aqui Se Habla Children Only

Next, what have we taught? THIS is where the state of martial arts has suffered. There are a tremendous number of schools who teach only children’s classes – no adults. It’s not that adults shouldn’t be learning martial arts, it’s just that they aren’t. They’re too busy with their lives. They need to put junior in a sport or activity, and martial arts is often considered. As a result, schools have so many students who are only children, that they need to break classes up which takes away time that adults might otherwise train. Many are faced with the prospect of having to cancel children’s classes just to get in an adult class, where there are more paying children than adults, so rather than risk losing that revenue stream, they’ll cancel the adult classes instead.

Ok, so that is one issue.

One Curriculum To Rule Them All

The next applies to schools – and styles – where the curriculum is the same between children and adults.

Take Kukkiwon Taekwondo, for example. In most schools, your first test, usually for Yellow Belt, includes having to perform Taeguek 1, do a few kicks and punches, and break a board. The only difference between the adult and child student might be the board being broken. I have been in Taekwondo for 40 years, and been in over a dozen schools, officiated at dozens of tournaments, and have chummed with many an acquaintance who is an owner or student of another school. And in 40 years, I have not come across a single Taekwondo school which teaches the applications in their forms. And the reason is nearly universal: because the kids won’t understand it.

You get that? They don’t teach something because kids won’t understand it.

So the instructor is faced with the prospect of having an adult and child show up at the same test, and do the same routines, but the adult has to additionally show or demonstrate or otherwise indicate knowledge of the applications behind the form they’re doing. Both pass their test, but they note that the belt is the same color, but the adult had to do more work to earn it. What’s more, if that kid sticks around and becomes an adult in that school, they won’t have had the requisite knowledge of the applications in their forms.

So the instructor capitulates: no one learns the applications in the forms. And this is ubiquitous: Taekwondo, Karate, Kung Fu Hwa Rang Do, Tang Soo Do… they are all guilty of doing this. As a result, going into many of these schools, the forms are like an appendix: we all have one, no one knows what it’s for, but if we don’t take care of it, it’ll kill us.

Rate Of Testing

Here’s something curious: That adult and child pair will also test at the same rate. OK, some schools might string the child along a little, but most students pay to test, and getting them to test sooner means more money out of the student sooner than later. Instructors know they get the kid for 4 years, black belt or not, so, do whatever it takes to keep them happy for 4 years. If they stick around, that’s gravy. If not, they were going to leave anyway.

So, how do you have a test for two people, one who is a child, one who is an adult, and both test for the same belt? Do you use different standards, or the same standards? Remember, that child could grow into an adult and then will have less skills than other adults who just joined.

Watered Down

The answer, then, was to water down the entire curriculum for everyone.

Look at what happened to Judo and Karate, back in the 1920’s Japan. Jigoro Kano brought Judo back to Japan school children, as did with Ginchin Funakoshi with Karate. There was no way schools would allow the violent martial movements – eye gouges, groin strikes, throws, etc to be taught to these kids. So, the styles were adjusted so that “approximate movements” were taught instead.

For example, a spear hand is commonly taught as a poke to the belly (I was taught that you poke the belly and squeeze to rip out the spleen). No, you don’t teach kids to squeeze spleens, but you also don’t teach them that the spear hand is a poke to the belly, either. Yet that’s exactly what schools are doing, and nobody is questioning how silly that really is. (I talk about these absurdities in another discussion).

Do you see how the influence of children students has changed how martial arts are being taught? This doesn’t happen in boxing or wrestling. The same techniques are there. There’s no subtracted instruction. But in the “traditional martial arts”, this kind of thing and thinking is so rampant, it’s ubiquitous.

Gender Gap

It is also curious that this trend has no end in sight, and the pendulum is now swinging in the other direction. Taekwondo is fast becoming a boys sport. With the fancy jumps and flips, this caters to the teen male crowd, and leaves out the older folks and many girls.

Money Belt

There is one more thing. And this is the biggest issue with children in martial arts – both kinds of Type 2. It’s because of the belt. That symbol of status.

Children are taught that Black Belt is the epitome of the style. The mastery. The ultimate. Indeed, most kids who get black belt leave right after the test or the next day. I don’t get it, they’ve been a black belt all of an hour, and they’re gone.

As children go through the ranks of these belt systems, they learn that their more senior peers are given more responsibilities. The senior underbelts or black belts are given the privileges to lead classes, go through the warm-ups, or teach a new student the movements to their form. To a young child, this is huge. And so, by the very culture of belted martial arts, children are groomed into believing that the belt system is a system of rank – and status. Thus, the belt becomes a tool of sorts for both the student and the instructor.

Motivator Points Of View

For the student, that belt becomes a motivator to come to class and show it off; coming to class begets upcoming tests; upcoming tests begets practice at home. It becomes bragging rights, especially within families. Nothing wrong with that, except when you understand the true meaning of the belt has nothing to do with status.

For the instructor, the belt is just a means to divide up a class. White belts go here and work on this form, blue belts go there and work on that form, black belts over here with me. That sort of thing. It’s so much more convenient to call out by color than it is to remember each student’s name and progress level, especially in large classes. This is also convenient for schools who have rotating instructors. The belt system really is a tool.

The Dark Side Of Martial Arts

Of course, there’s also a dark side, too. How much did you pay for your yellow belt test? A Karate studio a town over from me charges $50 for a test. They say it’s to cover expenses like boards and belts. I doubt that, boards cost $1.50 apiece if you buy in bulk, and belts are $2 apiece if you buy in bulk. So there’s a potential for revenue generation there. And that’s magnified by the number of belts: some schools are white/black only (Aikido is noted for this). Others have a dazzling array of colors, sometimes 15 colors and color combos before getting to black belt.

And black belt itself is also another revenue generator, some places charge as much as $2000 for 1st dan black belt. That’s like an entire year’s worth of memberships! Most around me charge anywhere from $400 to $600 for 1st dan, and it goes up from there. That’s all highway robbery. But when you have kids, that black belt is like dangling a hunk of gold in front of them. You don’t want to disappoint them, do you? So, you shovel out $500 for their black belt test. That is where the abuse settles in.

Conclusion

And that is why martial arts was ruined because of children. It’s not their fault, it’s the fault of the institutions running the styles. If Taekwondo or Karate were run like boxing or wrestling gyms, I don’t think we’d have this problem: You want to get your next belt? Then score 20 points in your sparring match, do your forms, break your boards (one shot), and demonstrate standing/static techniques, or whatever your style allows for. But leave the subjectivity out of it. Because of subjectivity, we do not have control over who gets promoted and who needs more work.

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Myths in Martial Arts

You’ve heard them: never let your belt touch the floor. You gotta register your hands and feet when you become a black belt. The colors of the belt represent… the list goes on. I’ll mention a few here and cover the history and reality behind the myth.

Never Let the Belt Touch the Floor

If you let your belt touch the floor, the myth goes, you are disrespecting the uniform, the dojang, the instructor, and the style. Bushes outside will auto-incinerate, and locusts will fly in by the millions. God will toss down thunderbolts at the heathen who dropped his belt.

Background Story

Ever hear that before? I was 20 years into Taekwondo, and 5 into teaching my own classes when one day I joined a new school. The assistant instructor at the time did not know my history, and he gave me my uniform. He told me to change in the changing room, but not to tie the belt. I figured he was going to show me how to tie the thing, and maybe they had a different way to tie it than other schools. I was coming in at white belt, as agreed upon by the instructor and me. Apparently, nobody talked to the assistant when I came in, he just assumed I was a brand new student. Not wanting to sound like a showboating braggart, I kept my mouth shut.

So I came out of the changing room – without the belt tied as instructed. He wanted to show me how to tie the strings at the sides of the uniform, so he said lift your arms. I set the folded belt onto the floor at my feet and raised my arms outward. Oh, Dear God! What a mistake! He yelled at me, sort of. More like gave me a stern warning that “we don’t let our belts touch the floor here”. Um. Ok. I picked up the belt, and as he tied the strings and then the belt (which was no different than anywhere else) I asked why the belts don’t touch the floor. He said that’s terribly insulting to the style and instructor.

I later had a chat with the instructor, who had a chat with his assistant about my history. I mentioned about the belt touching the floor thing, and we both laughed. He told me his reasoning had more to do with discipline. It’s not an insult, it’s just a pedagogic tool to teach discipline and respect. No insult was inferred, and the assistant was well-intentioned, although he does take things a bit seriously.

Really: grapplers in jujitsu and judo touch the floor all the time, so what’s the big deal?

Pedagogy

It turns out, it isn’t a big deal. Such really is a pedagogic tool to teach discipline. It’s a small part of a larger picture. You wouldn’t drop a spoon on the floor then pick it up and use it, would you? The floor is a dirty place, and if you have a clean spoon nearby, you’ll just exchange it.

It’s no different than in the dojang. It’s not that the floor is dirty, although the lesson is partly about cleanliness; but also about respect for the uniform and its upkeep. To that end, uniforms should be neatly folded so that when you come to class, you don’t look like you’re in wrinkly pajamas. You don’t want your uniform to be dragged along the garage floor gathering dust balls at home. That kind of thing. You don’t have to have your uniform pressed for each class, and it will need to be washed every now and then. Just respect it like you would respect your suit, tie, dress, shoes, and dress shirts and blouses, that’s all.

The Colors of the Belt
The Myth

This is a gem. Everyone starts out at white belt. White represents purity, or the absence of other colors (and dirt), they say. As you train, the belt gets dirty (ostensibly from other than letting it touch the floor…), so it becomes a shade of yellow (I guess that’s the sweat?) Later, it builds up and becomes darker, so it’s orange. Then with even more training, it becomes seriously dark, that’s where the blues, greens, and purples come in. (From what, I have no idea). Then when the serious training comes in, there’s blood (that’s the red) and then dirt from outside training (that’s the brown), and then finally, with the belt completely used, it’s a blackish hue.

You buy any of that? I don’t. It’s nice and poetic, but really: blood? Blood turns brown in a few hours. And you’d wash the thing, yes? You’d have to, it’s a biohazard. The health department can shut down the instructor if the blood isn’t properly handled. And who gets blood stains on their belt – and leaves it there – but not on the uniform? And who washes their uniform but doesn’t wash the belt?? (we’ll talk about that one in a minute).

The Truth

You wanna know what the belt colors really represent?

Hint: the belt colors are only for the benefit of the instructor.

The lighter the colors are, the more junior the student. Each person at that color has the presumed same knowledge and is working on the same things. Now the instructor (or a substitute) doesn’t have to remember who is working on what, all that is needed is to group the students so that they can be broken up into groups to work on whatever it is they’re supposed to be working on. It is for that reason that each school has a different idea about what colors to use.

What Are The Colors, Anyway?

Some are basic: white belt and black belt (many Aikido schools are like this). Some are really fancy: white, white/yellow, yellow, yellow/orange, orange, orange/green, green, green/blue, blue, blue/purple, purple, purple/re, red, red/brown, brown, brown/black, black… you get the idea. Most schools are somewhere in the middle: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, purple, red, brown, black. Maybe some will use 4 colors, maybe some will change the order around. Some start with no belt (!) and you have to test for your white belt. Some wear a black belt, but aren’t 1st degree yet (that comes with a bar, stripe, or star or some such thing on the belt.

It can get crazy with the array of colors, and that contributes to the perception of schools being money-grabbers, as students have to test (and pay for those tests) for each belt. I’ll leave my opinion that for another blog post.

Never Wash Your Belt

This is another gem. Ever smell someone who didn’t wash their clothes? They stink. The belts are made out of cotton, and cotton absorbs sweat. That means, the belt will get ripe real soon if it isn’t washed.

Die, Dye!

There is some truth to this myth. It’s almost universally accepted that martial artists in a belt-oriented system like Taekwondo or Karate will not remain at their belt colors for long. As a result, belt manufacturers will often use cheap dyes. It’s fully conceivable to have a belt for only 2 or 3 months and get away with not washing it. Go ahead and put your pearly white uniform in the wash with a red or blue belt and watch what happens to the uniform when you take it out.

Yeah, maybe better not wash the belt next time – now it’s faded and the uniform is pink. Good luck on your next class.

Myth Birth

That’s where this myth was born out of. The reality is you can – and should – wash the belt, you just can’t use bleach, and you should wash in cold water with like-colored clothes or towels. And for Pete’s sake, don’t dry the thing in the drier. Just let it hang on a clothes line in the basement or outside for a few hours, or else it’ll shrink. (If your belt hangs to the knees, then by all means dry it in the drier.)

Register Your Hands With Local Police

This is a famous one. And it’s actually true – but only in one place in the world (Guam). I can tell you with absolute assurance that if you walked into the local police station and tried to register yourself, you’ll be laughed out of the precinct.

But I did say it was true that in Guam, that you do have to register as a martial artist.

Title 10 – Health & Safety Division 3 – Public Safety, Chapter 62, Ann. § 62100

“Any person who is an expert in the art of karate or judo, or any similar physical ar[t] in which the hands and feet are used as deadly weapons, is required to register with the Department of Revenue and Taxation.“

Experts, by the way, are defined in Ann. § 62104

“A karate or judo expert required to register by the provisions of this Chapter shall be a person trained in the arts of karate, judo or other hand-to-hand fighting technique, whereby the hands, feet or other parts of the body are used as weapons, who shall have completed at least one level of training therein and shall have been issued a belt or other symbol showing proficiency in such art.“

And according to § 62106

“Any registered karate or judo expert who thereafter is charged with having used his art in a physical assault on some other person, shall upon conviction thereof, be deemed guilty of aggravated assault.“

So there you have it. You gotta register yourself in Guam. Personally? I’d love to send them my certificate and have them mail me an embossed and framed certificate, but apparently, they have not determined the need to generate money there, and so I’m just going to have to go there and get it myself. Ho hum…

Nevertheless, that last part, in 62106, is interesting. That can happen anywhere in the world: if you get into an altercation and you are “an expert”, or are perceived to be an expert by the judge or jury, then you can be up-charged with aggravated assault charges, instead of simple assault charges. Depending on where you are, that can mean the difference between misdemeanor and felony. It can also have an effect on a civil suit.

Martial Arts Turn Kids into Bullies

This one is passed around by people who have had bad experiences. This is patently false, but the truth is that the quality of instructor is the biggest factor. If the instructor is like John Kreese in the Cobra Kai (Karate Kid, anyone?) then you’re going to end up with gangster students. (And a liability, by the way. There’s nothing glamorous about being a dojo that turns out mercenaries and gangsters for the hell of it.)

There is also the thought that it will teach kids that fighting is the answer to their problems. But properly taught, this is bunk. Children become bullies because that is how they are raised and what they learned. Similarly, children who hunt do not learn to be murderers.

You’ll Get Seriously Injured

It’s possible. It’s also possible you’ll get killed in a car accident on your way to the dojang too. Or you could slip in the shower and crack your skull open. And it’s possible you’ll be seriously injured by a mugger or home invader because you didn’t know how to protect yourself.

So what’s it gonna be: this might happen, that might happen, something might happen, so, not gonna do it.

Risk Is More Likely In Sport

You’re more likely to get hurt from a sport martial art, like boxing. Dementia Pugilistica (boxer’s dementia) is a rare injury borne out of repetitive concussions. But, having participated in many martial arts over the years, I can say my injuries – I’ve had many as I pushed the envelope – are overall quite minor.

Age Factor

Taekwondo is a risky one, for older people and young, and for very different reasons. Older people are less likely to get knocked out from a kick to the head (because let’s face it, we can’t always kick that high). Younger people are more likely to get a concussion from a head kick. Young folks are likely to twist an ankle in the more acrobatic schools, while young adults are more likely to end up with a torn ACL. Older people should refrain from doing this stuff, as it has no martial application, and really… it’s not necessary.

Power Breaking Risks

With Karate, Kung Fu, and Taekwondo where it’s common to do power breaking, a sprained wrist or broken toe might result.

With Aikido and Hapkido, sprained wrists are common in aggressive schools. And I joke all the time with my chiropracter when I tell him that Aikido seems to be robbing him of business because of all the back adjustments I get from taking ukemi. But he jokes back that for every patient he doesn’t get because of Aikido, he also gets a student because of Aikido.

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So You Want to Start Martial Arts

Ok.  Why?

Did somebody tell you something about self-esteem, or self-control?  Maybe something to help concentration and focus?  Did your doctor tell you to lose a few pounds?

If that’s the case, maybe better to re-think taking up martial arts.  I’m not saying martial arts can’t help with these things.  But that’s not what martial arts is designed for, and you can get the same benefits with other things, like soccer, baseball, swimming, or bicycling.

Or maybe martial arts is on your life’s bucket list – you know, one of those 100 activities you must do before you die.

If that’s the case, maybe better to re-think taking up martial arts.  I’m not saying martial arts can’t be on a bucket list.  But you’ve got the wrong mindset.  Wanna take on somebody in a cage?  Then head on down to the nearest MMA school, tell them you got no experience, but want to get in a cage to see what it’s like.  Let me know how that works out for you.

Or maybe the kid down the block is taking up martial arts, and so maybe you should, too.

If that’s the case, maybe better to re-think taking up martial arts.  It’s not for the dating scene.  Here’s a tip: Walk up to his front door and ring the doorbell.  When mom or dad answers, ask if you can get an ice cream with him.  Or, you would like a date for the upcoming prom.  Or you need a bridge partner.  There’s a thousand pickup lines you can use.  None of them involve the phrase “KIIIIAAAAHHHH!”, “Keep your head tucked in and roll forward”, “Protect your head”, or “Here, grab my wrist”.  Well, that last one might work well for you 😉

Are you a victim of a crime?  Is your child a victim of bullying?

If this is the case, you’re off to a good start.  But be cautious, there will not be much progress for several years.  Martial arts might have helped you or your child, had you started martial arts years ago, and kept at it.  But you’re starting on it now, don’t expect immediate results.  It’s a slow process, and anyone who tells you you can defend yourself after your first class is lying to you. That is the mistake of self-defense seminars, and is what is perpetuated by Hollywood’s half-hour shows where the protagonist takes up Judo and by the end of the episode, manages to deal back some karma.

Maybe, you aren’t a victim – but you want to prevent that.  Or maybe you want to compete in fighting – like UFC or the Olympics.

If that is the case, you’re off to a good start here, too.  Be cautious again: not all schools will teach you self-defense, and not all schools compete.

Believe it or not, many people don’t know why they are interested in it, they just think it’s the right thing to do.  That’s one of the biggest reasons for failure and disinterest, as well as the plethora of misinformation about any particular style.

The most important factor is deciding what you want to get out of martial arts. If you are taking it for the wrong reason, you won’t last long, and your goals will be cut short. If you want weight loss, best to join a gym: the resources there are better for all-around training. Martial arts training, even if you end up at an active school, will not work on all parts of the body all the time. Such places can augment the gym or your private workout routines, but it is not a means to that end.

If you want self-defense, be careful that the school doesn’t suck you in under the guise that their training can be used for self-defense, and then they teach nothing about self-defense. This happens all the time.

Read up on how to find a martial art school.

Don’t get caught up in the myths in martial arts.

Don’t find out until a few years later about what the differences between a “dan” and a “black belt” are.

Nervous about your next test? You can’t possibly do any worse than me, and I was testing for my 3rd dan.

Do you understand what style you are practicing?