Karate - the real deal

Karate is a self-defence martial art (mainly) that uses you whole body, elbows, arms, feet, shins and knees. It has a motto, "Never strike the first blow".

Karate is a martial art that doesn't use weapons much, (karate means "empty hand") and tries to turn the body into an effective weapon itself. It can be a sport, traditional focused art, self-defence system, form of exercise but mainly a mixture. It originated with lawful Buddhist monks developing a form of defence against bandits, who ignored a law against carrying weapons (this has parallels with knife crime today).

The picture on the left is a symbol for one particular type of karate. The dove represents a gentle person, using negotiation instead of violence. The fist...............Well, I'll let you guess!!

Anyway, now for some techniques. Karate focuses on close combat (unarmed, as I mentioned). It has striking and grappling techniques, and techniques with both!!

It has individual punches/kicks/grapples, but it also has katas. Here's a video of a kata.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csg3qL7rYuQ

Kick: Bend down into a low position with your legs wide apart, side on to your target. Keep your right elbow at around a right angle, bending up so that your fist is as high as your shoulder, and your left arm in front of your right shoulder

Place your left leg in front of your right, with both feet pointing towards your left (quite uncomfortable, but bear with me)

Bring your right leg up, quickly and with force

Lower your knee to your hip, foot on opposite knee

Return to wide posture, maintaining guard all the way.

Please remember the sponsored links at the top and bottom, there for your convenience, that allow me to keep blogging.

Tai Chi - more than a martial art

So, tai chi. You might think that tai chi is just people moving their arms and legs into strange postures verrryyy ssssllllllloooooowwwwwwwllllllyyyyyy, and, I suppose, part of it is. But, tai chi chuan is definitely a martial art. It has very soft techniques, and the slow-limb movement thing is just a training form. The gentle movements bring all round health to the body, encouraging movement inside the body (blood flow, breath, the movement of food).
Tai chi is used for much more than self defence - it is used to help the old and injured get back some of their energy and vigour, and is related to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Tai chi was proved to help some illnesses, and it is popular worldwide.
Some links - http://www.everyday-taichi.com/learn-tai-chi.html - there for information and techniques.

A Bit More on Kicking!

This post is an update to the previous, which was rubbish.
So, kicking. Kicking rather obviously uses your legs, so basically that means that anyone can pack a mean kick, if they use a proper technique, which quite simple.
The best way for you to learn how to kick is with a video, so here are two links with videos for a front kick and a side kick.
Front Kick:
http://www.expertvillage.com/video/36470_martial-arts-taekwondo-front-kick.htm
Side Kick:
http://www.expertvillage.com/video/36471_martial-arts-taekwondo-crescent-kick.htm.
Just practise, and soon you'll be dishing out flash kicks like Jackie Chan!!

Tae Kwon Do!!! The Olypmic Sport!

Ok, people, Tae Kwon Do. It literally means 'The art of hands and feet' or, 'How to punch and kick, HARD!'. You can see I'm gonna have a lot of fun. No philosphy or theory today, just some damn cool techniques!
Ok, basic front kick. Looks pretty cool - no spinning or jumping or anything, just freaks people out somehow. You basically lift up your leg and you should be able to kick them in the stomach, though if you're really flexible you can get their chin or nose. People just generally think that legs normally kick low, like shins (this does hurt a lot though), but you can be way more effective by winding them really easily (your legs are like ten times stronger than your arms, they carry you around all day - this principle is also used in Aikido and lots of other martial arts).
Ok, so put your weight on the not-kicking leg. Lift up the knee of the kicking leg to about the height of your target (say top centre of stomach, just under the last ribs). Snap out your lower leg (be careful of your balance, this comes with just the tiniest bit of practise), and strike with your heel (or the ball of your foot, if heel is to uncomfortable), pulling back your toes (and ball, if striking with heel). Then, immediately un-snap your leg and lower your knee, wary for your next attack.....
Side kick: twist on the balls of your feet then follow the above instructions. You will need to lean backwards, otherwise you'll be trying to angle your legs at a right angle to each other.
Roundhouse kick, a Bruce Lee favourite that looks damn cool: similar to the side kick, but twist your hips and on your feet as you snap out your leg (if you're kicking with your right leg, twist your hips to the left, so your leg moves towards your body and the opposite leg.
Well, those are all some pretty damn cool kicks!!

Aikido.....The Way of Harmonious Spirit (Beating People Up Gently)

Yep, the title's got it all. Aikido literally means that mystical, Jedi like translation up there. It can all be suummarised into one or two ideas: be gentle with your attacker, and don't resist their force. Both make amazing sense in the modern world, because in law, if you use undue force on an attacker, it can be you in jail. Also, the second bit makes extreme sense if you're in a fight with some several times your height and strength (I'm short and reasonable weak, so Aikido makes sense for me). One great thing about Aikido (and I really love Aikido) is that it isn't just whacking people using brute force, it uses brain power, but not intelligence. You can feel your opponent lose his balance, you have control over him because you have blended with his force. This means if he pushes you backwards, you don't push back, but you step back, or move out of the way before he actually touches you - this 'breaks' his balance (like when you stumble, but don't fall, only slightly less brutal. Well, I've given you a summary of the technical side of Aikido, yet my fingers are tired, my hand slips...... I must leave.

Me

Ok, so I've been studying Aikido (Tomiki/Shodokan/Sport Aikido for those interested) for about five years now and I've got to a reasonable advanced level. I'm also highly interested in all other martial arts, and have dipped into the various philosophies, general ideas and basic techniques of many martial arts, helped by my fantastic local library and a knowledge of useful websites (I'll give you these as I come to them). You can count on me for some myth busting, some tips, some techniques and a little bit of the interesting bits of history.

A Bit About Me

Hi, I've decided to start a martial arts blog that I hope will interest you all. I'm just gonna talk about individual martial arts, styles, countries they came from and groups of martial arts. So, hope you like it and come back (I'm gonna keep updating this at least once a week, generally more).