Is There A Best Martial Arts Style

. Essay, Research Paper

Everything in today.s society is very fast-paced. No one these days has any time to do anything unless it is done within a few minutes to an hour. Technology is trying to make all things simpler for people, even with getting people into shape. Enhanced weight training machines are more used now than free weights, dietary supplements are used to artificially increase a person.s health, and certain drinks these days enhance muscle and athletic performance. Even in the martial arts world many changes are being undertaken. People these days look for a fast and sometimes easy style to learn, but what they do not understand is that these styles cannot be taught overnight. It takes years of hard work and practice to become good that these styles. Many martial arts instructors these days are trying to appeal to the people of this time era by teaching their students in only a few months techniques and conditioning methods that would take years and years to learn. In our fast paced world not that many people have the time or even want to give the effort to learn the true or traditional styles of the martial arts. Styles like Kung Fu and Swai Chaio are styles that take years to learn to be used effectively, and if practiced too fast, the consequences are that the person practicing will not gain the strength and power that those styles are very well known for. Other styles like Jiu Jitsu are very different. These styles are very easy to learn in the short run and are very effective in certain situations, but what they gain in that, they lack in other areas. In this day and age of fast-paced life styles, no martial arts style would be the best because most of the styles take too long to learn.

Kung Fu is probably one of the most well known martial arts styles in the world today. With all its very flashy kicks and techniques, this style has a lot of things going for it. There are more than two thousand different kung fu styles in the world. Many of them are styles that have been taken from the traditional Shaolin Kung Fu systems of fighting (Gutman 22). The styles range from all different kinds of fighting techniques. In certain Kung Fu styles students only practice grappling and ground fighting which uses chokeholds, joint locks and the use of pressure points to stop an opponent or attacker. In others the students only practice hand techniques such as Wing Chung, which is a style mainly used for punching. Wing Chung is also the basis of a lot of different martial arts. There are also other styles that mainly use kicking techniques, and then there are the styles that use everything in their arsenal: kicking, punching and grappling (Washington).

Kung Fu also has a lot of benefits for the person who practices it. Many benefits are in health. Practicing kung fu increases strength mentally, physically, and spiritually (Gutman 45). The mental health comes from all the discipline. In traditional kung fu systems .the person practicing is very much forced to be perfect in everything that they do or they will not be able to move on to the next level of their training.(Washington). The benefits of practicing kung fu are often unheard of by people who are not martial arts students. .Kung fu masters are so physically fit that they can shatter inch thick pieces of solid steel with their head or bare hands.. Some of the people who have mastered kung fu have also been able to withstand injury from being cut by three people pushing a razor sharp sword on the person.s stomach or spear that is being thrown at them (Metil 33). The spiritual part of kung fu comes from the kung fu style itself. Grandmaster George Washington explains that this is because .the person practicing is not just another person practicing a fighting style, that person IS the style. and .the person understands that only within a person will find peace in life.. Kung fu is also known for all its fluid movements, which come mostly from animal styles of fighting, such as the crane, monkey, praying mantis, and tiger. Each of the styles has its different characteristics, which has advantages over different situations.

Grappling is a form of ground fighting that combines wrestling, joint locks and chokeholds has made it big in the martial arts world, and .Jiu Jitsu is the top grappling style out there today.. Jiu Jitsu is an art that uses mostly wrestling techniques with joint locks, chokeholds and even some pressure points. .It is not a flashy type of style, but it is very effective in one-on-one battles.(Capalad). This style is a very easy style to learn, but it also takes time to master its techniques due to the fact that there are hundreds or maybe even thousands of different ways to apply each technique in Jiu Jitsu. Most of the techniques just take time or the right opportunity to apply them on an opponent. This is also a very good style for people who are small but fairly strong because the students are not matching power against power just endurance and knowledge(Gracie).

Swai Chaio is Chinese a martial art that is over two thousand years old. The techniques in Swai Chaio are mainly throws and joint locks. The difference between this style and other grappling styles is that the techniques in Swai Chaio are mainly done while still standing(Crompton 55). The joint locks are applied while the opponent is knocked off balance by some kind of strike. A lot of the throws are assisted wit