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“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once,
but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”
-Bruce Lee
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Martial arts academy refer schools teaching combative skills that primarily focus on self-defense. The different fighting styles and techniques originate mostly from East Asian countries. For example, several Chinese and Japanese forms of martial arts rely on armed and unarmed strategies. These are practiced more for the purposes of discipline and spiritual development than for actual combats.
Those of us who grew up watching Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and –of course –Kung Fu Panda, found great inspirations behind our martial arts pursuits. Fans of The Karate Kid movies learned to appreciate one significant lesson in martial arts, as said by Jackie Chan’s character, Mr. Han: being still and doing nothing are two very different things.
Types of martial arts
Martial arts academies around the world teach various styles of defensive combat. These schools generally follow a belt system to acknowledge the martial artists’ competence over the years. Some famous martial arts practiced at martial arts academies are discussed below.
Karate
Karate is an unarmed discipline of martial arts that is based on kicks, strikes, and defensive blocks. It relies on harnessing most of your body’s strength into the impact, combined with timing and accuracy to direct the aim.
Jiu-jitsu
The art of jiu-jitsu became the catalyst behind other martial arts techniques such as aikido, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It employs a grappling strategy that creates more close-contact defenses, allowing you to follow the opponent’s momentum and disarm them through joint locks.
Aikido
Similar to the non-violent nature of jiu-jitsu, martial art of aikido follows its Japanese values of “the way for harmony”, which is also the meaning of its name. Instead of employing kicks and strikes, aikido focuses on turns and pushes to achieve self-defense by using joint locks.
Judo
Following the jujitsu and aikido trails, the Japanese martial art of judo is grappling-based combat in which you pin your opponent to the ground.
Kung fu
While Kung fu is an umbrella term for several Chinese martial arts fighting styles, it also refers to the art of self-discipline and spiritual calm. Kung fu makes you work on self-improvement through hard work, patience, and a lot of practice. In combat environments, this translates into a calm and composed attitude while fighting.
Capoeira
The Afro-Brazilian martial art of Capoeira is a combination of acrobatic skills, dance, and music. Its self-defense element comes from fighting maneuvers that involve kicks, flips, punches, etc.
Taekwondo
This Korean martial art is determined by a series of head-height kicks and other fast kicking styles. Taekwondo also uses various joint locks and hand strikes.
Tai chi
Tai Chi is a Chinese martial arts discipline that has amore meditative rather than a combative outcome. Choreographed exercises create a slow-motion effect where you move seamlessly between relaxing postures.
Martial arts academies in the US
Joining a martial arts academy helps to shape yourself-defense perspective under the watchful guidance of certified experts. Your martial arts school easily becomes a second home where you grow and thrive with a family of like-minded coaches, students, artists, and field icons. These places have become a tremendous refuge over the decades for struggling youth in the face of bullying, personal obstacles, and expressive limitations. Some examples of famous martial arts academies and their outstanding services are discussed below.
World Martial Arts Academy
In the World Martial Arts Academy, children get to learn the fundamentals of self-confidence, defense, and fitness aspects. The complete regimen focuses on respecting yourself and everyone around you. The school’s progressive curriculum conditions and trains the students to combine their physical, mental, and spiritual strengths into the art. Certified instructors provide lessons for several martial arts such as aikido, karate, taekwondo, and kickboxing. They coach their juvenile martial artists to reach character perfection and promote non-violent defense tactics. This becomes the hallmark of a self-composed person –staying at the eye of the storm.
World Martial Arts Academy has a diverse curriculum that is divided into the following programs: Tiny Tigers, Lil’ Warriors, Youth, Teen/Adult, Filipino Martial Arts, Krav Maga, and Aikido. The established practices enable students to respond with productive, reliable, and quick defenses that bring minimal or no injury to an attacker.
Han’s Martial Arts Academy
Han’s Martial Arts Academy organizes programs for kids, adults, families, and after-school activities. Its practitioners work on building self-esteem and defense strategies throughout the curriculum. Students who have spent a lot of time training at Han’s Academy often speak about how the experience is more about combating your personal weaknesses. This results in a very uplifting attitude that keeps you healthy, focused, and confident in your daily life. Black-belt instructors at the frontline of martial arts train students in safe, injury-free environments. The school’s taekwondo curriculum focuses on self-improvement skills that empower your personal milestones. You can also sign up with Virtual Taekwondo Zoom lessons for bridging the gaps between theory and practicality. Moreover, Han’s Martial Arts Academy ensures equipment sanitization and social distancing as part of its COVID safety protocols.
Freedom Martial Arts Academy
At Freedom Martial Arts Academy, there is always something to learn and acquire for everyone. Its taekwondo curriculum helps students become resilient, disciplined, independent, and above all, respectful. The academy does not just provide self-defense strategies that you can count on, but it also teaches you to set goals and work hard to achieve them. Its world-class instructors encourage athletic goals that encompass physical, mental, emotional, as well as social growth while practicing martial arts.
There are two essential programs, namely Little Ninja Club and Kid/Adult Taekwondo. These age-specific modules motivate students to excel at each belt level. Various other martial art styles are also practiced at the academy. The Shaolin Kung Fu program, for instance, trains you to stimulate both your mind and body to exploit the philosophical and psychological advantage of this art. Women’s Self Defense program organizes various free workshops that teach life-saving strategies using on-hand resources –anything that you might be holding, like a purse or keys. It helps you become aware of your surroundings and defuse any attack efficiently. In addition, the academy hosts Barre Classes that combine yoga, ballet, and Pilates. The Freedom Martial Arts Studio also provides high-intensity interval training (HIIT), which trains you with aggressive exercising regimens.
American Martial Arts Academy Naperville
The American Martial Arts Academy Naperville teaches taekwondo, judo, and hapkido in its curriculum. Students grapple, punch, and kick their way around the progressive learning curve that takes them from basic manipulation skills toward leadership, self-management, and career opportunities. The school’s martial artists get to terms with crucial sports psychology aspects that shape their athletic vision.
Different age-specific programs include Tiny Tigers, Kids, Teen/Adult, and Family martial arts. The academy also hosts competitions and black belt programs. Its Black Belt Club is a Jr. Elite Program affiliation for students who wish to advance in their black belt pursuits. The program gives students more competitive exposure to martial arts tournaments. A virtual training portal takes self-defense classes to the screen. These allow participants to stay fit and healthy at home while refining their martial arts skills, which is a great opportunity to combine self-defense and fitness workouts into the same routine.
West Coast Academy
At West Coast Academy, the student-specific classes are designed to cover various martial arts, including Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, women’s self-defense, cardio kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. Children and teenagers can join in as well, and there are classes for all beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. The kids’ classes allow young warriors to participate in leading competitions, such as those organized by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation (IBJJF), Grapplers Quest, and the North American Grappling Association (NAGA).
The school also teaches Muay Thai Kickboxing techniques that use elbow and knee fighting styles. This Thai Boxing martial art depends mostly on full-body movement and stand-up strikes; its combative skills make use of core muscles to initiate and execute self-defenses. West Coast Academy’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu program brings beginners and veterans into the arena, where they practice and evolve as a team through non-violent exchanges.
Why choose martial arts?
Martial art practitioners benefit from physical and behavioral improvements that come from regular sessions. This combative science is far beyond the self-defense instructions that make people aware, spontaneous, and agile in protecting themselves. When you learn to focus and overcome an obstacle, the skills you learn at the mat join you in real life wherever you go. This is why martial arts change the way you think by opening new perspectives that coax you to think outside the box. You acquire self-control and take an alternate route to problem-solving techniques with a calm, collected mind. This trait is universally common among martial artists; they all seem to have the same calculated, nonchalant, and graceful vibe around them. It is also perhaps just the reason why Jackie Chan’s behind-the-scenes mistakes appear even funnier!
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Kung fu lives in everything we do.
It lives in how we put on a jacket and how we take off a jacket.
It lives in how we treat people. Everything is kung fu.
-Jackie Chan as Mr. Han, The Karate Kid
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