There are a lot of schools and a lot of styles and it can be daunting sorting through all the information.
Your job is to decide what it is that you want and from there you can decide on a style that will help you achieve your goal.
Karate teaches mostly a stand-up system, while Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and wrestling are ground fighting styles.
Every style will fit someone and his or her aims; it just may not fit you.
A sampling of styles would include: A. Karate – a traditional style that teaches blocks, kicks and punches.
Karate is a good basic style to build on and many martial artist start out with this style.
Because being on the ground for very long meant certain death the style is mostly taught with kneeling and standing techniques.
C. Combat Jiu-jitsu – a style that comes from modern traditional Jiu-jitsu practitioners who took their beloved style and made it into a more modern practical style.
Mixed martial artist fighters have to understand this style of Jiu- jitsu to have any success in the sport.
These styles emphasize throws and takedowns with a goal of a very fast finish once on the ground.
G. Weapon Training – these styles teach everything from stick fighting to knife fighting to firearm control and technique.
There are many Japanese styles that teach a specific weapon.
Almost every culture developed a native martial art out of necessity and you can find styles that originate in Brazil, Japan, India, China, Philippines, Scotland, France, Greece, and just about anywhere else you can think of.
As you become more proficient in your style it is easy to start to think that the style you are training in is all there is.
You can get caught up in a studio mentality and start to think that your style in the only style worth studying.
If you did your research and have been training hard your style is no doubt a great one, but there are other things to learn out there.
As you start to feel like you are on your way to mastering the techniques of your style you can start to look for weaknesses.
Does the style offer very little standup training or not enough ground fighting? What about weapons training.
Another man who is the head of a well renowned karate school is an 8th degree black belt in that style.
Beyond learning a new style you can also move into areas that are more of a martial skill rather than a martial art.
Find Aikido in your local area
