Posts Tagged ‘Martial Arts’

Top 10 Ninja Facts You’ve Never Heard of Until Now

Everyone knows that ninjas are extremely good at martial arts. It’s also common knowledge that ninjas are so good at hiding themselves and moving in stealth that they practically appear and disappear in plain sight. And of course, everyone knows that ninjas wear cool black uniforms…or they sometimes take the guise of teenage mutant turtles. As for the rest about ninjas, it’s been shrouded in mystery…until now.

The Breeding Place of Ninja
In the early days, the provinces of Koga and Ida, now known as Mie, were the top “producers” of Ninja.

Unemployment Turns Ninjas into Teachers
During periods of peace, services of ninjas are not much in demand. But ninjas have to eat, too, so they earn money by putting up martial arts schools.

Why Ninjas Wear Black
Surprisingly, it’s not because those flimsy black uniforms make them blend in the dark. Rather, that famous black uniform of ninjas was derived from the emergence of ninja roles in Kabuki theater.

Ninjas are Related to Spiderman
That’s because they can climb walls! Of course, they haven’t been bitten by mutant spiders. Instead, they use a weapon called shuko, which mean “tiger’s claws” in English.

Weapons Hidden in Plain Sight
Back then, only samurais were allowed to carry weapons. As a result, ninjas made use of “kama” or sickle, which was basically a farming tool, and turned them into weapons. Resourceful, aren’t they?

Ninjas Win by Becoming Pests
Ninjas can win a victory without inflicting physical damage. All they have to do is pester their enemy. They use disguise to sneak into the enemy’s camp, steal their banners then display it next day as proof of the other party’s weakness. They also use darkness to frighten and harass the enemies, keeping them on their toes the whole night. As a result, they’ll have to fight the battle the next day without 100% energy.

The Origin of the Word Ninja
When a kid wants to be a ninja, he wants to learn about the impressive kicks and twists but he doesn’t care about the origins of ninjas. That’s why until now, only a few are even aware of the etymology of the word ‘ninja’.

Ninja is actually a combination of two words: “nin”, which means ‘person’, and “shin”, which means concealment. Combine that and you basically have the definition for ninjas: individuals who are masters of the art of hiding.

Remembering this little bit of knowledge will make you a more impressive ninja because it proves that you’re not only strong and powerful but smart as well!

The Myths about Ninjas
Did you know that people in the old days used to believe ninjas were seven feet tall, three-headed, and able to do extraordinary stuff like walk through walls, fly, and shape shift? It’s not true, of course, but even in those days, ninjas were able to do incredible things, leading people to believe that they were “superhuman”. Of course, ninjas being ninjas, they allowed people to believe what they wanted to since it made them easier to keep their identities secret.

Ninjas Could Be Stupid
If you want to be a ninja, you wouldn’t want to know about this. In 1182, Heike Monogatari tells the story of the war between Minamoto and Taira Clans. In one incident, ninjas were able to sneak into the enemy’s camp. So far so good, right? But when they got there, instead of launching a sneaky attack, what they do is to make their presence known by shouting. Rather than winning, they end up dead.

How Ninjas Turn Invisible
No, it’s not because of extraordinary speed or stealth. Instead, they use special, explosive concoctions hidden in nut and egg shells. Throw them out and they work just like pepper spray. One blink and they’re gone!

Building the Better Fighter: How to Hone Your Self-Defense Skills

The art and science of self-defense is not something you inherit. Even the best fighting families have to teach their young in order to train them about the best ways to utilize certain techniques. If you’ve decided to learn self-defense for protection or for fitness, you must understand that you will not only be investing your time and effort on it, you will also be investing your commitment. Here are ways to hone your self-defense skills:

Learn from the right source
Honing your self-defense skills is like learning to play the violin. You could probably learn on your own and could very well execute the right moves decently but you may not be able to learn the proper techniques on how to utilize the moves properly.

When it comes to honing your self-defense skills, it’s important that you learn from someone who has been properly trained and have the right certifications. It’s quite easy to hurt yourself unnecessarily if you learn self-defense from the wrong source.

Take time to develop your skills
Learning a self-defense skill is not something that happens overnight. Some kung fu legends even tell of masters who teach their students one move and tell them to practice the same move again and again for a year. Within that period, the master doesn’t teach anything else. Extreme, probably but it does teach you about persistence and practice.

The key here is to allow your body to become familiar with a move. To execute a self-defense skill correctly, you must be able to know which parts of the body are utilized and how. You should also be able to understand why such a move is being used and for what. Once you have built muscle memory, it will be easier for you to execute the self-defense moves correctly.

Find a sparring partner
You could probably practice using a punching bag or a dummy but nothing beats a breathing, living, moving partner to spar with. A sparring partner will teach you many things that no dummy could – how an attacker could move, from where you could be attacked and how exactly you could execute a self-defense move. With a sparring partner, you could also learn the right pressure to use in order to subdue an attacker completely.

Practice, practice and more practice
To hone your self-defense skills, it’s important that you practice as much as you can. If you’re still a beginner, try to find the time to practice everyday. If the moves are unfamiliar to you, your muscles have to learn them over and over again in order for you to remember the sequences. If you’ve been learning self-defense for a while, it’s still important for you to practice in order to build your skills and make you an efficient and effective fighter.

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How to Check If Your Self-Defense Instructor is Really Teaching You the Right Moves (and Not Just Taking a Move on You)

A lot of your efficiency and efficacy when it comes to self-defense will depend on your instructor – how well they can transfer their knowledge to you as their student and how effective their techniques are for real-life self-defense. Once you’ve decided to learn self-defense, your most important consideration is who to choose to learn from. But how do you check if your self-defense instructor is actually teaching you the right moves? Here are ways you’ll know:

He’s trained and certified in the self-defense course you want to learn
Decide on the type of self-defense class you want to learn first and then look for a teacher who has the appropriate training and certification in that discipline. This is because you can’t realistically expect a taekwondo instructor to teach the art of Krav Maga simply because he/she doesn’t have the proper skills and knowledge.

Always look for a self-defense instructor who is certified in the self-defense style you want. That should give you a pretty good idea if he/she is capable of really teaching you the right moves.

Check local credentials, certifications or national affiliations. Internationally trained and affiliated self-defense instructors are usually more expensive but you could have the assurance that you will be trained under the best. Ask for referrals from associations and clubs. Many of these are nationwide networks, which should allow you to find certified instructors in your area.

Ask for referrals and reviews
If you can, look for former or current students of the self-defense instructor you want to take classes under. Ask these students regarding their experiences – the techniques taught by the instructor, how well the lessons are structured and shared, how long each sessions are and the kind of progression you can expect.

Checking if your self-defense instructor is really going to teach you the right moves and will not merely take a move on you is sometimes just a matter of learning from others’ experiences. Do this before you sign up for any lessons.

Do your own research
It pays to have enough knowledge or background regarding the type of self-defense discipline you want to learn. That way you will be more familiar with the type of moves involved, including the kind you can expect an instructor to teach you.

There are plenty of books, magazines, videos or websites that can offer you excellent information regarding self-defense instructions. Learn from these. Once you know the kind of moves used in a particular self-defense discipline, you could easily check whether your self-defense instructor is really teaching you the right moves and not just taking a move on you.

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Does Boxing Work as a Self-Defense Style

Most people consider boxing more as a sport than as a self-defense discipline. Thanks to the studied elegance of the sport and the big-name athletes associated with it, boxing is not always viewed as a useful self-defense style. However, this is inaccurate. Boxing can be very effective for self-defense. In fact, some aspects of it were even incorporated by the late Bruce Lee into his martial arts discipline, Jeet Kune Do. It’s only a matter of understanding how the principles of this discipline work and how to use them in case of an attack.

Here are some of the most important technical aspects of boxing:

The punches
There are 3 kinds of punches in boxing that may be used for self-defense. These are:

Straight punch. This is executed usually when the opponent is at arm’s length or a bit further. The straight punch is simply that – a straight blow with a closed fist, with the striking arm a little closer to the body.

If you’re standing head to head with your opponent, the straight punch should hit him on the bridge of the nose or the cheeks. It could also be used to hit an opponent’s chest or stomach.

Uppercut. The uppercut is a strike executed with a closed fist coming from the side of the body and moving up. This will land on the jaw, knocking the opponent backwards.

Hook. The hook is also known as the side winder or the side punch. It is made using a closed fist, with the striking arm coming at the opponent from the waist or slightly above it. It then curves to hit the opponent from the side.

Footwork
If you’ve watched boxers fight on the ring, you’ve probably noticed that they are constantly moving. This is to make them more difficult to attack and to allow them to move more quickly into a defensive or an offensive position.

When using boxing as a self-defense style, it’s important to remember to keep moving forward and backward and side to side. Use your movement not just to confuse your opponent but also to assess their next move. Footwork is also important for evading blows.

Strike points
When using boxing as a self-defense tactic, attacks should be considered based on the most vulnerable parts of the opponent’s body. These include:

- eyes
- jaw
- nose (especially the bridge)
- sternum
- sides of the torso
- groin (illegal in professional boxing but works well for street fights)

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Krav Maga: Quick, Simple Yet Very Effective Self-Defense System

Krav Maga is considered as one of the best and most effective self-defense systems for hand-to-hand combat. It is a Hebrew term that means ‘close combat’. Although it is commonly known as the fighting style of Israeli soldiers, it was actually developed in the 30s in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. Krav Maga was initially used to help teach the Jewish community to defend itself against the Nazis.

Today, Krav Maga is a self-defense style that is increasingly becoming popular. With its emphasis on using calculated responses to attacks and implementing defenses, it has become a favorite among self-defense students.

How it works
Krav Maga is a combination of many martial arts techniques, including karate, jujitsu and judo. It doesn’t actually have set rules of fighting and unlike other self-defense disciplines, it can be used by either men or women. Techniques are used to effectively and efficiently neutralize an attacker while allowing the person to escape.

To use Krav Maga as self-defense technique effectively, the direct threat must first be assessed and then dealt with accordingly. The type of force used on the attacker will depend on how serious the threat is, eliminating the need for unnecessary force and conserving the user’s strength.

Once the immediate threat has been managed, the next step is then to prevent any attacks coming from the opponent. In case the attacker does make any moves, techniques to neutralize them must then be implemented.

Training
Krav Maga is frequently taught by using physical and sensory distractions, including smoke, loud music or noises and flashing lights. This is to train the student to learn to focus on the more important aspects of the combat (i.e., the immediate threat). Often, the student is even trained to the point of exhaustion or blindfolded before an attack is initiated.

Training is also conducted on a variety of surfaces, including flat floors, dirt, mud, rock, concrete, etc.

Krav Maga is best for close contact man-to-man fighting and for situations when the user is disadvantaged, such as when there are multiple attackers, when attackers are armed or when the user is hurt. It is also very effective when trying to parlay attacks while defending another person.

Guiding principles
There are 6 guiding principles used with Krav Maga techniques. These include:

- Avoid getting hurt.
- Neutralize your attacker as fast as possible.
- Quickly switch from defensive to offensive techniques
- Use the body’s natural reflexes
- Use all the vulnerable areas of the body
- Use any objects that may be at hand

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