Martial Art Q&A!

Typical questions about Martial Art/Self Defense that I tried to answer by my own perception:

What is the best martial art?

There are no such things as the best martial art, there only the best martial artist!

What is the most effective martial art?

It's depend on the situation where the need of martial art occur. Some MA concentrate on speed, some works better on spaces, some are better with kicks, and some are better with grappling. Every art has their own advantages and disadvantages, the best martial artist would always can turn the disadvantages to be an advantages! So, the most effective of MA in close range would be those which good at lock and grappling, and the most advantage on average range, you might want to go with those which put speed on it (like Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Karate etc) and if it's a long range, something with weapon might be good!

What's the most suitable martial art for me?

It's can only be discover by yourself. But to kickstart, maybe you should ask yourself, either you want to go for the speed, strength, or just techniques? It's also will depend on your background, either you're sportive or less sportive? Either you want to learn it for the sake of self defense, arts, or sport? Either way, know one thing, every martial arts are good for self defense!

What is the most 'overall' MA?

I would personally go with Silat. But you still need to find a good school/branch of silat. Actually Taekwondo for example, do cover all techniques in MA for self defense, but most school (especially in Malaysia) will concentrate more on kicking... I believe Karate too is a very overall MA, but some like Aikido for example, are very good at defense, but not the type of MA that you find great at attack...

What are the benefits of learning MA?

There are many! For starter, it's great for body as it is a great sport! Many people, especially those who involve in Shaolin Kungfu for example, start it with the health reason. The training of MA do change you physically. It's also a great way of recreational, some are also a revolutionized Olympic sport which can make a good carrier later on! Not to forget the core/main reason to involved in it is for self defense. Some might argue that using modern fire arms would fare better, but that's only work if you have a gun 24/7, a sharp shooter and not to mention to have license to carry it, especially in Malaysia, it's not something civilian can take along on everyday basis...

What is the core of self defense?

The core of self defense is like its name, to defense one-self from hazard. In martial art case, if you need to attack in order to defense yourself, than, it's acceptable...

What's the strength of Taekwondo?

Its kicking techniques, obviously... you need to know that you need speed, strength and accuracy to be good in it, any two combination will make you quite deadly martial artist and a good Martial sportsmen!

What is the most important element to excell in Taekwondo's sport?

The footwork! Actually, in any sport, you need to be good at its footwork to gain a good momentum in it... unless you play a sport that doesn't need a usage of the feets, like chess and arm-wrestling, for example...

How to be good at one?

Three words, my dear... Practice, practice, and practice....

T/t: Au revoir, Chelsea... come again when you've won 18...