What is the Best Martial Arts in Cedarburg?
Opinion Blog By Milo J.
Why Martial Arts?
Martial arts are to personal development as the alphabet is to learning to read. There is a good reason for the popularity of martial arts including: Tae Kwon Do, Ai Ki Do, Tai Chi Chuan, and Judo. With a loose definition of martial art even Yoga, Wrestling, and Boxing might be considered. For the case of this article I will use the classic definition of a martial art as a practice of self defense that includes discipline of the mind, body, and spirit. The student learns through this discipline traits that we trust will lend to all areas of their life. Traits such as: persistence, success, self reliance, respect for one’s self and others, willingness to do the work to gain the reward, confidence without arrogance, and so many others cause a student of martial arts to become a respectful member of the family and positive member of society.
Which Martial Art Should I Enroll My Child Into?
All styles of martial art have their strengths and weaknesses. American Taekwondo for example is a very watered down version of a very respectable hard style. While all styles boil down to take a hit, avoid a hit, counter a hit these can all be trained as hard or soft movements. Hard would be defending a punch with a forearm and then return a counter, soft would be to evade the punch and slip into the attack to grab and control the attacker. A more recognized reference would be boxing is a hard style compared to wrestling is a soft style. Both can be very effective for self defense. Long considered the safest for kids are soft styles that train to use the opponents own body weight or energy against themselves. Similar in theory to wrestling, when you become a part of the attacker you gain the ability to redirect the attack and control the outcome. Quite often these are the same styles that include techniques to give smaller ones a chance against a larger attacker. These techniques are sometimes considered magic, but if you have a working knowledge of the human anatomy most can be explained by targeting of universal weak spots on all bodies big and small. Targets taught in styles, like Judo, such as nerve ganglia and joints can be utilized by a smaller person to gain control of an attacker or at least a distraction to allow them to get free and to a safe distance. Tae Kwon Do is a great workout, but for my child I prefer a mixed martial art approach heavily based in Judo.
I invite all who read this to try a few martial arts and see what feels good for you. You may chose a slow inner strength style like Tai Chi, a fast paced kicking style like Tae Kwon Do, Karate, or may be Kung Fu. I trust many of you will choose one of my personal favorites, even as someone who has earned his Black Belt in American Tae kwon Do, that train the mind with the art of cunning and timing are Ai Ki Do and Judo.
