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Arts & Combat Sports: How to choose?

by Gold Marry Content writer

I'm Greg Gothelf, director of the Fushan Kwoon club. I practice martial arts and combat sports for 30 years.

When I started martial arts, the choices were few: Karate, Judo, Aikido, Kung Fu (not everywhere), English Boxing and French Boxing (if we were lucky).

But that was before! Nowadays, in the big cities of France, one easily finds more than twenty different martial disciplines.

The embarrassment of choice, embarrassing?

All this variety is very appreciable but it also makes the choice much more difficult. Some will want to do everything while others will be overwhelmed by so many possibilities.

You must know that there is no wrong choice, we can choose a style that does not suit us and change later.

There are 4 main classifications to differentiate martial arts and combat sports:

● martial art

● combat sport

● percussion style

● grip style

We will explore these 4 families in more detail.

We will see what constitutes a martial art. Some elements are common to combat sports. All martial arts do not practice sparring. Indeed, some belong to both families, martial arts and combat sports since they offer competitions. Those who exclude traditional martial art competition will be considered. Depending on the style and the teacher who teaches it, the degree of contact may be more or less important. It's something that can help you make your choice.

Some seek contact, others for various reasons, wish to learn with little or no contact.

Here is what typically characterizes a combat sport:

● the possibility of fighting in competition

● not always a specific training outfit

● not always formal greeting

● no learning forms: katas, taos, poomse, ...

● a medium to high degree of contact

● some shots are forbidden

● There are some exceptions such as Muay Thai , also known as Thai Boxing and French Savate Boxing which can be considered martial arts. They both have a salute.

Although the degree of contact is often higher than in traditional martial arts, this does not mean that courts are violent. Far from there.

I often hear "oh no, I can not do this course, it's too violent! ". From my experience, a good teacher with a good pedagogy is not going to make courses only accessible to hard, not to Fushan Kwoon anyway!

Our courses are all public. Some are more physical than others, the fights are rougher but you will not come out with a broken nose or anything else.

I advise you to flee the clubs in which it reigns a tough atmosphere, it is really not conducive to good technical development and practice in the long term.

Here are the combat sports we offer:

● Muay Thai (Thai Boxing)

● Kickboxing

● Boxing

● Savate French Boxing

● MMA

● Drum styles

● Course Sports de Paris-fighting

Here is what we propose to Fushan Kwoon:

● Only the arms

● Boxing

● Dominance of Arms

● Wing Chun

● Kali

● Kajukenbo

● Krav Maga

● Dominance of Legs

● Taekwondo

● Balanced

● Muay Thai

● Kick boxing

● Savate French Boxing

● Gripping styles

● Courts-Martial Arts-Paris

We leave a little of the subject even if we find some martial arts. Well-Being practices are in full swing and complementary with the practice of Martial Arts and Combat Sports.

We find in this category:

● Yoga

● Pilates

● Tai Chi

● Chi Gong

● Physical requirements

● Training, Martial Arts

A fear that often comes up is the physical:

● should we be flexible?

● do you have to be fit?

● muscular ?

● should you have 3 lungs?

● If we do not do anything, we are generally not in good shape. To become one, you have to start at one time or another. We are not going to ask you to arrive knowing how to do the splits and ready to run a marathon.

Of course, some courses are more physical than others. But with regularity and will, anything is possible. The teacher is there to push you but must also recognize your limits. You can purchase the necessary equipment In a sport store.

Flee clubs where one confuses surpassing oneself with suffering. If you are pushed to vomit, it is because you have gone too far. It is absolutely bad for the body and does not bring anything beneficial. On the contrary, you will recover less quickly and progress more slowly.

Be careful, I do not say that in my classes there are not regularly some hypoglycemia and vomiting. The difference is that it is not me who is pushed the person to go so far but she who inflicted this on herself. It is also like that that one learns to recognize one's own limits.

To summarize, do not worry too much about the physical aspect, choose above all the course that you like and motivates the most. Do things at your own pace and fitness will come.

The choice of the club is another problem that arises before or after choosing which discipline to practice. As a long-time practitioner and director of a Martial Arts Club since 2002, here are some tips for detecting good clubs.