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With bullying on the rise, and with an increase in people wanting to learn effective ways to protect themselves in potentially harmful situations, self-defense mixed martial arts (MMA) have emerged as the solution.

Interestingly though, there are many MMA styles you can choose from, depending on your interests, aims, and fitness levels. Wondering which MMA style is ideal for you?

Keep reading below to discover the main differences between some of the most popular mixed martial arts styles and how they can help you resolve difficult situations. But first, let’s take a quick look at the history and origins of mixed martial arts.

Mixed martial arts dates back thousands of years. It is believed that it started in ancient China during the Han dynasty, when soldiers were taught to use a mix of fighting styles to take down their opponents. That was around 2,200 years ago.

Also around that time, in ancient Greece and Rome, some fighters were trained to fight with everything they had. In Rome, in particular, these mixed fighting styles were watched for entertainment at colosseums, using practically any and every self-defense mechanism the fighter could possibly use to win.

These martial arts styles were quite bloody, though, and were later banned. In another part of the world, far off in the east in Japan, we saw the development of karate and judo. And, of course, there’s something special to be said about Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which was developed from a combination of Asian martial arts and a Brazilian twist. Later on, in the late 19th century, we saw that MMA was recognized as an Olympic sport, while boxing followed soon after in 1904.

Overall, the history of mixed martial arts is rich and diverse, borrowing moves from different styles to help you take down an opponent or an attacker. So, which MMA style is ideal for you? Take your pick from the list below.

What are the best self-defense martial arts?

Over the years, you will have realized that martial arts is essential for self-defense. However, it is also an important way of life. It’s about confidence, discipline, and respect as well as strength and being able to defend yourself from physical harm. So, without further ado, let’s take a quick look at some of the options you have at your disposal and choose the ideal MMA for you.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is also known as Thai boxing. What makes this martial arts special is its intricate and strong kicks that can disarm an opponent quickly. It’s a street-fighting style that uses punches and kicks, alongside elbows and knee strikes, making it highly effective for self-defense.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ)

If you find yourself in a one-on-one situation with an attacker, BJJ is a great option for self-defense. It’s a lot about ground techniques, chokes, and locks, meaning you can bring your opponent down quite quickly, depending on your skill set. Interestingly, BJJ is a type of derivative of judo, making this mixed martial arts highly potent and powerful.

Savate

You will be forgiven for thinking that the French martial arts Savate is similar to kickboxing because it uses both punches and kicks. However, there are important differences, with a major focus on kicks. Important to note is that kicks may not always get you out of a hairy situation, so it might be a good idea to consider other types of MMA styles to ensure you learn a holistic approach to defending yourself.

RBSD/Combatives

Reality-based self-defense (RSBD) or combatives, as it’s also called, is a mixed martial arts style that can be learned quite quickly for self-defense purposes. However, your skills and training require a good instructor for it to be effective. Interesting to note about RBSD is that it follows no standardized system and that it uses swift strikes and joint locks as part of its defining characteristics.

Russian Sambo

This type of MMA is a good form of self-defense. It can be used to fight an opponent and even disarm them if they have a weapon. In essence, it involves using punches, kicks, and grappling with a focus on throws and locks.

Aikido

If you find yourself pitted against an aggressive opponent, aikido could help you. It’s about redirecting their energy to diffuse situations. However, it’s worth noting that it is not the ideal MMA if your opponent is more skilled than you are.

Silat

Originating in southeast Asia, the silat martial arts features quick strikes, limb destruction, and dance-like movements. With this type of martial arts, you can use a variety of weapons while focusing on groundwork together with grappling.

Boxing

With its intense conditioning, boxing uses powerful punches and strikes to disarm opponents. It focuses heavily on footwork.

Kickboxing

Much like the name suggests, kickboxing is about adding kicks to the punches used in boxing. This self-defense technique is considered a full-contact one and it involves getting close to your opponent as you try to defuse challenging situations. 

The Approach

Are you looking to learn how to defend yourself quickly? The Approach could be right for you. Developed by Eddie Quinn, this quick and powerful self-defense method focuses on strong strikes.

Judo

This martial art is not directly focused on self-defense techniques but it does aim to throw opponents down, which can be effective in such situations. It follows strict rules. And its defining characteristics include throws, pins, chokes, and armlocks.

Keysi Fighting Method

This is a Spanish street fighting style that helps you in cases where you are surrounded by several opponents.

Wing Chun

Wing Chun is a Kung Fu style that focuses on a direct approach and targeted strikes, ideal for close-range self-defense and combat. It is known for its straight punches and precise strikes that target the opponent’s face.

Jeet Kune Do

Bruce Lee is credited for having developed Jeet Kune Do, which is not only a self-defense approach but also a martial arts philosophy that emphasizes practicality and efficiency. It also borrows techniques from a variety of different martial arts disciplines.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA(

MMA is more of a sport although it can still be used for self-defense. It borrows from a number of disciplines and focuses on striking and grappling, among others.

Krav Maga

This is the official Israeli Defense Force method of self-defense and it includes disarming opponents who carry weapons, such as guns and knives.

Karate

Karate is not only a powerful way of getting fit. It’s also about a holistic approach to life and a martial arts philosophy. On the practical side of this martial arts method, students learn techniques that include kicks, punches, blocks, and grappling.

How to choose the best martial arts for you

Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be considering enrolling them in martial arts. The good news is that there are studies that show that mixed martial arts helps with autism and is beneficial for children on the spectrum. In particular, martial arts can result in positive social behaviors in children with ASD apart from many other advantages.

At Action Karate, we recognize that every child is unique and while the importance of sports cannot be overemphasized, there is a difference between participation in a team sport versus participation in an individual sport. There are many reasons for this, including the fact that training in a martial arts environment is a lot calmer in terms of social interactions and noise or sensory overloads.

The ultimate result is that martial arts can improve autistic symptoms because they can gain confidence when they Martial arts classes combine physical activity with mental development, offering a program specifically suited to benefit children on the autism spectrum., while focusing on becoming as independent as possible. In this article, we explore some of the key benefits of martial arts for children with autism so that you can make an informed choice for your child. Let’s get started.

Enrolling your child in karate can seem like a scary experience, both for parents and their children. Not knowing what to expect is often a serious concern. But the science out there shows that martial arts can improve autistic symptoms. Below, we cover just a few of the benefits of enrolling your child in martial arts classes.

Improving social skills

Whether it’s a one-on-one, personalized class or a group session, one thing that unites every participant in martial arts is the ability to improve one’s social skills. There are many reasons for this. Firstly, children that join have a common goal, which is to refine their karate skills through repetitive drills that help them focus while working towards their next belt. This requires listening to their instructors and carrying out the instructions. With martial arts, children with autism learn to respect their classmates and instructors because everyone has a common goal and children quickly realize that they are all in a community of like-minded peers.

Improving spatial awareness

Spatial awareness is a challenge for many children with ASD as they may not be sure, comfortable, or confident in how their bodies fit into their environments. With repetition of certain drills, all the senses of taste, touch, smell, sight, and sound are enhanced, giving children the ability to better figure out how they fit into a given space. Often, sparring with a partner exposes them to physical contact and their responses, which are repetitive in nature, helps them figure out and respond well to their physical environment. This adaptability is an acquired skill that can help them gain control over their body.

Gaining confidence

With qualified, experienced, and trained instructors at your child’s side, your child will experience important gains in self-confidence. What is more, our instructors are both teachers and mentors and their focus on individual growth and development is absolutely priceless. When your child masters one skill, they will start feeling more confident in their abilities and will look forward to mastering the next one. This deep sense of accomplishment is hard to come by in sports such as team sports as their achievement is fully their own.

Strengthening discipline and focus

Karate can be considered a holistic discipline that deals with the mind and body at the same time. This approach to training means that your child will be able to enjoy a great deal of benefits that come with martial arts training. Particularly in children with autism, martial arts training increases mental awareness. That is because your child is encouraged to concentrate on one movement or one concept at a time, mastering it before they move onto the next one. This builds onto pre-existing knowledge and brings out the best in your child.

Improving their reactions and motor skills

Practicing martial arts gives children a sense of predictability and routine, which can be comforting with children with ASD. The repetition of moves improves their motor skills while their ability to spar with a partner or an instructor can help improve their reaction. This ties in with spatial awareness and focus, as they gain a stronger sense of focus and reward for the effort they put into their practice.

Perhaps the most important thing when enrolling your child in a martial arts program is consistency. At Action Karate, we recognize that this may be challenging for children at first. However, with our extensive experience in training children with autism in martial arts over several decades, we also know that it will become much easier for them the longer they continue to engage in their training and practice.

Karate classes for special needs children by Action Karate

If you are looking for special needs karate near you, you’ve come to the right place. Action Karate offers special needs martial arts classes and training in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Valrico, Florida.

With decades of experience to our name and our instructors’ deep-founded appreciation for the right approach to a child with autism, you can rest assured that your child will be in excellent hands with us. From focus and discipline to confidence and spatial awareness, and even refined motor skills that help with balance, flexibility, and coordination, isn’t it time you gave your child the gift of karate in a community of warm and friendly peers and instructors? Get in touch with us today.

Teachers carry the great responsibility of educating the nation’s children, preparing them for life and the future. But this career, while it may feel like a lifelong calling for some, isn’t for everyone.

Just like any career, it has downsides and many teachers are currently experiencing burnout. Teacher burnout leads to considerable stress, and leaves educators contemplating a career change where they can leverage their existing skills, while working in a less stressful environment.

That’s what we’ve noticed at Action Karate as we have many former teachers joining us to build a more fulfilling and stress-free career. In this article, we explore why former teachers excel as martial arts instructors, how to become one, and the incredible benefits this brings. Let’s take a closer look.

Becoming a martial arts instructor is a highly rewarding experience. If you are a teacher contemplating a change of career, the good news is that you can easily transfer your skills to coaching. As a martial arts instructor, you will still focus on building effective relationships with students, simply in a different setting and environment.

Your ability to connect with students will not go wasted as teachers generally have numerous transferable teaching skills that you can pass on to your students as you become a martial art instructor.

A few of these skills include:

Active listening

As a teacher, you already know the importance of active listening. This means giving your students your full attention while carefully considering their needs and requirements. You are then able to tailor your approach and subsequently your training session to each student.

Learning strategies

Former teachers turned martial arts instructors are also already aware of different learning strategies and styles. They know that every student learns differently. Some require visual aids, while others learn with the help of a physical approach. By being able to teach in different ways, you can better cater to your students’ needs.

Speaking and communication

A major part of martial arts is proper communication. You will be giving instructions and demonstrating certain techniques, which your students need to follow accurately. By verbalizing your request in a proper way and communicating with students at the right level, you create stronger bonds and improve your teaching practice.

Time management

Teachers are also very well suited to become martial arts instructors because of their time management skills. Time management is about accomplishing everything that’s been planned in advance within a limited time frame. This requires great organization, planning, and foresight, which former teachers have plenty of experience with.

Mentoring

Another area where former teachers truly excel at is mentoring. By acting as a coach, a mentor, an instructor, and a motivator, you can pass on your skills and knowledge to your students, helping them get ahead and achieve their goals. You can help them set small goals that they work towards and encourage and support them to reach each one. The sense of accomplishment that comes with this is highly rewarding for both the teacher and the student.

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills include verbal and non-verbal as well as written and listening communication. The combination of these skills is essential for a martial arts instructor and former teachers usually excel at all of these skills because they’ve been trained to listen and communicate, encourage, where necessary, give feedback in a positive way, and so much more.

Patience

And last but not least, there is the transferable skill of patience. Each student grows and develops at their individual pace, some are quick learners, while others need a lot of repetition and time to progress. By being patient, martial arts instructors create a safe, stress-free and welcoming environment, where every child discovers the tools to reach their full potential.

Becoming a Martial Arts Instructor: No Black Belt Required

Many former teachers wonder if they need a black belt to teach martial arts.

While this is a valid question, the answer is no. Even though a black belt is certainly a plus and will help you teach at a higher level, there’s no belt or certification requirement to teach martial arts.

When you first begin your coaching journey at Action Karate, you will be provided with hands-on training from our Head Instructors. We will support you in your new endeavor by showing you the basis of martial arts coaching and giving you opportunities to assist our current coaches with their classes before you feel ready to begin coaching on your own. The only thing we expect from you is to have a passion for martial arts and teaching so that you can fully immerse yourself in the incredible world of martial arts.

Benefits of Being a Martial Arts Instructor

If you are considering new opportunities for you to learn and grow, then becoming a martial arts instructor with us at Action Karate is a great and truly rewarding experience.

You’ll quickly be able to pick up all the physical skills and core values as you live your passion for martial arts every day in a fulfilling and rewarding environment that gives you the opportunity to grow.

If you’re a teacher seeking a career change, now’s the perfect time to reach out to us. Discover how you can bring your dedication and transferable skills to a new, fun, and exciting community. of like-minded individuals.

Reach out to talk to us today!

If you’re looking for a fun and exciting way to get in shape, the gym isn’t always the best answer. Instead, you might be considering some out-of-the-box ideas to get fit. And that’s exactly what you can expect to read about here.

In this article, we explore the different types of martial arts you can dive into as well as the many reasons why you should do so. We also share with you some tips on how to choose the right martial art for you.

Ready to get started? Stay with us as we take you on a journey that will raise your self-confidence and discipline, boost your self-defense skills, and help you destress in ways you never thought possible.

Below, we present to you our different martial arts types list by focusing on the various martial arts styles you can choose from.

This type of martial arts is over 2,000 years old and involves using your fists only to defend yourself against attacks or respond to them. It does not involve any blows below the belt and it does not use any other body parts. Excellent for self-defense, it also helps improve your motor skills, fitness and endurance, and mental preparedness.

This type of martial arts style takes a fight to the ground. It happens when two people grapple with each other. While there are many types of wrestling and it is excellent for physical strength, it is not among the most common martial arts for self-defense.

This is one of the least violent types of martial arts because it uses joint immobilization to stifle opponents. It also uses throws, which use the momentum of the attacker against them. Ultimately, it’s about relying on timing and technique to disable an opponent as opposed to strength or size. “Aikido’s” roots go back to the 12th century and the name means “The way of harmony of spirit”.

As opposed to Aikido, Sambo is a more violent type of martial arts. It can include punching, kicking, elbowing, chokes, locks, groin strikes, etc. Essentially, you can use everything at your disposal to protect yourself from an attacker or opponent.

With this type of martial art, you focus more on grappling than striking. It’s best for smaller individuals who aim to succeed against larger opponents. It takes place mainly on the ground and can include rear-naked chokes, arm locks, and leg locks.

Also known as Thai boxing, Muay Thai falls under the category of kickboxing. However, it also uses knees and elbows much more than most other types of martial arts. Clinching—which is a type of stand-up grappling—is also commonly used. Referred to as “The art of eight limbs”, it dates back to the 13th century in Thailand.

Tracing its roots back to ancient Greece, it involves a mixture of wrestling, boxing, and street fighting. With this type of martial art, you have many different strategies and tools at your disposal to fend off an opponent.

Created by the Israeli Defense Forces, it is a fighting technique that’s used in real-life scenarios. It is quite aggressive in nature and may feature guns and knives. It’s not really conducive to competitions but it is great for self-defense.

This Japanese type of martial art dates back to 1882. It involves little striking and is more focused on chokes and throws.

It includes punches, throws, kicks, and more. It also involves breaking boards and bricks with your hands and feet. This is a Korean martial art that was developed around the 1940s and 1950s.

This Chinese martial art has been around since the 1300s. It uses quick strikes while advancing on an opponent. It also prepares both the mind and body for combat through visualization.

Perfect for street fights, it involves joint manipulation and attacks on pressure points. It dates back to the 8th century in Indonesia. It is a good option for close-quarter combat.

This activity focuses on punching, kicking, grappling, and trapping. It has a physical and a mental element. It was created by Bruce Lee in the 1960s.

This is an amalgamation of karate, Judo, and Jiu-Jitsu and includes punches and kicks as well as throwing and joint locking techniques. It is primarily about defensive action and demobilizing an attacker.

With so many options to choose from, you may be wondering what is the best martial art for you. The answer will depend on where you are on your journey. For example, some criteria will include the following:

There are many excellent reasons why you may want to start learning martial arts. Among these reasons include:

As such, the importance of martial arts cannot be overstated.

Looking for the best martial arts to learn? You’ve come to the right place! Action Karate will teach you the most effective martial arts, irrespective of your age, skills, or ability levels. We offer some of the best martial arts for beginners but we also cater to groups and individuals, children and adults, as well as students with special needs. Start learning martial arts with Action Karate today and enjoy all the benefits that come with it. Our martial arts classes are designed to help release stress, develop confidence and self-discipline, physical strength and fitness, and a whole lot more.