If you have done a little martial arts training and have decided that you’d like to crank it up to the next level, you’re probably thinking about trying full contact as a serious option. There are quite a few different styles that can be classed as full contact and they are just as varied as they are effective. The problem with choosing which style is right for you is something that thousands of martial artists have had to consider before. You have to take certain actors into consideration and these include the following:
- Your age
- The availability of these martial arts in your location
- The time that you have to dedicate to the chosen art
- How much pain you can take on a regular basis.
The Pain Question
We have selected 5 different styles of full contact martial arts and they represent a pretty good cross section of the most popular ones around today. The issue with taking up a seriously physical type of self-defence is how you can deal with the punishment that invariably comes hand in hand with practicing in this branch of martial arts. Not only will you be expected to handle a lot of punches and kicks, your face may take some of the force of these blows. If you work in a customer facing role, how would it look if you rocked up to work with a pair of black eyes or even worse? Just remember that you’ll be sparring with some very tough people and they won’t care about that meeting you have with the CEO next Wednesday. So for the purpose of this article we have gone with the top 5 choices and offer a little background on each individual art for your perusal – Enjoy!
Muay Thai
This is undoubtedly one of the toughest and most useful forms of Martial Arts on the planet. You’ll need to achieve a very high level of stamina and fitness before you even step into the ring. But the techniques that you will learn are not only effective, but fairly straightforward. And they definitely work in and out of the ring, but expect to get some seriously bruised legs, week in and week out.
BJJ
Brazilian Ju-Jitsu is an incredibly tough branch of the Japanese Martial Art and has been refined in particular by the Gracie brothers. Instead of using striking techniques, BJJ is all about choking and holds. It remains one of the most effective counter attacking styles and will work on the street just as well as in the gym.
Judo
This art seems to have been popular for years and it is not hard to see why. Judo offers a full contact status without the risk of too many bruises. However it is very useful and is a highly valued martial art variation.
Kick Boxing
Essentially, kick boxing is a full contact version of Karate and is similar to Muay Thai. The main difference is the lack of leg kicks, knees and elbow strikes and the addition of pads and head guards. It is very physical and utilises some fairly spectacular kicks.
MMA
Although this is technically not a martial art, it is probably the most popular of all full contact styles nowadays. This is a mixture of boxing, wrestling, judo, Muay Thai and pretty much any style you like. Apart from head butts, anything goes with MMA and that is why the world just can’t get enough of this sport. You would be advised to give this a miss until you are proficient in at least two of the styles we’ve just discussed!
Chosen Yet?
Hopefully your appetite has been whetted and you’ll want to learn a little more about these exciting styles. We recommend that you visit your local martial arts gym and see them for yourself. Whichever one you decide upon, you’ll be starting on a new and extremely exciting new road – Good Luck!
Nancy Baker is a freelance blogger and an ace creative write with many years of experience writing for top blogs. Nancy has written on a myriad of topics and has written several posts for us.
