How to Learn Martial Arts
Martial arts is the study of fighting people. It’s not something most people think about, but like anything else, the ability to fight can be learned. The only thing standing between you becoming Jason Bourne, James Bond or Beatrix Kiddo is time and dedication.
Why Martial Arts?
I believe, only behind kindness, toughness is the single most valuable human trait. The ability to face pain, embarrassment, and failure, and get up with a smile on your face to try again is an invaluable ability. But it’s not born into most of us. It has to be learned, and to be earned.
Martial arts is the study of fighting. Most people think of fighting as a barbaric method of conflict resolution, reserved for people with anger issues or drinking problems. Just as with fencing or football, when you add rules and structure to even the most primal of activities, you end up with something which can be shockingly intellectual. When you don’t have to fear actually getting hurt, fighting becomes the ultimate game of challenging yourself against another person and seeing who has worked harder and learned more. It’s a game everyone should play, both because it presents one of the ultimate human challenges, and because it can save your life.
Fighting is perhaps the least ‘artificial’ of all competitive sports. The rules exist to keep the practitioners safe, but beyond that, it’s a simple question as old as time: who is better at exerting their will on the external world.
I never really considered studying martial arts until I was well into adulthood. My only previous experience was a failed half year ‘studying’ Taekwondo as a child. It turns out that it wasn’t that physical activity wasn’t for me, or that fighting wasn’t a fun thing to do, it was that Taekwondo was just the wrong martial art for me.
Fighting someone full on in an environment where no one will get hurt is fantastically fun. It’s also immensely challenging, the fighting methods which work are nuanced and not the way the body naturally wants to move. It takes practice and dedication to build up skill, and with martial arts you get to test that skill in the most palpable way possible: combat.
Martial arts are not just for violent people. In fact, if you’re ‘violent’, please don’t get anywhere near where I train. The people I’ve met through martial arts are generally normal people. They are much more afraid of accidentally hurting someone than they are interested in the opposite. When you think of fighters you might think of steroid-fuel brutes wearing Tap Out shirts, but those people generally don’t actually train. In fact, the more actual martial arts knowledge you gain, the less likely it seems you are to want to ever get into a fight on the street. Unlike the thug who thinks he’s tough, you know just how unpredictable a street fight is, and you have years of getting your ego checked to prevent you from doing something stupid.
Martial arts have a wonderful way of controlling and moderating your ego. There is nothing like having someone with more experience than you dominate you to remind you that everything worth having in this life is earned. There are people who are born with more natural ability than others, but no untrained person is gifted enough to stand toe to toe with someone with even just three years of training in a serious art. Conversely, however experienced you become, there will always be those people who are better than you, even if it’s just on this particular day. And their supremacy won’t be theoretical or potential, it will be palpable, and you will know that the only way to best them is to work harder for longer.
When we remove ego, we’re left with what is real. What replaces ego is humility, yes — but rock-hard humility and confidence. Whereas ego is artificial, this type of confidence can hold weight. Ego is stolen. Confidence is earned. Ego is self-anointed, its swagger is artifice. One is girding yourself, the other gaslighting. It’s the difference between potent and poisonous.
— Ryan Holiday, Ego is the Enemy
Types
It’s worth mentioning there are many types of martial arts in the world. In general I choose to divide them in this way:
- Modern
- Spiritual
Modern martial arts are ones where you actually fight against a living opponent as a part of your training. This actual (but not injurious) combat allows the art to be proved and refined every day. It also allows you to find your own unique style which works for your body and interests. Most importantly, it viscerally proves that what you’re learning is real, and it quickly winnows out techniques which are all show. These martial arts generally contain little or no ‘spiritual’ component.
Spiritual martial arts are ones which use inherited techniques which don’t get tried or tested against resisting opponents. This includes many Asian martial arts like Kung Fu. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t study these arts! They have spiritual components which can be very valuable for practitioners who are suited for them. Like any other physical activity, they can also help you improve your control of your body and your mind. I wouldn’t expect to win an actual fight based on a dead art however.
Spiritual arts don’t appeal to me personally because it’s important to me that what I learn is not arbitrary, that it actually has significance and isn’t just as good as any other random series of movements. Unfortunately when you have an art passed from generation to generation for hundreds of years, it’s very easy for incorrect or ineffective techniques to replace those that work. It’s also very possible that the environment which the art originated in just don’t align with the modern world.
Modern arts, on the other hand, evolve and change almost daily. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu today is very different from BJJ ten years ago. Each person finds their own moves, and invents their own variations which they can test many times per class against someone who very much doesn’t want them to succeed.
It’s important to note the modern art idea requires the art to involve combat against a resisting opponent. Many arts include faked or phony combat where the opponent ‘goes with’ the attacker. This includes arts like Aikido and many variants of Wushu. Again, this doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be studied, just that they are not a great way to actually fight someone.
How do we know this? Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC was actually created explicitly to prove that BJJ can defeat any other art (something which has become less true as wrestling and kickboxing have evolved). If a technique works, the professional fighters in the UFC would use it. You just don’t see many dead arts represented there.
How do I learn a martial art?
Learning how to fight is training your body to act and react correctly faster than you can consciously think.
How do you do that? You drill. Over and over you do the same moves. Each time you do a move correctly it strengthens those neurons in your brain, gradually moving the knowledge from your slow conscious brain to your fast subconscious.
As you practice, focus on your mistakes. Each time you identify a mistake, you try to practice more without failing in that particular way. Eventually you run out of mistakes and they give you your black belt.
Just kidding, you never run out of mistakes!
After some study you will reach the point where you understand the ‘language’ of your particular form. You can do all the basic moves with a reasonable amount of competency, and it becomes time for you to start figuring out your ‘game’. The specific moves you like, and how to chain them together to be able to defeat someone in combat.
Depending on your art, you may get to the point where you actually get to ‘fight’ people quickly (in a safe, constructive way), or it may not happen for a long time, or ever. If you are able to, you will begin the journey of figuring out your particular ‘game’. The movements, combinations and set ups which best align with your body and your personality.
You will have periods of disappointment when you don’t do as well as you think you are capable of. You will have highs when you manage something you didn’t think possible. Most importantly, you will slowly and gradually improve over the months and years. It’s worth remembering that if it was easy and quick to get these skills, they wouldn’t be worth much. It takes years. For you, for everyone.
Finding a School
What school you pick is even more important than what art you choose to learn.
It’s close to impossible to learn a martial art without attending a gym which teaches that art. The moves are too nuanced, and too physical, and there is a fundamental requirement that you have at least one partner to practice with and against.
You won’t have every option. There is undoubtedly a limited number of schools in the corner of the world you happen to live in. If that corner is San Diego or New York City you may have dozens of great options, if it’s a rural town you might be lucky to have an instructor with a few years on him or her to teach you. Either way, evaluating your options requires showing up to a class.
Any reasonable school will allow you to take a free class, or week of classes, to give it a try. They have tremendous experience with new students, will tell you what to bring, and will make things as easy for you as they can.
Here are some questions you should be asking yourself:
Do you feel safe?
Running a dangerous school where people get unnecessarily hurt is just not good business, you’re unlikely to find one. That said, martial arts can attract pseudo-instructors who see their teaching as more of a way of gathering power and causing pain rather than helping their students. If students look subjugated rather than engaged, or the instructor is abusive to anyone, run the other way.
Can I ask questions?
A good instructor understands what he or she is teaching. They should invite questions, have good answers to most, and not be afraid to admit when they don’t know the answer. Their answers should be logical and make sense. If you ask a tough question it should be an exciting opportunity for them to learn, not a challenge to their authority.
If you can’t ask questions (respectfully at the right moments), the most likely reason is your instructor doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. Frankly, there are many ‘esteemed’ instructors with a thousand stripes on their black belts who aren’t actually capable, don’t get ‘trained’ by one.
Is the vibe what I’m looking for?
There are competition oriented schools which are very intense and aggressive. This can be a good environment for competitors, but it’s probably not what a hobbiest should be looking for. Even if you want to learn as quickly as you can, an environment which doesn’t align with your personality won’t last and you won’t ever feel fully comfortable.
Conversely, if you want to compete in MMA, a school with a couple classes a week is probably not what you want. A good way to think about it is: training at a school will make you more and more like the most advanced students you see there. Is that what you want?
Do I like the people? Do they seem kind?
At the end of the day, you are going to be going to this place many times a week. Its normal to feel awkward at first, but if you can’t eventually build relationships with the people you’re training with, it probably won’t work out. It’s not necessarily something you need to actively work on, but it should be possible for it to come with time.
Is it clean? Do people show up on time?
This is a bit of an oddball point, but it’s worth pointing out. Martial arts is a physical activity where people sweat. Not every place is taken care of in the way it should be. It’s probably ok if a little paint is peeling or some equipment is wearing out, but if the mats are dirty, that might be a sign it’s not the best place to train. No one wants to get ringworm or worse, and it also signals that this instructor might not have the greatest discipline or attention to detail.
Similarly, if classes get randomly cancelled without notice, your instructor checks his phone all class, or you see other evidence that this person is not disciplined or respectful, it’s a bad sign.
Do they seem to care about your training?
Great instructors want is committed students who are willing to do the work to improve. If you show the commitment, they should engage with you about your progress and get excited when you improve. This is not something you will see every day, particularly early on, but it’s worth paying attention to.
Does it fit into your schedule?
This is probably obvious, but not every school has classes at every time. Virtually every school will have classes ‘after work’, some will have classes during the lunch hour, and others will have early morning classes. Figure out when you plan on training, and choose a school which can support that. Remember that this is a long haul, make your life as easy as you can.
It’s also worth mentioning one goal of this process is developing discipline. Before I started training I woke up around 10am most days, now I am at the gym by 7am five days a week. Your schedule can change as you do.
The general summary is: go to a class and find out if you like it!
How often do I need to train?
As often as possible. At first your body most likely won’t be used to hard training. You’ll get tired and sore. The body adapts to what is demanded of it, whatever level of effort you put forward will quickly become your normal in a week or two.
Most people start with two or three classes a week, and many remain at that level indefinitely. If your schedule and endurance allows, you may choose to up the number of classes you take. Personally, I’m impatient, I want to improve. Whenever I skip class it inevitably seems that whatever I’ve most wanted to learn was taught that day, making it a hard decision.
At various points in your life going to class will be hard. You’ll be busy, depressed, distracted. Every once in a while you might have to bow to that in the interest of your physical or mental health. Your mind is like your body however, if you train it that this is what you will be doing, it will learn to stop questioning you and just go.
The ultimate goal of managing your time is to have the way you spend your day align with the priorities of your life. If you decide learning a martial art is worth the five or ten hours a week it takes, failing to go is failing yourself. Don’t let yourself rationalize your failures with a million excuses, accept them as mistakes and do better in the future.
Will I get hurt?
Probably, depending on how you define hurt. Virtually any physical activity from soccer to racketball will leave you with the occasional bruise or bloody nose, martial arts are no different. When those events occur you have a choice, you can either complain or you can use it as a chance to exercise your toughness. Being ‘tough’ is not prioritized much in today’s culture, but I believe the ability to handle a little pain with a smile is worth cultivating.
Again, like other activities, you can get more seriously hurt. Knee and shoulder injuries are not uncommon in the martial arts, for example. In generally, they occur when people do things they aren’t ready for, or train with people who are bigger or more aggressive than them. Having students get hurt is not great business, your instructor will do what he or she can to see people don’t get hurt. Ultimately though, it’s your job to decide what is safe for you.
In my experience, virtually every serious injury I’ve seen started with a minor injury. Your body will warn you when it starts to run into trouble, and you will need to listen, either by taking time off, or by adjusting your behavior. How can you reduce your chances of injury? Spend time doing mobility and strength work with the joints causing you trouble.
Am I too old?
Almost certainly not (if you go to the right gym). There are beginners in virtually every martial art of every age. I personally know many BJJ and boxing practitioners who are in their forties and fifties. They absolutely can train successfully and get a tremendous amount from training.
They do have to make adjustments however. Some choose to spend extra time stretching, to ramp up their training slowly, and to use specific moves which align better with what their bodies feel good doing.
It’s worth mentioning that if you have lived a relatively sedentary life, it’s likely your body is rather stiff. If you don’t use your flexibility or strength, it goes away. This is not something which will get fixed overnight, you will have to work at it, both in and out of class. The alternative is to remain incapable forever, the choice is yours.
What will my first class be like?
It depends on what you choose to learn, but the basic formula is pretty similar from one art to another. Most classes start with a warmup, some light (or strenuous) calisthenics to get your blood flowing and move your muscles. Generally there will then be a period of structured practice, led by an instructor. He or she will generally demonstrate something and ask the class to practice it alone or with partners.
Everyone was a beginner at one point, and your partners will know your ability and be understanding. The person you work with may help you to understand the move, giving you pointers. Similarly, the instructor has likely seen many new students, if you are totally terrible it’s not a surprise or a failure, it’s just how everyone begins.
The simple fact is it takes many months of practice to become at all comfortable, you simply have to put the time in. But, the moment you finish your first class, you will already have more martial arts experience than the average person. That’s something worth celebrating.
In my opinion, failure isn’t not being able to do the moves, it’s failing to show up again tomorrow.
Which art should I learn?
There are many martial arts each with their own cultural history. Some descend from military training programs, others were always recreational pursuits. Some focus on training which will protect you in the real world, where others try to alight in you a spiritual center which could be valuable in every part of your life.
I can’t tell you what will be best for you. The only way to know is to pick a few which seem compelling, and try a class. You can always switch, you can always try something different, the one thing you can’t get back is the time you’re wasting not learning anything.
Choosing an art is similar to choosing to lift weights versus playing soccer: it’s a very personal choice. I would advise you to actually try any art before you dismiss it though. When I first saw BJJ, it looked like a bunch of people rolling on the ground. It took me actually trying it to realize how maddening it is to have someone smaller than you be able to beat you, and how much I wanted to learn what that person knew.
Boxing
Boxing is the art of punching (and being punched by) a single opponent in ring. It requires you to learn the proper punching technique (something which takes years to master), the methods for avoiding punches, and how to move your feet in such a way that you remain in control and able to attack (under appreciated by novices).
Your average boxing class will involve you punching pads held by a partner, punching a heavy bag, movement drills, and often intense calisthenics to build up your endurance (fighting for many three-minute rounds requires legendary cardio).
Once you have more experience you may have the opportunity to spar. Sparring is fighting in a controlled way where neither partner is trying to hurt each other (hopefully). Boxing sparring is intense, and you will get punched. That said, the vast majority of people who train in boxing will never spar. At the end of the day, getting punched in the head is usually something reserved for people who want to be professional fighters, not average people looking to learn. You shouldn’t (and almost certainly won’t) be pressured to spar and can train in boxing for the rest of your life without sparring.
For Self Defense
Boxing is generally a great way to learn basic fighting. The ability to move lightly and with stability while delivering strikes, will allow you to take care of many street fighting situations you may encounter. That said, if the fight goes to the ground (one person tackles the other, you trip, etc.) your skills won’t be very valuable. Similarly, if they have a weapon or friends, your training becomes less helpful (but your cardio will help you run).
As a Hobby
Boxing is more nuanced than most people realize. Learning how to punch properly will take you at least six months of training from someone who knows what their doing. Learning to move is a lifelong practice, and you will get very good with a jump rope in the process. Once you have the basic skills, the art of combining strikes, movement and anticipating your opponents actions is enough to consume you indefinitely. That said, at high levels you will probably chose to spar, and getting punched is not for everyone.
Kickboxing
Kickboxing adds kicks to the basic techniques of boxing. Depending on the precise art it may also include knee strikes, elbow strikes, and ‘takedowns’ (ways of forcing your opponent to fall the ground while you remain standing).
In general, kickboxing requires more learning as there are so many more techniques. This is good for someone like me who gets bored easily, as there are more things to work into a practice session. I personally find the idea of kicking fun, and the promise of more nuanced techniques to learn compelling. Kickboxing is also the core of the ‘standup’ portion of Mixed Martial Arts combat, so if you happen to be interested competing, kickboxing is a great place to start.
The wide breadth of kickboxing techniques means you will often spend less time focusing on perfecting a handful of techniques like you do in boxing. This means it will take you longer to be decent, and it further increases the importance of finding a great teacher.
There are a few styles which make up modern kickboxing:
Muay Thai
Muay Thai is the Thai version of kickboxing. It includes knee and elbow strikes and the famous Thai clinch where you hold an opponents head while kneeing them (ouch). I’ll reiterate here that no one is gonna try to do that to you if you take a Muay Thai class, no one wants anyone to get hurt.
Traditionally Muay Thai training is aggressive and doesn’t have much patience for weakness. Thai fighters are famous for kicking trees to build up the toughness in their calves. That said, virtually every gym in the west has adapted to our weak ways, and it’s unlikely you will have a bad experience.
For Self Defense
Similar to boxing, Muay Thai is be a great tool for self defense if you can keep the fight standing up and your opponent doesn’t have too many friends or a weapon.
As a Hobby
It is tremendously rewarding to practice the highly nuanced techniques of Muay Thai. Each class you take will touch on different techniques, which is great for those easily bored. There are also Muay Thai matches (amateur and professional) if you decide to compete, but training requires toughness and a acceptance of the threat of getting hurt. That said, most people never will get anywhere near a real fight.
Sanda/Sanshou
Sanda is a Chinese kickboxing art which adds ‘throws’ to the kicking and punching techniques of other arts. These throws are a way of forcing your opponent to fall, something which is very valuable in any fighting context. It can be hard to find these classes, but if you happen to find one in your city, it can be a very effective style.
Karate
Karate is a Japanese kickboxing style. It can be great if you appreciate the rigid forms intrinsic in many old-world arts, but are looking for something which can be fought competitively.
For Self Defense
There are karate competitions (which your school may or may not encourage) which allow for real combat within a narrow context. With some adaptation, the techniques you learn can be translated to real-world fighting, and there are some Karatekas who successfully transition into the MMA world. The quality of schools varies, but seeing some practitioners actually sparring is a good sign if you’re interested in self-defense skills.
As a Hobby
Karate is a great option if you’re looking for a mix of the rigor of a living art, with the ceremony of many Asian styles. Learning in Karate often focuses on memorization and repeating movements with a group of fellow students, which may or may not appeal to you. It also often requires a deference towards your instructor which you may appreciate or find stifling.
Wrestling
It’s rare to find wrestling taught to adults, but I include it because it’s useful for comparison. There are a few forms of wrestling, but the essential idea is you want to force your opponent to the ground, and specifically force their back to lie flat on the mat. It’s a very primal way of competing with someone, which unlike striking, leaves you (relatively) uninjured. Wrestling’s focus on takedowns (methods of taking your opponent from standing to the ground) makes it great as a base for Mixed Martial Arts, as often in MMA you either want to take your opponent down, or want to resist their attempts to take you down.
For Self Defense
Wrestling does have the fundamental weakness of any grappling art, you have to be in close contact with your opponent. This can be bad if they have a weapon, or friends come along while you are dealing with them. Wrestling is very effective at taking someone to the ground and holding them there, which can be the perfect response to many real-world situations however.
As a Hobby
Again, you’re unlikely to find a wrestling club for novice adults. In the event you do, the thing to know is wrestling training is notably difficult. It often involves many, many drills which require all of your strength, endurance and will. Getting forcibly taken to the ground over and over can also be a brutal experience for your body. That said, training takes commitment, and if you are interested in the skills it can be a small price to pay.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
BJJ is a more modern martial art, with a lineage of less than a hundred years. Like wrestling, it involves taking an opponent to the ground and fighting them there. Unlike wrestling, you can fight in BJJ from your back, with your opponent on top of you (very successfully!). Rather than focusing on who is in the top position, BJJ teaches you ‘submissions’. Submissions are ways of putting your opponent in a situation where they either have to ‘tap’ or get injured. For example, if you get in a position to dislocate my elbow I can’t escape from, I will tap informing you you have won and the fight is over.
It’s worth noting that BJJ practitioners are by-in-large not interested in actually hurting anyone. In a class setting, it’s very rare for someone to actually get submitted to the point of injury, it’s not something you should fear.
For Self Defense
One advantage of BJJ is it’s focus on individualized techniques and leverage means it can be very valuable for smaller people to handle larger people. It’s unlikely as a woman you can knock out a large man, but you can absolutely submit him if you have a few years of BJJ training. BJJ has the same disadvantages as wrestling though, it requires you to be close to your opponent, and it does not deal with multiple opponents well. BJJ also includes many techniques which only really work in an environment where you know you won’t be punched. In the real world, only a subset of the techniques are useful.
As a Hobby
I don’t think there is a better hobby martial art than BJJ. It is incredibly technical, each move having tremendous nuance which isn’t fabricated, it is very clearly necessary to get it to work the way you want. There is a tremendous amount to learn. BJJ allows you to learn and fight every single day for decades without head injuries. It is continually evolving, meaning there is not a person in the world who is close to knowing everything there is to know. It’s also accessible to even smaller and older people, meaning it’s likely you can continue to do BJJ well into your retirement, still inventing new moves and set ups. It’s also just wonderfully fun to lock in combat with a friend, use all of your skills and abilities you’ve been honing over years to battle them, and then hug when you’re done with grins on your face.
Krav Maga
Krav Maga is an Israeli martial art which is widely known for its practicality and ‘brutality’. Depending on who’s teaching it, it may include techniques which would never make sense in a sport, but might save your life, like groin strikes and eye pokes. That said, my personal belief is its real strength is in combining the best of kickboxing, BJJ, weapons defense and conflict deescalation into a single system.
Defending against weapons in particular is rare to find in a modern art. Many martial arts experts will tell you it’s worthless, if your opponent has a knife or gun your dead anyway. I personally disagree, I think learning what to do in those situations is always going to improve your odds, however low they might be.
Krav Maga has one serious flaw though: it’s quality of instruction varies tremendously. As its an art which isn’t really combatted live, it’s easy for any schmuck to open a gym, call his instruction KM and start taking people’s money. Generally, the quality of a school is directly proportional to the instructor’s lineage to actual training in Israel. If he or she has actually trained with soldiers, and actually used his or her training in real-world situations, what you learn could be invaluable.
There are many more martial arts than I could discuss here. If you happen to find a local school for one of them, by all means research it and try a class.
Do It
If you’ve read this far, it’s likely martial arts is something which really interests you (even if you didn’t realize that before now). All I can say is: take a class! Ideally take a few classes at a few gyms, and you will find a home. You will kindle inside yourself a love for physical activity, a love for training and a love for proving yourself in the ultimate way: combat.
