Two men face each other, their muscles tense. Their eyes narrow as they ready every fibre of their being. While their bodies are as taut as coiled springs, their minds are clear, ever focussed on the prize, the girl sitting ringside, the nobility of their path….
The referee’s arm drops – Hajime! Begin! A flurry of fists and feet. Scant seconds later and it’s over. The loser – humbled, but respectful – rises. They bow. The fight is finished. For the victor, honour is assured.
It’s a scene from a million kung fu movies – from The Karate Kid to Enter the Dragon – but it’s not just a fiction. It actually takes place every day in countless locations around the world. Thousands of people, people like you and me – except maybe slightly braver and, almost certainly, better co-ordinated – are actually living this particular dream. So, why not give it a go?
It’s a sad fact that we frequently fail to realise quite how remarkable the human body really is. Most notably, how many of us are aware that we actually occupy one of nature’s most finely-honed killing machines? Indeed, evolution has made us, all of us, even the flabbiest and most unfit specimens of humanity, among the fightiest creatures ever to stalk the planet.
After all, our ancestors skulked to the top of the food chain thanks to a winning combination of big brains, opposable thumbs and the ability to crush faces with heel-strikes. Probably.
Though the need to power-kick opponents squarely in the jaw has diminished somewhat in many – though far from all – contemporary societies, that isn’t to say that the arts martial are now surplus to requirements. For, despite the obvious drawbacks – sore feet, bloodied socks – they may well constitute the healthiest form of exercise known to personkind.
Assuming you’re taking a strictly old-school approach, there’s no expensive equipment, no gym enrolment and no protein-shake palaver to concern yourself with. This, after all, is the human body going back to basics, taking the most rudimentary approach to burning fat and building core body strength.
Aside from the obvious benefits – nurturing cardio-vascular stamina and seeing off opium-addled henchmen – a regular martial arts workout can, apparently, help to alleviate asthma and avert osteoporosis (brittle bones syndrome). It’s also a great way to build confidence and make friends, with even disability proving no barrier.
It was Mat Fraser, an Englishman, who may have, quite literally, inspired the term “unarmed combat” when he became a hapkido, taekwondo and karate master despite being notably lacking in the upper limb department. Ted Vollrath, meanwhile, was the first man to attain a black belt while wheelchair-bound. He even went on to star in 1979’s Mr No Legs, a kind of Dragged on to Enter exploitation flick.
While it’s true that following the martial arts does require a regular, daily fitness regime, unlike other fitness methods – notably weight-lifting or street-running – it doesn’t entail a continuous daily physical grind. Indeed, it is important that martial artists never overextend their training – after all, every day for which they have put themselves out of action, is a day they can’t defend themselves. Funnily enough, this means that a three-day-a-week, two-hour class (do-able by any normally-employed individual) could be just as beneficial as going all-out on the treadmill or doing dead-lifts at the gym every lunchtime. If that isn’t an incentive, we’re not quite sure what is.
So, if the idea is starting to appeal, here’s some more good news – studying the martial arts is easy to get into, with classes widely available and easily accessible. In both Hong Kong and China, finding a class is easier than finding the next noodle vendor. This very accessibility, however, has something of a downside for the novice learner – finding the style that precisely suits your personal capabilities can be something of a challenge. This is largely because the choice can be somewhat bewildering.
Overall, many argue that martial arts fall into two broad categories (using Japanese terminology) – kata and kumite. The former, being disparaging in any way, is somewhat akin to a structured artform – almost like dance – and can be done either singly or in pairs. All martial arts use such forms in their early stages in order to gain mastery over specific moves or to demonstrate forms.
At the other end of the scale are the free-form and sparring arts – the kumite. These are practical methods of self-defence and, while they may lack the finesse and grace of the more showy kata, they are excellent for wiping the floor in a bar-room brawl.
The truth is, though, that most martial art forms fall somewhere in-between kata and kumite. After all, a martial art wouldn’t be truly martial if it couldn’t be applied in real-world situations, nor could it be taught if it didn’t involve some form of rote learning.
While martial arts fall on a sliding-scale, some more heavily influenced by show than effect, a useful definition is to differentiate between “soft” and “hard” styles. Soft martial arts, such as aikido and Brazilian capoeira, tend to be more fluid and designed to incapacitate rather than severely injure an opponent. Hard arts, notably French savate or muay thai, on the other hand, tend to rely on crushing attacks to shatter limbs and crack skulls.
Both styles inevitably require years of practice, but nonetheless, both are equally suitable for beginners – the question is how much actual sparring you want to participate in. Hard arts, less bound by the rigidity of kata, are more likely to see you going face-to-face with your classmates, and so will almost definitely entail you getting kicked in the face a few times, at least until the next intake of newbies.
Despite the constant conflict over which style is better or purer, ultimately each form is only as good as the instructor. It’s important, then, to establish the legitimacy (or not) of your intended master.
With the constant peeling off of schools after students are booted out for seducing their sensei’s daughters, unlikely lineages supposedly traced back to mystic Shaolin mountains (invented in 950 AD, rediscovered in 2005) and stories of masters wrestling bears before breakfast, it’s helpful to make sure your prospective instructor is all he (or she) claims. Most martial art disciplines now have governing bodies, so it’s a lot easier to check whether that Saturday class at the Hung Hom YMCA is led by a seventy-third black-belt iron-fisted Wuxia master, or a delusional postal worker.
Another common problem for novice students is a misplaced sense of obligation to stay with an instructor, despite growing doubts as to his suitability. While a martial arts teacher may be hard, he is not meant to be cruel or abusive. An inexperienced instructor, rather than seeing himself as a guide, often uses his superiority over his charges merely to bolster his ego. Of course, he can polish the floor with an unwary learner or two. That’s the whole point. He’s just not meant to get off on it.
If all the previous points haven’t put you off, there is still one important thing to remember – martial arts are not for everyone. As with rock-climbing or chess it’s a sport and one that, despite its many and varied perks, really comes down to personal taste. At least if someone tells you your preference is a poor one, you’ll know how to smack them. And they’ll stay smacked.
