What are the Major Martial Arts Styles?

What are the Major Martial Arts Styles?

by | Jan 22, 2023 | martial arts life skills

What’s the Best Martial Arts Style?

A style-based school typically says that in the title. Taekwondo, wing chung, kung fu, aikido, Shotokan. Okinawan, karate etc… There are a ton of different styles. What Are the Four Major Martial Arts Styles? And all these styles were developed in pretty much the four major Asian countries China, Japan, Okinawa, and Korea. 

They all have their specialties. For instance, Koreans, tae kwon do is focused on kicking. Okinawan karate is typically a block and counter system while a Japanese style, like Shotokan, is straightforward and linear. From China, we get Kung Fu which is typically very circular and smooth. These systems were created in Asia decades, if not 100 years ago. 

Who Created the Martial Arts Styles?

We don’t really know exactly who created each style. In many cases, often it was a scholar that had no experience or credentials in dealing with violent people on a daily basis like law enforcement. 

When you join a traditional style-based school, you’re introduced to all of the legend and lore that go with it, so it’s exciting. You get indoctrinated into that style’s, traditional techniques, and in almost every case, they’re the exact opposite of what a student-centered school would teach.

The reason it takes so long to earn a black belt in a traditional school is that the curriculum is just so padded with complexity. That’s a style-centered school.

The Modern Approach to Learning Martial Arts

In contrast, a student-centered school takes the best of all the styles and brings them together to fit the student. 

We’ve adapted the martial arts now, and now we’re, we’re molding it and calibrating it to the body size, the mental state, the maturity, physically and mentally, emotionally of the student so that they can get the most out of the martial arts fast. 

We call it Empower Kickboxing, the martial art that you can master faster. And it’s true.

s. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.

Best Martial Arts for Kids to Learn

by | Jan 22, 2023 | martial arts life skills

When it comes to choosing a martial arts school, here’s a key distinction. Is the school a style-based school, or is the school a student-based school?

What Style is Best for Children?

The Difference Between a Style-Centered Traditional and a Modern Student-Centered School

While all martial arts provide mental benefits, learning traditional martial arts is a slow, laborious process because so much time is spent on ancient and outdated skills. 

A style-centered school indoctrinates a student into the rituals and skills of the traditional style, no matter how impractical. That includes imaginary fight scenes called kata which is the center-piece of a traditional school.

Kata are complex and have no basis in reality, however, style-centered schools STILL require kata to advance in rank.

If the students don’t perform kata correctly, they will FAIL their belt exams. Because of kata, it typically takes 3 to 5 years to earn a black belt. That’s way too long.

Not only are these impractical skills, but they are much harder to learn. 

That makes learning traditional martial arts a difficult, extended, and frustrating process. 

Instructors will promise that you will “Understand this in a few years…” Try explaining that to a child being bullied now.

In contrast, a student-centric program teaches only the most modern, up-to-date skills that build confidence fast because they are easy to learn.

So instead of repeating the past, Unity Martial Arts takes the best of all the styles to fit the student in the present with a style-centered program that only teaches skills that students can Master Faster!

 

Martial Arts Life Lesson: Developing a Growth Mindset

by | Jan 3, 2023 | Uncategorized

How to Develop a Growth Mindset

“If it’s to be, it’s up to me!”

Orlando, FL–Every successful person in any area of life and work has a growth mindset, meaning they focus on progress not perfection.

They understand that to get to the next level, they have to work for it and sometimes it’s hard, but it is worth it. So do you have a growth mindset?

We have to understand that anything worth achieving will not be easy, but as martial artists, we’re up for the challenge.

While others quit, we keep going because we know that pain is part of the training and it’s also part of achieving success.

How to Help Students Develop a Growth Mindset

If you want to be a good student, it will require that sometimes you will be studying while others are playing.

If you want to get strong and flexible, it will require that you exercise, even when you don’t feel like it. While everyone else is eating ice cream, you’re eating fruit to stay healthy.

If you want to become a black belt, you do not miss class and on the days that there is no class, you practice 20-minutes a day.

That is how you take a growth mindset and apply it for success in your life.

Life Skills: The Power of Creativity

by | Dec 17, 2022 | Uncategorized

Unity Martial Arts Orlando
News & Updates

martial arts teen girl kicking bag

The Importance of Creativity

Orlando, FL–In Martial Arts and in life, creativity is an essential part of finding solutions to the problems that inevitably arise.

Creativity is the freedom to think differently in the world of home, work, school, and interpersonal relationships. It is having and implementing novel ideas, and thinking outside of the box.

 Using a Creative approach to life’s challenges will inevitably enhance the outcome. By integrating Creativity into the home, school, work, and friendships, the students will see that their lives can be enriched, and in turn, they can enrich the lives of others.

How Can Creativity Help Someone to Succeed?

At home, Creativity can foster a sense of teamwork among family members that will make the house run smoother. At school, Creativity can enable students to enjoy classes they might not otherwise be interested in.

At work, the student the thinks creatively will undoubtedly go further than one who doesn’t. Being Creative while fostering friendships will cultivate long-lasting relationships that will enhance the student’s life.

Martial Arts is itself, a creative form of expression that enables students to expand their lives by giving them the tools they need to face adversity in a creative way. It is essential to encourage

Creativity in order to give the students as many tools as possible that will help them be a success in life.

What Is The Difference Between What We Teach And Krav Maga?

What Is The Difference Between What We Teach And Krav Maga?

by | Dec 4, 2022 | Self-Defense

Orlando, FL–At Unity Martial Arts in Orlando, we teach COBRA Self-Defense and Krav Maga. Many people ask us “What’s the difference between krav maga and COBRA-Self-Defense?”

COBRA Self-Defense and Krav Maga Compared

COBRA Self-Defense and Krav Maga are viewed by many as the top of the self-defense training list, which is why this question comes up so often.

Either one can serve you well provided the instructors are highly trained and qualified, but there are some differences.

It’s helpful to understand that the words, “krav maga” translate to “contact combat” in Hebrew. So, any contact combat system can be described as Krav Maga.

Generally speaking, Krav Maga evolved from the 1950s as a system developed for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). There are distinctions between COBRA and Krav but for the average person, it boils down to this: Police officers physically engage criminals on a daily basis.

This means what works and what doesn’t work gets filtered through in real-time.

Our self-defense system is called, COBRA-Self-Defense. COBRA was developed from real-life Law Enforcement training and field experience. COBRA Self-Defense was created in 2002 by Chris Sutton. He literally created the system in his squad car between calls while simultaneously working as a full-time Police Officer and martial arts school owner.

Law Enforcement agencies continually enhance their skills and training based on what is most effective in real-world situations against criminals of all types.

COBRA Self-Defense continually upgrades and enhances its curriculum by attending and participating in Law Enforcement field training events such as active shooter response plans and on-duty patrol activities