Running & Martial Arts Gear

Introduction To Martial Arts

Martial Arts takes its name from the Roman god of war, Mars and refers to a series of rules and codes that standardize a particular fighting styles that come from all around the world. In addition some martial arts are part of a religious and traditional lifestyle. These are of East Asian origins like Buddhism, Taoism and Hinduism.  As well as being a lifestyle and code of honor choice they are also commonly seen as combat sports.

Methods of martial arts lessons in Singapore also include sparring, simulated combat and form or kata where students practice specific routines and movements as part of a training technique. Martial arts can be classified into different categories that depend on the techniques they utilize. Some of these techniques are punching, striking, kicking, and grappling, in which practitioners throw down and hold an opponent. Another kind of martial arts is one that uses traditional or modern weapons.

Even from its earliest forms, martial arts have always been a mystical series of rules, conduct, and values, with humility, respect and discipline foremost among them. A mix of Indian and Chinese attitudes influenced many of the fighting styles.Most of these are explained in more details in Sun Tzu’s famous book on war from 350BC.

As European influence spread throughout the world many codes were banned, or ceased to be effective ways of fighting against modern firearms, while some evolved into performance dances and sporting events. The Olympics has included in its games some popular martial arts such as judo, taekwondo, wrestling, boxing, and fencing.

The 19th century trade between the east and the west opened up renewed interest in the traditional eastern master arts by the many diplomats, raders and engineers who witnessed the romance in the eastern fighting styles. By the 1960’s Hollywood had gotten interest in martial arts and the arrival of legendary Bruce Lee and more lately Jackie Chan and Jet Li have once more encouraged interest in martial arts.

All martial arts lessons in Singapore have a system of testing and evaluating where students are graded and periodically assessed by their teachers. Successful passing of martial arts exams gives the student another belt or new title to acknowledge their progress. During competitions students will use different levels of contact either light, medium or full which reflects the amount of force used. Some sparring sessions require protective equipment to be worn for safety, and some moves might be banned if found to be dangerous or too violent.

Chinese Martial Arts lessons, Wushu and Kung Fu training consists of differing components. They include basics, forms, weapons and applications. All these have elements of medicine, ethics and philosophy.The basics are adapted as the main part of many of the disciplines whether internal or external.  Stances, the postures adopted when fighting. Meditation is essential in mastering breathing and concentration. While practicing forms gives the student knowledge of the flow and pattern within the discipline.  Application and understanding of techniques are tested through sparring with partners both for demonstrating comprehension and public displays.

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