The Secret to Achieving and Progressing in Martial Arts
There’s a saying in martial arts, a black belt is simply a white belt that didn’t quit.
And it’s very true.
Like many things in life, there’s no secret to achieving your belts and making progress in martial arts. It just comes down to one thing, consistency.
Over the years, we’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands of students. All of them with a different body size, shape, and level of fitness, but all of them with the motivation and drive to make some changes in their lives.
Naturally, as with many new ventures, hobbies, or pursuits in fitness, some last, some don’t.
And it all comes down to consistency. Consistently showing up, consistently putting the effort in, and consistently seeing progress towards your goals.
Bruce Lee once said, “Long-term consistency trumps short-term intensity.”.
Don’t get me wrong, there will still be times when motivation levels drop, and the drive fades a little. This is normal. But those that continue to show up, eventually make it to their black belt.
That said, the ‘prize’ isn’t just achieving your black belt. Along the way you’ll experience many other wins and positive effects.
- Your fitness will improve dramatically. We have countless case studies and testimonials from students who exceeded all expectations with improvements to their fitness levels. Many of which had already tried other avenues to keeping fit, like the gym, spinning classes, Zumba and alike.
- As you get fitter, you’ll find you also get stronger, quicker, and more agile. You’ll start to feel more confident, and more accomplished to be able to take care of yourself.
- Your drive will be fuelled by regular belt promotion opportunities. If you come to class regularly, we ask for a minimum of twice per week, you’ll regularly be put forward to grade for your next belt. This is like a whole series of mini wins as you make your way through the 10 belts.
- You’ll enjoy your training! One of the most-important aspects of any training, is that you enjoy it. As our classes are filled with other like-minded students, you’ll fit right in. Over time they’ll become like classmates, people you enjoy seeing every week and who make your journey that much more enjoyable.
- Practice makes perfect. Ask any of our students, and they’ll tell you they felt like a fish out of water when they first started. However, as the weeks and months pass, they soon found themselves able to perform techniques and drills they never thought possible at the start. And that’s a real confidence boost.
So, whilst consistency is the main reason you’ll succeed, the environment of a good martial arts school, like ours, can help you be more consistent.
Which, ultimately, is the one thing that will help you achieve your goals.
So, what are you waiting for, book an introduction session today.
Why martial arts are a great New Year’s resolution, compared to the gym
For many, the time between Christmas and New Year is a time to relax and reflect on the year.
Countless resolutions are made from quitting a habit, starting a new career, learning a new skill, and probably one of the most common, getting in shape!
Those that choose a fitness resolution, are somewhat overwhelmed by the choice of activities these days. Everything from cross fit, boxercise, Zumba, dance classes, and the list goes on.
Naturally, the gym will be the destination of choice for many, and why not, it has everything you need to achieve whatever fitness goals you set.
Or does it?
Let’s begin with the obvious.
It has weights, check. Machines to work every muscle in your body, check. Classes to mix it up, check. Personal trainers to help guide me, check.
A great place to form new friendships… few and far between. A great place to learn to effectively defend myself… probably not. Somewhere that can really build my self-confidence… to a small degree perhaps. A personalised training programme with a personal trainer… at an additional cost.
Now before all gym owners start having a meltdown, the gym is a great place to start your fitness journey. It has all the things you need. However, joining a gym can often be a lonely experience.
Especially if you’re unfit, or shy. It’s unlikely you’ll find a training partner with the same goals as you, who can train to your schedule, and who you actually like.
It can happen, of course, but it’s unlikely.
There’s nothing wrong with this, many regular gym goers train alone, week in, week out.
But you need discipline. With only being accountable to yourself, it’s easy to miss a workout here and there. And once you miss one, it becomes OK to miss one here and there, and before you know it, you’ve lost your new-found gym mojo.
There are alternatives
The most important thing to mention, is that if you join a martial arts class, it doesn’t mean you’ll need to be kicked or punched. A common misconception about martial arts.
Before we tell what a typical adult’s martial class entails, let’s first discuss the adult programs we offer.
Basic Combat
Our basic combat class is a mixed class that takes place every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday in Swindon, and every Tuesday in Cirencester.
This class will teach you how to punch, defend, kick, perform takedowns and a complete range of self-defence skills.
Basic Combat involves the whole body – giving it a complete workout, making you fitter quicker and feeling rewarded. A typical Basic Combat class can burn around 800 calories!
Many Basic Combat techniques can be effectively used in self-defence, and they are uncomplicated making them easier to put into practice and remembered.
Jeet Kune Do / Jun Fan Gung Gu
These classes take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday in Swindon.
This is the martial art that Bruce Lee created and practiced. It was based heavily on Wing Chun in the early days but has since evolved to be all-encompassing. It takes inspiration from over 20 other martial arts and combat styles to give you a complete range of self-defence skills to apply to any given situation.
You will learn to be quick on your feet and to execute kicks and punches from both sides of the body along with effective trapping and grappling techniques. You will see your reflexes improve and therefore also your confidence.
Referred to as a “style without style” the art aims to fulfil key concepts such as economy of motion, efficiency, simplicity, and directness by utilising the four ranges of combat: kicking, punching, trapping, and grappling.
The term Jeet Kune Do translates literally as “the way of the intercepting fist” meaning that an attack from an opponent would be used against himself.
Both the Basic Combat and Jeet Kune Do class includes a quick fitness-style warmup, before focusing on the particular technique for that given week. This will include punching and kicking pads and bags and other fun martial arts drills, before finishing with the self-defence move of the week.
Both classes are mixed male and female, with a complete range of abilities, from new white belts, through the experienced black belts.
Kali / Filipino Martial Arts
Our Kali class takes place every Saturday in Swindon.
Kali is a functional and effective form of self-defence. This street/jungle-oriented fighting system has been known as “dirty street fighting” due to its lack of restrictions and rules.
Our Kali curriculum teaches knife defence, close range self-defence, hand to hand combat skills, and the use of kali sticks which can be applied to many objects. This style was developed by Guro Danny Innosanto who was originally trained by the late Bruce Lee.
This class doesn’t include any fitness aspect, but is a very technical martial art. From disarming a knife attacker, using a stick to defend and attack, through to close range hand to hand combat, wrist locks and takedowns, this is a complete self defence system.
There is a little similarity to some of the Jeet Kune Do techniques, which is why many of our JKD students also train in Kali.
We’ll be opening a few spaces in each program in January!
New Year’s Resolutions
No matter what style you want to choose for 2024, the best things about joining us, as opposed to the gym, for example, are:
You’ll be training with other like-minded people, of all abilities.
You won’t feel like you stick out, as you’ll be surrounded by a great group of people. Some at the same level of you, others more experienced and completely aware of how you feel starting out. They will help and guide you through it, so you won’t ever be training alone.
You’ll also get fit!
We’ve seen firsthand how fit some of our members become. Members who have tried the gym for years with no luck. Our classes are fun, educational, and above all, a great workout for your whole body.
You’ll also learn some practical effective self-defence skills!
No matter what your size, shape, age, or experience, we can teach you how to effectively defend yourself, should you ever need to.
Finally, the combination of all of this means you’ll enjoy it. And with that, comes purposeful progress, which in turn will boost your self-confidence and have a positive impact on other areas of your life.
Many of our members still train at a gym alongside their martial arts membership as it can enhance your martial arts training when you’re physically stronger or fitter.
But if you must choose one, then it’s clear that joining a martial arts class, can have a greater and far longer impact on your life.
So, what are you waiting for, book an introduction session today.
What can your child expect from a martial arts class?
If you’ve never seen a children’s martial arts class before, it’s hard to know what to expect.
Naturally, you’ll assume that the lesson will be filled with drills and exercises that involve some form of punching and kicking. And you’d be right!
But here, we include so much more.
Martial arts, especially for children, is an environment that can help build so many other skills. We’ll cover the specific benefits for adults in a future blog post.
For many of the young students that join us, this is their first real experience of a group activity outside of the school environment. And probably the first time they’ve had to interact with groups of people they don’t yet know.
This in itself helps build their confidence. In fact, building confidence is probably the cornerstone of what we do. Both physical confidence, and mental confidence.
What can they expect?
Here at TMA, each lesson is carefully planned by our team of experienced instructors. Between them, they have over 100 years of martial arts experience!
And even before the lesson begins… the lessons begin!
When they arrive, they are taught to greet the instructors at the door, bow in, before removing their shoes and sitting, quietly, with the other students until class begins. And they’re not just sat in silence. An instructor sits with them, and engages in conversation about their day, what they learnt, how they’re doing etc.
This really helps build their confidence and feel comfortable interacting in a group environment.
At the start of class, the students recite the oath. This highlights the key behaviours our students are expected to demonstrate, both in class and outside of the class. Then it’s a quick warmup, focusing on the key areas of the body we’ll be training on that day. This normally lasts about five minutes and includes quite a few of the basic exercises like push ups, sit ups, burpees and others.
This is followed by the main drill of the lesson. This can vary greatly, but will include punching or kicking the pads, and some form of physical activity.
Then it’s time for the mat chat. A quiet 2 minutes in each lesson where we focus on a particular topic, like bullying, respect, self-confidence, and many others. This is a key part of the lesson, as we’re able to teach them about all the mental aspects of martial arts, and how it can help them deal with other challenges they may face.
It’s also a great time for us to set them some goals for the week, goals that can help improve their home life. For example, if we’re talking to them about cleanliness or helping people, we can set them the goal to clean their rooms, to help out more around the house, or do something for a sibling.
We get a lot of positive feedback from parents about this!
After this, they get a chance to work on their forms. These are specific to our junior program as they help improve memory and co-ordination, working collectively as a team, and fine-tuning some of the techniques they’re learned in class.
Each belt level will have a certain number of forms they must remember and so for this part, the class is split accordingly.
Finally, we’ll isolate one self-defence technique each week, and finish the class working on how to use it, effectively. This also includes verbal de-escalation techniques. On some days, time-permitting, we also finish with a quick and fun game.
So, as you can see, our martial arts classes are so much more than punching and kicking the pads.
Could this type of activity benefit your child?
Why not come and find out how martial arts can help them, claim your free trial now.
Self Defence
Self-defence, understandably, forms an important part of what we offer our students in each class.
It’s one of the main reasons why people choose learning a martial art, over joining a gym. No point having big muscles if you don’t have the skills to use them – there’s also no need for big muscles to be able to effectively defend yourself.
You may have heard the phrase; muscles don’t win fights. Of course, they can help, but the skills are far more important.
It’s for this reason, that we include a specific element of self-defence in every class.
From our Tiny Tigers, Young Dragons, and Leadership classes, through to the Basic Combat and Jeet Kune Do classes in our adult program.
The types of techniques we teach range from kicking and striking, to take-downs and grappling. Each skill is tailored to the students – depending on age and experience.
What we teach
Whilst the goal is to equip our student to defend themselves, with confidence and skill, this isn’t the primary goal.
Verbal de-escalation skills and far more important initially – being able to stop a situation happening before it starts. This starts with confidence – and we find that as the skill levels of our students develop, their confidence grows along with it, helping them deal with this first, important step.
The 2nd goal, should de-escalation fail, is to do what is necessary with the least amount of effort to enable you to ‘get out of there’. Running away is no shame, particularly these days with concealed weapons.
Lastly, if all else fails, we teach the skills necessary to end the confrontation using force.
Given the variety of techniques, we can’t teach it all in one go. For each class, we pick a technique and practise it until it feels comfortable and effective, before moving onto the next one.
This gives our students plenty of time to learn and master it.
All our students feel more comfortable in being able to defend themselves using the skills they acquire in class. And we now have a few spaces for some new students!
If you’re considering starting a new thing in 2024, why not try martial arts?
Why not come and find out how martial arts can help you on your fitness journey. You’re never too old or too young to start, so claim your free trial now.
Martial Arts vs The Gym
A martial arts membership and a gym membership can both be beneficial to adults wanting to get in shape.
But how do they differ?
Depending on what your goals are, they can even complement each other, but what are the main differences and how does that impact which one to choose.
As a martial arts school, we would naturally encourage anyone to take up a martial art. But it boils down to your purpose and your goals.
The Gym
The gym is a great place to start for anyone wanting to get fit. No matter your size, age, shape, or experience, with the right guidance a gym membership can transform your life.
Many use the gym as a means of keeping fit.
A gym is also the perfect place to go if you’re looking to bulk up or add muscle. Many also use it to walk, step, spin or for a variety of classes, all of which can improve your fitness and grow your confidence.
The biggest issue with a gym membership, is that in most cases you’re on your own. Some are lucky enough to find a suitable training partner, but for many it’s an hour or so working out alone.
Whilst there is nothing particularly wrong with this, a consistent gym goer will tell you that even the most motivated among us have times they can’t find the motivation to train.
Martial Arts
Martial arts can offer something different.
Fitness forms a broad part of what we offer. And we don’t mean endless or soul-destroying exercise drills!
Every class has an element of striking and kicking on the pads. And trust me, punching and kicking pads will give you a far more taxing workout that a treadmill or exercise bike!
Through these drills, our students find their fitness levels improve dramatically. Plus, it’s far more fun than being on your own in a gym.
It’s also a great way to work off any frustrations!
The other thing our students enjoy, is progression followed by recognition. Moving through your belts will give you an enormous sense of satisfaction, as you are always working towards a tangible goal.
Finally, you get to be around friendly like-minded people. There are rarely any egos in martial arts as our students are aware of the journey they’ve been on and what it feels like when you first join.
Senior students will always be there to put you at ease and offer guidance and support.
So, you’ll be in good company.
Many students form new friendships through martial arts, friendships forged in the weekly classes. It’s a great motivator when you’re with others on the same journey as you – you get to do it together and you are able to share and celebrate your success.
There are many other benefits as well – it helps confidence building, teaches self-respect and respect of others and most importantly, can equip you with the necessary skills to defend yourself, should you ever need to.
Why not come and find out how martial arts can help you on your fitness journey. You’re never too old or too young to start, so claim your free trial now.
Goal Setting for Kids - How martial arts helps kids achieve their goals
One of the key life skills we can instil and develop in our children is goal setting and doing what is necessary to achieve those goals.
Martial arts is a fantastic way to introduce them to this.
Through consistent training, our students will work towards achieving their next belt every 3-6 months. This timeframe increases a bit when they reach the senior level belts, where a new belt is earned every 6-9 months.
Each belt is a new goal!
Naturally, the over-arching goal is to achieve their black belt, but this takes a few years of consistent training to achieve. But breaking this down into each belt, gives them a sense of continual achievement. Each new belt becoming a milestone on their journey.
Small steps to each goal
Each time they attend class, they earn a stripe on their belt. After they have collected enough stripes, and we are satisfied they are ready, they are invited to a grading.
On successful completion of their grading and any other work necessary towards their belt, they earn their belt promotion, and achieve a goal!
The nature of this process means they are consistently working towards a tangible goal.
This can have a profound impact on other areas of their life as well – in school, and in the home.
We’ve seen first-hand how some of our students start setting other goals in their lives and start working towards them using the same discipline they apply to their martial arts training.
Goal setting is an important part of our curriculum, and it’s a topic we often include in our mat chat, which features in every junior class.
Would your child benefit from setting some new goals… why not put us to the test?
Claim your free trial to find out what we can do for you, available right now – get in touch here.
Martial Arts for Confidence
Confidence comes in various forms.
Confidence in front of people, confidence in social environments, confidence on the street, or even confidence in one’s self.
Unfortunately, many people lack confidence. Some in certain situations or environments, others in life in general.
Martial arts can help with confidence
Confidence is one of the most noticeable changes we see in our students when they begin training in martial arts.
And not just in our junior students.
Many adults come to use lacking in confidence. However, through regular training, we see their confidence grow, as do their physical skills. Knowing they can deal with challenging or threatening situations, nourishes, and develops their confidence.
The social interaction with their class mates also helps. Our classes are full of some great people, people just like you! Regular training helps them build new friendships and bonds and even expand or begin new social circles.
In our junior program, we encourage our junior students to use their voice and become more confident by demonstrating moves in front of the class. Obviously, we don’t throw them in at the deep end, but through our teachings, we see gradual improvements, until one day they’re standing in front of the class demonstrating a move or technique.
You’d be amazed at how many students come to as quiet and shy students and develop into sociable and confident young adults.
Being confident can change your life, it really can.
And we can help anyone gain or grow in confidence… so why not put us to the test?
Claim your free trial to find out what we can do for you, available right now – get in touch here.
Are martial arts beneficial for kids?
Are martial arts beneficial for kids?
Absolutely!
Some parents may read the word martial arts, and automatically assume it will require, or entail, their child being punched in the face. Albeit in a controlled environment.
Let’s clear this straight up… they won’t.
Before we get into the benefits of martial arts for kids, know that most martial arts schools offer non-contact training. Meaning they can still learn and develop all the necessary skills, but using pads, bags, and other training equipment to do so.
In the rare cases we do offer a sparring class, it is still controlled, and the level of contact is set by each respective student. No student is put into a training situation they are uncomfortable with.
So, rest assured, enrolling your child in martial arts won’t mean they’re getting punched!
Martial arts for kids will not only give them the skills to defend themself, but it will also help improve their mental and physical health.
Each class has an element of exercise included, whether that’s a brisk warm up session or drills on the pads. But we also take the time to develop the mental side of training.
We focus on several key areas:
- Discipline
- Self-Confidence
- Respect
- Focus
- Listening skills
- Co-ordination
- Social skills
- Decision making skills
- Awareness – of themselves and the surroundings
Each lesson is carefully planned to teach them about one or two of these skills in our ‘Topic of the Week’. For example, bullying, how to de-escalate a threatening situation, how to show respect to others, how to display confidence, etc.
As well as this, we also include a chosen self-defence technique for that week. So, as you can see, they receive a fair amount during their time in class!
We have years of experience in transforming quiet, shy, and retiring kids, into strong, confident and measured young adults.
Claim your free trial to find out what we can do for you, available right now – get in touch here.
Bullying – How to recognise it, how to prepare for it, how to deal with it
Being the subject of bullying can be hard for our kids to deal with. Particularly if it’s sustained. It can make school life a real challenge, living in constant fear of the next time they are subject to bullying.
Before we get into the positive impact training your children in basic self-defence can have, and all the other associated benefits, let’s first look at what bullying is, the signs to look out for and the long-term damage it can cause.
In essence, bullying is any behaviour that hurts someone else. This can include name calling, pushing, or hitting, verbal bullying such as spreading rumours, and any type of threatening or belittling behaviour.
And it can happen anywhere.
At school, at home and more regularly now, online in the form of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place online and unlike face-to-face bullying, it can follow the child wherever they go, via social networks, gaming, and mobile phones.
Being subjected to this over a long period of time and can hurt a child both physically and emotionally.
The Signs of Bullying
There isn’t one sign that will confirm for certain if your child’s being bullied, but things to watch out for are:
- Physical injuries, like bruises, cuts, and scrapes.
- Not wanting to go to school.
- Faking illness or skipping school.
- Belongings getting ‘lost’ or damaged.
- Their grades show signs of decline.
- Asking for, or stealing, money to give to whoever’s bullying them.
- Displaying nervous behaviour, losing their confidence, or becoming distressed and withdrawn.
- Eating or sleeping problems.
The Effects of Bullying
The effects of bullying can last into adulthood. At its worst, bullying has driven children and young people to self-harm and even suicide.
Children who are bullied can develop a range of issues in later life, such as:
- Mental health problems like depression and anxiety.
- They retreat into solitude and fewer friendships.
- Not accepted by their peers.
- Can develop tendencies of suspicion of others.
Even if bullying isn’t an issue in your house right now, it’s important to discuss it so your kids will be prepared if it does happen.
One thing you can do for them, is give them the gift of martial arts.
Through martial arts, you can not only prepare and equip them to be able to deal with these types of situations physically, but you will help them develop the verbal and awareness skills to de-escalate potential situations without the need for them having to use force.
The Benefits of Martial Arts for Kids
Building Confidence
Martial arts can help build their confidence; a trait that can help prevent them from being targeted.
Engaging in a physical activity in a supportive and fun group environment, can help kids build their confidence. They are taught that there are no limitations to their progress. Plus, they also meet new people and form great friendships with their class mates.
We have seen firsthand how some kids come to us shy and insecure, and they develop into strong and confident kids. Something that can prevent them being targeted by bullies in the first place.
Discipline
Our team of qualified and experienced instructors teach and educate about discipline throughout the lesson.
We deliver a 2-minute ‘mat chat’ in every lesson. This hones their focus onto one area, for example, how to deal with bullies, what to do in certain situations, how to act more confident, and many others.
We’ll also teach them how to manage their own behaviour, so as not to provoke or trigger a bully.
Martial arts can also help prevent potential, or current bullies, bullying. We do this by giving them a definitive and consistent structure of discipline. This helps them learn which types of behaviour are acceptable and which are not.
Verbal De-Escalation
Naturally, martial arts will give them a range of physical skills to deal with any bullying situation, but it’s their increased confidence that can help stop something before it starts.
The confidence they develop through training and learning martial arts, will stop them from feeling the need to prove themselves by engaging in violent behaviour. Meaning when faced with these situations, they are more likely to avoid or stop them happening as they will be well-equipped to find another way to deal with the situation.
Respect – For themselves and for others
Teaching them respect starts the second they set foot into the academy. As the enter, they bow at the door, and they also bow to their instructors before beginning their class.
This teaches the children to be disciplined and respectful towards their elders which enables children to respect their surroundings from a young age.
They are also taught to respect themselves and to have positive feelings and attitudes towards themselves. Through regular training, they will experience an immense sense of pride in their abilities which will in turn, help develop their self-respect.
Self Defence
Finally, martial arts will give them the physical skills to defend themselves, should they be forced with no other option to handle the situation.
We teach a range of skills to deal with all types of potential threats from basic self-defence using blocks, kicks, and punches, through to more advanced techniques to restrain an attacker or take on multiple attackers.
Of course, we hope that they never have to use them, but better to be equipped and not have to use it, than to have to use it and not be equipped!
Total Martial Arts can help your child today
As well as all of this, martial arts teaches and helps them with self-control, focus, co-ordination, leadership, balance, improved memory, team work and fitness.
At Total Martial Arts, our aim is to teach the most functional martial arts in a fun and friendly environment. And with over 45 years of martial arts experience, we know how to deliver fast and effective results.
Get in touch today and take advantage of our free trial, available right now!
Two new belts in Leadership
Congratulations to Jack and Monika on your belt promotions last week.
Jack received his blue belt whilst Monika got her brown belt, both in our Leadership program.