Is martial arts hard

Answer 1

Becoming proficient at any skill requires time, practice and some frustration in the early stages. In the case of Martial Arts many people are only exposed to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Kung Fu Panda movies as to how it is done and get the impression that martial arts are almost magical and can be learned without effort.

Not so.

A good teacher and a willing student can work together to make the student a good martial artist. It will require some pain as muscles harden and joints become limber. It will require self discipline on the part of the student.

One aspect not often discussed is the change in culture. Most traditional martial arts school are based on other cultures with different cultural memes. The instructor is not to be questioned, the student does what he is told, some familiarity with foreign languages is required and repetition is the major teaching tool. In addition politeness rules - bowing in and out, not talking in class, not complaining about painful thumps during training, clean uniforms, etc.

Perhaps the most difficult part for the new student is tol earn the "forms. These are Kata (in karate) or Poomse (in Tae Kwon Do). These are a pattern of stylized fighting moves often a series of 20 to 30 moves (steps, kicks, blocks and punches) that must be performed to demonstrate mastery over the physical elements of the art. For 8 belt grades there are eight forms to learn (about 320 moves) all to be done perfectly. Black Belts learn even more forms.