Mixed Martial Arts, Karate, Muay Thai and Co. are often only known from films like Tiger and Dragon, Bloodsport and Karate Tiger . You can see mostly topless daredevils flying through the air, smashing bricks and screaming loud battle cries – not to forget of course that they bring their opponents to their knees with the help of deadly energy waves and other supernatural skills.
Proponents say martial arts builds body and self-confidence, but critics say it promotes violence. Headlines such as “Martial artist beats police officers ready for hospital” are the other side of the coin. In our society they shape a picture that martial arts is just a reservoir for thugs who are already violent.
What is true and what is fiction? In search of the truth behind well-known martial arts myths, we visited the Fenriz training center. Lukas Follert – fitness trainer, nutritionist and even Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu student – was there to answer our questions.
In the second round of INQUIRED he sends his experts for Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and to the mat. Stella Lutz and Felipe Cançado themselves answer BJJ black belt wearers on Wednesday , 05. August at 4.30 p.m. in another live session on our Instagram account all your questions about martial arts! Just let us know what’s hot under your nails here!
Myth 1 – Martial arts are only for real men
Martial arts don’t think in terms of gender. In principle, martial arts are really suitable for everyone. Here in the training center we even have a very high percentage of women, both among the participants and in our team of trainers. Anyone who comes here just to legally beat up someone else will not be tolerated for long.
The idea that mainly aggressive thugs do martial arts holds up well! But anyone who shows too big an ego or is aggressive with us is immediately excluded from the training. In martial arts violence and aggression are not encouraged, but rather “channeled”. Clear rules and values, such as respect and discipline, ensure security and orientation.
Anyone who is still looking for holistic training to get in top form while having fun exercising will also learn here to overcome their fear of contact. There is a very high level of trust and respect in training. Finally, we instruct our members to fight each other without hurting each other.
Myth 2 – women are always inferior to men
Anyone who claims that women are inferior is cordially invited to do a trial lesson with an experienced training partner!
With certain technical skills, even the original physiological differences, for example between the sexes, no longer play a role! Then it only depends on your proper execution of the martial arts!
Certain martial arts such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) are even designed to put differences in size and weight into perspective by bringing the duel to the ground.
Technology often does it!
Myth 3 – wearers of a black belt are invincible
“Invincible” is a very meaningful word! If you want, you can politely challenge a BJJ black belt to a fight – then we’ll see what happens!
Nobody is invincible, regardless of whether they are black belts or boxing world champions. A self-defense situation demands more than just the automatic retrieval of techniques. Possible factors, such as a state of shock, can hinder you – especially if he / she is in a dangerous situation for the first time. However, martial artists naturally have immense advantages through their training that they use.
Myth 4 – Martial arts are harmful to health
Whether football, tennis or martial arts – there are risks everywhere. These can be minimized in martial arts, among other things. through an effective warm-up training, mutual respect among the training partners, the exact following of the instructions of the trainer and last but not least the combat equipment (including mouthguards, bandages, hand and foot guards etc.).
How “dangerous” e.g. is a fight, of course, also depends on the martial arts style. In competitions (depending on the martial arts) it is not necessarily a question of getting a knockout (often not even allowed). On the contrary: Points are awarded for technically clean hits.
But nobody has to take part in competitions. Anyone who just wants to keep fit and learn something useful at the same time is also very welcome.
Mentally, martial arts can be extremely helpful in reducing stress and building your own self-confidence. When two fighters face each other in the ring, one obviously has the feeling that martial arts is an individual sport. But the exact opposite is the case!
No training without a partner! You are dependent on a training partner and support each other. Therefore martial arts connects!
Myth 5 – Muay Thai is more effective than Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
There are well over 100 martial arts across Germany and each one has its own profile. When the first UFC events were held, the question of which is the most effective martial art was wanted to investigate. But is that really important?
What all martial arts have in common: They combine fitness, art, self-defense and a meditative aspect. Many martial arts are really impressive in their real, down-to-earth form.
So find out for yourself what kind of martial art you enjoy and which form of training is most effective for you.
