Explore
Other ways into the manual: by method, by origin, by where a beginner starts, and by the style-versus-style questions everyone asks.
Across All Arts
- The Empty Room: How to Practice Alone and Make It CountYou have forty minutes before dinner, the living room is clear, and class is not until Thursday. You throw a few punche…
- Aches, Warnings, and the Long Run: Training Without Breaking DownHe was not the student anyone worried about. He trained three nights a week and never missed. Then a small ache showed…
- Strong, Not Sore: Strength Training for Martial ArtistsIt is Wednesday night. You trained hard on Monday, lifted heavy on Tuesday because Tuesday is your gym day, and now you…
- Tension: Why Trying Harder Makes You WorseNinety seconds into the round, your arms are stone. You run twice a week. You lift. On paper you are the fitter person…
- Stiff: Flexibility, Mobility, and Stretching for Martial ArtistsEvery martial arts class has one: the student who stretches faithfully, before class, after class, at home in front of…
- Good in the Gym, Gone on the Day: Training the Performance You Actually HaveEvery martial art has the same ghost. The student whose kata is the class standard on Tuesdays and a rumor at the gradi…
By Method
- Striking: Karate · Muay Thai & Ring Sports · Korean Arts
- Grappling: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu · Kodokan Judo · Wrestling
- Mixed and complete arts: every art here crosses methods in training — start from the arts directory and the overviews.
By Origin
- Okinawa: Karate
- Japan: Kodokan Judo · Shotokan Karate
- Brazil: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
- England and the United States: Catch Wrestling
- Thailand: Muay Thai
- Korea: Taekwondo
Beginner Paths
- Shotokan Karate: Shotokan Karate for Beginners: Your First 90 Days
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: BJJ for Beginners: Your First 6 Months on the Mat
- Kodokan Judo: Judo for Beginners: Your First Month on the Mat
- Muay Thai: Muay Thai: A Beginner's First 90 Days
- Taekwondo: Taekwondo: A Beginner's First Three Months
- Catch Wrestling: Catch Wrestling: A Beginner's First Months
Compare Styles
- Gi vs No-Gi: Which Should You Train?You signed the waiver, bought nothing yet, and the person at the front desk asks a question you weren't expecting: "Are…
- Catch Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Cousins, Not TwinsPut a catch wrestler and a BJJ player in the same room and the first minute looks like a family reunion. Same takedown…
- Muay Thai and Kickboxing: What Actually DiffersThe trial class felt familiar and strange at once. The punches were punches. The kicks were kicks. Then the instructor…
- Shotokan vs Other Karate Styles: What's Actually Different?You move to a new town and visit the only karate dojo within driving distance. The uniforms look right. The bowing look…
- WT and ITF: The Two TaekwondosThe job moves you to a new city. You find a taekwondo school ten minutes from the house, walk in with your black belt i…