A martial art school is not there to teach you how to exercise. There might be some warm-ups, stretching exercises and maybe some calisthenics, but if you are expecting it to make you into a ripped Mr. Universal you will be sadly disappointed. Do you seriously believe a typical 1 hour or 1.5 hour of class is going to give you the proper amount of core workouts and still leave time for self-defense training?
In addition to my regular practice to maintain my skill levels, I do at least 3 days each week of supplemental physical fitness workouts and they last a minimum of 3 hours per session which are far more and beyond what is done in any martial art class.
I can't tell you what exactly your going to do because i don't know the Martial Art your taking. But I'm 17 I have been Mauy Thai, Judo, Bjj, and Karate since 10, and I started out doing mirror drills (standing in a mirror and practicing punches and kicks to see your personal skill). When class first you'll probably do leg and arm stretches then go into skill building drills. Also either once a week or month you have to spare which means you practice what you've been taught, so you will get hit and through hit and kicks, but sparring teaches you skill, realife expectations.
It's generally really fun. You get some strange white uniform that smells like raw wheat - and sort of wrestle around with the other guys. A teacher runs you through some moves.
Martial arts are as complicated and theatrical as you want. The people who stay with it learn long "dance routines" which seem to have very little reason to them - but they're just a series of moves in a fight.
But there's always plenty of guys who just want to learn some moves for the street - fighting with a knife or a stick - and mostly with open hand - and some simple throws. All you're doing is constructing a 'memory tape' in your head so that you do these moves automatically if you're threatened.
Many traditional martial arts like most styles of karate, Taekwondo,and kung fu have instructors who require you to show them and the other students a lot of "respect." Shouting out "Yes sir!" "Yes sensei" or "Yes sifu!" could be part of what you are required to do. This is because martial arts began having military applications. Your instructor will implement this form of discipline to make sure that you aren't just in his class to learn to how to beat people up. The kind of students who just want to learn how to kick butt, often do not have the patience or the tolerance to follow instructions from martial arts teachers, so they get weeded out fairly quickly or they decide to quit soon after they start a martial arts program.
If you are taking a more modern, eclectic martial art like Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do Concepts, BJJ, or MMA, you will notice a much less formal curriculum than in traditional martial arts and you will get to spar a lot sooner than you would in most karate schools.
Any martial arts instructor that is worth his salt is going to require that his students do exercises to prepare their bodies for the demands of what they are going to be doing in class.
Not much. You will be paying for different color belts and a coked up street fighter will whoop your azz in a few seconds. Don;t waste your money.
I'm really interested in learning self defense and being able to protect myself and be strong... However I want to know what exactly I'm getting into.. I know I'll be throwing punches and doing things like that but I'm sure we'll be doin core exercises too right? Like an workouts and stuff? Push-ups sit-ups stuff like that? Or no? I'm really curious thanks!
