Martial arts classes teach children important lessons about self-defense, confidence, respect and discipline Two well-known styles are karate and taekwondo. Both can benefit your child physically and mentally.

Improving your fighting techniques at home can be difficult without a training partner, equipment such as exercise mats and enough space for large movements such as sweeps. But short-range movements such as strikes and kicks while standing in place are fighting techniques you can practice at home with minimal space.

Kung fu is a traditional Chinese fighting art that combines unarmed offensive and defensive techniques with weapons. Like wushu, the term "kung fu" is used broadly to describe any type of traditional martial art developed in China.

Krav maga and aikido are two very different modern martial arts that have become popular options for self-defense training. Krav maga was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld in the 1930s and '40s, and adopted by the Israel Defense Force as its unarmed combat system.

Tae kwon do and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu are widely practiced martial arts. Worldwide television viewers saw tae kwon do when it was fist demonstrated at the Summer Olympic Games in South Korea in 1988.

Tae kwon do is one of the most widespread martial arts in the world. Created from traditional Korean martial arts after the end of Japanese occupation in 1945, it focuses heavily on elaborate kicking techniques.

Maybe you’ve decided to take up martial arts training and you’ve taken a class or two. As a beginner, you probably wonder how the more advanced students seem to be able to throw precise kicks to the head seemingly without effort.

Martial arts are both forms of exercise and self-defense. Some of the martial arts developed thousands of years ago as methods of conditioning, both for the mind and the body.

If you are considering taking up a martial art, you might be overwhelmed by the hundreds of options available. The art of war has been practiced by most cultures for thousands of years. East Asian martial arts are some of the more common choices, although other varieties like jujitsu and krav maga also are on the rise.

Kung fu can be as varied as the food selection at a Chinese buffet. With more than 2,000 years of history and tradition, kung fu fighting styles have evolved with changing times and new ideas, from traditional tai chi, Wudang and Shaolin styles to the more recent wing chun and choy lay fut kung fu.

While judo, karate and tae kwon do (or taekwondo) are all martial arts, they differ in many significant ways, starting with their disparate origins in Japan, China and Korea, respectively. The three martial arts differ as well in their objectives, techniques and associated risks.

Kung Fu and Taekwondo are two of the most well-known martial arts practiced all over the world. Both systems offer healthy physical conditioning and strong mental focus, but their training regimens employ different movements, strikes and philosophies.