What are the Best Martial Arts Schools in Austin? Part 1

There are a lot of great martial arts schools here in Austin. Everything from Muay Thai Kickboxing and MMA to more traditional styles like Wing Chun Kung Fu and Capoeira.

Of course, as a gym owner who teaches Bruce Lee’s style of Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, I have to admit that I am quite partial to our training. However, I do not believe that our gym is right for everyone.

My personal mission in teaching is to help others find a lifelong passion for martial arts training, whatever style it is, so that they will want to continue learning and growing for the rest of their lives.

3 Types Of Martial Arts

Not all martial arts serve the same purpose. So before you go looking for a martial arts school to join, start by deciding what it is you’re looking for in a gym.

I tend to classify martial arts into 3 main categories:

Practical Arts
Performance Arts
Competitive Arts
Practical arts are those which are designed primarily for street self defense. They use a lot of “dirty” tactics–basically anything that’s against the rules in a competition–and tend to be based around simple concepts that are easy to apply in real life.

Performance arts are those which seem to be primarily concerned with the aesthetic look of their training. These arts tend to use more complex techniques and are usually great for fitness, requiring core strength, flexibility, agility, balance, etc. to master.

Competitive arts are those designed around rules and competition. In theory, as self defense training, these would be inferior to the arts focused exclusively on street defense. But in practice, competitive arts often seem to offer some of the best real world defense training there is.

That said, you still won’t deal with common street situations like weapons or multiple attackers in competitive training arts.

Which art is the best?

There really is no correct answer. Everybody is drawn to the martial arts for different purposes.

The question really is, Which art is the best for YOU?

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this 4 part series, where I give you some specific recommendations of places here in Austin, Tx that teach practical fighting systems.