Top 5 Misconceptions about Martial Arts at Tring Martial Arts Academy

The Top 5 Misconceptions about Martial Arts Every week my team and I sit down on a Monday morning and discuss what happened the previous week, how many people joined Tring Martial Arts Academy, how many left us and what questions or service issues arose. Its always a really positive meeting and when we come around to talking about why people didn’t sign up straight away it was because they had some of these misconceptions or confusions about what we can offer them. I thought I would list these on this blog and perhaps it will help YOU to make up your mind about coming to join our Academy. 1. What will Martial Arts do for me that the gym won’t? Now I am going to be blunt here, so please don’t be offended. Martial Arts will not do anything for you. NEITHER will the gym do anything for you. Only you can do something for yourself. If you go to the gym and sit around for 20 minutes chatting and looking at yourself in the mirror or working out half hearted then what can you expect to achieve? Likewise, if you came to Martial Arts and we let you work at a slow pace and didn’t really push yourself then what will you gain? (By the way, we never let this happen in any class, if you are holding pads for your partner you are encouraging them, if you are working then you are working 100%, if you are standing about chatting – then you are doing star jumps!) 2. “I have to be fitter before I start Martial Arts ” Okay, so here is a classic statement I hear all the time at Tring Martial Arts Academy whether it is on the phone or face to face. My answer is simple and honest, we have beginners classes FOR BEGINNERS!!! We wouldn’t dream of chucking you in with a group of our advanced students, not that they wouldn’t make you feel right at home by the way but because its not fair on you (or them). Martial Arts is as tough as you want it to be. If you’re into intense workouts – you’ll find one. If you’re into taking your time, and going at your own pace – you can do that too. Just do what feels right for you. Do your best, and slow down when your reach your limits. Every time you come back to it, you’ll find that your limits get smaller and smaller, until you can do a full 50 minute workout at full speed. 3. I love the fitness but I’m not into bowing or grading Honestly, if you cannot show respect for someone else then Tring Martial Arts Academy is not the place for you. We treat each other with respect whether this is through bowing to each other, shaking hands, being friendly or just behaving like a civilised individual, respect is a major aspect of our club. I don’t want to grade. You know I can certainly understand why people do not like to be tested, it can be daunting and unusual in our instant access, instant gratification society. But you know grading or testing for your next belt is one of the most important aspects of any martial art training. Ultimately, it is a method of goal setting which allows the participant to benchmark their current fitness or ability and have a clearly defind set of goals they can work towards achieving. Tring Martial Arts Academy is a Black Belt Academy, this means we are constantly striving to help each and every student achieve Black Belt excellence. So unless you are only training in Combat Fitness then you’ll be expected to grade and you might not like it at first but TRUST ME you’ll enjoy the process and you’ll see and feel the benefit too! 4 I am really worried about getting injured This always makes me smile it seems that our students are really accident prone OUTSIDE of the dojo. Whether they are lifting a dog into the car or tripping over their children injuries directly from Kickboxing are really very few and often minor such as strains. We are NOT a fight club, if contact is made in our Kickboxing classes it is LIGHT. If contact is made in our classes it is CONTROLLED. Here are our rules on safety and contact in the dojo:- i) You will never be expected to hit or be hit by anyone unless you are practicing self defence or Touch sparring, there is no contact in Beginner Kickboxing Classes. ii) You will be expected to wear ALL the appropriate safety gear in classes where contact is being practiced. iii) You will never be allowed to take part in any contact class unless you are under strict supervision. iv) Children under the age of 10 years NEVER engage in ANY contact. Children aged 10-14 are allowed touch sparring only. 5 “I’m worried about it all being full of sweaty men” (normally this comment is from a woman) Sometimes I wish what we did wasn’t called Kickboxing, Kickboxing can conjure up such negative connotations but really Kickboxing at Tring Martial Arts Academy is completely different. Firstly, yes there are a few sweaty men present in each class, likewise there are a few sweaty women but above all the class is full of ultra-friendly likeminded people who have all arrived at class for the same reasons – to get fit, to learn to defend themselves, to improve other sports, to lose weight, to gain self-confidence etc etc. The best way to learn more about our classes is to come along and take our 2 week Free Trial. On the 2 week Free Trial you will get the chance to sample as many of our classes as possible. Take a couple of Kickboxing classes with different instructors and see who you like best, try our reality based self defence class Krav Maga Concepts or push yourself to the limit with our Cage Fitness classes. The 2 week Free Trial will help you to understand how Tring Martial Arts Academy WILL help you to achieve your goals and WHY we are a rapidly expanding academy of martial arts that has an amazing reputation that has been recognised locally, nationally and even internationally since July 2005. So what are you waiting for?? Complete the form on this website to get started Christopher Allen Chief Instructor.