Martial Arts Training
Before you begin any martial arts training you will want to make some informed choices. For one thing, you will want to choose the right martial art. As with many things there is no right answer here, just the right choice for you.
Wing Chun King Fu
A version of China’s Kung Fu that works at close range, focusing on balance; the posture for this version of Kung Fu is rather unorthodox. The close-combat system uses a lot of rapid hand strikes and fewer leg strikes; you tend to move into your opponent during combat. Wing Chun uses a lot of breathing and relaxation along with its balance techniques. This is rated very highly for fitness, though your forearms will be pushed quite hard at first.
Krav Maga
Actually a Hebrew combat system. This is more suited to real life combat, almost military level, and it included disarming an opponent as well as throwing heavy punches and kicks. There is a lot here that is simply illegal in other martial arts. This is far from a sporting event, and you will not really see it practiced as such. Training is intense and fight quite literally painful; you will leave with legitimate injuries. Not for most people.
Fast becoming the best known and probably the most widespread martial art, Taek Won Do even is performed at an Olympic level. This uses the feet more than most previous martial arts, but there is still a lot done with the hand, as well as relaxation techniques and cardio fitness. Unlike most traditional martial arts Taek Won Do has standardised competition rules, and though various schools will vary these competition rules are consistant. As an all-round martial art, and one with the most sporting events worldwide, Taek Won Do is highly rated.