Learn
Styles.
A short page for the arts this site already covers. The history, the first class, and the honest limits stay in the Learn guides.
This page does not add a history of its own.
The arts
Read the short one, then the guide.
Karate: The Empty Hand
Okinawa's striking art, the one most people picture when they hear "martial arts." What the forms are actually for, why the styles differ so much, and what a first class really looks like.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: The Gentle Art
Ground fighting built on the idea that leverage beats strength. Why BJJ changed modern martial arts, what rolling actually feels like, and why the first six months are the hardest.
Boxing: Two Hands, A Lifetime
The smallest toolkit in combat sports and the deepest. Why four punches take a decade, what boxing teaches that nothing else does, and the honest conversation about head contact.
Muay Thai: The Art of Eight Limbs
Thailand's national sport, and the most complete stand-up striking system in the world. Fists, elbows, knees, shins — plus the clinch that most gyms skip.
Wrestling: Deciding Where the Fight Happens
The oldest sport there is, and the one that most reliably wins fights between styles. Why takedowns decide so much, and why wrestlers are built different.
MMA: Where the Arts Meet
Not a style — a ruleset that forced every style to get honest. How mixed martial arts settled old arguments, and why starting in MMA is not the same as starting in a martial art.
Judo: The Way of Yielding
Throwing as a complete art, and the Olympic sport that quietly seeded half of modern grappling. What breakfalls are really teaching you, and why judo humbles strong people fast.
Taekwondo: The Way of the Foot and Fist
Korea's kicking art and one of only two martial arts in the Olympics. Where the sport-versus-street debate comes from, and what taekwondo genuinely builds better than anyone.
Kung Fu: One Name, A Hundred Arts
Why "kung fu" is less a style than a library — Wing Chun, Sanda, Shaolin, Tai Chi and dozens more. How to tell a serious school from a show, without being unfair to either.
Krav Maga: Built for One Job
A self-defense system, not a sport — which is both its strength and the thing to watch out for. What Krav gets right about violence, and the question to ask any instructor before you pay.
Named on the show
Isshinryu.
Isshinryu is named in episode titles on this site. The longer karate guide is in Learn. This page does not add a history.
- #111 Richard Nguyen · Military Service, Isshinryu & Coming Home
- #102 Jeff Perkins · Isshinryu, Okinawan Kobudo & Karate History
- #101 Mark Rudd · Isshinryu in Alabama & the Karate Hall of Fame
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