I’ve been watching a television programme on Discovery channel about the various forms of martial arts. I’ve always been interested in martial arts since I was 5 when my best friend tripped me with a karate trick! Too bad my Dad didn’t allow me to take up martial arts when I was younger because he knew I would pick up fights with the school bullies!

Its been too long since I’ve really regained my interest in martial arts. After watching the TV programme, there are only a few martial arts that I would like to learn are Jeet Kun Do - Bruce Lee’s Way of the Intercepting Fist, Aikido - The Art of Peace and Brazilian JuJitsu.

Jeet Kun Do - Bruce Lee’s Way of the Intercepting Fist

If you’ve ever seen a video clip of Bruce Lee going "EEEeeeeeeyyyyyyyyahhhhhooooo!", screaming like a cat, throwing punches and kicks with lightning speed, you couldn’t stop but wonder what great skill this guy had. Too bad he died at age 33. Lucky for us, he did complete his creation of Jeet Kun Do before he died and had about 3-4 official students certified by him.

The nearest place you could learn from Jeet Kun Do masters would be Thailand by a 2nd generation trainer, Mark Stewart in Bangkok, Thailand. I forgot his website’s URL! This would not be a very good option for now because it would cost too much for me to travel there to learn it.

Aikido - The Art of Peace

When you think of Aikido, think about Steven Segal flipping his opponents off balance and slamming them to the ground. I was surprised to discover that Aikido is performed with such grace and simplicity. The aim is to leverage your opponent’s energy and use it against him.

I was interested in grappling after watching Brazilian Jujitsu but Aikido has a strong focus on spirituality. Furthermore when I made a search on the internet for Aikido in Singapore, I found a dojo within 5 minutes walk from my house. It is called the "Aikido Shinju-kai Headquarters Dojo" (see picture on the left), located at SPANS. They have lessons every almost everyday!

Brazilian JuJitsu

This is a rather "unglamarous" form of martial arts. The aim of the game is pin your opponent to the ground and force him into submission. It looks a bit like WWE wrestling. Without any grappling skills, you would most probably be knocked out within seconds in a no-holds barred match. This to me semms like the mother of all grappling skills.

There is a school in Singapore for Brazilian Jujitsu but it isn’t very formal at the moment. I heard from my friend the training ground is at some international school at Somerset. The highest ranking instructor is a Blue belt? I don’t have the full details yet.

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