Martial Arts
These are my thoughts on the art of hand-to-hand combat.

Violence or Preparation?

I guess my appreciation of the martial arts could be seen as being violent, but I don't think that's really the case.  I actually think fighting is stupid.  It solves nothing and is basically a childish method of either a) expressing anger, b) forcing someone to submit to your beliefs and wills without having a convincing enough argument to do so otherwise, or c) attempting to take what is not rightfully yours to possess.   Unfortunately, it is sometimes necessary to defend yourself against idiots who want to use violence to accomplish one of the above means, especially if you're a male.

That being said, and in stark contrast to the above, I also think there is no greater thrill or test of one's will than that of fighting.  It's the ultimate test of strength, speed, skill, flexibility, durability, endurance, and a pure will to win.  It is a game, a dance, combat, competition, a strategy that can only be won with superior physical and mental ability, enhanced by training.  The caveat that I must include so that I don't contradict myself in the first paragraph is that both parties must be in agreement to participate in the event, thereby making it a competition, and not an act of violence.

Benefits

Confidence:  Knowing that you're completely prepared to defend yourself, if needed, is a wonderful boost in self-confidence.  While I was involved in kick-boxing, I was confronted by a guy about 7 inches taller than me, and not skinny in the least.  While he hurled insults at me and got right in my face in an attempt to intimidate, I just calmly hurled insults back, not backing down a single inch or showing even a hint of fear.  The amazing thing was, that I really wasn't afraid in the least. I sparred on a regular basis, so this whole issue of confrontation was not a big deal at all.  In fact, I don't even think my pulse increased during the whole conflict.  Needless to say, he backed down once he realized that his normal routine of intimidation wasn't working.

Exercise:  First of all, there is the training, which uses muscles not otherwise used for any other purpose except fighting.  These include the sides and tops of your legs (when kicking), and the back of your neck and shoulders (from keeping your fists up and your head down to guard your face).  In addition to those muscles, the triceps, chest, calves, stomach, etc...  Martial Arts are a lot like swimming in that there is an incredibly wide range of muscles that are used.  Secondly, the aerobic activity during a fight isn't as long in duration as a marathon or a decathlon, but the level of aerobic intensity is completely different because  1) There are so many muscles being used while also encountering the resistance of your opponent's body, face, limbs, etc.  2) Each move is done as quickly (explosively) as possible for efficient striking and/or evading.  3) A continuous pace of your own cannot be established as it would in a race, because you must move in reaction to your opponent.  4) There is nothing that will take the wind out of your lungs quite like the pain of getting hit in the face, or the gut, or the thigh for that matter.  It's amazing how quickly your energy gets sapped.  You can hit a bag all day, or shadow box in the mirror until you think you're as prepared as humanly possible, but once you experience the feeling of getting punched and/or kicked, all bets are off.  The only way to get used to it is by encountering it enough to eventually let your body, and especially your mind, adapt to it.

Flexibility:  Because of the varying bends, maneuvers, and fast movements, flexibility is a necessity, especially in regards to effective kicking.  The greater the flexibility, the less resistance your muscles will offer to the movements that are unique to the sport.  Greater flexibility also allows for less likelihood of injury.

Parallels to Everyday Life:
Lacking fear of pain and/or getting hit = better performance:  By this I mean that if you are afraid of getting hurt in a fight, you will flinch, reacting out of instinctive and fearful avoidance only, instead of observing the movements of your opponent and quickly counteracting to them, and you will lose.  This parallels life in the sense that when you are afraid of facing opposition or entering a situation that you are unfamiliar with or that might cause you pain through risk, you will not act decisively and intelligently or you might avoid the situation altogether, thereby eliminating a chance that you might have had for growth, glory, or victory of some sort.  Look your obstacle in the eye and analyze it without fear and you will be more likely to overcome it.

There are two ways of effective striking.  They are:  1) Wait patiently for an open shot to present itself, then act quickly, or 2) make an opening in your opponents defenses occur through combinations of strikes, then take advantage of the opening.  An example of this would be to strike repeatedly to the body, which will cause an opponent's guard to lower, thereby expecting and/or fearing another body shot, then strike to the face.  In life, as in example (1), there are many times when you are forced to wait for favorable circumstances to arise (from God if you have faith in Him).  This sometimes necessitates a great deal of patience and careful observation of the situation.  But when a moment of opportunity presents itself, it is often necessary to act quickly and decisively, with all of the strength and courage that you can muster.  In other cases, such as example (2), it is necessary to strategically strike in various ways to cause an opportunity to occur in the goal you are hoping to achieve, at which time you must again take advantage of the moment to seize the opportunity which you helped to arise.

Background

I was always skinny as a kid and probably more than a little innocent and naive.  Because of this, I tended to get picked on by other kids, sometimes bigger and/or older.  My dad, being an Orlando cop at the time and having been raised in the Bronx, was able to teach me some basic boxing skills.  The surprising thing was, without any practice or previous sparring, I actually used these brief, basic instructions effectively.  When I did so, I won fights (which I never started) against meaner, bigger kids!  The times that I lost fights (about half of the time) were due to one or more of several things: 1) I was caught by surprise,  2) I was too scared and/or intimidated to act in the manner which I was taught, or 3) I just plain lost my calmness and started swinging wildly.  Truly, I wish I had been taught a little more extensively than the brief instructions given me and perhaps practiced in a training environment.  If so, then perhaps I would have been a lot "cooler" in school, establishing a reputation of someone not to mess with.  With that self-realization, I hope to teach all of my children the skills of martial arts in an effort to avoid experiencing the fear and humiliation of being afraid of and losing fights to people all too willing to start them.  But then again, perhaps there is some character building to be found in losing a fight or two.

In my senior year of high school, I elected to join the wrestling team.  For my first practice session, the coach instructed one of the team's stars, Kevin, to wrestle around with me.  After taking his abuse for a while, I realized just how much I had to learn and how much potential pain I had to endure for the learning process.  Having usually been a "thinking" fighter (to strike efficiently and analytically, as opposed to wildly), I learned moves at a decent pace and soon the coach assigned me to introduce a new guy, who was quite a bigger than myself, to the world of wrestling as I had been introduced by Kevin when I first joined.  Needless to say, I was happily able to systematically abuse him.  However, as in many other moments of my life, my downfall would be my lack of confidence.  At 6' tall, I reduced my weight to 125 pounds in order to wrestle in the lowest weight class possible.  While I was perfectly capable of conquering opponents that I would face at matches, I would sometimes wrestle in a primarily defensive mode, either lacking the necessary aggression to attack, or just plain allowing myself to be intimidated.  Because of this, the coach ended up deciding to allow another, newer and younger wrestler, Dan, to progress to Varsity, while keeping me at Junior Varsity.  Dan was a short, stout, intimidating looking black guy who I could beat any day of the week.  But I'm guessing the coach saw an up-and-coming star in him and a hesitant soon-to-be graduating senior in myself.  So I finally decided that I'd rather make some additional spending money by working more than stay at a lower level of wrestling status, while working my tail off at practices every day.  Due to the intensely rigorous training, I was probably in the best aerobic shape of my life at that point.

As I got older, I decided to expand upon my capabilities of self-defense, joining a kick-boxing martial arts gym.  I also got my little brother (11 years younger than me) to enroll with me, hoping to help him avoid the problems that I experienced as a kid.  I stayed there for about six months, until my brother got tired of sparring against adults (there were very few kids there) and decided to discontinue attending.  This made it more expensive for me (I was earning very little money with an expensive car payment), as I had worked out a deal with my parents to split the cost of our total monthly fees up the middle (it was $50 for both of us together or $40 for just myself).  It was also a good distance from where I lived and I had grown tired of the commute as well.  Later, when I was dating Amanda, I saw a promotional ad for the same kick-boxing gym, but in a different location (downtown Orlando instead of Silver Star Rd).  So Amanda and I both joined the gym and stayed with it for about six months again.  In the end, they started having problems with the facilities, many instructors had already abandoned ship, and a very limited number of students were left.  They finally weren't able to keep the place up, and eventually closed down.

In conclusion, I've had just one year of real training and many years of simply stretching and hitting (and kicking) a 75lb. bag on my own, as well as occasionally sparring with friends.

Various Styles

With the wide variety of martial arts styles to learn, what are the benefits of each and/or which one is the best?  I would like to first say that I am not experienced enough to adequately answer this question.  Also, let me add that if anyone wishes to prove the effectiveness of their style to me, I would be happy to spar with them, providing that a) I have health insurance at that point in time, and b) that it's all done in the spirit of friendly competition, not for a vendetta of some sort.  I must also state that training in any form of martial art is a wonderful, beneficial way to improve oneself by becoming self-disciplined, more balanced and graceful,  increasing self-confidence, expanding cultural knowledge, meeting other people, and being able to defend oneself, certainly better than without the training.  All of that being said, and extremely limited though it may be, here are my opinions on only a few of the many techniques:  

Tae Kwon Do:  Probably the most widely known martial art in the world, an Olympic event even.  However, I have yet to see someone skilled in this form be able to use it in a practical application, such as sparring.  For further proof, have you ever seen anyone compete in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) such as the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) with a background of Tae Kwon Do?  Probably not, because they would get seriously hurt or killed. 

Ju Jitsu:  A battle proven strategy of ground maneuvering and submission moves.  However, I would like to know if anyone has been able to use it in a close combat situation, such as a bar fight or in an alley way.  I know it's very effective and one can inflict a great amount of pain using this form.  I just haven't ever seen it used in real life.  In MMA events though, it has proven its worth immensely.

Aikido:  Made famous by Steven Seagal, I have heard that one must train for quite a few years to become truly effective at using this technique.  But it definitely seems practical and effective once it is understood.

Kickboxing:  Although it is my favorite, that doesn't mean it's the best.  A combination of boxing and martial arts kicking, it is probably one of the easier of the martial arts to pick up and be able to use, providing enough time is spent sparring.  Again though, hitting a bag and shadow kickboxing won't make you a good fighter, only by practicing with other individuals can you learn how to apply these skills.

Krav Maga:  This style focuses almost completely on real world application and for specific situations.  For instance, if someone grabs you here or from this direction, then you react by...

Boxing:  You can't go wrong by learning to box.  It's the simplest of all forms of fighting in that it focuses on striking with your fists only.  However, while it's possible to pick it up and learn how to use it rather quickly and effectively (though maybe not to be an expert), it is limited when compared to the other forms of fighting.  For instance a boxer isn't trained to watch for someone to throw a kick or for any type of grappling maneuver.

For the history and much more information on numerous styles of martial arts, check out either or both of these links:
http://www.kickboxing.com
http://www.martialarts.com/martial-arts-styles/styles.htm