Aikido: (Japanese: 合気道) is a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as “the Way of unifying (with) life energy” or as “the Way of harmonious spirit.” Ueshiba’s goal was to create an artthat practitioners could use to defend themselves while also protecting their attacker from injury.Aikido is performed by blending with the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength, as the aikidōka (aikido practitioner) “leads” the attacker’s momentum using entering and turning movements. The techniques are completed with various throws or joint locks. Aikido can be categorized under the general umbrella of grappling arts.

SAN SOO, as taught by Grandmaster Jimmy H. Woo, had its origins in the very basics of Chinese feudal life two thousand years ago. For many hundreds of years, China was divided and sub-divided into various warring factions, and each produced many different types of fighting styles. Chinese systemized warfare predates the arrival of the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma, thought to be the founder of Shaolin Ch’uan, by several hundreds years c. 200 B.C.

In December of 1962 Jimmy officially held the grand opening for his martial arts studio in the Midway Shopping Center in EI Monte, CA. Destiny brought Chin Siu Dek to America as Jimmy H. Woo to preserve the ancient art of Choi (Ga Kuhn How) Lee (Ga Ma) Ho (Ga) Fut Hung (Ga), SAN SOO. In his memory and that of the thousands of instructors and monks before him, the art of San Soo is preserved.

KENDO: (“way of the sword”), traditional Japanese style of fencing with a two-handed wooden sword, derived from the fighting methods of the ancient samurai (warrior class). The unification of Japan about 1600 removed most opportunities for actual sword combat, so the samurai turned swordsmanship into a means of cultivating discipline, patience, and skill for building character.

Judo: (meaning “gentle way”) is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Kano Jigoro. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one’s opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one’s opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking or by executing a strangle hold or choke. Strikes and thrusts by hands and feet as well as weapons defenses are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) andare not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).The philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for other modern Japanese martial arts that developed from koryū (traditional schools). The worldwide spread of judo has led to the development of a number of offshoots such as Sambo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Practitioners of judo are called jūdōka.

Krav Maga: (contact combat) is a self-defense and military hand to hand combat system developed in Israel. It came to prominence following its adoption by various Israeli Security Forces and is now used by military and law enforcement personnel, as well as civilians, around the world. The version of Krav Maga taught in civilian martial arts classes is more often a simplified version that emphasizes personal self-defense, and is likely to exclude the killing techniques taught to the military, or the holds and come-along taught to police forces; there are legal proscriptions in some countries which govern and constrain the teaching of hazardous or life-threatening techniques to civilians.

Tang Soo Do: is a traditional Korean martial art. Translating the word“Tang Soo Do” is hard: The word “Soo” means “hand”, however the word “Tang” has many meanings such as “Worthiness”, “Skillful”, and “Strong”. Since the name does not translate well today, many people are content with the definition “Way of the empty hand”.Tang Soo Do (Hangul: 당수도) is the Korean pronunciation of the Hanja characters .

In Japanese these characters mean ‘Karate-do’ but in contemporary Japanese Karate-do is. The Japanese pronunciation of both sets of characters is the same, but the newer version means “Way of the Empty Hand” rather than “Way of the T’ang Hand”, although it could also be interpreted as “Way of the China Hand” or “Way of the Knife Hand”.

Karate: is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called te (hand) and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks, restraints, throws, and vital point strikes are taught in some styles. A karate practitioner is called a karateka.Karate was developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom prior to its 19th century annexation by Japan. It was brought to the Japanese mainland in the early 20th century during a time of cultural exchanges between the Japanese and the Ryukyuans.

In 1922 the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give a karate demonstration. In 1924 Keio University established the first university karate club in Japan and by 1932, major Japanese universities had karate clubs. In this era of escalating Japanese militarism, the name was changed from (“Chinese hand”) to (“empty hand”) – both of which are pronounced karate – to indicate that the Japanese wished to develop the combat form in Japanese style. After the Second World War, Okinawa became an important United States military site and karate became popular among servicemen stationed there.

The World Karate Federation recognizes these styles of karate in its kata list:

  • Shōtōkan-ryū
  • Shitō-ryū
  • Gōjū-ryū
  • Wadō-ryū

The World Union of Karate-do Federations (WUKF) recognizes these styles of karate in its kata list.

  • Shōtōkan-ryū
  • Shitō-ryū
  • Gōjū-ryū
  • Wadō-ryū
  • Shōrin-ryū
  • Uechi-ryū
  • Kyokushinkai
  • Budōkan

Many schools would be affiliated with, or heavily influenced by, one or more of these styles.

Chinese martial arts: also referred to by the Mandarin Chinese term wushu and popularly as kung fu , are a number of fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in China. These fighting stylesare often classified according to common traits, identified as “families”, “sects” or “schools”, of martial arts. Examples of such traits include physical exercises involving animal mimicry, or training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends. Styles whichfocus on qi manipulation are labeled as internal, while others concentrate on improving muscle and cardiovascular fitness and are labeled external. Geographical association, as in northern and southern, is another popular method of categorization.

Kung-fu and wushu are terms that have been borrowed into English to refer to Chinese martial arts. However, the Chinese terms kung fu and wushu listen (Mandarin); Cantonese: have distinct meanings; the Chinese literal equivalent of “Chinese martial art” would be Zhongguo wushu.Wǔshù literally means “martial art”. It is formed from the two words, meaning “martial” or “military” and, which translates into “discipline”, “skill” or “method.” The term wushu has also become the name for the modern sport of wushu, an exhibition and full-contact sport of bare-handed and weapons forms, adapted and judged to a set of aesthetic criteria for points developed since 1949 in the People’s Republic of China.

Muay Thai: ( Muai Thai) is a martial art from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese styles, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and Muay Lao from Laos. Descended from my and muay boran, Muay Thai is Thailand’s national sport. The word muay derives from the Sanskrit mavya and Thai comes from the word Tai. Muay Thai is referred to as the “Art of Eight Limbs”or the “Science Of Eight Limbs” because it makes use of punches, kicks, elbows and knee strikes, thus using eight “points of contact”, asopposed to “two points” (fists) in Western boxing and “four points” (hands and feet) used in sport-oriented martial arts. A practitioner of Muay Thai is known as a nak muay.