We all know that famous scene where Donny Yen, as Ip Man, beats up ten karatekas (all black belts), using the martial style known as Wing Chun. However, how many of us know that this style of close-quarter fighting was invented by a woman? Martial Arts and Women have a history that is rich and goes way back to the past. There are ample reasons today why women must embrace their inner fighter.

The Snake, The Crane and the Fighter Women

Oral history of the Wing Chun fighting style says that the Yip Man branch of Wing Chun dates back to the Qing Dynasty in China (1662- 1722).

The Abbess of the Fujian Shaolin Monastery, Ng Mui fled from the destructive Qing forces to the distant Daliang Mountains, on the border between the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces. One day, she came upon a fight between a snake and crane. She combined the lessons she learned from her observations to her knowledge of Shaolin Kung Fu, to create a new style of fighting.

She taught this new style to Yim Wing Chun, the daughter of a local shopkeeper. Wing Chun used this knowledge to fend off a warlord who was trying to force her into marriage. Eventually marrying a man that she loved, Leung Bok-Chao, she passed the new style on to others.

Ng Mui

Why women must embrace their inner fighter

In the present day, martial arts is becoming more and more significant for women practitioners, for the sole reason that violence against women is on the rise, worldwide.

Here are ten reasons for women to sign up for martial arts, in lieu of a  gym membership:

1. Fitness

Martial arts training regimens include a healthy diet, strengthening and conditioning exercises that surpass gym routines. Stretching increases flexibility while strength training enhances core muscle capabilities. Cardio routines enhance the capability to go on for longer times. Martial arts improve overall health and general body mass indices. In other words, you could be looking smoking hot in as little time as six months!

Kelly Muir, PC: Black Belt Magazine

2.Reflex Building

Martial arts sparring improve reflexes as through this training method, you are continuously trying to seek out your opponent’s weaknesses and breach while blocking or parrying their attacks. It improves your mental faculties as well as reaction time.

3. Self-awareness

Meditation is usually a part of each and every martial arts class. In Karate-do, the Japanese- Okinawan  ‘empty- hand’ style of fighting, each class starts and ends with meditation.

In "Meditation and the Martial Arts," Michael L. Raposa notes that the martial arts just utilize common forms of meditation and implement those techniques as a component of training.

The Chinese thought of martial arts as a pathway to spiritual enlightenment or the Tao. In "Mind Over Matter: Higher Martial Arts," Tai Chi Master Shi Ming notes that the process of refining one's consciousness is the absolute basis of higher training in martial arts. By consciousness, Shi Ming did not mean any ordinary ideal, but "to a condition in which body and mind are fused, spirit and matter are united."

4. Character Building

Kids enrolled in martial arts programs at a young age seem to imbibe team spirit. The various tournaments they participate at with their friends, the events like team kata performances, help increase camaraderie between students of various schools. They get to know people from beyond their immediate circle, different styles and backgrounds of martial art which also helps increase their knowledge.

5. Empowerment and Self-Defense

There are various training exercises employed by masters to teach a martial arts student about real-life situations, where he or she could encounter dangers. One such training method is a multiples situation. Here the student faces more than one opponent and learns what methods are effective for self-defense under such circumstances.

6. Self Confidence

You can finally say ‘No’ to Bullying in all forms with confidence and authority! Some martial arts programs incorporate verbal de-escalation training to teach how to tone down a potentially explosive situation.

7. Negate stereotyping

‘She is beauty she is grace; she will kick you in the face.' Enough said!

8. Embracing Womanhood

Being a woman is not only about being a mom, a caretaker of the family or on fewer occasions, a breadwinner. Being a woman can mean excelling in a martial sport or being a movie stunt double!!

9. Looking Good

Being a Martial Arts trained woman can be extremely useful on how you look, since fitness, a centered mind, and a confident outlook is almost 90% of beauty!

10. Money!

Case in point, the hottest female fighter in MMA, Ronda Rousey.

Ronda Rousey started early. She trained in Judo with her mother starting from age eleven. She trained with males, bigger and burlier than her and had her share of frustration when she could not win a single fight or even throw a single one of her opponents. In her words, she cried every night she trained between 2002 and 2005.

All of that paid off when Rousey became the first American female fighter to win an Olympic Bronze in Judo during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

She is UFC ’s former bantamweight champion as well as the last Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Out of twelve consecutive MMA matches, she won eleven in the first round by her signature armbar submission. Her last and only loss were to Holly Holm. Rousey’s MMA earnings amount to $ 6.5 million in which $ 3 million came from winning fights, and $ 3.5 million came from her endorsements.

Becoming a professional martial artist is not easy. However, what in life is?

The following seven steps can help someone wanting to take up martial arts as a career.

1. Start early. When you are young you are more flexible and can learn moves easily. You build up your martial arts vocabulary through muscle memory and the earlier you start working on it, the better.

2. Select a martial art. What interests you more? Striking or Grappling? Stick with your selection. Much like how a professional musician trained in a classical form performs better with popular songs, a martial artist with an extensive background in karate, tae kwon do, or judo will do better with mixed martial arts.

3. Train, train, train! The founder of Kyokushin Karate,  Miyamoto Mushashi went up to the mountain to train in solitude and legend says he shaved off an eyebrow so that he would not return to civilization till he reached his training goals.

4. Look for an authentic MMA gym and a trainer who would understand your background and goals. Train with partners

5. Follow MMA fights to understand how different fighters fight, their patterns, strengths, and weaknesses. Take part in amateur fights

6. Try to get scouted and actively look for sponsorship.

7. Keep your focus and maintain your diet in sync with your training.

Career options for martial artists are not limited to professional fighting only. Careers as movie stunt doubles, fight choreographers, trainers, and actors are also lucrative.

Your background in martial arts can easily provide you with an edge if you wanted to go into law enforcement, the military or even become a private detective or a bounty hunter!

Martial Arts have a lot of benefits for the body and the mind. There is a wide variety of martial arts to choose from. The striking arts – Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, Kung Fu; the grappling arts- Judo, Jiu-jitsu, Sambo, Sumo. Aikido; the weaponry style – Kobudo. One needs to choose a style according to their inclination and skill. To be successful at fighting events, like the MMA, or even for a self-defense situation, some knowledge of all the different types is preferable. The Israeli Army did just that in their all-around fighting style of Krav Maga.

There is no better time than the present for women everywhere to take up martial arts. OSS!