Stereotypes are always hard to break down . In the world of martial arts they are present not only outside, in the sphere of non-practitioners who base their opinion on youtube films and videos, but also on the inside, where excessive importance is given to the external characteristics of the body.

Why this? It is a classic psychological mechanism already present in animals: the fight begins before the actual physical confrontation, before this we have a non-verbal communication, a series of protorenses in which we try to impress the opponent, demoralizing him by showing off muscle size and strength demonstrations.

Generally this works when our adversaries have no martial basis and, as ordinary people, let themselves be impressed by believing in the most classic of prejudices: muscular means big, big means strong, strong means dangerous, strong means dangerous.

Here are 3 key points in the practice of martial arts.

1. Never underestimate anyone

In reality muscle strength is just one of the infinite components that make a martial artist dangerous . Often muscle mass also means slowness, it means lack of flexibility and inability to assume certain positions: often too developed a breastplate blocks the movements of the arm towards the inside.

The first thing you learn as you become a martial artist is: never underestimate who you have in front of you based on your body : small people, skin and bones, old people, obviously overweight, they can very well be champions of combat sports or black belts of some martial art .

There is a vast spectrum of essential characteristics for a martial artist that cannot be perceived from the physical aspect: speed, reflexes, elasticity, agility, cardio, coordination, technical knowledge.

A person's body will not tell you his level of experience in combat, he will not tell you if he prefers to trade from a distance or close the distance and bring you to the ground, he will not tell you if he fights in a cold and intelligent way or in an aggressive and emotional way, even if he prefers single shots or combinations.

2. Remember that every body has a reference style

In general we identify 3 types of constitution :

> Brevilinea .

> Standard line .

> Long line .

These different types have different limb-to-trunk relationships, which can give an idea of ​​the hypothetical advantage one can have from long legs (kick-based martial arts), long arms (martial arts based on fists), or from the strong center of gravity (martial arts based on grips).

In fact the brevilinei excel in strength sports, such as fighting and judo; long-limbed people have the advantage of stretching and, generally, they have an excellent cardio, so they can let their opponent vent and take him at a distance; while normolinei are versatile without excelling in any specific aspect even though they are generally suitable for expressing speed.

To this must be added the individual temperament.

3. Use true strength

You should not be impressed by the muscle mass by giving up starting a martial arts course because you are minutes, skinny or weak; it's time to find out what the real strength is .

If you base your strength on muscles created in the gym, you will be forced to keep them constantly to maintain the strength: if for any reason you can no longer train for a long period (old age, illness, injury or other), losing the mass you will lose automatically strength.

The real strength lies in the development of tendons, in the coordination of movements, in the management of internal energies, in the precise application of techniques, in knowing how to exploit the biomechanics and the weak plans of the adversary, in knowing where to strike and how to do it, in mastering the articulations, in the management of one's weight on the adversary, in having repeated the same exercise thousands of times, in knowing how to exploit the states of consciousness under adrenaline.

These are things that can rarely disappear over time, they are the true martial treasure on which one can put one's safety .