Shopping & Style at Time Out HK

Body language: Martial Arts

Sarah Simpson looks into the eye of the tiger with Impakt gym’s Michelle Kang.

We’ve all marveled at martial arts at the movies, but how do you at Impakt tackle the ancient arts?
There’s a huge difference between different styles of martial arts, obviously from all over the world so what we do is try to put a combination together of martial arts as would be suited to the type of clientele that we have. Altogether we teach Muay Thai, regular boxing, Brazilian jujitsu, Thai Kyokushin Karate, and then we also do strength and fitness conditioning.



How can I tell the difference between the variety of martial arts?
With the Muay Thai the difference really from the kickboxing is it’s just a little more technical, it has a little bit more flair to it and you’re allowed to use elbows, knees, clinches, things like that. For the jujitsu, we chose Brazilian jujitsu style which is more based on the ground work, the grappling and the holds, the locks on the ground. And then the Thai Kyokushin Karate is a far more disciplined sort of style. It combines a full contact sport with the mental toughness and the spiritual side as well.



Do I need to be fit and healthy before I start classes?
No, we take all levels of fitness all levels of ability all ages, shapes, sizes everything that comes along. We have all different fitness levels and what we encourage people to do is push themselves to their limit and we’ll push you and drive you to go beyond what you think are your goals and that’s how you improve.



What are some of the health benefits of practicing martial arts?
You’ve got the obvious physical benefits, you know any exercise is obviously going to benefit you but from the more spiritual side of things, and this is why we push this toward the kids, they learn the respect, they learn the origins of the sport. It’s also a really great stress reliever. People come in here at the end of the working day, really wound up, wanting to kill their boss, and they come out of here and feel fantastic. People feel so much more comfortable afterward and feel really good about themselves.



Now, most importantly, am I going to come out with a black eye?
It’s incredibly rare for anybody to do a stray punch or anything like that. So its actually very safe and that’s particularly why we choose the trainers we have as well so these are guys that have actually grown up doing this all their lives. They’re either nor or previously have been professional fighters so they’ve got so much experience and that really brings out the safety aspect as well. Safety is a big aspect for us.