Canberra Martial Arts & Fitness

Master Tom demonstrating Pal Makki's, (kicking defence).

Then it was the kids' turn to give it a go themselves.

First you watch how it's done, then you're straight into trying it.

Nobody's expected to nail it straight away, it takes time, practice and a little patience along the way.

One student lost track of the sequence halfway through, and the other ended up on the mat laughing about it.

And that's what its about above everything else, it has to be fun, or none of the rest sticks.

This Youth Self-Defence (Hapkido) at Woden and Coombs.

It runs Tuesdays and Thursdays 5.15pm at Woden, and Wednesdays 5.15pm at Coombs.

Come and try a complimentary class.

When you're stuck in bottom half guard, the instinct is to panic and scramble.

Coach Dez teaches the opposite — stay calm, stay on your side and defend the cross face first.

Because once your face is flattened to the mat, the position is basically over before you've had a chance to work.

So this breakdown skips the fancy stuff and stays on the one detail that makes everything else possible.

Keep the frame, defend the cross face, and the rest of the escape opens up on its own.

This is Coach Dez at Woden, walking Youth Brazilian JiuJitsu through bottom half guard defence step by step.

It runs Mondays 5.15pm at Coombs, and Mondays and Wednesdays 6pm at Woden.

Come and try a complimentary class.

One sword. Totally under control.

Two swords. Also somehow under control.

Turns out once you've mastered one, your hands go looking for a second.

That's Youth Kummooyeh in a nutshell — you build up one skill until you master it, then we hand you something more technical.

No one skips ahead and no one gets left behind, everyone just eventually ends up double-fisting swords like it's no big deal.

This is Youth Kummooyeh at Coombs.

It runs Tuesdays and Thursdays 5.15pm at Coombs, and Saturdays 10.20am at Woden.

Come and try a complimentary class.

We asked one of our Adult Hapkido members what actually keeps them coming back every week.

Not one of them said the techniques.

It was the people — the ones who show up next to you, week after week, whether training's easy that day or not.

It was feeling like you belong on the mat before you're any good at it.

And more than anything, it was that Hapkido is genuinely fun, not just something you push through.

This is Adult Hapkido at Woden, in their own words.

It runs Mondays and Wednesdays 6pm, and Saturdays 10.30am, at Woden.

Come and try a complimentary class.

It's (almost) all smiles in our Saturday Cardio Boxing class.

The one exception is usually mid piston-punch, and we don't blame them.

Cardio Boxing isn't about staying comfortable, it's about pushing yourself and staying in the round.

That's the actual workout, pushing past the ten seconds where you want to stop.

Fun comes first, fitness catches up fast.

This is Woden on a Saturday morning, piston punches and a room full of people who kept going.

It runs Saturdays 8.30am at Woden, as well as other times through the week.

Come and try a complimentary class.

At three and four years old, sitting still isn't really possible yet.

So Tiny Tigers doesn't ask for it.

Every skill gets taught through play first — balance, focus, listening — dressed up as being a T-rex, a bug, or even a turtle.

Animal shapes turn the foundational movements every martial art is built on into a game a three or four year old actually wants to play.

A child who can hold a bear crawl for ten seconds has already built the same focus they'll need for everything else on the mat.

This is Tiny Tigers at Woden, squirrel into T-rex, turning early coordination into something that feels like nothing but fun.

It runs Mondays 4pm and Saturdays 8.15am at Woden.

Come and try a complimentary class.