Favorite Martial Arts style (real or fake)

[M0rp43vs]

I might be biased because I do it but I nominate Jeet Kun-do.

Question, you are fighting a rival master of another school for the fate of your school. You utterly defeat him in 3 minutes. So now what? If you said, start a new martial art style because surely, 3 minutes is unacceptable, you might be the legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee. I have trained many martial arts so far in my short life, and I'd say this one shaped me the most. Mixing the best parts of eastern and western fighting styles, including fencing and boxing from the west and Wing chun and karate from the east, uses quick, efficient strikes and cut it down to be more efficient. It also embodies two philosophies of Bruce Lee that I have taken to heart and apply everywhere in my life; "Do not believe in styles, styles separate man" and "Adapt what is useful, reject what is not, and add what is uniquely you". Plus I believe Robert Downey Jr practises this too so that's another good reason.

If I were to add a second (because I love me some martial arts) I'd say western boxing'd be my pick(never trained in it, sadly). Simple and clean, just punch the living daylights out of the other person as hard as you can and yet, whenever I see boxing portrayed in media, it looks so goddam graceful yet powerful. Plus, even Bruce Lee said a Boxer would beat an eastern martial artist, so there's that to think about.

Honourable mention go to Capoiera and Drunken boxing because they look so smooth, so smooth I can't take it.

 

[M0rp43vs]

Tae Kwon Do videogames exist?

Hwoarang and baek from tekken, those brothers from Garou: Mark of the wolves....
Though if you mean videogames ABOUT Tae Kwon Do, as far as I know, no and that is a crime that needs to be rectified.

Okie Dokie! The martial art used to kick the ass of the Son of Time himself! (Discworld)

I thought that was Deja Fu? 'Sides, Okie Dokie is a bunch of bunny hops.
A

 

[w23eer]

Hwoarang and baek from tekken, those brothers from Garou: Mark of the wolves....
Though if you mean videogames ABOUT Tae Kwon Do, as far as I know, no and that is a crime that needs to be rectified.

Ah. I didn't realise it was represented in videogames, that's pretty cool indeed. I haven't played Tekken since I was a a kid, but I might have another go next time I have the chance.

 

[dangoball]

Okie Dokie! The martial art used to kick the ass of the Son of Time himself! (Discworld)

I thought that was Deja Fu? 'Sides, Okie Dokie is a bunch of bunny hops.
A

Well, if I remember correctly, he actually used a mixture of two - maybe three - styles, Okie Dokie is just what got stuck in my mind. Might also be because of translation, because I read the Czech version, not the English original.

 

[rutger5000]

Krav Maga, I've taken a bit of it and it's a brutal style. Everything is meant to do as much damage as possible, with a lot of options for lethal strikes.

Krav Maga isn't a martial arts, it's a self 'defence' style. Though Martial arts is an abstract it's about more than just violence. Krav Maga isn't. If one were to use Krav Maga one would also use an weapon against an unarmed opponent, such an act would be considered despicable in every Martial art.

 

[Headbiter]

Silat. Admittedly I'm taking a bit of a cop-out route here with not specifying which form of Silat but the thing I like about it is present in (almost) all forms.

It largely dispenses with the "set-piece" structure of most popular martial arts (i.e. you learn specific singular kicks, thrusts and steps and then put them together according to the situation) and instead focuses on entire movement-chains that are designed to bring your opponent to collapse. I like to describe it as "A silat fighter approaches an opponent the way a demolition expert approaches a tall building."

And it's use of your whole body and the principles of leverage is just amazing to see in action. Add to that the versatility (as noted, there are different styles in Silat due to its mixed heritage, both for armed and unarmed combat) and you get a Martial Art that, while not everyone's favourite, is something stunning to experience nontheless.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

Krav Maga, I've taken a bit of it and it's a brutal style. Everything is meant to do as much damage as possible, with a lot of options for lethal strikes.

Krav Maga isn't a martial arts, it's a self 'defence' style. Though Martial arts is an abstract it's about more than just violence. Krav Maga isn't. If one were to use Krav Maga one would also use an weapon against an unarmed opponent, such an act would be considered despicable in every Martial art.

As I mentioned before, depends on your definition of martial art, in historical meaning of martial art Krav Maga would be considered more of a martial art than most others, if not all others.
But otherwise I agree.

 

[The White Hunter]

Do sword based arts count?

Cuz if so...

Santoryuu.

End of discussion;

 

[rutger5000]

Krav Maga, I've taken a bit of it and it's a brutal style. Everything is meant to do as much damage as possible, with a lot of options for lethal strikes.

Krav Maga isn't a martial arts, it's a self 'defence' style. Though Martial arts is an abstract it's about more than just violence. Krav Maga isn't. If one were to use Krav Maga one would also use an weapon against an unarmed opponent, such an act would be considered despicable in every Martial art.

As I mentioned before, depends on your definition of martial art, in historical meaning of martial art Krav Maga would be considered more of a martial art than most others, if not all others.
But otherwise I agree.

I wiki-ed it it says:
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced for a variety of reasons: self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, entertainment, as well as mental, physical, and spiritual development.

I struggle to see what the codes and traditions behind Krav Maga would be. And depending on your interpretation of the definition given above, it still wouldn't classify if you found those. As the only purpose of Krav Maga is "self-defence"

 

[Boris Goodenough]

I wiki-ed it it says:
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practices, which are practiced for a variety of reasons: self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, entertainment, as well as mental, physical, and spiritual development.

I struggle to see what the codes and traditions behind Krav Maga would be. And depending on your interpretation of the definition given above, it still wouldn't classify if you found those. As the only purpose of Krav Maga is "self-defence"

Martial art comes from "art of Mars", the Roman god of war, Krav Maga is being used by IDF and special forces around the world including the FBI and CIA, I would say it is being used in war (to great effect) and with KM there are no rules to what goes and doesn't, so it is very much the "art of Mars".

But as I said in the normal mean of martial art I agree with you.

Edit: also there are different branches of KM: civilian, law enforcement, and military, where the goals are getting away, subduing, and killing/maining/critically injuring respectively. techniques are more or less the same except for the finishing mode/end.

 

[fix-the-spade]

<spoiler=BEHOLD THE DRUNKEN FIST><youtube=74OBuMA2qEk>

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I can think of nothing else in fiction or reality that I find more entertaining to watch, especially when it's Jackie Chan doing it.

 

[balladbird]

Orthodox Boxing for me.

I know it's not really a martial art, since it has limited real life application, and is designed around a system of rules to be used in a ring, but it'll always have a soft spot in my heart.

 

[Not Lord Atkin]

Ameri-do-te [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CGMWlXosp4&list=PL2FF995289A6FC7CD], obviously.

Kidding aside, I practice ITF Taekwondo (with a bit of luck I'll be getting my black belt later this year). So that.

Although I also like WTF. I do think their technique is largely underdeveloped, some of the moves are not very effective and they focus a bit too much on the kicking, neglecting defense and not guarding their heads at all... but it's so lovely and acrobatic. While I prefer ITF as a martial art, WTF is just so much more fun to look at.

As for the styles I haven't had the pleasure to try, some of the chinese styles are pretty amazing. I'm quite a fan of piguaquan, although finding a school that teaches it in East Midlands is pretty much impossible. Baji-quan also seems nice, although maybe a bit too focused on offense for my taste. My fighting style is very defensive and relies on countering a lot.

I'd also like to try goju-ryu karate. It just flows really nicely and seems so... efficient. There's a shotokan school where I live but since TKD was pretty much developed from shotokan, I don't see the point of doing that.

 

[Boris Goodenough]

although maybe a bit too focused on offense for my taste. My fighting style is very defensive and relies on countering a lot.

You can do both at the same time, the best offence is a good defence

 

[spartan231490]

My favorite fake martial art would probably be jusho jutsu. My favorite real martial art is a tough call. Krav maga, muay thai, and karate are pretty much tied.

 

[conmag9]

In reality, I know fairly little about martial arts. Karate, Jujitsu, Taikwando, Krav Maga and maybe one or two others, and then not much about each. I suppose I like the idea of redirection (even though someone of my body type would likely have more success with a more direct style).

In fiction, sky's the limit. Exalted's supernatural martial arts has a huge list of insane (and awesome) styles. I'd probably put my favorites there as Wood Dragon Style (ie. learning to punch people's souls clean out of them), Crystal Chameleon style (ie. being as obnoxiously bright and obvious as possible in an attempt at stealth), Border of Kaleidoscope Logic style (ie. punch someone in the mind more than the body).

 

[Riff Moonraker]

So I was just watching a pretty decent martial arts flick on Netflix called "True Legend". In it, the bad guy practices an evil martial art called "Five Venom Fists", which allows him to poison his opponents whenever he punches them. He trains for it by sticking his hands into a pot filled with snakes, spiders, and scorpions and absorbing their venom when they sting/bite him.

In other words, totally awesome.

So it got me thinking, what are some other awesome martial arts styles out there, either real or fake, and which one is your favorite? Nothing to do with actual effectiveness, just general coolness.

Well, I started in Tae Kwon Do when I was 12, but around 15 I quit the style and went to Goju Shorin, which was essentially kickboxing. I went from no contact sparring, to full contact sparring, and stayed with it from then on out. So kickboxing is hands down my favorite. Goju Shorin specifically.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Krav Maga, I've taken a bit of it and it's a brutal style. Everything is meant to do as much damage as possible, with a lot of options for lethal strikes.

Krav Maga isn't a martial arts, it's a self 'defence' style. Though Martial arts is an abstract it's about more than just violence. Krav Maga isn't. If one were to use Krav Maga one would also use an weapon against an unarmed opponent, such an act would be considered despicable in every Martial art.

I always considered the term martial art a byword for a way of combat myself. Krav Maga is a way of fighting that disregards sport and competition and instead is for use in actual life and death situations. In that regard I consider it a far superior art form in comparison with things such as Judo. Always cheat, always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

 

[william12123]

Gun-kata forever!

 

[Chairman Miaow]

Little disappointed by the lack of love for Muay Thai.

Obviously as it is almost entirely striking it is limited, but it's very versatile (at least in it's modern form) if combined with other arts.