Martial art of choice

[WiwuX]

I don't agree with everything that this guy says, but he has some good advice on this subject, anyways:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOx-0ZSIZkA

Basically, the most important thing is who you are learning from, a good martial art with a bad instructor is much worse than a "bad" martial art with a good instructor.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

Most of those things you listed are not martial arts. There are martial arts and sports martial arts, the later being used for competition.

Judo, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing & MMA are all for sport.

There are many traditional martial arts styles to pick from various countries. First determine if you want to compete or not. Then go from there.

Any of my potential students who wish to compete get turned away at the door. It's nothing against them, it's just my personal preference.

The ones that are used for competition work. The ones that aren't...who knows?

To quote another forum, "If running were organized like martial arts you'd have one group of guys doing laps while a larger group looked on and talked about how much faster they can run but never actually stepped out onto the track. Oh no. They're too fast for the track. They run on the street."

 

[kerkanka]

Most of those things you listed are not martial arts. There are martial arts and sports martial arts, the later being used for competition.

Judo, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing & MMA are all for sport.

There are many traditional martial arts styles to pick from various countries. First determine if you want to compete or not. Then go from there.

Any of my potential students who wish to compete get turned away at the door. It's nothing against them, it's just my personal preference.

this is not necessarily true, many of these were created as fighting styles and studying the traditional styles will provide very effective fighting terchniques. However, in the west much of what you say is true for a lot of teachers and clubs. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but to say they are only for sport would be wrong. sorry if that comes accross as offensive or something, i just wanted to clarify that these arts (with MMA being the possible exception) were originally intended as battlefield arts.
To take judo as an example, this was created by the samurai as an unarmed form of combat that could be effective in heavy armour on heavy armour. This is the reason it concentrates on throws as punches aaginst armour would be ineffective. Modern judo, as practised by many western schools, is more of a sport however.

 

[chaos order]

i used to take jin jung kwan hapikido, i liked it, it focused heavily on joint locks and armbars, so i loved how the smallest move could bring ppl the ground. i had to quit cause of school and i wasnt that great at it even after 3 years

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imjmLWj5WCU Watch this and understand it and you'll never pick the wrong MA class.

 

[warprincenataku]

Most of those things you listed are not martial arts. There are martial arts and sports martial arts, the later being used for competition.

Judo, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing & MMA are all for sport.

There are many traditional martial arts styles to pick from various countries. First determine if you want to compete or not. Then go from there.

Any of my potential students who wish to compete get turned away at the door. It's nothing against them, it's just my personal preference.

this is not necessarily true, many of these were created as fighting styles and studying the traditional styles will provide very effective fighting terchniques. However, in the west much of what you say is true for a lot of teachers and clubs. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but to say they are only for sport would be wrong. sorry if that comes accross as offensive or something, i just wanted to clarify that these arts (with MMA being the possible exception) were originally intended as battlefield arts.

Which are you talking about exactly? Judo has always been a sport. Taekwondo was created as a sport in Korea around 65 years ago.

Kickboxing has been used in combat, Muy Thai was once used for combat, but is now considered pure sport by today's standards. (I live in Thailand.)

The point is, I've met sports martial artist in my travels and combat martial artists and they are two seperate breeds.

I have personally competed for many years, but after having done that see it nothing more than senseless brutality. Martial arts is for self defense, not fighting an equally capable opponent just to show who's **** is bigger.

I've seen a most skilled Wing Chun fighter get taken out by a grappler because he screwed up. There is no one perfect style. I suggest training in multiple styles from multiple instructors if you truly want to become a martial artist.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

Most of those things you listed are not martial arts. There are martial arts and sports martial arts, the later being used for competition.

Judo, Jujitsu, Taekwondo, Kickboxing & MMA are all for sport.

There are many traditional martial arts styles to pick from various countries. First determine if you want to compete or not. Then go from there.

Any of my potential students who wish to compete get turned away at the door. It's nothing against them, it's just my personal preference.

this is not necessarily true, many of these were created as fighting styles and studying the traditional styles will provide very effective fighting terchniques. However, in the west much of what you say is true for a lot of teachers and clubs. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but to say they are only for sport would be wrong. sorry if that comes accross as offensive or something, i just wanted to clarify that these arts (with MMA being the possible exception) were originally intended as battlefield arts.

Which are you talking about exactly? Judo has always been a sport. Taekwondo was created as a sport in Korea around 65 years ago.

Kickboxing has been used in combat, Muy Thai was once used for combat, but is now considered pure sport by today's standards. (I live in Thailand.)

The point is, I've met sports martial artist in my travels and combat martial artists and they are two seperate breeds.

I have personally competed for many years, but after having done that see it nothing more than senseless brutality. Martial arts is for self defense, not fighting an equally capable opponent just to show who's **** is bigger.

I've seen a most skilled Wing Chun fighter get taken out by a grappler because he screwed up. There is no one perfect style. I suggest training in multiple styles from multiple instructors if you truly want to become a martial artist.

Seeing a WC guy (a style that notoriously doesn't pressure-test its techniques through competition) lose to a grappler (almost all styles of which notoriously DO pressure test their techniques through competition) surprised you? It's exactly what I would expect to happen every time.

 

[kerkanka]

war prince, i completely agree with you on the last 3 paragraphs there as you'll see in my previous comments. I even made the lst comment you did in one of my recommendations, all i was saying is that the history of the arts you mentioned were steeped in warfare; so a person learning the more traditional styles of those arts would be capable in self defense. I did note that the more modern and commonly used styles are more for sport though. I'm not trying to say "this art is better than another" if anything they can all learn from each other i just wanted to make sure that people did not write off ALL styles of the above mentioned arts as "just a sport" because that isn't true.

 

[viranimus]

I fully suggest the most dangerous art of all... stealing the remote from the little lady, to avoid watching anything on bravo. Just a fore warning... you will come away very much scarred through training.

 

[antidonkey]

If I were to get into a self defense style, it would probably be Krav Maga. It's highly no nonsense. One of it's core philosophies is find your attackers most vulnerable body part (eyes, throat, knee, groin, whatever) and destroy it. It's probably one of the few self defense techniques that would get you arrested for using it even as self defense.

For a flasher, striking style....I've always like Muai Thai. It seems pretty practicle and makes great use out of all you limbs. However, my understanding is the conditioning for it is beyond brutal.

 

[Sammi Costello]

Jujutsu or Karate. I did both for a while, but I might start them up if I can find anywhere near here that has classes.

I do jujitsu myself, and I find that, while you're never going to become a master of any one area (jujitsu focuses on strikes, throws and groundwork), you'll be well versed in all 3 areas, allowing to pin-point your opponents weakness, and take advantage of it.

However, if you do take up jujitsu, it's probably wise after 6 months or a year to start looking into something else. Karate, or something like that might be interesting.

Whatever martial art you pick, I'm sure you'll have a blast. It's great fun, keeps you fit and improves your confidence. Good luck!

 

[Henrik Moeller]

Krav Maga, it's very effective even against trained opponents.

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Do Capoeira! Just because it's fun. I did it for a while - it's good for fitness (and rhythm), but useless in self-defence...

I agree with the first parts of this but not with the "useless in self-defense" part. Yes, it's more of a challenge to defend yourself if you've only been practicing for a year or two. But after that, it can definitely be used for self defense.

Also I was just wondering, I've noticed that Capoeira gets a lot of hate as far as martial arts go. From what I've heard it's because "that one kick where you're on your hand and you kick your leg over your head is fucking useless, I would just kick your hand and make you fall".

First off, the kick is called an Au Batido, and it looks like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVawFAeK9Co&feature=related

Now that you know what the kick looks like, yes, the person preforming the kick is vulnerable to a sweep at their hand. HOWEVER, the people who hate on Capoeira so much act as if this is the ONLY kick in Capoeira. Yes, it's one of the most recognizable kicks, but it is only one kick. There are many many more that can be used. The Au Batido is a kick only used when the timing is right, say... when your opponent has been knocked down and is attempting to stand back up, you hit them with an Au Batido where your foot connects with their neck just below the ear and BAM, they're out.

So yes, I believe Capoeira can be used in self defense... (and now lets hear all of the people I was talking about troll me about how useless it is.. because they know so much about it..)

I only did it for a couple of months, so I was a long way off seeing its potential for self-defence.
Although some of the better people there admittedly did look like they could have kicked my ass with it. Possibly with an Au Batido, possibly with... bugger. I've forgotten the names of all the kicks, and thus all the Portuguese I know.

 

[sageoftruth]

I personally am a master of Gun Kata


I may go watch that movie.

In reality I would quite like to learn any style of martial art, they all are quite cool and it would be quite nice to know some self defense beyond the art of run away.

Funny. I was just about to comment about how he never changes his clips, somewhere around 2:30 and then four seconds later, it show the under-the-sleeve clip reload.

 

[Nigh Invulnerable]

Go for Muay Thai, it's definitely the best for me, you use all parts of your body, it's brutal, flexible, powerful everything in one package, a walking kick ass machine you will be my friend.

I've gone through the process of elimination as well for my self, and Muay Thai was the most logical in terms of usability and deadliness.

That's about my own recommendation too. Muay Thai, and the more militant Muay Baron (spelling?) are utterly intended for defending yourself, none of this wussy "sport" fighting. Learn to destroy people with your elbows, knees, and every other part of your body and you'll never feel helpless. Plus, a good flying knee is the equivalent of getting hit in the chest by a car going 35 mph.

 

[hermes]

It really depends on your body type and preference. If you are large and bulky, I would advice Judo or Jiujitsu. If you are slim, thai or kickboxing is more suitable.

 

[esperandote]

Hey all, I'm avid reader of this site but never had an account until I saw this post and just had to say something...

I've been doing martial arts of over 8 years now, I have my blackbelt in TaeKwon-Do and I have been practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA for 3 years.

I had to comment on this because of the general ignorance that I see in this forum is dangerous to you OP. Just so you know I'm not talking out my arse I have been a bouncer for a couple years in my towns most popular night club and I have won several international competitions in martial arts, I have been in fights, I have been attacked by more than one person, and I have been attacked by people with weapons (broken beer bottles, bar stools, etc).

To preface this commentary I should say that without a proper teacher you will learn alot of bullcrap with many of the traditional schools now being run for profits alone, a term we use in the martial arts community is "McDojo" and it is very apt. You also find that contrary to popular belief there is no one "master fighting style" every style has something to offer none should be disregarded out of hand. That being said some do offer more practical solutions.

For self defense and fitness reasons the best martial art to take, in my humble opinion, is basic K-1 style kick-boxing as most of the fights that you will encounter will be stand-up face to face encounters and knowing how defend yourself from punches and returning them in kind is very useful. Also a kick boxing school will get you in the ring sparring and fighting THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE for real fighting practice and sparring to become good at defending yourself and "kicking ass".

Now to address the haters of Brazilian Jiu jitsu out there..haha.. While it is true against multiple opponents one would not advise going to the deck (ground) in a fight because you are liable to get kicked in the teeth by his buddy...this is common sense I hope. However! in one on one combat is has been categorically proven that going to the ground against an untrained opponent will increase your chances of winning the fight exponentially, just watch ufc 1, when the smaller and lighter Royce Gracie dominated all of his challengers by drawing them in, taking them down, and submitting them. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has time and time again been proven to be the most affective grappling style and I would highly recommend checking it out if you want an amazing full body workout.

In conclusion I guess depending on where you live, try looking for an MMA gym in your neighborhood, I mean hey, they call it Mixed Martial Arts for a reason. You will be getting the best of all the worlds Boxing, Kickboxing, Wrestling, Jiu jitsu and the sparring and practice required to test your skills, all of which add up to make you a complete fighter.

Your post was very educational. I probably wont be learning any martial arts soon, time issues, but i have always wanted to learn to know what should i learn to defend myself.

If you make a "Ask a bouncer" thread you might get some replies.

 

[Kralika]

I find both Krav Maga and Muai Thai interesting MAs, however I've not really thought about getting into them: It would be a good thing to do though.

 

[LewsTherin]

I'm thinking of learning Savate