What Martial arts do you do, and what rank are you?

[tgcPheonix]

Im a paper cut in origami !

I did have a couple of lessons of ju-jitsu but didn't really fancy it that much so i started Battojutsu, and its awsome

 

[SkullCap]

I am a 1st Degree Black Belt in Karate/Muy Thai Kick Boxing.

I have also studied in Krav Maga, Taekwondo, MMA Fighting, and special weapons training (including Katana, Nunchuku, Bo Staff, Duel Kama, and Escrima Stick Fighting).

As a hobby I practice Ninjutsu along with Blow Dart gun, Shuriken, and Cane Fighting.

 

[Vet2501]

I do kendo, was ready to grade to shodan (1st dan) but then I injured my wrist and I haven't been able to practice since. Getting surgery in 2 weeks though (finally, it's only taken 2 years for doctors to decide that constant pain is serious) so I'm looking forward to get back into it.

 

[Koeryn]

I did ITA style Tae Kwon Do (watered down sport style, from a McDojo). I recieved a Decided First Degree blackbelt, but it doesn't mean shit to me, they gave them out to pretty much anyone who managed to keep a pulse for 2 years. I got tired and left the school. Want to get into Krav Maga though, there's a school close to me and it looks like awesomesauce.

 

[Souplex]

I don't know Karate, but I know Ka-ray-zee.

 

[A random person]

I got to on-the-verge-of-promotion purple belt (6th out of 10, just before the "advanced group) when I took shotokan karate. It was a couple of years ago, though, and I'm gonna have to practice some to get my kicks back.

 

[Elburzito]

I used to do Spirit Combat, which is essentially blunt weapon training. I was the 3rd belt in it, forgot what colour though.

 

[SirNerd]

3rd Degree black in Tae Kwon Do
3rd Degree black in Hap Ki Do
4 years of judo, jujitsu, kickboxing, boxing
5 years of Escrima

Im testing for my masters in Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido after this summer

 

[Dr. wonderful]

I used to do Tak kwon do, but now I wish to try Krav maga.

That or Brzalian style martial arts.

 

[Skyhunter_Fighter]

I've been doing Krav Maga, the martial art developed by the Israeli Defense Forces, for about 8 months now- I'm currently a yellow belt. (Order is different from most arts because the belts were only added to make it easier to figure out who belongs in what level classes. The order is white [actually no belt], yellow, orange, green, blue, brown, then black, followed by higher levels of black.

Krav Maga was designed to be a very practical art, so there are no katas or anything, only practical moves. As the head instructor of my school, a fifth degree black belt, (the highest ranking non-self ranked practitioner in the US)has said several time, Krav Maga teaches one how to conduct war on a personal level-there are no Krav Maga competitions. The goal is to make it that anyone who attacks you can't physically attack you any more. As such, many of the moves we do might be considered 'fighting dirty', aiming for weak points in an enemy, such as the eyes, nose, and especially the groin. Most techniques have a hit or kick to the groin somewhere in it.

The classes, between techniques and warm ups(which are done in a military style), can get you into shape fairly quickly, and its very satisfying learning things that are designed to be useful in real life situations. I highly recommend anyone interested in learning to defend themselves check it out, though you should do some research on the different Krav Maga organizations, since there are a few that aren't the real deal. KMF, the Krav Maga Federation, which has schools both in the US and Israel is well known to be the real thing, with nothing watered down.

I have to admit, you have me interested- I've been out of shape for far too long, and need a good ass kicking / reason to move around aside from the same old boring "your heart could stop" one.

I'll see if there's anything like it happening in my neck of the woods.

The Federation's web site has a list of their schools.

And on the topic of ass-kicking, I'm not sure how it is in other arts, but there is a fair amount of contact even at the basic begging level of Krav Maga, though it's mostly limited to chokes, headlocks from the side, blocking outside blows, and groin contact (which is why a cup is essential, though no other pads or anything are needed at that level). Actual sparring starts at yellow, the next level up, and then all of the pads, gloves, etc, become necessary. And it takes quite a while before you start to get bored. The average time to advance to yellow is 4-5 months, but it took me just over 7, and I didn't start getting bored of doing the same stuff over and over until at least 6 months in.

 

[Billion Backs]

I got to 3rd kyu (It went from 6th kyu to first kyu, then you can get black belt and proceed further but in dan(s) instead of kyu(s)... in our dojo, at least.) in Aikido.

Then I got bored. I never cared too much about competition, my training buddy moved towns due to work, and most martial arts dojos tend to be either uber-competitive or really useless and filled with old or otherwise incapable people doing it just for a work out. Not that being old would stop you from being good at many martial arts - especially if you practiced them before. But when you've got arthritis, can't do a single push-up and fail to do the most basic movements... get your work out somewhere else

And either way, Aikido is not a competitive martial art. I liked the techniques, though. My old body and I would train extra after the classes and attack each other for real - which was certainly more useful and fun compared to what most people did during classes in dojo... Some took it seriously, but many just went on badly mimicking the movements without any power or intent. Which is really one of the major flaws of Aikido as a serious martial art.

Meh, it was fun while it lasted. About 3 or 4 years.

I still try to practice some of the more applicable movements and throws, with a more violent twist to it... One of my favorite instructors was a really angry french guy who emphasized use of aikido in actual fights and not just inside the dojo. Which is kind of ironic given Aikido's peaceful ideology. And, yeah, it sure hurt after you'd practice with him for a while.

Aside from that, I practiced some karate and taekwando - but not in a dojo, so it hardly counts. A few of my friends - and my brother - has a black belt in taekwando, and some of the knowledge rubbed off when we trained and sparred together for fun. Although I never liked karate and taekwando approach to fighting. Too many kicks, bleh. I'd rather stick to chokes, various disabling techniques and ground fighting.