martial arts?

[vampirekid.13]

i want to pick up some form of martial arts (not only to learn to defend myself, but to gain some muscles and discipline)

i cant decide what to do tho.


what i wont do is:
kickboxing (because its straight fighting. and its VERY risky, friend broke 4 ribs in 1 match)
^anything else that is close to that one.

what i dont think i want to do:
judo < i heard its mainly defensive and grapple oriented
traditional karate < i dont know much about it...but traditional just makes it sound bad.
tae-kwon-do < legs only ftl.


give me some advice, im looking for something balanced, that teaches you defense and offense, how to use legs and arms, and has some grapples mixed in....i dont know any other styles than the ones mentioned tho, so i need help.

 

[teisjm]

theres been several topics about this, you can prolly find more info in one of those than you'll get in this thread.

 

[NeutralDrow]

<url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.106887?page=1>These <url=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.109219?page=1>threads are good places to start.

 

[omicronpercei]

I took Kempo for like 7 years. It's a very well rounded martial art. I would actually recommend taking Judo as well. You'd be surprised how well it will blend with Kempo.

 

[Christemo]

you should do chun kuk do. thats the martial art that Chuck Norris invented (im not shitting you)

 

[OneBig Man]

you should do chun kuk do. thats the martial art that Chuck Norris invented (im not shitting you)

I was going to say this one but you beat me to it. Oh well I second this one.

 

[Psypherus]

tae-kwon-do < legs only ftl.

I took Tai-kwon-do. Legs only my ass.

 

[omicronpercei]

tae-kwon-do < legs only ftl.

I took Tai-kwon-do. Legs only my ass.

Not legs only...but from what my friend told me it was a good 75% of Tae-Kwon-Do

 

[sauerkraus]

you should do chun kuk do. thats the martial art that Chuck Norris invented (im not shitting you)

What the hell! Why have I not heard about this?!?! It's time to don my Gi!

Might not fit... I took Tae Kwon Do at like the age of 7.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

1. Go to bullshido.net
2. Register and lurk.
3. ???
4. Profit.

Seriously, learn a lot about the subject before you make a decision. The site I mentioned above is a great place to do it if you can get past the "STFU noob!" culture that permeates the mostly unmoderated boards.

One piece of advice I'll give you for which I'll get flamed viciously is this: don't sign up to study a martial art if they claim you're going to learn to fight without actually fighting. I don't mean you have to be in the cage getting your teeth beat out but if somebody claims that you can learn to fight using only solo exercises and compliant exercises where both you and your partner(s) know what you're supposed to do, that person is wrong. He probably believes what he's telling you, but he's still wrong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWfK6aqWiNU watch this video and understand it. Ignore the stupid-looking shorts.

The great news is you can find martial arts in almost ANY field that do this. There are people who do tai chi who get in the ring and throw down using tai chi. There are people who do jujutsu using only compliant drills. It's the training methodology more than the style that makes a school good or bad.

Also, what's wrong with judo being grapple oriented? I'm not a grappler myself, but submissions are a much more guaranteed fight-stopper than a strike. Judo is especially great because since it's practiced as a sport you'll get tons of practice using your techniques on resisting opponents who want to do the same thing to you practically from the first day. Also, since it's focused on that phase of the fight where you go from both people standing up to you standing up and your opponent hitting the ground it's good for self defense because immediately after the throw you often have the opportunity to disengage and run for the door, where many wrestling styles use takedowns that leave you more tied up on the ground. Also, it's cheap and widely available.

 

[The Cheezy One]

tae-kwon-do < legs only ftl.


give me some advice, im looking for something balanced, that teaches you defense and offense, how to use legs and arms, and has some grapples mixed in....i dont know any other styles than the ones mentioned tho, so i need help.

go for taekwondo - it means the way of hand and foot, but a more literal and less "old master" translation is the way of smash with hand and foot
its not only legs, but there are some immense kicks i cant do
weapons training feature in some, but mainly its hand to hand etc.
its also more ralistic - if you go for a good school
my teacher is firm, but you can have a laugh with him
it makes being punched by him easier, and no matter wat school you go to, that will happen

 

[Samurai Goomba]

It's more important to find a good teacher than a "good" style. Everyone at the higher levels in any martial art starts doing a lot of the same stuff. Anyone who claims their art is completely superior to every other is lying out their teeth. There are good martial artists in EVERY style, it's just that maybe some of them tend to hang out in other countries than America.

In my opinion, martial arts are a way to surviving through combat. Any fight you can walk away from, you win. I would recommend finding an instructor who understands this and teaches his or her students how to survive fights.

 

[Rigs83]

I prefer running away and hiding fu. That or iron lawsuit technique.
But kidding aside you have to look at yourself and work with the tools you have.
Regular western boxing is more than enough for most peoples daily lives.
If you are thinking in a fight you are already losing it and more often than not you will find so called grand masters of some fighting style or another who will gladly take your money and teach you how to lose or worse hurt someone seriously enough to have the police arrest you when you could have easily just walked away and not get in any trouble.
Your most powerful weapon is your mind, use it and you'll almost never be in a real fight because you did not let the situation get that dangerous.
If you are serious you should first concentrate on your physical health. If you have to throw a punch or kick someone will you be fast enough to connect and have enough force to stop or slow a counter attack. Can you engage in any physical encounter long enough to end it or run from it if the tide turns.
Exercise with an emphasis on building stamina and speed with high repetitions but low weights and gradually build it up in both weight and repetition counts. That will give you muscle memory so you don't have to think when you do make a move. Always walk straight and be aware of your surrounding. Criminals target those who appear weak and unaware.
When you do choose a style or technique make sure it fits your schedule, preferably it's three times a week at a local gym or dojo. I doubt you or most people (me included) can actually afford to go to the mountains of China to train with Shaolin Monks or would want to.
Now good luck and watch your six.

 

[WilliamWhite1]

If I were you, I'd go with Kung-Fu San-Soo.

It's deadly; the art of taking care of someone if they attack you. If done the right way, you'll take care of them before they even know what happened. Not to mention it's a very peaceful martial art when you're not engaged with an opponent.

Of course, Ninjitsu is also a solid choice. Just don't know where you'll find someone to teach it.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

He'd have to get over his grappling phobia for San Shou.

Ninjitsu is NOT a solid choice. Fails the "Do they actually fight?" test.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

Exercise with an emphasis on building stamina and speed with high repetitions but low weights and gradually build it up in both weight and repetition counts. That will give you muscle memory so you don't have to think when you do make a move.

But lifting weights aren't he "moves" he'll want to make when he's fighting, so why in the world would you want to build muscle memory by weight training (poorly) rather than fight training? I did the low weight high rep thing for years and all I got was really sore. Now I lift heavy and have more strength AND more stamina.

You seem like most of your physical training ideas are pretty good, but the old low weight high rep thing has pretty well retreated into the realm of women's fitness magazines in recent years. Strength is built by lifting heavy weights with large, compound movements, and it's one of the few attributes that have a strong carryover into multiple fields of athletics.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

i'm going to have to say these, that all uses a form of Aliveness [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imjmLWj5WCU]

muay thai - get you in shape, teaches you how to really fight
judo - great for defense AND it's realistic especially if you live in an area where people wear jackets, the gi is really just a jacket
brazilian jiu-jitsu - like judo it's grappling but is actual fighting as you will spar, tho it's called rolling, a lot in the class but find a good instructor

my other suggestion tho is find a school that is part of the Straight Blast Gym [http://www.straightblastgym.com/], they use a functional JKD. which means they actually test out the things t see if they work in a real situation if it does, they keep it, if it doesn't they don't use it. hence why almost none of the stuff in the Tao of JKD isn't taught

 

[Private Custard]

I recommend you download the entire series of 'Mind, Body and Kick Ass Moves'. It shows off loads of different arts, you may see something you fancy.

I suspect you won't find anywhere to teach Okinawan karate, but if by defending yourself you mean this sort of thing...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLUn49eYZH4

There are plenty of places that teach simple, short, sharp techniques. To be honest, even C&R techniques used by the police and prison officers are really handy for self defence. I used to do Tae Kwon Do, and to be honest, it's near to useless in your average street fight!

 

[BlackJack47]

Well..I did Jujitsu for like 2 years, it heled with my self-confidence and its pretty cool to tell people that I know the martial art of the Samurai....BTW yes I'm aware modern Jujitsu ISN'T the exact same thing as the Samurai's martial art..there are very picky people on the net.

 

[Grab-bag]

Kung-fu if you want to build up muscle and discipline yourself. I've been doing it for seven yeras now and it's help me out alot!