Poll: So I am thinking of learning a fighting style...

[Super Toast]

Krav Maga. It's so awesome.

 

[mugetsu37]

Aikido or Tang Soo Do. Neither will do you wrong. You say you abhor fighting go with Aikido; It is a self-defense, but the ultimate goal is to leave both parties unharmed in the end.

 

[Srdjan]

Boxing, kick-boxing to be exact, you learn real fight and you will soon become a good fighter (in any other martinal art you need years to develop)

 

[Lucifron]

Krav Maga all the friggin way. No "honor", no holding back, no fancy moves, just badass. It's specifically created as a method of defense in the most efficient manner possible, what more can you ask for? You'll have broken your opponents nose and relocated his balls to his lower abdomen before he can say "Flying Tiger style!".

 

[Baby Tea]

What? I'm the only vote for Krav Maga??

I voted. Krav Maga all the way.
I took it for a few months (Had to stop due to time issues), but it was awesome.
I'd love to be able to get back into it if I had the time. It's just flat out practical.
No flash, no showmanship. Just 'give and give and give until they can't take anymore', as my instructor said.

That being said, all martial arts promote healthy living, getting and staying in shape, and self discipline.
So do what you want.

 

[blubbyblubbyblub]

What? I'm the only vote for Krav Maga??

Read this:

http://www.cracked.com/article_16595_6-great-martial-arts-killing-man-with-your-bare-hands.html

And then come back here and change your mind.

I think most people think of a martial art as a way of defending yourself, not necessarily killing someone.

Also, there are flaws in all styles and all styles require you to actually touch the other person... thats why Jeet Kun Do will always be the best.

But this is not a versus thread so lets not say this one versus that one and so on and so forth.

Well, I'll agree with Jeet Kun Do is the "best" art, because it's more about getting the job done, asap, with as little effort as possible.

I wonder if I can hijack this thread.

So, There's a debate that Bruce Lee, if he were in his prime and alive today, would be terrible at MMA fighting. I disagree, because he pretty much invented MMA, and would sweep the floor adapting to the new styles. Anyone have input on that?

I just wanted to point out that he would probably be REALLY terrible att MMA since Jeet Kun Do is based on kicks and punches IE dont let the enemy get too close for comfort

The beuty sp? of MMA is that if a certain person fights this way an accomplished Mixed Martial Artist would use wrestling and Jiu Jutsu moves to get in close throw him to the ground in a submission hold and break some kind of extremity.

For personal defence i ould say MMA is the moste effective since it's adaptable and can be utilized against several types off opponents! Beware though the training is BRUTAL.

PS

on a second thought the most effective style for personal defence would probably be Ninjutsu. someone jumps you, you hit him in a nerve cluster and knock him the f**k out!

[EDIT]

PPS

Im not sure exactly when JKD was created but i am certain it was atleast 30 years ago MMA is a "relatively" new Martial art that was created for the sole purpose of being the most versatile and effective one in one on one combat and personal defense. i think that an accomplished MMartist would beat the living daylights out of an Jeet Kun Do practicioner especially if he had studied it beforehand

 

[TheGreatDirectorWatanbe]

Well I'm learning Wing Chun which is rather interesting to learn. It's not hard, just interesting to learn.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_Chun

 

[Kinguendo]

PPS

Im not sure exactly when JKD was created but i am certain it was atleast 30 years ago MMA is a "relatively" new Martial art that was created for the sole purpose of being the most versatile and effective one in one on one combat and personal defense. i think that an accomplished MMartist would beat the living daylights out of an Jeet Kun Do practicioner especially if he had studied it beforehand

It was created in 1965 by Bruce Lee and there is no way to study Jeet Kun Do... it is individual to the person and the next time you fight that same guy it might be different again. It is the original Mixed Martial Arts, if you think a person who is well versed in MMA could beat Bruce Lee then you dont know how hard that man trained and how well he knew martial arts.

 

[Kinguendo]

that was just a random example. the actual point is: almost all of them are sports, meant to work in an arena with specific rules, or as physical form of recreation and enjoyment. in a real defense-situation, most of the stuff that works in a ring will end with you to collect your bloody teeth from the floor. to complicated, to elaborate, no match for an agressive person that wishes you harm and possibly is quite experienced in attacking people.

Muay Thai was created during war for soldiers to use if they lost their weapons.

Boxing is hardly complicated or elaborate.

And saying someone who isnt trained to fight could be beaten by someone wildly thrashing in a fit of anger is like saying a formula 1 driver could be beaten by a guy who likes formula 1 and is possibly quite experienced at driving.

 

[Tartarga]

Capoera, in my opinion.

It just looks like a blast.

This. Its both a form of dancing and martial arts, that way if someone calls you uncultered you can kick his ass and prove him wrong at the same time.

 

[HerrBobo]

Snip

People will go on about really obscure ones to make themselves sound cool, or whatever. The best one you can do is something that will be useful in the real world. So, you want something that is simple, effective and focus on locks, holds and throws. To this end I say, Judo.

 

[Kinguendo]

Snip

People will go on about really obscure ones to make themselves sound cool, or whatever. The best one you can do is something that will be useful in the real world. So, you want something that is simple, effective and focus on locks, holds and throws. To this end I say, Judo.

I am 6'4 so Judo wont really do me any good unless I plan on potentailly breaking someones arm when I try to do a Judo flip because I was too tall to get my back under them, I have started Muay Thai because of the range advantage I would have with the length of my strikes and being able to close a larger gap with a single step.

 

[BGH122]

-snip-

So far I've had several years of Shotokan Karate, Wing Chun, Kickboxing (that one was worse than useless) and Krav maga. Go for Krav Maga, it's brutal and ridiculously easy to pick up. Seriously, it shouldn't be so easy to snap someone's shoulder or knee out of the socket.

Failing that go for Wing Chun, that was brilliant for punching. Krav Maga's punches feel, to me, too slow. Wing Chun allows for very rapid punching and deflection.

I dont want to break people into tiny pieces and I dont want to pummel them into dust in 10 seconds or less, I am looking for some exercise and discipline whilst learning some self-defense (almost put elf defense... I dont think any of these martial arts can help with that problem.)... and I have already started learning the basics of Muay Thai too. (Dammit, almost mispelled Muay Thai... what I really need is a god damn dictionary to help me spell good! XD)

Well it sounds like kickboxing or any other form of very energetic and ineffective martial art would work fine for you. Krav Maga is very much centred around breaking people into teensy pieces as easily as possible, but the classes are incredibly high energy too. You don't have to apply the skills you learn there, especially the more dangerous ones (they teach simple low kicks, elbow strikes and punches; there's no need to go for dislocations etc unless you have to).

Here's an example class [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XAwR9cdOKg] and, as you can see, it's incredibly high energy.

 

[Kathinka]

that was just a random example. the actual point is: almost all of them are sports, meant to work in an arena with specific rules, or as physical form of recreation and enjoyment. in a real defense-situation, most of the stuff that works in a ring will end with you to collect your bloody teeth from the floor. to complicated, to elaborate, no match for an agressive person that wishes you harm and possibly is quite experienced in attacking people.

Muay Thai was created during war for soldiers to use if they lost their weapons.

Boxing is hardly complicated or elaborate.

And saying someone who isnt trained to fight could be beaten by someone wildly thrashing in a fit of anger is like saying a formula 1 driver could be beaten by a guy who likes formula 1 and is possibly quite experienced at driving.

true, it was created originally as a form of combat, but that was centuries ago. what you learn today is changed and adapted to make it into a sport of two athletes measuring their abilities.
boxing might be simple, but again: techniques in boxing are designed to defeat an also boxing opponent in a boxing match, and many of them can be rendered useless when confronted with an opponent that does not follow this ruleset.
as for the last statement: i never said that, i said a person trained in some martial art sport could be defeated by someone completely untrained with more knowledge of real physical confrontation.

 

[traineesword]

the thing with Martial arts is, you'll still be a pretty lame fighter until you reach a certain point where you are just physically more developed (as in slightly faster) than the average person... However, if you stick with it and truly "master" the martial art, then you can look so ruddy awesome.

When i see any of those martial art names, i immediatly associate it with a move (such as Muay Thai- the knee to the chin in less than half a second, Tae Kwon do- the awesome kicks, Boxing- quick yet strong jabs etc.) and then its completely awesome... so deciding is the hardest part. Even Sambo is pretty cool when you get stupidly good at the grapples...

meh, look at your body, look at what you would like to do and go off that.

 

[Malyc]

This is totally faked, and was an ad for a cell phone... however, if there is ONE person I can even think could possibly do this, it'd be him.

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

That was... AWESOME!

I could have believed that was real if I didnt already know it was fake...

Same here, but that could have been real, and the cell phone company found it, and decided that since it looked so bitchin, it would make a good commercial. Also, the video is rather grainy, which makes me wonder if it wasnt made back when Lee was still kicking.

 

[Kinguendo]

true, it was created originally as a form of combat, but that was centuries ago. what you learn today is changed and adapted to make it into a sport of two athletes measuring their abilities.
boxing might be simple, but again: techniques in boxing are designed to defeat an also boxing opponent in a boxing match, and many of them can be rendered useless when confronted with an opponent that does not follow this ruleset.
as for the last statement: i never said that, i said a person trained in some martial art sport could be defeated by someone completely untrained with more knowledge of real physical confrontation.

Its still based on a fighting style created for war... its not like they added novelty foam hands to the fight. Have you seen a Muay Thai fight? They literally jump up and knee people in the face... thats not exactly playing.

And boxers are trained to see and dodge in coming attacks by people who are also trained to hit fast and hard... your untrained person who fights and is possibly quite good at it is not trained to see and dodge in coming attacks or how to hit a person who can read your attacks.

And yes, they have to follow a rule set... when in the ring... not when defending themselves from a random attacker. Also... more knowledge of physical confrontation... than someone trained to deal with physical confrontation, is fighting fit and trains in a gym? I think you are giving WAY too much credit to thugs.

No, you said:

possibly is quite experienced in attacking people.

 

[Kinguendo]

This is totally faked, and was an ad for a cell phone... however, if there is ONE person I can even think could possibly do this, it'd be him.

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

That was... AWESOME!

I could have believed that was real if I didnt already know it was fake...

Same here, but that could have been real, and the cell phone company found it, and decided that since it looked so bitchin, it would make a good commercial. Also, the video is rather grainy, which makes me wonder if it wasnt made back when Lee was still kicking.

Yeah... because playing table tennis with nunchucks and lighting cigarettes with nunchucks doesnt really have anything to do with phones, only with the Bruce Lee phone and it seems like a bit of a push to create fake videos of him doing something amazing when he was already recognised as being able to pull of some pretty astonishing feats...

But apparently it was tested on some German show and its a fake.

 

[bobknowsall]

*snip*

I'd recommend karate (preferably American Kenpo, as some Japanese schools of Kenpo are very rigid and awkward), or possibly Muay Thai. Krav Maga is thoroughly over-rated, and will probably get you killed.

But it really depends on how you fight, I guess. American Kenpo and Muay Thai are good for street-fights (ie. close-up fighting, lots of improvisation), whereas things like Judo are good if you want to learn how to subdue people without hurting them too much.

 

[Deviluk]

I do Krav Maga. Its very useful, very natural-feeling, and ultimately its a prized self-defense method. The guy who teaches me was in the British special forces.

The SAS?

A lot of people claim to be in the SAS, most who are arent allowed to talk about it and most who used to be dont talk about it.

The only person I can think of who talks about it is Sir Ranulph Fiennes, but he wasnt in the SAS very long before he was discharged for blowing up part of a village... no one got hurt, he was doing it to stop a movie crew from rolling in and ruining the village so he blew up a bridge.

Lol yes, well truth be told he doesn't exactly brag about it, or even speak about it, I heard it off the guys who've been going for years, and even they just said 'special forces', so it could just be marines or paras. But he does drop references to when he trained soldiers in krav maga, i.e. "The army are very big on the neck choke, but you guys on the street should try to avoid lethal shots."