what is the best martial arts for me to learn?

[SoulChaser]

I say try to find a school that teaches the more practical side of the arts. Ex. Muay Thai, BJJ, FMA or Filipino M.A. Try to find a place that is well rounded teaches striking and grappling.

[E1am]

Originally posted by likuid
you might want to check out the deadly art of Dim Sum...it has been combat tested by the legendary warrior General Tso

This guy obviously has no clue what he is talking about. A true 'Dim Sum' practicioner would call it by its correct name, Yum Cha.

[likuid]

is that YOU...master? please, please excuse my ignorance...i will go practice my chow lo mein, one thousand times

[SnapCracklePop]

Find a school that will teach many disciplines, as soul chaser stated. You need to be able to fight and defend from punches, kick's, clinches and ground fighting. In addition, you need to learn to fight with weapons, ecspecially defensive moves in the event someone pulls something on you. use caution and don't be to quick, there are more frauds and fakes than legitimate instructors. use this rule, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

[bjjboulder]

Aliveness!!!!!!!

Soulchaser posted a good reply, let me go a bit further, I am tired of people posting so much bs and trying to be funny...I am taking you seriously........

Don't take my words lightly, otherwise you will wind up taking the EXTREMELY long path up the mountain, like I did.

Understand Aliveness! It is the only clear concept that will help you to really find the truth for yourself. I am not even listing specific martial arts...that is irrelivant if you don't have aliveness.

Go to www.straightblastgym.com and go to q&a with matt thorton and really absorb some of what is said, wrap your mind around it and the right path will present itself!

[likuid]

hey hey hey-

i take offense to that...i've posted many a serious responses on here. he has received a lot of good advice already. Additionally, i believe that humor is part of aliveness, so is authenticity, dedication, and perseverence...just to name a few. My point was only that the idea of a true martial artist goes beyond the confines of your school, and especially beyond the idea of 'fighting' per se

[festiva]

jobber d

boxing is a very good form of self defence dont take my word or any one elses for that matter just go and get in the ring in your locality get a proficient lite weight in there with you and hell amaze you ...now what is proficient its someone that learned from a statewide or national champion and is himself considered good by these people and dont let gender fool you ive sparred with current light weigth ifba champ doris hackl and found her more than a handfull and so did my other 200lb friends you just cant hit her ...and when you get in range shes hitting you...you might never remember me posting this but ive been LUCKY enough to be surrounded by national class and world class champions in boxing people that are intelligent and dont care to get hit more than they need and i can tell you that not just any technique but good technique will make you light years ahead of the street punks......my brother happens to be a former six time national super middleweight champion here in canada and i can assure you that im as fast and strong as any one out there and ive never even came close to hitting him flush in the ring i just cant seem to get there ...he just smiles a lot. any one that tells you that you just have to get tough and take punishment out there is someone that s getting hit alot the problem with that is that you cant toughen up your chin if you get hit in that zone you sleep thats it ..its neurological it doesnt play favorites or care if your pumped or pissed off or 300 lbs .dont assume because you see 2 average fighters on tv trading punches that they would have to trade with you...there would be no trade ... also dont train with people that have a hard time beating you trust me if they know what there doing and you dont have any fighting experience they should be able to beat you MECHANICALLY almost without thinking about it ...

[Szczepankiewicz]

Yeah, boxing has some pretty devastating players.

That is probably the easiest skill to aquire (as far as finding a good coach and learning the techniques).

But don't fool yourself into thinking that because you own people in the ring, means you'll own them on the street. No gloves, no ropes, no rules, no time limit, no ref....

It would seem that if you trained in Boxing and wrestling (which both can be found at most athletic complexes?) that would be an excellent crosstraining method for self defense.


Good thing about boxing and wrestling, you get lots of real time practice. That in itself is invaluable in self defense.

Good points, for a Canadian!

SZ

[Bruce_Fan]

Factors

Hi Jobber-D

You didn't mention where you lived.

There are a lot of factors that you have to take in to consideration.
For example, how big you are, how strong you are, how fast, etc.....

I asked where you live, because you have to also see what teachers are available in your area.

Based on those factors, you have to make a decision.
Also, what is your goal in studying Martial arts?

Just because you study one style, it does not mean that you are stuck with it the rest of your life. lol
There are many guys on this board who have studied many different styles.

Since, I am a Bruce-Fan after all, I am partial to JDK concepts and methods. I don't look at is a style.

"Absorb what is useful, discard what is useless" is what Bruce said.

This means no matter what "Style" you choose to learn, it has to work FOR YOU, Jobber-D.
If a certain kick/punch technique does not seem to work for you in sparring, then don't use it.
Just because your teacher teaches you certain things, it does not mean that they ALL Work for YOU.

Learn to be versatile and look at combat from different angles.
It pays off to be well-rounded in different areas of combat. (Standup, locking, on the ground, etc.)

I hope that helped.
Take care

[Twisted up]

jobber-d: Join a boxing gym, and learn to sprawl. Also, join a wrestling gym if possible.

After you've developed a base of skills in those combat sports, figure out where the "foul tactics" could be put in (in other words, your lead jab becomes an eye-jab, a "high crotch" could be literally that, a good hard shot to the crotch, etc..).

AAU boxing and wrestling gyms are found in almost everywhere. Check your local police department for a boxing gym if you can't find one anywhere else. AAU wrestling clubs exist almost everywhere. Like I said, you'll see where to put in the dirty fighting when you've got a bit of skill under your belt. Do that sort of thing rather than look for the all-too-deadly martial art system designed to turn you into Superman.

That's better than any "style" out there.

If you want to learn to defeat guns and knives (and other such weapons), can I ask you one question? Can I have your stereo?

[sidder]

There's only one way to determine whether a martial art is good for you. Don't just listen unreflectively to what people tell you. Some guys who've been training in this or that system for a long time form an emotional attachment to that system, however useful it may be (and, believe, some systems actually do more harm than good by instilling you with a false set of security in techniques that don't work well in the real world), will recommend their system over others. Personally, I recommend going down to a few different kinds of clubs and checking them out for yourself.
Listen to your gut. What looks real and what doesn't. For me, I like kyokushin full-contact karate and muay thai for stand up skills (which, to my mind are the most important ones on the street). I also like Gracie jiu jitsu gi and vale tudo for grappling. I don't much care for Ed Parker kenpo or praying mantis type stuff, because I don't really feel that they teach the important skills as efficiently, completely, and effectively as they should. This is just my opinion. Don't take it at face value. Go see for yourself and make up your own mind. Whatever you choose, train hard!

[phillyman]

Jobber

Can you do a list of what types of schools in your area? In my opinion there are some styles better on paper then others. I think it biols down to training methods. I once sent Burton Richardson a list of schools in my area. He said its trainging methods but suggested based on what i gave him thai kickboxing because of the contact and BJJ. If you can find a place that teaches selfdefense moves(non flower stuff), spars with a little boxing,and some grappling then go for it. Let me know what you wind up doing.

[jobber-d]

Plenty of interesting comments here. Let me clear up a few things:
1. I realize that it is not only the style that I will learn, but the teacher that teaches me. Once I decide on a style to learn, I will then begin my search of schools.
2. As much as Id love to, I do not have the time to crosstrain. Perhaps later on in my life when I don't have to study for tests every day, ill do that. But for now, I need a definitive style that will teach me self defence without too much delving.
3. I live in a semi-large city in Ontario (Mississauga), so my choices will be limited. I've already done a sweep of Kenpo and Krav Maga, and nothing came up. It doesn't seem to be severely limiting as there are at least 5 pages devoted to it in the yellow pages, but those ultra-rare styles are most likely not an option for me.
4. Im about 6"1 and 200lbs, but I plan to lose some weight and get some muscles. Im large for my age, so I would probably like to use power and strength to my advantage.
With the responses in this message board, I have compiled a small list of styles I am considering taking.
Krav Maga: my favourite choice. Unfortunately, no classes are available where I live
Kenpo: Similar to Krav Maga, only I seem to be getting mixed messages about it on its effectiveness. and again, lack of classes.
moo do: an eclectic style incorporating tae-kwon-do, hapkido, and karate which i found interesting. However, I severely doubt any schools in my vicinity teach this.
uechi ryu: I've heard that this was a very powerful style of Karate in which practitioners actually learn to absorb punches and kicks when hit.
san shou: It seems to be a good chinese style, similar to muay thai and works well in real life
muay thai: From what I hear, it is an effective and brutal martial art, very devastating in the ring and in street fights. My main concerns of this one is that it takes extreme amounts of time and dedication in order to use it efficiently in a fight, and two that it focuses mainly on high kicks, something which is rarely used in a real fight due to its lack of effectiveness.
Kyokushin kai karate: I don't know much about this style, except that it has been praised on this message board as a good style. any other information on it would be great.

Again, im lookin for a style that is effective in the real world, which means no high kicks or fancy moves. Im not going to be entering any competitions in the forseeable future. And of course, I don't have the luxury of lots of time, so something that could teach me basic self defence techniques in under a year would be superb. Thank you for your time

[sidder]

Forget kenpo and krav magva. Learn the basic dynamics of solid sparring, to which the monkey-ass eye-jab shit should be a supplement. As for the Korean stuff, I'd check the North American heavyweight tkd undefeated champ vs Andy Hug match in the K-1. Those fancy-ass kicks didn't do him a damn bit of good. He spent more time face-first on the canvas than he did standing up. Keep it simple and solid.

[KenJeet]

First and foremost, I want to say that I am not trying to sound like Mr. Know it All or anything like that. But, I must say that I have heard some assumptions made regarding specific styles and systems that are obviously flawed. I personally train in Ed Parker's American Kenpo, Jun Fan Gung Fu/Jeet Kune Do Concepts, Filipino Kali, and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. I believe that when you are new to training you should be involved in a system that can offer you the most possible in the most progressive, comprehensive fashion. That being said, I recommended to, I believe was Jobber-D, Ed Parker's American Kenpo as a base system to learn. I am obviously not saying this because I am bias since I train in various systems, but because I have had the fortunate opportunity to train with a wide variety of instructors and systems and can see their pros and cons. I must say that for someone starting out, you need to train in a system that can get you use to learning concepts and principles first before techniques. If you do not know the principles involved in a technique you can't pull it off. Jobber-D needs to learn a system that teaches various kicking methods, various punches, finger techniques, various elbow strikes, forearm strikes, and strikes that use parts of the body that people have not even imagined. In addition, a system that teaches the various methods of motion through foot maneuvers as well as with your weapons, as well as a system that adapts to the use of weapons like in Kali. Ed Parker's American Kenpo and Filipino Kali, to those who may not know use the exact footwork patterns and checking system. I would say that before going to less structured and organized systems like Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do Concepts or regular kickboxing, you should investigate Ed Parker's Kenpo as your base and perhaps brazilian jiu-jitsu or judo as your groundwork component. I would say Jeet Kune Do comes in as a close second. Jeet Kune Do's informality and less structured systems may frustrate some students.