Interested in MA but...

[shinysunbeams]

...I have no experience and don't know where to start or what kind would fit me.

[Tom Yum]

Welcome to defend.net!

What are your reasons for studying martial arts?

- quick, effective self-defense.
- physical fitness
- discipline/motivation.
- confidence.
- friends.
- women-specific self-defense.
- handling weapons.

Each martial art is going to have a different emphasis and will teach you these things in different proportions, so rank your interests and we'll try to help you out as best as we can.

[shinysunbeams]

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

confidence- would be nice
physical fitness -would be important
friends- I'm always open to meeting new people
discipline/motivation- yup need that in my life, been really lazy lately
self-defense- It would be cool to be able to handle a situation
weapons- Not against it, but wasn't thinking about it in particular

[Tom Yum]

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

confidence- would be nice
physical fitness -would be important
friends- I'm always open to meeting new people
discipline/motivation- yup need that in my life, been really lazy lately
self-defense- It would be cool to be able to handle a situation
weapons- Not against it, but wasn't thinking about it in particular

Yeah right, we know you're a confident gal already...hey you came onto this site, right?

You haven't really emphasized one particular area, so I'd go with something like Japanese Jiujitsu, kyokushin karate, kenpo, Tang Soo Do or Hapkido.

These styles aren't focused in one of the particular areas, but are "good" in all the above categories. From what I've found classes are usually well structured, discipline is good, you can work up a good sweat and learn some good self defense as well.

If you want to dive into some more physically demanding and competitive arts, you might try American kickboxing, muaythai, brazilian jiujitsu or even boxing.

To be more combat focused, look into Jeet Kune Do, silat, kali, escrima etc. Tim Mousel, Mike Brewer and Tim Tackett are both good Jeet Kune do references on the site; Tim has also done a great deal of muaythai; Mike has done a great deal of boxing.

Ask Boarspear about gong fu - otherwise I'd talk more about it. He's a good reference for the traditional Chinese martial arts.

[shinysunbeams]

Thanks for giving me a starting point. I will look into your suggestions. Just had my heart crushed after three years so need to find something else to direct myself.

[Tom Yum]

Thanks for giving me a starting point. I will look into your suggestions. Just had my heart crushed after three years so need to find something else to direct myself.

That's too bad shinysunbeams. I'm sure you'll really enjoy practicing the martial arts

Let us know how your classes go.

[GranFire]

Quit flirting with the Lady!

Not to be the party pooper, but much of what you can take depends on where you live! If you are lucky enough to live in an area of great cultural diversity you will find many more choices.

If you live in the boonies like me your only hope may be to thumb through the yellow pages.

The good thing is, you can at any time change to something different!


One more aspect that would be important to me is whether or you are comfortable spending some time on the ground or being thrown!


And last, once you find a facility, try them out and talk to the other students and you will get a feeling if you like it there.

[shinysunbeams]

ah, I live in the bay area of California. I heard there was a good mix here

[treelizard]

Lots of schools that way. I know a kick-ass lady who teaches WSD in Santa Cruz. I've also heard good things about Modern Combatives www.moderncombatives.com in Berkeley... I'm sure there's a ton of other people on here with recommendations.

[DickHardman]

ah, I live in the bay area of California. I heard there was a good mix here

if you are close to san jose, i recommend american kickboxing academy. we teach boxin, muay thai, bjj, and mma. there are many good schools here though, there is also frank shamrocks new school, cung les kickboxing gym, claudio francas bjj, the list goes on.

we also have really good marijuana here in the bay area too if you havent found that out yet.

[GranFire]

I am studying Tae Kwon Do. It's everywhere and in many variation.

I mostly stay upright. Though we are now learning *Hanmudo* with grabs and wrist locks and take downs. Which is fun and a change of pace.

My first choice would have been Aikido though...it is so elegant
There are also a ton of Chinese MAs or Karate if you should be more into tradition.

[shinysunbeams]

Yes, I do actually live in San Jose so any place near there would be great. Thanks everyone for the suggestions.

[DickHardman]

then let me recommend http://www.akakickbox.com/

everyone there is really friendly. you can stop by and try a few classes for free to check it out before you decide you want to sign up or not.

i say try a kickboxing class and a jiu jitsu class as well and see which one you like better. there are some terrific female jiu jitsu practitioners that would make really good partners to train with.

they dont train any weapons though, empty handed martial arts only.

[Tom Yum]

ah, I live in the bay area of California. I heard there was a good mix here

What's in your yellow pages?

[viralhed]

well heres MY opinion..if you only learn stance combat, and no ground combat..you get tackled by suprise (dont ask why you would, cuz u never know) your basically SCREWED..ya i mean stance is badass, if your REALLY good at it then you dont need much ground knowledge, like Bruce Lee and Tony Jaa for instance, they are complete bamf's when it comes to stance, who knows if they can fight on the ground..doubt it but who knows, all im saying is, get a combination of stance and ground, TKD teaches a small amount of ground fighting, and a crapload of stance..my buddy is a 3rd DAN in TKD and my moms i think a green belt in it..so TKD might be pretty good like GranFire was saying..people say its not street effective..HAHAHAHAHAHA bullsht..against an untrained opponent..its HIGHLY effective, good luck on your search for the perfect art..and REMEMBER..DO NOT QUIT AFTER A WEEK..STUDY IT FOR 6-12 MONTHS, then, see if you like it