Does anybody know anything about martial arts?

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

Hey everyone. To make a long story short, I want to learn how to stick up for myself as well as possible in about 2 months (it's all the time I'll have off between school and work this summer; I may continue afterwards, but I'm setting the 2-month limit because after that it'll be a second or third priority behind a job, other sports, etc.). Obviously this is nowhere near enough time to master anything, but I'm already in good shape and I won't need to ease into it. I will easily have the time and motivation for 4-5 workouts a week. I want to learn as much as possible in a style that has applications when you're walking down the street and a guy who's completely off his rocker picks a fight with you.

Basically the question is what martial art to learn. The easiest access I have would be karate, because a few of my friends already take lessons at a club nearby, but I know of a few other places (tae kwon do, kickboxing) and there are probably tons I've never heard of.

I'm a pretty big guy (6'2", 205) so I don't need a style that focuses on defeating bigger opponents (although I guess it couldn't hurt). Flexibility is a weakness of mine, so even if I could work on it a sport where kicking at head-level is a necessity might be a bad idea. My goal is basically to learn as much about self-defence (in a way that can be applied in the real world) as I possibly can in a short amount of time, which is why I'm not sure which is the best sport to choose. Any thoughts?

[Smokey D]

Jujitsu and other grappling arts are probably the most effective at neutralising opponents, but it takes a long time to get good and you're still not going to be able to take on several opponents at once.

[sadtaste]

I've not much clue about martial arts, but wouldn't one of those general self defence courses be good? I think they take the best of several styles and combine them for the sole purpose of protecting yourself.

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

Jujitsu and other grappling arts are probably the most effective at neutralising opponents, but it takes a long time to get good and you're still not going to be able to take on several opponents at once.

Yeah, jujitsu interests me, but it seems way too complicated to even learn the basics quickly. I took a few wrestling courses through school, so I know a few things (like how to throw a guy over your hip, or grab him by the armpits and trip him), but to go any further seems like it would take a lot of time. Plus ideally I guess I'd want a sport where you have to learn to defend against a kicks, punches takedowns, and not just how to apply that sport's techniques to someone following its rules too. My impression is that jujitsu might not be the best if a guy is going to try to kick you in the kneecaps.

I've not much clue about martial arts, but wouldn't one of those general self defence courses be good? I think they take the best of several styles and combine them for the sole purpose of protecting yourself.

If anybody has an answer to this I'd like to know. I always thought those were aimed at people who were not athletes to begin with and figured they'd be a waste of time, but I could be wrong. I don't need to spend time with a softie trainer who is afraid of the students bruising their butts.

[Rams]

Jujitsu and other grappling arts are probably the most effective at neutralising opponents, but it takes a long time to get good and you're still not going to be able to take on several opponents at once.

The thing with grappling arts is you don't need to be good at them because everyone else is effectively awful at them. After my first 3 Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes I could effectively beat people much bigger than me.

Grappling arts probably won't be that realistic for self-defense though. Since you already do wrestling, you should be comfortable in keeping position on top of most people. Being put on your back in most situations is bad. It leaves you a lot less mobile, a lot less agile, and often times out of range from hitting the other person.

Striking arts is much more realistic, but also takes a long time to get discernibly better than the common man. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that fights usually start on their feet meaning striking is often times used first. Be wary of taking a discipline that doesn't believe in strikes to the face or believes in keeping your arms at your side. It makes no sense to not learn how to protect your head and makes no sense to put your last line of defense far away from your head.

It's also important to remember that no matter what you learn, running away and using a weapon will probably be more effective. I've been doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu for a couple years now but no matter how good I get at it I will always be vulnerable to a guy with a knife. Sometimes the best self-defense techniques aren't something you need to learn, but just going on instinct.

[Avalanche.]

Alright well if you're talking about like a possible scenario on the streets, Brazilian Ju Jitsu is not very effective. Unless your opponent doesn't have any buddies backing him up and you have more time, I wouldn't recommend it. Really, really basic Ju Jitsu can be learned pretty easily and might be helpful. For instance, escaping from mount, a few leg sweeps, and possibly a simple armbar or kimura from bottom position. None of the aforementioned tactics require much flexibility nor do they require much time to become proficient at.

If I were you, I would do Boxing or Muay Thai. They are fairly easy to become comfortable with in a short amount of time and are generally pretty effective. With a guy your size and weight, you should be able to get decent power out of your strikes, which might make up for some lacking technique.

[MattSharpIsCool]

I took Jeet Kune Do for a couple years and I think it works great. Bruce Lee created the style, so watch some Bruce Lee videos for an example of how it looks. Obviously he's a master of it so you're not going to be doing what he does, but still.

It's mainly focused on counter moves, and it was influenced a lot by boxing. So if you can move your feet and know how to throw a punch, that's a very basic start. As you get better, you learn to stop blocking and attack instead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kune_Do

If you want, I present a link. Not sure if there would be any JKD schools around where you live, though.

[simplephotographinthesun]

combat sambo :p

[MattSharpIsCool]

Damn Russians and their Sambo. That **** is vicious. And awesome.

[simplephotographinthesun]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga

that looks pretty no holds barred

[MattSharpIsCool]

Ya that sounds pretty rough.

[Rams]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga

that looks pretty no holds barred

Depends where you learn it. There are a lot of places that sell watered down Krav and it is really awful to see. It's really easy to advance in Krav; a couple of my friends have begun teaching after ~4 years of training. With stuff coming so fast, it is easy to just believe everything works and look like an moron in real life.

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

I looked up krav maga, and there's a Jewish community centre not too far from my house that teaches it. I'll check it out to see if the instructors seem legit, but otherwise my friend who took kickboxing for a few months is considering taking it up again, and I might join his old club with him. Thanks guys.

[Smokey D]

Yeah, jujitsu interests me, but it seems way too complicated to even learn the basics quickly. I took a few wrestling courses through school, so I know a few things (like how to throw a guy over your hip, or grab him by the armpits and trip him), but to go any further seems like it would take a lot of time. Plus ideally I guess I'd want a sport where you have to learn to defend against a kicks, punches takedowns, and not just how to apply that sport's techniques to someone following its rules too. My impression is that jujitsu might not be the best if a guy is going to try to kick you in the kneecaps.

Granted I'm not a jujitsu student, but according to my flatmate who is, the aim of jujitsu is to minimise the ways an opponent can effectively attack you and maximise the damage you can do once you hit the ground. From teh way I understand it, your opponent doesn't need to be following jujitsu techniques and in fact someone trained in jujitsu is going to be a lot tougher of an opponent than someone who isn't.

Grappling arts probably won't be that realistic for self-defense though.

Given that the vast majority of street fights end up on the ground at some point, it's probably quite good to get good at defending yourself in that situation.

[ThePatient]

I'm police, and I do jujitsu. I recommend it.

[Cybergasm]

I've been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for four years now, and I swear by the art. I have encountered no other martial art that offers as much utility by itself. Most fights almost always end up on the ground, and BJJ teaches you how to make the most out of such a situation in the shortest amount of time. Also, any good BJJ instruction will offer a dedicated class to self-defense where BJJ is put in context of things like encountering people with knives or people that just try to wildly swing at you.

If you're being honest with yourself, you'll realize that no matter what martial art you are studying, when facing multiple opponents your chances are highly gimped. With certain arts, like Krav, you will ultimately come to a place where you are more able to counter multiple opponents, but ONLY if you are extremely dedicated. BJJ gives you top notch defense strategy for the most accessible effort. All these other arts will profess to being able to teach you optimal self-defense, but only with a high degree of dedication (I am talking years; I used to take Karate for a while and, while it was good exercise, I felt I learned nothing for my time there). I would be willing to bet that with one class of BJJ, you are already more capable of defending yourself then with months of any other art (this comes back to how classes and progress are structured, but I won't go into that).

The best thing to do is to take BJJ with something like kickboxing. If, however, you want something that is effective quickly and by itself, BJJ is the best option.

[lak89]

I do Wushu and Tricking, but i don't think it'll fit your criteria because it involves some jumps and kicking and stretching, and it isn't entirely practical either, Jujitsu is your best bet

[RockerPaige]

My friend is currently teaching me some Muay Thai and it seems to suit me well. Just for self-defence etc but there's moves you can break bones with if needed.
But this is pretty much my first martial art so I don't know much about the others unfortunately..

[Ghoul Hustler]

I do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a bit of Muay Thai.

Now, karate and other arts like that are demonstration and not mean for real combat. Try to pull a karate move in a fight and you'll get smashed.

Grappling is very good one on one, but most muggings and fights have multiple people attacking you and it won't help. Your best bet in a fight is to separate you from the attackers.

Muay Thai/kickboxing is great. It teaches you how to create distance, clinch and control balance, and fight with a person standing up.

You could also do Krav Maga, but the current modern system is quite broken since you can't really practice it unless you're getting attacked.

[loathed]

I do Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and a bit of Muay Thai.

Now, karate and other arts like that are demonstration and not mean for real combat. Try to pull a karate move in a fight and you'll get smashed.

Grappling is very good one on one, but most muggings and fights have multiple people attacking you and it won't help. Your best bet in a fight is to separate you from the attackers.

Muay Thai/kickboxing is great. It teaches you how to create distance, clinch and control balance, and fight with a person standing up.

You could also do Krav Maga, but the current modern system is quite broken since you can't really practice it unless you're getting attacked.

I disagree. saying karate is not meant for real combat is nonsense. there are alot of techniques in karate that can cause major damage when done properly. and please explain, why would you get smashed if you try and pull off a karate move in a fight? have you seen real karate combat?

muay thai, much like other art forms, has it own flaws. there is NO one art form that is best, be it in street fights, organized fights or whatever.

[Ghoul Hustler]

Give me some examples of the combat techniques you're talking about with karate. It's a pretty wide term that gets around, so we might be mixed up.

[loathed]

Give me some examples of the combat techniques you're talking about with karate. It's a pretty wide term that gets around, so we might be mixed up.

I think you might be referring to the demonstration aspect of karate known as kata. However, there is another side of karate that focuses on real life combat/sparring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_Contact_Karate

[Ghoul Hustler]

That's still pretty much demonstration though, correct?. You really can't compare that to anything like boxing/kickboxing. It's a step above ninja BS but it's still not too effecient.

[loathed]

That's still pretty much demonstration though, correct?. You really can't compare that to anything like boxing/kickboxing. It's a step above ninja BS but it's still not too effecient.

actually, no. i wouldnt consider it as demonstration. i think you assume boxing/kickboxing/muay thai and other of these kinda art forms different from karate due to the fact that these art forms are used in their various own competitions while karate is not. for example, you will definitely see professional muay thai, kickboxing and boxing matches, but you'll hardly see professional full-out karate matches.

:chug:

[Ghoul Hustler]

I understand it's official and whatnot, but I just have doubts that your average full contact karate fighter could challenge an equal muay thai fighter. Fair enough though, I see what you're saying.

[dei]

I don't mean to derail the thread but does kicking in someone's knee hurt?

[Ghoul Hustler]

I don't mean to derail the thread but does kicking in someone's knee hurt?

Seriously? Of course it does. It's extremely dangerous.

[loathed]

would your tibia hurt after hitting a knee? ...of course! like what ^^ said, it is extremely dangerous as well, you might break your shin.

[Ghoul Hustler]

I think he meant doing a straight kick to someone's knee.

[loathed]

oh alright, i thought he meant if the kicker would hurt if he actually landed a kick onto someone's knee.

[Ghoul Hustler]

Ah, that is extremely painful too. I was good at it when practicing low kicks :p

[Lego King]

wut does ong bak: thai warrior do?

[Ghoul Hustler]

Muay Thai

[dei]

Seriously? Of course it does. It's extremely dangerous.

Cool. :)

[Ghoul Hustler]

Are you planning on kicking someones *** or something?

[Kingofdudes]

Im thinking of picking some kind of martial arts up this summer, so I will check out some of the stuff listed in this thread.

[Ghoul Hustler]

Im thinking of picking some kind of martial arts up this summer, so I will check out some of the stuff listed in this thread.
BJJ :]

[Kingofdudes]

Would that work out well for a lean person like myself?

[Ghoul Hustler]

It was developed so that small guys could fight much larger opponents, so it would be ideal.

[simplephotographinthesun]

Im thinking of picking some kind of martial arts up this summer, so I will check out some of the stuff listed in this thread.

i am in the same boat. team link, about 15-20 minutes from me, has a pretty expensive monthly rate. looks like i'm taking up judo :p

[Crapdragoon]

I was in the shito-ryu karate discipline for about 5 years.

3 hour non-stop sparing sessions = intense

[loathed]

Muay Thai

actually, its Muay Boran

[Ghoul Hustler]

Kind of a mix really, but the title has "Muay Thai Warrior" in it :p

i am in the same boat. team link, about 15-20 minutes from me, has a pretty expensive monthly rate. looks like i'm taking up judo :p

Honestly, just pay for a great school. I'm paying $1,000 a year to train with a BJJ black belt, a well known pro MMA fighter, and an international kickboxing champion. No matter the money amount, I know i'm getting the best training possible.

Anyway, this thread needs more discussion.

[Rams]

Honestly, just pay for a great school. I'm paying $1,000 a year to train with a BJJ black belt, a well known pro MMA fighter, and an international kickboxing champion. No matter the money amount, I know i'm getting the best training possible.

Anyway, this thread needs more discussion.

It's most important to find a good teacher. I've learned more from a BJJ purple belt than I have from the black belt I had been going to.

[Ghoul Hustler]

It's most important to find a good teacher. I've learned more from a BJJ purple belt than I have from the black belt I had been going to.

For sure. Some pros have no idea how to get the point across to students.

anyway, megaton bump because this thread is awesome

[Jom]

I always wanted to try to take up a martial art because I felt it would help with flexibility and overall just be cool to do for exercise and to test myself athletically, but I guess I seemed uncomfortable trying something and failing miserably at it. I did football, wrestling, and baseball in high school and did rec-league basketball, but at 5'10" and 220 pounds and one of the least flexible people on the face of the Earth, it seemed like I'd embarrass myself rather than learn from it. Now, I just marvel at Youtube videos.

[Ghoul Hustler]

I'm 6'2" and 250. Seriously, do whatever art you want. You can't really be unfit for any of them unless you're like 5'0 and 800 pounds :x

[Soulfly666]

Hey everyone. To make a long story short, I want to learn how to stick up for myself as well as possible in about 2 months (it's all the time I'll have off between school and work this summer; I may continue afterwards, but I'm setting the 2-month limit because after that it'll be a second or third priority behind a job, other sports, etc.). Obviously this is nowhere near enough time to master anything, but I'm already in good shape and I won't need to ease into it. I will easily have the time and motivation for 4-5 workouts a week. I want to learn as much as possible in a style that has applications when you're walking down the street and a guy who's completely off his rocker picks a fight with you.

Basically the question is what martial art to learn. The easiest access I have would be karate, because a few of my friends already take lessons at a club nearby, but I know of a few other places (tae kwon do, kickboxing) and there are probably tons I've never heard of.

I'm a pretty big guy (6'2", 205) so I don't need a style that focuses on defeating bigger opponents (although I guess it couldn't hurt). Flexibility is a weakness of mine, so even if I could work on it a sport where kicking at head-level is a necessity might be a bad idea. My goal is basically to learn as much about self-defence (in a way that can be applied in the real world) as I possibly can in a short amount of time, which is why I'm not sure which is the best sport to choose. Any thoughts?

Since you have some experience in wrestling, I would assume you know how to defend against a takedown or how to get up if you actually are taken down, so I think taking a martial art that involves striking, like muay thai, would be a good idea. If a place like that isn't accessible in your area, I would go ahead with kickboxing since it's probably the closest thing. Make sure it's not "cardio kickboxing" though. You don't want to get stuck in a dance class with a bunch of women...hmm, on second thought, that wouldn't be so bad. ;)

[loathed]

Since you have some experience in wrestling, I would assume you know how to defend against a takedown or how to get up if you actually are taken down, so I think taking a martial art that involves striking, like muay thai, would be a good idea. If a place like that isn't accessible in your area, I would go ahead with kickboxing since it's probably the closest thing. Make sure it's not "cardio kickboxing" though. You don't want to get stuck in a dance class with a bunch of women...hmm, on second thought, that wouldn't be so bad. ;)

qft.

1) you can take up a striking art (muay thai, kickboxing, karate, savate etc etc) then base your game around strikes and sprawls (which im sure you are pretty confident with since youre a wrestler)

2) you can take up a ground based art (BJJ, sambo, submission fighting etc etc) then base your game around submissions and takedowns (which im sure you are pretty confident with since youre a wrestler).

but to be honest, i'd suggest training in all aspects, striking, clinch and ground work. you need to know everything these days.