What Martial Art?

[Veerinson]

Hi guys, this is my first post here, and I must admit that, after reading several threads, I am intimidated by the knowledge the people here have. I hence come to you with a question(Hopefully I won't sound like too much a fool here):
I haven't done much martial arts in the past (six months of aikido, and six months of competition TKD), although I am very intrested in learning. Both of the arts I have taken seemed to contain sever faults(don't yell at me for this please) for truly defending myself in the case of a attack on the street.
My funds and time are both limited, being a college student, so I was wondering if perhaps some of you could suggest an art that I could train at that would be most effective in the case of an attack.
Thanks for your time and your patience,
Erik

[Melanie]

Welcome to the forum Veerinson/Erik,

Oh boy have you asked a nice controversial question :D This is why I am happy to Moderate ;)

We did have a similar thread running before but its worth seeing what the other new members have to contribute.

Melanie

[Chazz]

First get away from competition versions of an art and go to a traditional school. Going to a gompetition school is good if you want to learn how to win a tournament but going to a traditional school will help you in the areas that you are looking for. There are traditional TKD school that offer a lot of self defence in with their classes. Just take your time to see what you can find. As we have found out here, NO style is the same and No school is the same, so keep looking untill you find what you want.

[Pablo]

If you gave a location, it would be a little easier to mention a system that is being taught in your area.

As a general rule of thumb, Wing Chun has a reputation for starting right into combat applications. The Filipino/Indonesian arts also can prepare you for a variety of attack scenarios pretty quickly. Arnis, Escrima, Silat, etc.
Some of the 'jutsu' schools may, and some may not, give you what you are looking for. Ask how soon they teach koppo, atemi, and yawara.
Krav Maga and Erle Montaigue's WTBA are very practical, but there may not be anyone in your area teaching these. I hesitate to mention anything to do with Ninja, because of the hype and the politics, but the folks that work out under Dr. Morris do not fool around. I cannot be as complimentary to some of the others.
Same situation with Jeet Kune Do. Some folks are very practical, and some have a different agenda.

As a purely editorial comment (not meant to put anyone down), schools that advertise connections to the military/special forces, 'street fighting', bodyguarding, bounty hunters, police, the Olympics, ancient Oriental secret family lineages, Ultimate Fighting, grappling, or movie stars, etc. do not neccessarily offer realistic training for combative situations. In fact the amount of jargon thrown around might be inversely proportional to the quality of the content.
Having said that, there are some books and videos out by Peyton Quinn, and Marc MacYoung that would allow you to study just about any style, and adapt what you are learning to practical defense. If you choose that route, a word of advice, don't go running to class every week and show the instructor how you have 'improved' what they taught you. ;)


This is just my input, I would not disagree with anyone who said that their own experience or perceptions differed.

paul

[Kosokun]

From reading your post, it appears that you don't want to devote the time for the long term study of a martial art. That's fine. That's your business and could very well be a good choice, for you.

Any art, even those mentioned by the others on the list will have various impracticalities in their instructional methods. That's fine. You have to remember, that all of these arts take a particular instructional approach and that in the end, after a lot of study, you'll be at your goal.

What it sound's like is that you're more interested in a first aid course, than a medical degree; an emergency auto repair course than an auto mechanics course of study. That's all well and good. It's a good thing to have figured out, before going to seek instruction.

So, given that, try to find a self-defense course that meets your needs. Specifically, you'll want the short, self defense courses.
No, long term program in any martial art ( Wing Chun, karate, Kali/arnis, whatever) will meet your needs, because of the time commitments required.

Rob

[Veerinson]

Didn't mean to come off as not wanting to put the time towards training. I'm more than willing to put the time towards training in an art. What I do want to avoid is wasting time and money trying out many different arts. As, I said, I'm not very educated in this kind of thing, but very interested, and was just wondering if one particular art was better for practical modern day self defense than any other. But as far as putting effort and time forward, I do what I can. For my competetion TKD for my college, I train 3 hours a week monday and wednsday, 5 hours on thursday, and 3-4 hours on Saturday. I'm not sure if that qualifies for "intensive study" of an art or not (I will err on the side of caution here and assume "no"), but as I said, I'm a college student, and I do what I can do.

[Veerinson]

Oops, forgot to say thanks to everyone for helping me out with those answers. I'll look into the things you suggested.
Erik

[waya]

I agree with Pablo, if we had a location we may be able to suggest specific schools in your area. Honestly though the best way to find out which art or arts would be right for you is to try them and also to feel the instructors out by attending a class or two under them. Ultimately the only person who will know what is right for you is you. As far as typically combative arts, I would suggest looking at Hapkido (of course I am a Hapkido student haha), Jeet Kune Do, any FMA, Bujinkan, and several others besides depending on your physical build and things like that. Maybe you could give us some more info on you and the schools in your area?

Rob

[Freeform]

If you want to learn to defend yourself fast, Western Boxing will give you the skills you need pretty damn quick. After this you could then go on to train in a more complete system which incorparates punching, kicking and grappling. Appart from this there ain't much I can say that ain't been said already.

Thanx

[Andrew Green]

No one can give you a good answer on this over the internet, its a teacher specific thing. You mentioned Aikido, some Aikido schools are very practical, others not, depends on the instructor.

I train in Okinawan karate and it is very practical, but some schools are no better then sport TKD.

If you want to go solely of a style reccomendation for an art I'd say go with a sport art, the quality is more consistent. It would have to be a full contact art or a grappling art though, or a combination of the two. Muay Thai, Judo, any form of Mixed martial art, etc.

If you want to learn to fight fast, you really should be doing full contact work. I personally believe that 99.9% of self-defence courses are completely useless, you cannot learn to defend yourself in a short period, and what little you do learn will be forgotten as soon as it hits the fan anyway.

Things are a lot different when someone sucker punches you in the face, or grabs you from behind without telling you how they're going to grab you, when they're going to grab you and what you should do about it.

The truth is you can train for years in a very practical style and still not be able to defend yourself if you don't have the frame of mind to do so.

Full contact training will help, but maybe not enough, at least it will toughen you up though.

Andrew

[Freeform]

I agree with that, self-defence is about 80% mental. If you ain't got the mentality to pop someone in the face well...

[Pablo]

"Mental, and Patience

My parents were Mental Patients..."


'A Fistful of Chopsticks'

:D


paul

[Sweeet]

I will side with 'Waya' on this and recommend that if, depending on the schools in your area, you can practically train in Hapkido, it would be the art that I would recommend. Of course my opinion is quite biased as I train mainly in Hapkido now among other arts, but I don't think that anyone would argue with me that generally, and depending on the quality of instruction - it is a very well rounded art, an eclectic art that is suited for modern times and is very street practical, and an excellent base for martial arts training IMHO. Of course, if that isn't available, Jeet Kune Do, Kendo, Kali/Arnis/Escrima, Choi Kwang Do, or in some cases Ju Jitsu are also good bets for practical self defense-fighting training.

Sweeet.

[Sweeet]

Forgot to add, let us know what you choose and how it goes.

[Tommy_P]

Hi Erik,


To be honest I, almost feel bad for you after reading all these replies. :) It seems to me more confusing than anything else as is usually the case with such a question.

You'll notice most replies sway a little towards personal preference which is a natural reaction. Unfortunately, I don't have the definitive answer either but I will key in on a few points from above posts.

First is your statement:
Both of the arts I have taken seemed to contain sever faults(don't yell at me for this please) for truly defending myself in the case of a attack on the street.


Ask yourself what these faults are and then use your answer to investgate and research. (visit allot of schhols). Most times for the quick self defense tactics traditional arts fall short as they are long term ....teaching the "way":rolleyes: Someone mentioned Krav Maga....I like that if you could find it.

Rob said:
What it sound's like is that you're more interested in a first aid course, than a medical degree; an emergency auto repair course than an auto mechanics course of study. That's all well and good. It's a good thing to have figured out, before going to seek instruction.

What more can I say....my reply is already pretty much a mirror of what he has said, I agree with his whole reply, being very generic and not pointing to specific styles. Knowing what you want before hand is good and although you answered this statement by saying this:

Didn't mean to come off as not wanting to put the time towards training. I'm more than willing to put the time towards training in an art. What I do want to avoid is wasting time and money trying out many different arts. As, I said, I'm not very educated in this kind of thing, but very interested, and was just wondering if one particular art was better for practical modern day self defense than any other.

You are looking for the quick fix...not that your not willing to put in the time "but" most traditional arts take time and it's time you may be wasting (in your words) to accomplish your more imediate needs. No one art is better than the other...it's more up to the individual.

All (most) traditional arts hold a common thread. Some see the differences.......I like to look at the "similarities".

Today there are more modern day classes (not arts) that are specifically geared to what you may be looking for. Those really have no name besides self defense. That now becomes a personal thing and you have to investgate for yourself. IMO, it should be as realistic as possible with no pitty pat non real time action or practice. Maybe even using protective gear?

Good luck

Tommy

[Jim]

Hard to answer without knowing you, ie. build, etc., but I agree with Freeform that I think you'll find hard style arts and western boxing to be what you're looking for. If you're able to put in the time you mentioned above you should be happy with the results.

[pgm316]

Hard question to answer. Depends a lot on the clubs in your area. Maybe pick a few and have look. I'm biased towards kung fu styles. I've found them more effective for street fighting.

If you want to learn something fast, consider boxing or kickboxing. Thats probably the most effective way to spend a year training.

[morphus]

I could say train in the same art as me, but then that might not suit you. So you'll have to try a few more than likely, just find one comfitable for you. GOOD LUCK!!!!

[Freeform]

I WOULD SAY TRAIN IN GOSHIN DO TAI JITSU, IT IS THE ULTIMATE STYLE, I WAS ONCE ATTACKED BY 12 KARATE-KA, 2 JUDO-KA AND THEIR DOG, AND DEFEATED THEM ALL IN 3 SECONDS, YES 3 SECONDS, I AM A GOD!!!!!!

(This is intended to be taken as a joke, MR Stewart cannot be held responsible for any offence taken :) )

Move around try different styles, find your own niche ;)

Thanx

[Big Bizz]

For what my humble opinion might be worth....

For self-defense without a spiritual commitment I would suggest Muay Thai or another form of Kickboxing with BJJ for your ground stuff.

If you want a well rounded MA that also includes a spiritual side to it I would lean towards Hap Ki Do.

Or... get a gun.

Cheers & Good Luck

[pgm316]

Kickboxing is effective, especially if you want to learn something fast. I've trained in both kickboxing and martial arts, personally I prefer the martial arts. A lot of people seem to think kickboxing is more effective, I don't know. But, could it be a biased view because fighters that train full contact, pro or semi pro etc are more likely to be kickboxers!?

I've often thought about, in martial arts the best fighters are usual the head teachers in there 50 and 60's, whereas in kickboxing its the ones in there 20's and 30's. I think this is because kickboxers rely more on conditioning, compared to martial artists that rely more on technique. Hence the quick results.

Just a thought.

[Big Bizz]

I personally would qualify Kickboxing as a MA.

I mean Muay Thai certainly is and most other KB have style from either MT or Karate or even TKD some hybrid forms probably all three. Not mention the boxing moves, just because boxing isn't an Eastern art doesn't mean it is not a MA either.

There are a lot of seriously technical moves in KB. For instance; strikes, punches, elbows, knees, front snap kicks, round house, mule and in some forms spinning kicks too.

Just my thoughts on the subject.........

Sean

[TkdWarrior]

from personal point of view i'll prefer BJJ and arnis or kali
BJJ will give u good grounding n might gave u heart n will to fight tilll the end..
arnis or kali will be the means to An END...
TKD,Karate takes way too much time...KF is then again gooooooes long way
-TkdWarrior-

[mild7]

LOL @ Pablo mentioning 'Ultimate Fighting' influenced styles not being practical.

A guy like Frank Shamrock could strike, clinchfight, and out grapple anybody on the street. There is nothing that is not practical about being able to do this.

Of course, somehow if he did a PRACTICAL style like Wing chun, which is COMBAT oriented he would be able to defend against guys wielding machetes, multi opponents, lions and tigers as well. Get a grip on reality dude.

Not singling out WC here, it is a great art, but 'practicality' is how you apply your own art. The best way to learn that is to do your own research and see how what you are doing fits into that.