So around 5 years ago I spent 4 months getting to yellow belt in Judo, however soon after it closed down. I really enjoyed it, however there is nowhere else within a reasonable distance to me that does Judo unfortunately. In general i'm looking for a MA that's similar to Judo, but incorporation of striking and/or kicking would also be fine. I want to learn primarily for health, enjoyment and mind reasons, however learning self-defence would be a bonus. Hope you guys don't get too many of these 'which martial art should I choose' threads. Thanks,
We get loads of these threads! I don't know about anyone else but I always like these threads! Find out what's available in your area is absolutely key! Arts similar to Judo: BJJ, Sambo, Wrestling (Greco, freestyle, folstyle, Catch wreslting). Good luck!
Thanks for the information! What would be arts that are similar to judo but with less groundwork than those you mentioned? Thanks,
I was looking into wing chun since there seems to be the best teachers around here, and I guess it wouldn't be a problem to learn wing chun and see where my interests take me.
Whatever floats your boat. Wing Chun is nothing like judo though. And generally speaking it is hard to find a good school.
See if there's a kajukembo school around. You'll have a leg up on the judo part of it. I've never tried it myself, but it looks fun.
If you want arts with less groundwork then judo but with striking, you need to look for standard western jiujitsu, but qc tends to be poor and there wont be any sparring, generally all sparring grapplings arts will also do groundwork, as that's the natural progression of grappling.
You working in foreign affairs or for the State Department? To Chobo: Serious question: how much of your time are you willing to WASTE? This is not a derogatory question, just really, ask yourself this. People often say that "don't throw the baby out with the bathwater," but if all you want is the baby but the amount of bathwater is equivalent to the sea, would you spend your life-credits (aka time; time is a unit of life) getting that certain baby? Ask yourself this question when you look for wing chun. And don't believe the Donnie Yen movie, fer chrissakes it's a MOVIE.
where? RIght, it seems that the first thing that we need to know is where you are m,ate in order to help you vet where you could train. Can you tell us the country, region and/or city you are in? You know that there are some chinese grappling arts such as Shuai Jiao (we have a former champion on MAP who might be able to advise you) as well as chinese arts that include stand up grappling in their repetoires (e.g. Hung Gar). Many arts have an element of grappling such as joint locking or throws included although that might not be the prime focus of the arts (chin na). So yes there are chinese martial arts that might offer something but to be honest wing chun would not make my top ten for the things you are asking for. Just sayin. LFD
I'd say that ANY standing combat art will be good for you. I do Muay Thai, WC and Jeet Kune Do and in any of them you would learn the basics of striking and kicking. JKD is probably the most well-rounded (that's why Bruce Lee started it) but in any of them you'll learn to fight standing. Then you just compliment this with your judo. If you get into a fight, any art that teaches you striking will help and if you go to the ground, you use your grappling judo skills.
