Hey, so on recommendation of someone else on this forum I am making this thread. Basically I am looking to learn martial arts, but am kind of lost. I do not have any prior experience in MA of any form, but I guess my primary motivation to learn would be for self-defense. I do not work out but indulge in ocassional running and jogging, so I wouldn't consider myself to be in the best of shape. I am looking for a school in Vancouver itself. Can't really travel out because of university :/ I'm hoping this helps! Thanks in advance, Cassidy ps. I am female and 21 if that helps!
Universities generally have lots of martial arts classes you can attend, have you looked on their website?
Depends entirely on what you want - somewhere like this would be a great place to start though http://www.infighting.ca/
It would be worth your time to check out Loki Jorgenson's group there. It looks like they have two locations in Vancouver. http://maelstromcore.com/
hey, yes I did. I actually went to one of the classes (just to look) but didn't like the teacher (too much show and not enough practice) and the sizes of the classes were overwhelming.
Pragmatic Martial Arts is in Vancouver. The guy does some pretty neat stuff related to self-defense. http://pragmaticmartialarts.com/
My suggestion if get a quick ladies' self defense course, even if it just a one day course, that you may find taught on the university campus...at least that will give you some basic concepts and training to get started and get your mind working in that direction...As a lady, you need to learn defense from grabs and holds first...as you said, self defense...then delve more into martial arts if that is your desire... Bill Wolfe Combatives is in Vancouver...Ex SGt Major in the military/Ex Cop...great teacher with a great self defense/combatives system...pull it up online...you can see his daughter doing some of it on video against larger males...tell him I sent you(Carl from south Louisiana)... Here are some more ideas to educate you in your search...long post but loaded with information to aid you in your quest...pay particular attention to Wing Chun as it was created by a Chinese nun(supposedly, but that is another story) and is not based on power or strength, but quickness & reflex training and is designed to defeat a bigger, stronger attacker... Here are a few suggestions after 40+ years in 36 different martial art & combative systems...I have been teaching for 26 or so years, and I am still searching and learning...always a student... First of all, I think you want to decide if you want to learn a hard style, like Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Hung Gar Kung Fu, or soft style like some Chinese kung fu arts? Do you want to learn a throwing art like Judo or Aikido?? Do you want to learn a wrestling/ ground art of which there are many MMA gyms popping up to select from?? Some arts combine some of these aspects such as Korean Hapkido which combines strikes of kicking and punching with wrist locks and throws...Judo goes from standing grappling to throws and then ground work...but Judo and Aikido have virtually no strikes, by design...Judo was taken from Jujitsu and Aikido from Aikijutsu...all are good arts, but with different goals and focus on their training... There are others such as Western boxing, Kickboxing, and Thai boxing which is very brutal and heavy on conditioning... Wing Chun is designed to fight someone at very close range and is a blend of hard and soft techniques, with emphasis on quickness & reflex training & does not rely on brute strength, but instead uses leverage and superior angles to defeat and adversary...all kicks are low and are more street effective as such... Jeet Kune Do is Bruce Lee's creation, taken from his Jun Fan system, which was based off of his initial training in Wing Chun in Hong Kong, to which he added elements from 25 other systems as well... Filipino arts consist of stick and knife fighting, as well as empty hand drills and does not rely on strength... Indonesian Silat systems do not rely on strength either, are great for takedowns, and use a lot of drills similar to the Filipino hand drills... Krav Maga is an Israeli system which was designed by extrapolating from many different systems...very practical system designed to be street effective... Tim Larkin's TFT system is direct and brutally effective, but very expensive also... There are others, but that gives you a wide range... If someone were to ask me what to train I would tell them to try to find a trainer who teaches some kind of blend of some of these systems... (the legendary Dan Inosanto in LA used to teach it in phase training some years ago...don't know if he still does it that way)... I would say get some Boxing/Thai boxing, some standing grappling & ground fighting, some Wing Chun or Jeet Kune Do, some Filipino knife & stick work, maybe some Krav Maga/Haganah...those will get you started and round you out ...then pursue more of whatever you find out there that you like... That is the approach I take teaching here down in south Louisiana...I draw from most all the arts listed above, some much more than others... Like Larry Hartsell and Dan Inosanto would say, "Don't Box with a boxer, don't kick with a kicker, don't grapple with a grappler, they will beat you"...to be able to do that, you need to have at least a basic knowledge of each one... Hope this helps...if nothing else maybe gave you some more information...
How to paragraph properly. Hit the "Enter" key twice. See how much easier this is to read. Just a hint.
