I would like to make a thread for people who would like to learn a martial art for the purposes of self defense, and want to do it quickly. My chosen style is shorin ryu shidokan karate, but I don't suggest it for such a person. Most traditional martial arts take a long time to learn. I would suggest a more simple system like boxing, any thoughts?
We can teach people how to kick and punch. We can teach them how to hold a knife and use it. We can help people to develop strategy for competition. So while teaching someone to box gives them the basic tools for a physical conflict. It won't necessarily teach them how to fight their way out of mugging. As for how long it takes to learn a particular art. Or even how effective a particular art is. Maybe when thinking about boxing we should consider that many boxers take up their sport as children or teenagers. And they then don't get to the level where they get noticed until they're in their early 20's. Boxers actually have to put in a lot of training to be as effective as they are with the tools they have at their disposal. In fact most boxers very likely put in more hard training than 99.9% of TMA students. And that's what makes the difference. Boxers are pressure tested often.
I don't know about self defense courses, many that I have seen tend to be relatively poor. Not that there aren't good ones, I just have yet to come across one. The reason I said boxing is because the basics of boxing can be learned rather quickly. Becoming a good boxer is a different story but a grasp of the basics will put someone a step above the average joe. Not trying to put boxing down as easy, boxers condition more than most martial artists.
This is the reason I decided to take up boxing (very recently). I wanted to learn something that gave me the oppurtunity to defend myself against a fully resisting opponent. I looked at judo first for the same reason but unfortunately the instruction at the nearest club wasn't that great. ideally I'd like to learn something like aikido but at 34 I don't think I have the time to be able to get proficient enough to able to use it in a self defence situation. Not that I have a short time to live or. anything its just I think with boxing you can put the skills into practice immediately (should you need to)
Nobody's talking about courses, I'm talking about self defence training. You could start with the thread here, then go to read any of JWTs Sim Day threads as a starting point Mitch
Id say the basics of self defence can be learnt quicker than the basics of boxing,id go with what mitch said,if you want self defence train in it,its like wanting to train football and doing rugby
I've never done any SD training but do you get the same kind of fitness/conditioning that you would get with boxing?
The reason I ask is that I would imagine that levels of fitness/conditioning could be quite relevant in a self defence situation and therfore worth taking into consideration in this discussion. I'm not speaking from a position of experience though. What do you think?
I don't teach straight self defence very often, but my take on the boxing training is that you have to train for the possibility of a number of rounds. That requires a degree of endurance and resilience that is beyond what is required in SD. That is not to say that it should be neglected in SD, not by any means, more that the focus is different. SD does not need to cover surviving a potential war of attrition over multiple, multiple minute rounds. It should equip you to function at a high intensity under pressure for a short period of time. Put it this way. Any ahtlete in any combat sport would rather finish their contest in 5 seconds by knockout/sub/whatever. But they do have to train for the possibility of lasting a longer contest, especially if they are training for a particular opponent. Training for SD doesn't have to address the 10th round in the same way, but fit people can still work better at a greatly elevated heart rate without losing power/speed. Mitch Mitch
When people start boxing they fight under amateur rules. At most they will be training for 3 x 3minute rounds. I think the type of fitness that amateur boxers have to develop is very transferable to a SD situation.
9 minute SD situations with rests in between? I'm being slightly facetious, but you take my point I'm sure; boxing training is brilliant for boxing, that's exactly what it's designed for. Well designed SD training should be brilliant for SD purposes, which is likely to mean maximal effort for a minute or so at a rough guess. Mitch
How long does it take to develop the fitness level required to survive 9 minutes of boxing with someone who wants to beat you and win? The answer will of course be relative to your level of fitness when you begin your training. From what I can tell people tend to recommend boxing because the perceive it as being simple without taking in to account the amount of out of the ring training a beginner might need to put in.
Hi, I also feel its important to ensure that the legal side of self protection is taught alongside, take it from someone who recently had to defend himself and is now in trouble with the law because of it and is being charged with assault (can't go into details as due in court soon). We fight as we train and thats generally how we will respond to an attacker. Has turned my world upside down at the moment. . . and would not wish it on anyone. food for thought. Osu! Dan93
All of them (excepting pros), otherwise they are not "doing boxing", regardless of what they are training in.
Let me re-phrase so we can be clear. Of all the people who regularly attend a boxing gym for some kind of training, what % go on to compete in an amateur boxing match? Mitch
