Beginning Martial Arts

how about 52 blocks?

maybe bando or lethwei?

maybe fma?

read through the whole thread. basically it's an advise which covers stuff like:

what's in your area? how credible is the teacher? how do you fit in in class? how does the style fit you?

taking my examples. how many gyms in your area teach 52 blocks? bando? lethwei? filipino martial arts? if the answer is none, then you go back to "what's in your area?"

p.s. if you've done boxing i'd say stick with it. ask your coach to teach you "the dirt". you know: little headbutts, short knees, "accidental" elbows, foot stomps, little shoulder striking, little eye pokes (e.g. thumb to the eyes), dirty clinching, etc, etc. there's a lot more to boxing than what you see in the ring.

 

It looks like I registered here a long time ago but never really posted anything. So I'll start off by asking a question.

About two months ago I decided it was time to get into shape and I started working with a personal trainer at my local gym. Right now I'm doing strength training three times per week and cardio three times per week. I've been thinking about possibly picking up a MA to replace my cardio workout. Let's face it - running on a treadmill or elliptical for more than eight minutes is far too uninteresting for me. So I guess I have two questions.

Would coupling a MA with my strength training be too intense for a beginner such as myself? (I guess that would depend on which style though...)

So are there any particular styles that are better suited for this than others?

 

I'm no conditioning expert. But I'd say that some classes are definitely going to be better than others if aerobic conditioning is your goal. You're probably going to want a class with a particular training style. Less talking and theory and more participation and experience. That doesn't necessarily fall strictly along style lines. You might, for instance, find a taekwondo school where the teacher tends to lecture. But another school might have you running laps, doing kicking drills, and sparring until you're ready to drop.

That said, I'd have a look for some of the competitive-based arts. Boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, Brazilian jiujutsu, MMA, etc. Because performance is going to be such a fundamental part of their outlook on training, you're likely to get a lot of conditioning work plus an overall "deeds, not words" outlook. Both of which are going to keep you moving and not wondering how much longer the lecture is going to last.

That's a generalization, of course. Always is. The true measure is always going to be checking out a few classes and seeing what's what. But as a general guideline, if you're not moving the whole hour, you're probably going to get frustrated.



Stuart

 

I visited a school this weekend and sat in on their MMA class. The school is about 30-35 minutes from where I live and they have classes for many different styles. They do MMA, BJJ, Muay Thai along with some others like Kung Fu and Aikido. Membership runs for $115 per month and that includes access to both of their facilities (they have two) and you can get in on any class you like how ever often you like.

So what are some of the things I should look for to determine whether or not this is a 'black-belt factory?' Do you guys think this is too expensive?

 

You are already on the path to finding this out for yourself through observation.

Before you commit, observe a few more classes. Find out when their biggest class days are and watch one or two of those. Find out what day or days they test each month and observe the different levels of testing. Are the students just going through the motions or do they really know what they are doing?

The absolute best method, IMHO, is to go with them to a tournament. "Talk is cheap" as the saying goes. Observe the dojo's students in competition, both forms and sparring. If they hold their own, they are fine. If they win all categories, sign up immediately. If they get their clocks cleaned all around, consider saving your money for the next Bruce Lee film festival.

This next thought can be a bit controversial. Like anything else in our community, a Dojo survives on funding. The $115/month fee covers some costs but not all. Testing is another means to generate finances since each time a student tests for a belt they pay a fee. The higher the belt, the higher the fee. Some of this cost goes to the national HQ of the dojo's style, most of it stays in the dojo.

Testing and belts are a means of determining a student's level of expertise. They can give a student a sense of accomplishment. OTOH, the system can be abused as you alluded in order to generate income.

If you are in a dojo where students are going through one belt test/fee per month with only a couple classes per week, I'd start to suspect it is a belt-factory.

Hope this helps.

 

HKF, I'm 38 years old and I'm going to start practicing again after a ten year layoff. the best options in my area are aikido and vee arnis jujitsu. what do you know about vee arnes and aikido. no insult to either art but vee is relatively new and aikido seems a little choreographed. please help

 

Question

I am in Memphis. I train in all styles but I like one style much more than the others. SNKD is that style but my teacher named abeouin bledsoe quit working with me because i would not bring my manual chair to practice. DO you know anybody body else in memphis that does SNKD?

 

Hi Hongkongfuey,

It was good to read your comment welcoming questions from beginners. After 10 years of Tai Chi, I felt I needed a somewhat harder MA, and have taken up the Korean MA of Hapkido. Daft as it seems I feel I'm back on a long, but good learning curve. Do all Martial artists feel this way?
Have a good day,
Hapkidoangel

 

If your looking for a an intrunal martial arts then Pa-Kua Zhang is a great style to practice.

 

I really must remind Saz to hurry up with that spell checker

 

I am just starting out in martial arts and was wondering on average how long does it take to get a black belt?

 

I have a friend that started Judo aged 12 and is now a Brown Belt. He is now about 20 years old. 8 years different from the time he started till brown belt. He has impressive abs, it is obvious that he trains a lot. Although he has little confidence in Judo because he has not yet realize that people who cannot fight on the ground would not be able to bet him and that does not help the fact that the only last local Judo club is getting less popular after the arrival of Brazillian JiuJitsu here. To answer the original question, if you train really hard, you can get a black belt after 10 years.

 

thank you

 

depends on what art. bjj could take years and years. others less. but i say why would it matter? martial arts is about the learning not the title.

 

Umm ... you want to do what?

 

i totally agree, and which is the main reason i want to get back into it. learning and the way it affects my life - not the title or belt.

 

Hi guys, I'm not sure how active this thread is anymore but I'm going to go ahead and post my questions anyway and see if I'm lucky enough for a response.
So I'm a 15 year old girl, I stand about 5'10" and weight 218 lbs. I want to take up a MA that is sport based...i.e. I want to train to fight in bouts. I've considered Muay Thai and BJJ, but I really don't know that much about them. I want something that combines striking, grappling, and footwork. I'm not asking for which MA is the best, just which are the more sport-based ones and what do they involve? I want to fight like they do in UFC (sort of that general idea, anyway).

If I were to take up a sport MA to possibly train for bouts, would my instructor want me to be in good shape when first starting out? Are instructors willing to spend the time to get their fighters in good shape, or do they want someone who's in good shape to start out with? I'm not in good shape so I need some kind of solution...

To sum it all up, I want to know which MA are most sport-based and what do most instructors expect at the beginning from someone wanting to train under them?

Thanks for any help and advice!

 

Yeah, don't put off training because of fitness, fitness will come as a result of training...

 

its called Kiaijutsu and its acctualy japanese.
and YES it is dangerous and it is real, if done properly and for long enough it can acctualy kill people