What is you favorite martial art and why?

And where do you put your hands? ;p

 

Its not so much where I put them but where they end up

I have a strict equal oppertunities gropeing policy

 

Ameri-do-te, because I get to re-stomp the groin.

 

Yeah....in the early 70's there was actually a Kung Fu flick where a dude was doing "Dog Style" (and get your mind out of the gutter)

He went around biting people and in the end, he was biting the groin

 

I love Muay Thai, but am also looking for some other arts to do. Tries TKD the other day, looking forward to testing AikiJutsu and Bujinkan.

 

if you like watching it, you'll probably enjoy doing it too.

 

I'm having a blast with shaolin kung fu. The forms are beautiful, varied and flashy. The physical training is insane (assuming you have a serious instructor, mine is an actual shaolin monk and it shows).

I wouldn't bet for it's "efficiency" in a real defense situation but then again I'm not training for that. I do some sanda too with my Shifu so I guess that's helpful.

Close second would be Aikido, although it's hard to find good instructors here.

Other things I did (karate, judo, fencing) didn't leave that good an impression.

 

Karate, because it has everything I look for in a martial art.

I tried many different martial arts. I started with TKD, but it was too much legwork for me and not enough fistwork.
Then I tried Boxing and it was amazing, but then after I learned the basics I got to do some sparring.
Turns out wearing contacts is not a good mix with boxing,
they told me I had potential however having to never get hit in the face is kinda.....
So I ended up trying some Muay Thai (next best thing in my mind) where I could protect myself with kicks and stuff and
the techniques were cool and all, but the people in that gym were wayyy too intense for me. Some of them had won
national tournaments and stuff and the head-trainer was a active pro, so I went there because of all the credentials.
But those Muay Thai guys were just way too scary, the atmosphere was super heavy and when I wasn't moving my body it felt like time was going in slow motion.
After a while I just cracked, because I just couldn't handle being stared at by those guys anymore. :cry:

I thought about doing Wing Chun instead and supposedly I found a proper school with a nice organization behind it.
The training was fine, but the attitude of every single person was seriously arrogant including the teacher. When I told them about my prior experiences with martial arts,
they started boasting about how a WC punch was stronger than a punch from Boxing and ranted on and on how awesome WC was etc. etc.
I really didn't care about any of that, because I had already done a fair share of research on Wing Chun. Sadly they are the only school in my neighborhood, so I had to quit Wing Chun as well.

After years of wasting away in football, I decided to give Karate a chance. The school was alright with nice facilities and the people were really disciplined and intense,
but not like the MT guys who had murder in their eyes. The training was kinda like TKD, except we did way more punching.
So after the first training I was angry with myself for not having tried Karate sooner. :bang:

/rant

Sorry about lifestory haha, I'm really bored atm.

 

yeah, for me it's about the people too. I don't care if you teach the best style on Earth, if I a don't like you I am out of there!

Oh my 2 cents. Hapkido brings me joy.

 

I enjoyed your story. I do kicky punchy karate too.

what style do you do?

Amen and awomen.

 

I began training from being somewhat "forced" to it. Because of my environment and resulting attitude, I was aggressive. Around the age of 10, I was always getting into fights. There was no inclination to solve any dispute other than physical. I had many punishments from my parents. A friend of my mother told her martial arts was a great discipline. So unlike many others who seek out the physical application of martial arts first, I was set on the course of its discipline values. In the 1960’s out of behavioral problems, my mother, against my father’s motion, signed me in a Judo/Ju Jitsu school. (Two instructors were Judo, one Ju Jitsu) My father is Italian and in those days could not accept anything non-European and had many prejudices.

In my town, boys in the 60’s were interested in boxing. Absent were wrestling programs, although there were common sports like football, basketball, and baseball. Boys who did not enjoy these athletics and were inclined to fisticuffs, often studied boxing. In my town, Judo was sort of new and shunned. I started in Judo and I was badgered about it in many ways. After going through Judo and Jiu Jitsu, I found out about Karate, specifically, Shotokan. After spending time there, I found a Tae Kwon Do school, and then Lee Jun-fan made Kung Fu popular, so I found a Kung Fu School. I was not a fad follower, as basically the family moved and I started a new martial art, which at the time, were unfamiliar. That is, until the fad or popularity caught up.

There were so many tales about Kung Fu, as they were regurgitated over and over. Fighting monks watching animals and being robbed….etc. As my years of physical training, I was on a quest for mental knowledge. I first started out writing authors on books, magazines, and over-seas correspondence. I had a few personal contacts and/or correspondence with monks from many sects. The “Shaolin Fighting Monk” idea became more far-fetched. Thus it took me awhile to overcome the denial. Over the many years, I would latch onto any martial art/artists

I started to find out many debunked myths and then the “Almighty Internet” came along, and really shook my world. Not only was there common knowledge of many things, there were truths surfacing about martial arts, which many still keep in denial.

I like all martial arts except anything giving name, reference, or fantasy about Shaolin.

http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77769&highlight=Shaolin&page=4

http://www.buddhistchannel.tv/index.php?id=46,4011,0,0,1,0

http://www.daikynguyen.com/eet/prin...es/san_francisco/2007/05-May/17/A-pg_0007.pdf

http://www.alljujitsu.com/kungfu.html



Shaolin Kung Fu: The Truth about Kung Fu History

Ignorance, Legend and Taijiquan

http://www.spiritualminds.com/articles.asp?articleid=1886

http://www.spiritualminds.com/articles.asp?articleid=1833

http://www.e-budo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5090

http://seinenkai.com/articles/henning/mythsofshaolin.pdf

http://10.202.6.30/pub/block.mp?sess...3/06/09/51.asp

http://10.202.6.30/pub/block.mp?sess...09/51.asp?t=dp

Commentary, October 17, 2003 &— Falun Gong on PBS, Yellow Bamboo Analysis, Treasure Scope Challenge, Quackery In Med School, Scientific American Questions Encyclopedia Britannica, Vortex Relief, and SkepDic Is Out...

Independent Lens . SHAOLIN ULYSSES: Kungfu Monks in America . Talkback | PBS

realbeer.com.au

Shaolin Temple Perspective - russbo Forum / Library

Dept. of Celebration: Drunk Monk : The New Yorker

http://www.exn.ca/Stories/2003/06/09/51.asp

http://10.202.6.30/pub/block.mp?sess...2&IssueNum=113

http://10.202.6.30/pub/block.mp?sess...bcpblog/?p=521

Shaolin Spear Monk [Archive] - JREF Forum

Beijingwushuteam.com: Shaolin Tour

Deng Feng Village, China (Where tourist put $200 in book to learn)

Stan Henning
Brian Kennedy and Elizabeth Guo
J.D. Brown-In his book, “China-The 50 Most Memorable Trips”, the author, J.D. Brown, states on pages 486-488:
Tang/Tung Hao;
The Han History Bib320 China Review International: Vol. 6, No. 2, Fall 1999© 1999 by University of Hawaii’s Press
Encyclopedia of Ancient and Modern Literature (1726)
Travels of Lao Ts’an (ca. 1907),
Illustrated Explanation of Shaolin Boxing Methods and Secrets of Shaolin Boxing.
Herbert A. Giles, “The Home of Jiujitsu,” in Adversaria Sinica (Shanghai: Kelly and
Walsh) 1, no. 5 (1906): 132–138.
6. Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, vol. 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1956), p. 145.
Tang Hao and Xu Zhen in the 1930s.

 

wrestling: Because clinch work, take downs and pins are such fun and a great workout
submission grappling: love subbing people it brings out the evil in me
Thai boxing: again love clinch work which allows striking and love just banging away
MMA cause i get to to put all the above together and also work up against a cage wall which is fun
CLF because something about throwing long range hooks uppercuts and overhands appeals to me
Hung gar because love throwing forearms and elbows and doing dymanic strength stuff and playing around with iron rings is fun
Bak mei and lung ying cause love those hakka close range arts

now if only i had the opportuntiy to train all the above on a weekly basis......oh wait i do :hat:

 

WMA, because I love history, and the variety in the systems (wrestling, weapon, kicks and strikes in the same systems)

 

Out of the systems I have actually training in Kempo Ju-Jitsu for the range of techniques and emphasis on the finish (having a Judo Sensei present with 50years experience as well is also handy!), Karate which was the first art I studied (Shotokan) but I got dishearted by that particular Ryu which I found to linear and rigid for my personal tastes (I started cross training Ju-Jitsu at the time) and I found the Kumite unrealistic (EKGB WAKO type) so I made a choice, after many years studying other arts I am again putting on a Karate Gi and white belt this time studying Kyokushin and love the emphasis on sparring and conditioning and looking forward to competing in the hopefully near future.

All the arts I have trained in have given something i.e Krav Maga for mindset,situational drills and weapon defense tactics, Jow Gar taught me how to flow between techniques, Kickboxing/Thai - realistic hand/kicking/clinch techniques and responding under pressure ect.

I truelly feel that Martial Arts is not something I do it is now something I am and I never want to stop learning and improving. Done a fair amount of cross style training but planning on going the distance with my two chosen arts.

Out of the arts I have not trained in or had limited exposure the FMA arts interest me with their flow drills and WMA (had a brief exposure through Terry Brown's group but was impossible to travel the distance required).

Osu!

Dan93

Cognito Ergo Sum!

 

Japanese Ju Jitsu

Contains elements of everything and all ranges. BJJ, Judo, Aikido, Shooto all came from it and it contains techniques from them all including weapons work, defence from and using.

Very complete and effective martial art (when taught properly at least)

 

I'm a big fan of Muay Thai just because it's so destructive.You learn how to use every portion of your body as a weapon to attack. You learn your kicks, elbows, and knees which many other styles of striking do not include.

 

The manly art of Bartitsu. where else can you learn 'how to overcome a ruffian who attacks you with a knife'
and wear a bowler and braces while you do it.

 

I have yet to see an art with the same level of power, speed, and beauty as karate. A good karateka is not only hard to hit, but hard hitting too! Combine that with some deadly throws, joint locks, pressure points, and the strongest stances I've yet seen, and there just isn't anything like it plus, kata is a beautiful thing to watch.

 

Thai boxing. Because its not all about how you hit. It's about how to defend and make it look like they are 10 x weaker than you
It requires total controll of your balance, mind, game plan and opponent
For me nothing can equal it

 

What about Sanshou?