Martial Arts training.

[Zhais]

Also, for the record, I dislike TKD. Too many people I see use ONLY their feet, and nothing with their hands. Was funny when I did a points-sparring tournament 2 months into my jeet kune do training, beat the school that was TKD. Was all just *wait, wait, wait, low block, punch to gut + head*. Granted that's low level, but the black belt sparring I saw there was ridiculously stupid.

[Fhqwghads]

I like boxing and kickboxing. Boxing is a hell of a lot more complex than people who have never actually done any boxing are aware of and dismiss it as "just punching." Kickboxing is even more complex as it adds legs into the equation.

What I don't like: grappling. I see it as a necessary evil to be well-rounded, but I'm not fond of it at all.

[Guitarman]

I'll second/third Jeet Kune Do. Definitely worthwhile if you can find someone teaching that.

Find an outfit that isn't family-geared for a better experience in my opinion, or at least will separate their money-making family schemes with those serious about learning the art. If it's all "OOOOOOH you betta RESPECT-a your senSE---I!" and all forms, not worth it. I've found the less 'traditional' the school is, the better education you actually get.

Jeet Kune Do is a philosophy, not something you can go and train in like karate.

wiki :

It is referred to as a "style without style". Unlike more traditional martial arts, Jeet Kune Do is not fixed or patterned, and is a philosophy with guiding thoughts.

Unless the instructor is Dan Isontanto, run, and run far.

I took karate for a number of years and am glad for the opportunity. It's a good, solid place to start if you're just getting into martial arts.

[Woozie]

Also, for the record, I dislike TKD. Too many people I see use ONLY their feet, and nothing with their hands. Was funny when I did a points-sparring tournament 2 months into my jeet kune do training, beat the school that was TKD. Was all just *wait, wait, wait, low block, punch to gut + head*. Granted that's low level, but the black belt sparring I saw there was ridiculously stupid.

This was true of my gym too. I had already been boxing for like a year or two by the time I started TKD (and I kept boxing for a while into my TKD training) so I was an exception. We very rarely trained in punches and most of our drills were either kicking technique or kicking combination. The only (useful) punches we ever learned was the jab and the straight right and the only time we did them was during warmup. We never worked on elbows or anything else with the hands. As a result, a lot of people were really bad at defending against a punching opponent, as I noticed in sparring and in tournaments. It also made them a little easier to fight against since all I had to watch for was kicks (which are waaaaay easier to avoid than punches in my opinion).

However, judges in the tournaments I went to put too much emphasis on kicks. It was a lot harder to score points with punches than with kicks unless you can knock them down or off balance (or off of the mat). I ended up relying more on kicks during tournaments for that reason (especially in low level tournaments where you can't punch to the head. It's nearly impossible to score a point with a body punch in the tournaments I went to, even if it landed very cleanly and knocked the guy into lower Earth orbit).

[TheTaru]

If you aren't passionate about learning a specific martial art, I'd say just go around to different gyms/classes in your area and find the best coach or sensei. It really makes a difference.

Anyway, I used to box quite a bit when I was healthy. The coach was great, I generally liked the people at the gym (which was pretty much dedicated to boxing/kick boxing), and it was something I was passionate about. Just try things out and find something you like.

[Meat]

krav maga or sambo.

[Woozie]

I like boxing and kickboxing. Boxing is a hell of a lot more complex than people who have never actually done any boxing are aware of and dismiss it as "just punching." Kickboxing is even more complex as it adds legs into the equation.

What I don't like: grappling. I see it as a necessary evil to be well-rounded, but I'm not fond of it at all.

I think grappling is pretty fun. As long as there's not a lot of stalling, it seems to be a much better workout than striking (though that could be because I'm used to striking and not grappling) and it also seems to require much more strategy and thought (though that could also be for the same reason). Though, overall, I like striking more (though, once again, could be for the same reason).

One thing I don't like about grappling is watching others do it. I'd rather see standup/striking.

[aduidarnenye]

I started with ITF style taekwondo (which uses more hand techniques than WTF) and liked that because it was quit aerobic. When I started martial arts I was looking for a fitness activity.

After a while I tried some traditional style jiujitsu. I did that for a year but it was quite painful with all the locks and throws. I got the basics and moved on.

I have, however, really enjoyed Savate, which is a French martial art. It is much more elegant kickboxing style than taekwondo and it has many more useful kicking techniques, combined with many hand techniques. There is also a stick fighting component called La Canne. It is hard to find a class for Savate if you're not in a big city however.

[Matthias]

I've been training in MMA lately with one of Brock Lesnar's (if you know who that is) trainers, learning BJJ, submission wrestling, and kickboxing. It's pretty interesting, but gotta be careful. The training is clearly geared towards competition, so there are a lot of holes in their defenses which are ignored because to make use of them would be against the rules. For example, it amazed me how many of those grappling moves I've learned leave the crotch wide open, but for competition that's illegal so that's the least of your concerns. Whereas traditional martial arts are all about self defense, survival, and ending the fight as quickly as possible and doing whatever it takes to be able to walk home after, so you're trained specifically to find and utilize openings like that immediately

So it really depends on how you want to approach it. If you're training for competition MMA is great but it's not the end-all combat sport like a lot of people like to make it out to be. Traditional martial arts can have much better application for general self-defense. I have a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and that tends to work best for me as I have big strong legs but not much upper body, so boxing and grappling definitely not my strength. But it's been fun to learn and I plan to continue. Once my year contract runs out I might start taking judo, which I've always been fascinated with. Or I might keep training MMA we'll see.

[Zhais]

Jeet Kune Do is a philosophy, not something you can go and train in like karate.

also from wiki:

The core concepts of JKD are derived from Wing Chun. This includes such ideas as centerline control, punching with a vertical fist, trapping, and forward pressure. Through his personal research and readings, Lee also incorporated ideas from boxing and fencing.


The philosophy should definitely be taught as well... but that's definitely coach-able. The ideas behind why you do what you do.

My instructor doesn't do 'pure' Jeet Kune Do (as much of an oxymoron as that is). It has a lot of JKD elements in it however. Lots of trapping, lots of forward movement, etc.

Actually what's kind of awesome... my first martial arts instructor basically taught all of the 'philosophy' of JKD, but without actually calling it as such.

[Kainos]

If you're looking to learn MA for self-defense and discipline I would suggest Kenpo, Karate or Kung-Fu. Stay away from "big" schools that charge a lot of money. Ideally you want to find an instructor who charges to cover costs and not just profit from his students. The best deal is a flat monthly fee with access to train whenever you want.

If you just want to learn how to fight do MMA or some kind of street/military fighting style in your area. In a real fight there are no rules and most traditional MA waste time learning useless katas and tecniques that wont work on the street. Jeet Kune Do is great if you can find a real school but I would be wary. There is only a handful of official schools whose instructers trained with Bruce Lee for a long period. The majority of them are fake. Stay away from Tae Kwon Do, Capoera or anything real flashy. It looks nice in the movies but is ineffective in a real fight.

Alternativly, if punching & kicking is not your thing try a softer style like Jujitsu or Hapkido. These focus more on grappling, joint locks and/or using your oponent's momentum to counter.

[Dimmauk]

also from wiki:

The core concepts of JKD are derived from Wing Chun. This includes such ideas as centerline control, punching with a vertical fist, trapping, and forward pressure. Through his personal research and readings, Lee also incorporated ideas from boxing and fencing.


The philosophy should definitely be taught as well... but that's definitely coach-able. The ideas behind why you do what you do.

My instructor doesn't do 'pure' Jeet Kune Do (as much of an oxymoron as that is). It has a lot of JKD elements in it however. Lots of trapping, lots of forward movement, etc.

Actually what's kind of awesome... my first martial arts instructor basically taught all of the 'philosophy' of JKD, but without actually calling it as such.

I learned Wing Chun after TKD and Kickboxing, because I felt like my hand skills were lacking. I absolutely loved it. And they loved me because there weren't alot of fighters with my background at the school. My favorite parts of Wing Chun was Sticky hands and Chain punching.

Ip Man taught Bruce Lee, which is why JKD has alot of Wing Chun.



If you have ever wondered, the wooden dummy's pokes mimics the typical stance, two arms and one leg forward. I asked my teacher once why there arent two legs, and he said if you cant see a kick coming from the back leg, then you suck as a fighter. LOL

[Yugl]

Also, it's not so much about what discipline you pick, it's a lot about what kind of Sifu/Sensei you want. Aggressive teachers will chew you up and spit you out regardless of the style, giving you worth to being there. While a lot just make you go through the motions and thats it. Try to find a small school where the teacher is able to work individually with you. The smaller the school and the better the teacher, the better experiance youll get, but it will be hard as hell. If you get in to a large school, and the teacher isnt hands on and just lets the seniors do the work, it wont be very rewarding.

This.

[Omniyoji]

Can't believe Dimmauk didn't recommend Dim Mak >_>

[Blarg]

if you cant see a kick coming from the back leg, then you suck as a fighter. LOL

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhnhq_exYt...or+belfort.gif

[Chips]

this thread makes me lol, didn't know we had so many active nerds

[Dimmauk]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Zhnhq_exYt...or+belfort.gif

LOL

Steven Seagal taught him that kick!

[Plow]

duh, if you want to be able to kick people's asses you go to the one with the black outfits, if you just want to be able to flip them through the air with your pinky when they look at you, go to the one with the white outfits

but all that really matters is you get the perfect headband anyway

[Deadgye]

I've always had an interest in Ninjutsu, but I've never bothered to look into actually learning it. And no, you don't learn how to make shadow clones. If I was to learn a martial arts this would definitely be the one I'd go for, with Taekwando probably being my secondary choice.

You could totally get away with "I'm not stalking her police officer, I'm just practicing my ninjutsu."

[Max™]

Aikido is fun, and useful. It flows well with Kenjutsu forms, as many of them are very similar to Aikido, only with a bokken... nevermind the Aikido forms that use a bokken.

JKD as was mentioned is a philosophy more than a "style". Work with Inosanto or a Wing Chun teacher if you're lucky enough, and otherwise run from random "As seen in Enter the Dragon!" schools.

Incidentally, Richardd, I pictured an elvaan twirling around doing Capoeira and blew a snot bubble laughing.