Choosing A Martial Art Zone

Question: Can someone help me choose a martial art to study?

(Posted by: Coyote Starrk on 2009-12-17 20:47:14)

Ok so me and my friends where talking and we all wound up promising each other that after we graduate we would all study a martial art form and in 10 years meet up and test our metal( I now it sounds dumb but the theory is that you become closer friends through combat). Well the problem is that they all know what it is there going to study but I dont .So I was hoping maybe someone who already studies martial arts can help. ok so first I’m out of shape, I don’t work out (yet I’m still really strong it’s weird), I’m not too fast but faster than I look and have great reflecsas for some weird reason O and I don’t now if this maters but I can take a punch pretty well to. now let’s get one thing clear I’m not just doing this because I want to fight my friends iv always wanted to learn some type of martial art to try and help me focus and be discipline as well as to help me spiritually. So if you have any advice it would be much apresheated.

Posted by: ChaZ on 2009-12-18, 22:34:11

From what you're describing you want something tradional in terms of a martial art, with culture, history, etc? am I right? wrong? anyway, personally I think you should try tradional Japanese Ju Jutsu. In terms of martial arts, "hard " arts like kung fu, karate, TKD, muay thai, etc. (arts that involve striking) rely heavily on the person's abilities which very much stems from you're fitness. "soft " arts like ju jutsu, akido, and I guess maybe wing chun (not exactly sure if wing chun is a soft or hard art) rely mostly on technique rather then ability, so for someone out of shape, it seems more practical. Of course ALL martial arts rely on both ability AND technique but the focus skews depending on the art. now, in terms of choosing a school, I recommend avoiding Brazillian jiu jitsu. The technique and training is all there, but the traditions tend to be lost as its most akin to the modern arts like freestyle [insert martial art here] or mixed martial arts. It's practical, but not traditional and in terms of choosing between representing the Gracie (innovating family of BJJ) spirit or the Samurai spirit, samurai has a better ring to it. Also, if you choose a good school, they should not only teach you the techniques but also get you to the fitness required to be a good martial artist... as for me, when I was doing ju jutsu, I was drilled like a mofo, where it got the stage where every class felt like a boot camp lesson, which is actually a good thing. Well, I hope this helps.

Posted by: Schooleasyas123 on 2009-12-17, 20:55:39

Capoiera is pretty kool

Posted by: Ricky on 2009-12-17, 21:14:11

Capoeira is your best bet.

Posted by: Jas Key on 2009-12-17, 21:15:24

Hey I think meeting up with your friends to fight it out is a great reason to learn. (better than 'I want to be better fighter than everyone on Earth' or 'so that I can beat the $#!* out of someone') your interests in culture and what range you want to fight at might be something to consider. the fact that you want the self discipline aspect of martial arts is also very important. (as much as the 'I want to fight' reason) you feel out of shape so I'm going to assume you also want to get in shape while doing the martial art. (btw I'm taking a lot of liberty in guessing what you want because you didn't really give these info) let's start with fighting aspect of martial arts. you actually want to fight so you are most likely not going to join senior citizen taichi or mcdojo TKD/ Karate. but at the same time you would like a self discipline and character building aspect of the martial arts, which takes out very competition based arts like boxing, kick boxing, muay thai, and mma. (not that they are not character building but they are aimed more on efficiency and leaving how you use what you learned up to you) And I'm going to assume that you want to get in shape while doing all that, taking away few kenpo and other styles that likes to theorize more than they like to move. (okay not being fair to kenpo, there are some good ones out there) The style that comes to mind is Kyokushin Karate. it's good mix of all the things mentioned above. if your friend already chose Karate and you don't want to choose the same style... how about... Savate (french kickboxing) based on European ethics (kinda character building, not really), but really good for fighting and good work out. (Savate was the martial art style that won in the early UFC when Gracie didn't enter) Krav Maga would be there as well... but once again character building is not really there, but very reality based martial art. good for fighting and pretty good work out. (down side is that some techniques are not meant to be used in sparring setting) that's all I can think of, but I'd suggest Kyokushin Karate once again.

Posted by: Sam on 2009-12-17, 21:19:41

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the most effective combat Martial Art.

Posted by: MRD.Taekwondo on 2009-12-17, 21:44:59

Taekwondo ITF and Brazilian jiu jitsu are 2 bests.You get speed and learn fight in the range for Taekwondo ITF and you could learn the grappling and be powerful for brazilian jiu jitsu.Karate kyokushinkai is the most powerful fighting style in the world but it doesn`t matter you need a power but not at all.If anyone says you that you have to practice muay thai,don`t practice muay thai this is so stupid fighting style!!!

Posted by: gameNess on 2009-12-17, 23:35:27

Muay thai, bjj, boxing, wrestling

Posted by: Daniel on 2009-12-17, 23:39:50

"Taekwondo ITF and Brazilian jiu jitsu are 2 bests " Don't listen to this guy, he is a joke. Unless you want to slightly misjudge a kick in a fight and break your foot don't take Taekwondo, it's a useless art. Brazilian jiu jitsu is a good art but I wouldn't take it if you don't like grappling. I would take something up like Mauy Thai or a style of Kung Fu if you can find a legitimate teacher. There is no 'best' art, try a few out that appeal to you. Don't cross Aikido or Judo off the list either.

Posted by: Annajollyday on 2009-12-18, 20:27:24

MMA mixed marital arts, that gots a bunch of stuff from lots of different styles, if you want spiritaly i suggest aikido, it's so much fun! ^_^ it's not like other marital arts, there's no yelling or unless someone get's hurt (so funny guy got hit in the foot with a tanto (wooden knife) and all you heard was this loud OW! and a bunch of laughter) you get to use 3 weapons, tanto, joe (staff) and a bokken (wooden sword) or those other ones, my sensai had 2 and i used it my first day in swords parctice, idk what hteir called they look like wooden closed unbrella, most marital arts are based on ki energy but aikido really revovles around it, unbendable arm, people not being able to lift you off your feet, it's fun! aikido not as phyical as other martial arts, but it does requir to at least get some kind of strength, you don't really fgiht, you blend with your enemy and do a pin if that is the move, pins hurt so bad sometimes! so it's good that you can take a punch, i can't really, i go home sometimes and my wrists hurt so badly! image you like flipping your friend, lol it's alot like wrost case senario, they punch do this this or this, person sits on top of you do this, 2 or 3 people grab you do this, really cool although hapkido was made from a dude who took aikido who ddin't this it was realistic enough, youll screw up your back in hapkido though karate and tiw quwan doe are good fighting ones, but they requir ALOT of phyical work!