Martial arts-help me pick one or two

I practiced Choy Lin Fut for about a year, at a Taoist temple here in Rio.

Basically (and this I heard from the chinese monk who ran the temple), Chinese Kung Fu is divided into two broad schools: northern Shao Lin and southern Choy Lin Fut.

The very first sequence (think "kata") I learned was the lin po, or Continuous Punch, which involved several movements that seemed disconnected at first (in a "Karate Kid" wax-the-floor kind of way). Then I asked my chi fu what those movements were. The lin po incorporates several movements that you use if you're in a fight with several assailants at the same time.

It included stuff like running your outstratched fingers hard on an opponet's brow, in order to cut the skin against the brow bone, blinding the opponent with his own blood, or grabbing hard at his... uh... "bag", and pulling it while punching hard against his stomach at the same time.

In a nutshell, Choy Lin Fut was the style that Bruce Lee practiced in Hong Kong when he was young. :)
 

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Aeson said:
How about a good one for weapons?
I do Fiore, which is a 15th c. European martial art. It's mostly weapons training, especially bastard sword, but unarmed combat is covered as well.

Apart from savate, capoeira (sp?) and wrestling, all of the martial arts mentioned so far in this thread have been Asian. There are European ones too. :eek:

Here's an article from a magazine about the Fiore club to which I belong and about the swordsmanship we practise: http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/gallery/album25

Correction: I just realised you can't read the article online as the text is too small and unclear. Please see the article just for the pictures and the club's main site at http://www.fioredeiliberi.org/ for more info on the art.
 
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I'm a fan of American Kempo, myself. Unfortunately my school shut down a few years ago, but I've been looking for another.
 



krichaiushii said:
And don't forget the Israeli Krav Maga.

Given the time, money, and a trainer, that is the martial art I'd like to train in.

I met someone when I lived in Montana who knew Krav Maga, seen him kick the hell out of this fat guy because he pulled a handgun on him.
 


I will join the chorus and say that its all about the instructor. The best martial art is the one you enjoy. Ignore the endless arguments about "Martial art X is WAY better than martial art Z!" Go with something you enjoy and, if you're lucky enough to find a good instructor, chances are you'll really enjoy it.

For what its worth, I've studied authentic Okinawan GoJu-Ryu Karate for about a year now and enjoy it a great deal.
 

With regards to weapon based martial arts- those arts require something to use- a weapon. Unless you happen to have a really cool trench coat, it might be unwise to base your personal defense exclusively on a weapon based art.

I would suggest learning a non weapon art, if weapons are your thing then learn that too.

Keep us up to date on your martial arts adventures. :)
 

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