Martial Arts

[Rinulin]

I thought that I would ask what experience people have with martial arts?

I'm curious because I feel like I need to pick up some self-defense training, but I know little about the various styles out there. I know that Tae-Kwon Do has become more of a sport karate, which I am not really interested in. What styles provide a reasonable level of self-defense training and exercise (not that Tae-Kwon Do doesn't provide self-defense, I'm just not really interested in the sport aspect)?

I have a light build (5'9, 145lbs.), so I am concerned about size being an issue.

Thanks in advance!

 

[DanMcS]

[rant]Wow, I hate when people say that. Some TKD schools are sport-centered. Many judo schools are, some karate schools are, almost all kickboxing schools are. But many taekwondo schools teach as traditional a martial art as you could hope to learn.

Had to get that off my chest. Bleh.[/rant]

The real answer to your question will depend on the schools in your area. In general, I've found kickboxing to be the most exercise-ful practice. For self defense, you can't go wrong with hapkido or jujutsu, which provide both grappling & escaping and striking training.

But really, any traditional style will give you what you're looking for in terms of exercise and defense; go to the schools in your area and observer or take part in a session or two. You want a teacher that isn't a macho hardass, because there's way too much of that in the martial arts in America. Talk to the students- if they're overly hyped you probably don't want to train there. They should use adequate protection when sparring, the instructor should be in control of the class at all times, they should work through some mixture of exercise-type training and technique training in most every class.

Visit more than one class, and by the time you've sat in on a couple, you'll have an idea of what's right for you. Let us know what you decide to do, and above all, once you join, stick with it for several months even if it's discouraging at the beginning.

 

[barsoomcore]

Good advice, and I'll just repeat it for emphasis:

It's ALL about the teacher. Any style being taught by a dork is dangerous. Any style being taught by a master is valuable. Don't even TALK about style -- go and visit the schools, observe how it's being taught, and observe how the teacher conducts himself or herself.

Any teacher worth a pinch of salt will be happy to let you observe at least one class without making a huge commitment. Talk to students and see if they're the sort of people you want to hang out with.

Martial arts training does not admit well to mass production and I would be suspicious of extremely large classes (more than fifteen people or so at a time) -- I would also be suspicious of any school that advertises itself with any sorts of grandiose claims -- either to spectacular prowess or ancient historical authority.

But talk to the people involved. That's what it's all about.

Good luck!

 

[Umbran]

I will repeat again, because I too believe it:

The teacher is more important than the style.

From there, there are two (edit: three) things to remember:

1) What a style is designed to do is less important than how well your body and mind fit the style. It would not matter if every expert in the world said that TKD is the best of all possible styles. I'm a big, blockish, none too flexible guy, and I'll never be particularly good at TKD. Shotokan karate, on the other hand, is right up my alley. My body and personal style mesh with the art well, and so I am better with it than I would ever be with TKD.

2) With most styles, it takes far longer than you'd expect to become good enough to consider yourself safe in a fight. There's an old saying that there's nothing more dangerous to a yellow belt than himself, and it is true. You will think you are safe long before you actually are safe, and that's dangerous.

3) Build doesn't mean nearly as much as you think. When fit and properly trained, a small person can do much. A large part of good training is perfecting form - making sure you hit in exactly the right way, with your body in exactly the right position to maximize effect. With perfect form, your weight and absolute muscle power don't mean much. The old, "if do right, no can defend" thing is true.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I'm pretty happy with Hapkido (Red Belt thus far)...but as has been pointed out, it's because of my intructor.

 

[olethros]

I'm very happy with kung fu at this point, but let me chime in with the others and say that the instructor can make or break the class.

 

[hong]

I'm very happy with kung fu at this point, but let me chime in with the others and say that the instructor can make or break the class.

How to tell if it's a good instructor, part XXVII: if they say they can teach you the five-point palm exploding heart technique, they're lying.

 

[Teflon Billy]

How to tell if it's a good instructor, part XXVII: if they say they can teach you the five-point palm exploding heart technique, they're lying.

Aw crap... :\

 

[Klaus]

I did some Choy Lin Fut (the southern school of traditional king fu, as opposed to the northern Shaolin) and found it to be extremely good.

Of couse I learned it in a taoist temple from a chi-fu (master) who studied under a chinese monk (the temple was run by said monk's son, who is now the main taoist figure in Brazil).

 

[nerfherder]

I guess it also depends how important the self-defense part is. I did aikido, but not really for self defense reasons - more for general fitness and the enjoyment of learning a new skill. I have heard that mixed martial arts are good for self-defense. As the name suggests, they teach different styles, with the emphasis on being useful for defence, rather than tradition. Again, I have heard that grappling/wrestling is a useful defence skill as fights often end up on the floor.

Note, I have never actually done any martial art other than aikido and have not been involved in a fight since school, so treat my comments accordingly.

Cheers,
Liam