[solo]

I haven't seen a thread about this. It would be interesting to discuss pros and cons with the different styles. Obvious criteria would be which ones are best to defend yourself and which ones have some philosophy/inner game to it.

[blurb]

I talked with a martial arts instructor once. He said that karate works only when you're standing up. But when...let's say... some guy's on top of you trying to beat you up it doesn't do you any good; it's useless. For that situation, you'll need tae kwon do.

[Geronimo]

(05-22-2011 05:20 PM)blurb Wrote:  

I talked with a martial arts instructor once. He said that karate works only when you're standing up. But when...let's say... some guy's on top of you trying to beat you up it doesn't do you any good; it's useless. For that situation, you'll need tae kwon do.

On the ground using TKD? You mean Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

[speakeasy]

(05-22-2011 05:20 PM)blurb Wrote:  

I talked with a martial arts instructor once. He said that karate works only when you're standing up. But when...let's say... some guy's on top of you trying to beat you up it doesn't do you any good; it's useless. For that situation, you'll need tae kwon do.

TKD if someone is on top of you while on the ground?? Lol... That's the most laughable thing I've heard in awhile. TKD has a pretty bad reputation in the MA community even standing up. If you are on the ground on you back getting pounded, only Brazilian Jujitsu will save your ass at that point. For grappling and taking people down, then Judo or Greco-Roman wrestling, or Russian Sambo. For standup, mastering boxing and Muay Thai will make you a very dangerous person.

Obviously all the MA styles have their strengths and flaws, so it's best to learn something that combines the best aspects of all styles into one system. If you are really serious about fighting, then join an MMA gym. Or take Krav Maga. I took KM for 5 years and think it's probably the best system overall when it comes to teaching the basics of fight from the standup, grappling and ground positions. It won't necessarily get you ready to fight in a cage, that's what MMA gyms are for. But for self defense on the street, I think KM offers the best bang for your buck since it blends many different styles and takes only what's effective from each.

But if one particular style of fighting interests you such as Karate as you mentioned above, and you only want to study that purely, I've heard that Kyokushin is the most effective style of Karate to learn.

Whatever you decide on, ask the instructor up front if they make the class spar, and spar hard(to the point that there is some element of danger). If they don't, you are wasting your time. You should be a bit nervous before your spar. In KM class I've seen guys get knocked out, broken ribs, lost teeth, torn knees, hyper-extended joints and all kinds of shit. They don't fuck around in there. They don't want you to get hurt and you wear safety gear, but that's the only way to really learn how to fight is by sparring hard and feeling the adrenaline rush of getting pounded by some guy twice your size.

[OGNorCal707]

I think speakeasy's got it nailed down, Krav Maga is widely considered the most practical and lethal form of martial arts. If you really want to be be a beast though, I don't think you can go wrong with learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai kickboxing, as both seem to be the foundation for MMA guys (BJJ ground, M.T. for stand-up). I am know expert, but I have good things about Kempo Karate.

[YoungGunner]

Krav Maga all the way, but supplement ground fighting with BJJ. I do both and will say Krav is the best you can learn but BJJ has helped me alot during Krav sparring when its gone to the ground and I've happened to be much better there than the other guy. Krav groundwork takes moves from BJJ but doesn't get that in-depth, so if you take BJJ additionally you'll be far ahead (if you end up going to the ground, which Krav advises against strongly) when you start on level 1. Be prepared to work your ass off though, like speakeasy said, it never gets easy and sparring can get ugly. Usually if you're starting out on level one (at Krav Maga Worldwide) they'll begin the class w/ bodyweight exercises/plyometrics, bag/pad striking (all without a break) and once you're a little fatigued they'll start teaching/ drilling the technique. At the end of the class, there's usually a free for all where everybody practices the technique on each other. i.e if you learned a choke defense that day, everybody will run around trying to choke eachother and each person has to make the defense.

Also, if you want to focus on anything like weapons fighting or knife fighting there's silat, but weapons are a whole other system.

[FretDancer]

I'm an Aikidoka and I must say its the most interesting martial art I've seen and I'm glad I chose it. To decide which martial art is for you you gotta research and observe alot of martial arts, like the ones the guys already mentioned. Read about them, watch videos, look at pictures, focus on the one that for some reason interests to you most wether its because its aggresion, peacefulness, philosophy, etc.


Good luck and let us know what you decide.

[OSL]

I'm about to go do muay thai in thailand for like 3-4 months....but I love it for sport/art and would suggest krav maga as well for practical purposes.

Some basic weapons training couldn't hurt either.

[solo]

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm not at all interested in competing professionally, it's only for practical (game and self defense etc) purposes. It would be cool to do come weapons training but I doubt I'll have any real use of it.

Has there ever been a championship between professionals of different martial arts? A karate pro against a kung fu pro etc. It would be interesting to see who won.

[Geronimo]

Quote:

Has there ever been a championship between professionals of different martial arts? A karate pro against a kung fu pro etc. It would be interesting to see who won.

Yes. Browse youtube. Anyways, it's not the martial art, but the martial artist.

[Mr.GM]

BJJ is very good but I confess that I don't like to be rolling with a sweaty dude on top of me LOL.But its a very good technique tough.
Muay-Thai and boxing all the way.

[amistod]

(05-23-2011 04:27 AM)youngmobileglobal Wrote:  

I'm about to go do muay thai in thailand for like 3-4 months....but I love it for sport/art and would suggest krav maga as well for practical purposes.

Some basic weapons training couldn't hurt either.

please post extensively on this.. i am very interested in doing this at the beginning of next year.

[Brian]

i had a martial arts instructor once who was a beast and knew pretty much everything about every martial art out there. its all he knew. that being said, he said krav maga is overrated and must have had a great marketing person.

[Giovonny]

Don't focus on one specific style while ignoring the rest. You never know what can happen. You've got to be ready for anything. In real life, you don't get to pick the fighting style of your opponent. You have to adjust to his strengths and weaknesses.

Thats why Bruce Lee invented JEET KUNE DO

[Ami5]

I am a Blue belt in Taek Won Do and have been on the national level fighting as such. Although that was when I was 15

Let me put it very clear...
If you are standing up - Taek Won Do, Karate, Jujitsu and Jeet Kune Do. They work real good. I have seen guys learning Brazillian Juijitsu and Russian fighting, I dont give a damn about it all! Its pretty much worthless.
Although I must say, Judo has been worthless always... ALWAYS !

If you are down - TKD still is not bad. At this point I must mention there is not a huge difference between TKD and Karate. But yes, you are not VERY strong when down while using TKD/Karate.

But if you can learn, go for Jujitsu. Its way better - useful and real good!

[azulsombra]

Judo, ALWAYS worthless??? hahaha...I gotta laugh at that. Especially considering BJJ came from Judo. Dude you have no clue what your talking about, you've obviously never sparred against anyone with good Judo skills. I have respect for almost all martial arts because I've been exposed to quite a few. So if Taekwondo works for you more power to you, just don't talk run your mouth about things your ignorant of.

Ideally you should crosstrain in several disciplines if you want to be the "ultimate fighter".

[Geronimo]

(05-23-2011 11:04 PM)Ami5 Wrote:  

I am a Blue belt in Taek Won Do and have been on the national level fighting as such. Although that was when I was 15

Let me put it very clear...
If you are standing up - Taek Won Do, Karate, Jujitsu and Jeet Kune Do. They work real good. I have seen guys learning Brazillian Juijitsu and Russian fighting, I dont give a damn about it all! Its pretty much worthless.
Although I must say, Judo has been worthless always... ALWAYS !

If you are down - TKD still is not bad. At this point I must mention there is not a huge difference between TKD and Karate. But yes, you are not VERY strong when down while using TKD/Karate.

But if you can learn, go for Jujitsu. Its way better - useful and real good!

[FretDancer]

Shit, I must admit Jiu Jitsu looks very scary.

[blurb]

Anyone have good tips/advice to someone who's starting out boxing? Obviously, you get what you put in, but how important is it to have a good coach?

[olivherbst]

@blurb: Actually, the coach is what makes or breaks EVERYTHING. If the coach sucks, then the martial art sucks, no matter what style he is teaching.

I´ve been into the martial arts my whole life, longer than I can think back. And I just can second it: For learning how to actually fight, join a krav maga or mma gym. For inner game purposes, martial arts is not the way to go. Most instructors try to sell their art´s tradition and spirituality to the students. So instead of becoming more confident in your everyday life, you submit yourself to a system hundreds of years old, without actually getting something out of it.

For streetfighting there are some pretty awesome and extreme dudes out there, like Richard Grannon or Lee Morrison. But again: Learning how to fight will not help your game.

[Mrs. Chocolate]

I want to start muay thai and krav maga, what do you think? since I am 1.53m

[Moma]

(05-25-2011 06:51 AM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  

I want to start muay thai and krav maga, what do you think? since I am 1.53m

Your height doesn't matter. This is self defense, not NBA basketball.
Go for it, Chocolatina.

[Brian]

(05-24-2011 09:55 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  

Shit, I must admit Jiu Jitsu looks very scary.

it takes a while to get good but once you figure it out you can be very dangerous in a lot of ways. watch old tapes of royce gracie before people knew what he was doing or how to stop it.

[hoops330]

(05-25-2011 03:52 AM)blurb Wrote:  

Anyone have good tips/advice to someone who's starting out boxing? Obviously, you get what you put in, but how important is it to have a good coach?

Blurb, I boxed amateurs for about 4-5 years and the only thing I can say is that it takes a lot of time and maybe GManifesto can attest to that. Are you boxing to compete or boxing for a workout because the answer to your question will depend on your goals. If you're boxing to compete you definitely want to have a good trainer as well as a reputable gym with good sparring competition. If you're boxing to get into shape and maybe learn a little self defense then I wouldn't stress myself trying to find a great trainer/gym. Get yourself a heavy bag and workout from home once you know the basics.

[Mrs. Chocolate]

(05-25-2011 08:41 AM)Moma Wrote:  

(05-25-2011 06:51 AM)Mrs. Chocolate Wrote:  

I want to start muay thai and krav maga, what do you think? since I am 1.53m

Your height doesn't matter. This is self defense, not NBA basketball.
Go for it, Chocolatina.

Thank you Moma.
Although martial arts are not feminine, I would like to do because muai tai makes the legs more beautiful