Martial artists?

Hi folks,
I was thinking of taking up a martial art and was wondering if somewhere amongst our 4,500 members existed any martial artists?
Does anyone have any suggestions as to a style I should consider? Any stories?

Many thanks

Ross

Depends.

What do you want to use it for?

Are you a big guy, little, medium?

Bulky, average or slim?

Highly coordinated or a bit clumsy?

Willing to spend many years learning or just want to learn something "down & dirty"

I'm a marital artist
my marriage requires lots of finesse /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif



I've taken a few years of Karate and Kali. It's been quite a while, so I'm not proficient in either.


I've been wanting to study Kav Magra (sp) for a while, but I can't find anyone local that teaches it. I feel it's the best form of fighting style for the average person as it's highly adaptable and based on the real world. Train to fight with what you have on you and realize that points are not awarded.

While Karate was great for discipline and form, sparing with a friend who practiced KungFu taught me that form is good, but functional style is better.

My Dad was a skinny guy, and Jujitsu worked well for him.
If you're a "big" guy, you may want to get into grappling.

-Jason

I'm about 6ft tall and weigh about 14st (not sure what that converts to) which is quite big. I think I'm fairly co-ordinated (play field hockey & racquet sports). I would prefer something which I could perform fairly effectively quite quickly - what would you recommend?
I like the idea of a mixture of locks/holds and strikes if this helps?

Many thanks

Ross

I've done both Taekwando and Aikido, and although I only did Aikido for about 6 months compared with about 2 years of Taekwando, I much prefer Aikido. I may be getting back into Aikido sometime soon.

I found Aikido, amongst other things, lots of fun. Its mostly locks and holds and throwdown type stuff.
I say I found it "fun" because even in the short time I did it, I learnt quite a lot about the human body, its weak points, and how to use them.

As for becoming effective fairly quickly, Aikido is like many other martial art - you can become effective quite quickly by learning various basic techniques. However, early on it is also a bit dangerous. Because many of the techniques rely on twisting or applying pressure to joints and weak spots on the body of your opponent, it is very easy to unwittingly cause serious harm or injury if you don't do a technique properly, or lack control.

That being said, Aikido gets my vote..

Graham

Sounds like you are a good candidate for Hapkido or HwaRangDo, or better yet a sort of a combination of both.

Unfortunately my old instructor in those arts is dead, (although they had to blow up his plane to get him) and I don't know of anyone real good anymore that teaches the blend, especially on your side of the pond.

Either one will serve your criteria though.

(Maybe Size15s knows some SAS types that might be able to point you in the right direction)

I hold ranks in many martial arts. I grew up two blocks from the American Taekwondo Association, once the largest (possibly still) martial arts organization in the world. It is very effective, but very physical. I was fortunate later in life to study Aikido under Hiroshi Ikeda and Mitsugi Saotome, and I really fell in love with Aikido. It is very, very, very hard to learn if you are studying with a true shihan. There are many offshoots of the Aiki arts that are more physical, such as Daito Ryu, or Yoshinkan. I have studied about everything, and you can't really go wrong if you find a good teacher, that is the important part. There are only so many ways to hit somebody, and so many throws. You will find that many arts overlap considerably, even between cultures (chinese, japanese, korean, etc.). Having devoted over 25 years to study, I will give you the best advice I have learned: There is no silver bullet. You will never be able to kick everyone's butt no matter how much you train. Just like you can't train you way into the NFL unless you have size and speed, you can't make yourself bigger, stronger, or quicker than your body allows.

Taekwondo, Shoren Ryu, Karate Do, Tang Soo Do, Wing Chun, Kenpo, or any other striking art is a good foundation.

Hapkido, Aikido, Aiki Jujutsu, Daito Ryu, Judo, are good throwing arts and some mix punching and throwing.

I have gotten interested in Gracie style Jujutsu, having found that these guys can pin me no matter what I try.

Find a good teacher, learn all you can, and then move to something else, it is a lifetime journey.

50 years of peace, and a little lo mien. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

ok ok, a lot of lo mien, and plenty of aggravation.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I know karate... and seven other japanese words. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I do Shotokan Karate. It is a very traditional form of Karate. The main theme is to finish them off with a good blow as soon as possible. Not much grappling involved.

Thanks for the suggestions folks, I have ALOT of reading to do, although I am leaning towards Aikido. I will be doing lots of googling before the day is through!!

Many thanks

Ross

Pi, how do you keep them away? If only you were female... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon23.gif

FWIW, I'm very rusty, but have practiced Judo and Jujitsu.

I am surprised no one has mentioned Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. That is what I practiced in high school. I am thinking of getting back into it, but working 2 jobs does limit my free time!

Judging by your aspirations and build you may wish to consider Chi Shu.

It is a taoist throwing art where you re-direct the energy of an attacker to throw them, and in application looks similar to some of the old 'cheesy' kung-fu films made in China i.e. an attacker runs at oponent, opponent moves slightly, attacker goes off flying in a different direction in a lot of pain.

It is closely matched with feng-shou ('hand of the wind' style kung-fu) and will be better suited to a taller person wishing to take up a throwing art than judo (where a shorter person often has an advantage.

If you are not of a muscular build, but are very flexible with good co-ordination, you may like one of the many kung-fu styles.

Do not take my recommendation at face value though, find out details of ALL your local martial arts clubs across the full spectrum of the martial arts category, and visit each of these clubs.

Take part in a few lessons for each style that initially appeals to you, and you will soon find the one you enjoy.

Remember it will take you many years of hard work and dedication to reach master grades, so the decision on which style to adopt will need careful consideration.

I have experience with Japanese "hard Karate" forms and Chinese energy/redirection forms. If you can, find an instructor that works with energy redirection, as mentioned above. Once I started Tai-Chi, which is a devastating Kung-Fu martial art - don't let the "old people" commercials fool you - I wondered why I was punishing myself so much with the Japanese forms. Why take the beating and give it back (common theme in Japanese forms) when you can just get out of the way and/or send the opponent flying?

Well, I think since you already have developed your hand muscle from playing sports such as field hockey and racquet sports, I would recommend learning the art of stick fighting or Filipino Martial Arts (FMA) It's also known as Kali, Arnis, Escrima, etc. In FMA, you're not only trained to use weapons but also to use your hands and feet just like most martial arts does. It's very simple to learn yet can be very deadly. One philosophy that I have attained from learning such art is that, by the time you struck your opponent the third time, your opponent should be dead or lying on the ground begging for its life.

Zephyr--Kali is the one I took.

Stick fighting along with hand to hand was the emphasis of the training I had. The hand to hand was good--effective and very fluid. The stick fighting was neat, but I doubt I'd have 2 sticks on hand if someone gave me a hard time--thus my dislike for weapon training on a weapon I wouldn't normally have on hand.


Now if someone could come up with an effective fighting style incorporating an Arc AAA and a small pocket kife, I'd be set /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

-Jason

Well, the FMA is now focused on sticks, but that is because they were a stand in for swords and/or knives. Most of the techniques should transfer over easily to a knife.

Unicorn--Okay, you got me on the knife aspect, but what about my Arc AAA then /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif


-Jason