Which Martial Art / Self Defence?
Discussion
Following on from the self defence thread I wonder if I could get some advice from the assembled PH crowd?
I'm a big lad and can avoid most street confrontations getting out of hand just by being big and confident. However I do sometimes wish I was more prepared in case it kicks off rather than relying on a big right hand to the nose or throat. I try and avoid getting into these situations but there really does seem to be more and more knobheads out there determined to have a row.
Which martial art would be best for me? I want to be better equipped to look after myself in a street rumble and also to get some exercise and have some fun at the same time. I would like something which is flexible rather than something which relies on an assailant coming at you in a certain manor.
I'm not bothered about the competition side of a martial art (I don't have time).
So, over to you....
I'm a big lad and can avoid most street confrontations getting out of hand just by being big and confident. However I do sometimes wish I was more prepared in case it kicks off rather than relying on a big right hand to the nose or throat. I try and avoid getting into these situations but there really does seem to be more and more knobheads out there determined to have a row.
Which martial art would be best for me? I want to be better equipped to look after myself in a street rumble and also to get some exercise and have some fun at the same time. I would like something which is flexible rather than something which relies on an assailant coming at you in a certain manor.
I'm not bothered about the competition side of a martial art (I don't have time).
So, over to you....
Your big, your slow and you can't kick?
Forget the olympic sport styles, boxing, judo, tai kwando (sic) etc, forget the high kicking styles. Look for a grappling style with punching thrown in. Do judo and you'll get punched out, probably the same for aikido. My bag is tai chi chuan. Punching, grappling, locks and throws, weapons. We do it all so it's a full fighting system. You won't learn it in a few weeks though. 10 years will get you started
.
You could try wing chun, truly effective and fairly quick to learn. No namby pamby's there. I have a lot of respect for that style and it's all about doing damage! Think it's only a punching style though but I may be wrong.
Boosted.
Forget the olympic sport styles, boxing, judo, tai kwando (sic) etc, forget the high kicking styles. Look for a grappling style with punching thrown in. Do judo and you'll get punched out, probably the same for aikido. My bag is tai chi chuan. Punching, grappling, locks and throws, weapons. We do it all so it's a full fighting system. You won't learn it in a few weeks though. 10 years will get you started
. You could try wing chun, truly effective and fairly quick to learn. No namby pamby's there. I have a lot of respect for that style and it's all about doing damage! Think it's only a punching style though but I may be wrong.
Boosted.
Aikido and Jeet Kune Do are both very good (my Bro does them both). They both teach you to deal with all sorts of attacks. I'd say Aikido is better for 1-on-1 as you can have them at your mercy with one or two moves. Go along to a couple of classes and see which is best for you mate.
if your a big lad i reckon you might have difficulty getting to grips with a real martial art. there's not many people on the street who would have any return to a powerful right hook that boxing could teach you, for the occasional defence you dont need anything more. real martial arts are basically about learning to kill and maim as an art, if you want basic self defence you wont like it
>> Edited by paulhol on Tuesday 24th January 04:25
>> Edited by paulhol on Tuesday 24th January 04:25
More important than which martial art, is which school. You should go along to as many classes as you can, and observe the teaching. Once you've seen who's doing what, you'll have a better idea of what will suit your needs.
If you're lucky enough to have a few good schools near you to choose from, then I agree with the suggestions already here. For handling yourself in a fight, fitness and fun, you really can't beat boxing especially if you're big. The 'soft' martial arts like Aikido, Judo etc will teach you locks, grabs and throws that should help you in a rumble.
If you're lucky enough to have a few good schools near you to choose from, then I agree with the suggestions already here. For handling yourself in a fight, fitness and fun, you really can't beat boxing especially if you're big. The 'soft' martial arts like Aikido, Judo etc will teach you locks, grabs and throws that should help you in a rumble.
Boosted Ls1 said:
You could try wing chun, truly effective and fairly quick to learn. No namby pamby's there. I have a lot of respect for that style and it's all about doing damage! Think it's only a punching style though but I may be wrong.
Boosted.
That's my style.
There are kicks in Wing Chun but only below the waist and to the kidneys (unless you want to be unorthodox and add some of your own). It's the doing damage part that frightens me though.
Fast to learn indeed and effective. It tends to be rather good for people of average build. If you are quite a big chap Juijitsu may be a better reccommendation.
What about the Scottish Martial Art of Fu'kyoo (as exposed by Mike Myers)? 
Seriously though, personally I'm nervous with the concept of knowing how to fight. At the moment I would run away. If I knew how to fight I'd be tempted to wade in and "have a go" and would probably end up knifed and therefore somewhat worse off than if I didn't know how to fight. If you see what I mean.
>> Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 24th January 09:17
Seriously though, personally I'm nervous with the concept of knowing how to fight. At the moment I would run away. If I knew how to fight I'd be tempted to wade in and "have a go" and would probably end up knifed and therefore somewhat worse off than if I didn't know how to fight. If you see what I mean.
>> Edited by JonRB on Tuesday 24th January 09:17
Raify said:
More important than which martial art, is which school. You should go along to as many classes as you can, and observe the teaching. Once you've seen who's doing what, you'll have a better idea of what will suit your needs.
This is the best bet. Some schools are shockingly bad and will let anyone with enough money get a black belt, within a few years. Find the school within which you feel most comfortable and capable and you'll not go far wrong. Combover
How about not getting into bother?
With the exception of the 'highlights' during my time as a BiB I have encountered very little 'bother' on the streets, perhaps because I avoid those kinds of places and get out of there when knobheads are playing up.
The problem is that whatever skills you have, unless they are very practised to the point of being instinctive, they will not be useful when the red mist descends, and definitely not when you have poured 6-8 pints of John Smiths on the top of them.
If you look at the nature of unplanned violence the only defence is to keep alert and have instinctive and well practised avoiodance and evasion techniques. Fights have 3 clear stages: big lunge or kick, grapple and everyone in a pile on the ground when your kick boxing etc counts for nothing. This is because when it happens for real all the training goes out of the window as the fine psychomotor skills get overwhelmed by the chemicals pouring into your blood strream in a 'fight or flight' response. You become clumsy, which is why fights involve big haymaker punches. In the real world people don't trade punches unless they are too drunk to feel it because the instinct to grab and hold kicks in. Unless you are going to training 3 or 4 times a week over many years it will never be instinctive enough to work in a real fight (and I don't mean puffing out the chest and shouting at them) when someone is out to hurt you badly.
Not to mention the fact that striking someone will require you to justify it when you are stood in your best suit on a Tusday morning at Crown Court 6 months later.
With the exception of the 'highlights' during my time as a BiB I have encountered very little 'bother' on the streets, perhaps because I avoid those kinds of places and get out of there when knobheads are playing up.
The problem is that whatever skills you have, unless they are very practised to the point of being instinctive, they will not be useful when the red mist descends, and definitely not when you have poured 6-8 pints of John Smiths on the top of them.
If you look at the nature of unplanned violence the only defence is to keep alert and have instinctive and well practised avoiodance and evasion techniques. Fights have 3 clear stages: big lunge or kick, grapple and everyone in a pile on the ground when your kick boxing etc counts for nothing. This is because when it happens for real all the training goes out of the window as the fine psychomotor skills get overwhelmed by the chemicals pouring into your blood strream in a 'fight or flight' response. You become clumsy, which is why fights involve big haymaker punches. In the real world people don't trade punches unless they are too drunk to feel it because the instinct to grab and hold kicks in. Unless you are going to training 3 or 4 times a week over many years it will never be instinctive enough to work in a real fight (and I don't mean puffing out the chest and shouting at them) when someone is out to hurt you badly.
Not to mention the fact that striking someone will require you to justify it when you are stood in your best suit on a Tusday morning at Crown Court 6 months later.
I once learned karate (forget which style now, the full impact one anyway) on the basis that I might get attacked on Bristol's mean streets.
But after a while I realised I was always covered in bruises and hurting in place or another, on acount of the karate, and was effectively paying to get beaten up once a week.
So I decided to knock off the karate and take my chances.
But after a while I realised I was always covered in bruises and hurting in place or another, on acount of the karate, and was effectively paying to get beaten up once a week.
So I decided to knock off the karate and take my chances.
leftie said:
How about not getting into bother?
With the exception of the 'highlights' during my time as a BiB I have encountered very little 'bother' on the streets, perhaps because I avoid those kinds of places and get out of there when knobheads are playing up.
you might be better off just practicisng being more aware/alert to your surroundings and removing yourself post haste from the vicinity before anything kicks off. Ulimately you may simply be best off removing yourself from this cesspit of a country, not all counties are as riddled with drunken violence as the UK.
timmy30 said:
How about not getting into bother?
With the exception of the 'highlights' during my time as a BiB I have encountered very little 'bother' on the streets, perhaps because I avoid those kinds of places and get out of there when knobheads are playing up.
Ulimately you may simply be best off removing yourself from this cesspit of a country, not all counties are as riddled with drunken violence as the UK.
This isn't always possible and it may not be that he wants to fight, merely knowing that he can effectively is reassuring. I hate this view of 'it's your fault if you get involved in a fight'.
Let's not forget that paople die in situations where their problem was simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Combover
combover said:
This isn't always possible and it may not be that he wants to fight, merely knowing that he can effectively is reassuring. I hate this view of 'it's your fault if you get involved in a fight'.
Let's not forget that people die in situations where their problem was simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Combover
You're bang on with that one.
My recommendation would be Thai Boxing (stricking, kicking, clinching) or even better Mixed Martial Arts which will teach you striking, kicking, clinching and grappling and also allow you to concentrate on your strengths.
Whatever you choose if you want some kind of preperation for being hit the training needs to be full contact. This DOESN'T mean you will leave every training session battered and bruised, but it should help you to be able to be hit and not freeze. I'd done a bit of judo and some karate and thought I could handle myself until I trained in thai boxing and did my first sparring session. The first time I was properly hit the shock was amazing but I stuck with it and a couple of years later I won an amatuer fight. Also once you've learnt the techniques and responses muscle memory means they will always stay with you to a great extent.
Don't go to what we call McDojos, those places that offer you a guaranteed black belt in 12 months, because they could actually make you worse off as they will teach you techniques that will be next to useless in a real fight. I know the sparring thai boxing is not as a real fight but I do believe the techniques and training would help me deal with some drunk raining blows on me, it would let me keep my head and either fight back or leg it.
Having said all that, unless my life or that of a friend/loved one was threatened my first response would be to leg it.
Whatever you choose if you want some kind of preperation for being hit the training needs to be full contact. This DOESN'T mean you will leave every training session battered and bruised, but it should help you to be able to be hit and not freeze. I'd done a bit of judo and some karate and thought I could handle myself until I trained in thai boxing and did my first sparring session. The first time I was properly hit the shock was amazing but I stuck with it and a couple of years later I won an amatuer fight. Also once you've learnt the techniques and responses muscle memory means they will always stay with you to a great extent.
Don't go to what we call McDojos, those places that offer you a guaranteed black belt in 12 months, because they could actually make you worse off as they will teach you techniques that will be next to useless in a real fight. I know the sparring thai boxing is not as a real fight but I do believe the techniques and training would help me deal with some drunk raining blows on me, it would let me keep my head and either fight back or leg it.
Having said all that, unless my life or that of a friend/loved one was threatened my first response would be to leg it.
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