What Martial Art?

[Arese]

Folks

I've always fancied the idea of taking up a martial art. Mainly for fitness, secondarily to feel a bit safer if I should ever encounter anyone fancying a rumble. I'm a big guy though, and with a niggling back problem I'm not the most nimble at the moment.

Anyone recommend anything? I must admit I like the idea of the more 'aggressive' ones rather than the old defensive arts of channelling your enemies agression back to them and all that. But, I'm open to ideas.

What do you lot do?

[ShadownINja]

Here we go.

There have been loads of threads on this exact same topic in the past but usual suspects: muay thai, MMA, krav maga, BJJ. That said, some are really sports and you don't bring knives into rings so... but we could argue all day or even set up a website forum dedicated to arguing which is the best... oh, there already are some.

[Sheets Tabuer]

I did wing chun for years, I felt it was really good, then I took up muay thai.

I aslo did judo then aikido in my junior years.

I suppose they will all get you fit but if you are looking for self defence I'd take up running

[ShadownINja]

Sheets Tabuer said:

running

[Arese]

Thanks for the responses chaps. Apologies, I really should have searched first. I'm just reading on Wikipedia about Krav Maga, which sounds like fun. The fact that it was developed in Israel and used by their special forces makes me think of Zohan, and that's a good thing!

[Arese]

Wikipedia article on Krav Maga said:

- Neutralizing the opponent as quickly as possible by responding with an unbroken stream of counter attacks and if necessary a take down/joint break.

'kinell!

Edited by Arese on Wednesday 19th May 17:23

[ShadownINja]

Arese said:

Zohan

They're all linked in some way. KM takes its ideas from Ninjitsu (so I've been told) which takes its ideas from Ju Jitsu which takes... oh, you get the idea. You mentioned the unbroken stream of counter attacks... Wing Chun does that with chain punches... I've done non-traditional military-focused CQC and they also teach about continuing the attack (eg trap arm, punch face, elbow face, break knee, take-down, break wrist holding knife, remove knife from person, slice bicep, slice forearm, slice ankle ligament while withdrawing); in Escrima we were taught to block once and attack at least 5 times with different strikes to torso, arm, head...

I do prefer an unbroken stream of foot movements in the form of running away, mind. It avoids legal problems.

Edited by ShadownINja on Wednesday 19th May 18:12

[Animal]

Arese said:

Thanks for the responses chaps. Apologies, I really should have searched first. I'm just reading on Wikipedia about Krav Maga, which sounds like fun. The fact that it was developed in Israel and used by their special forces makes me think of Zohan, and that's a good thing!

Krav Maga is not a martial art: there is no stylistic or competitive element. The sole aim of Krav Maga is to develop efficient fighting skills (to be employed when all other avenues have failed to save you). This has developed into a commercially-taught system which emphasises self-defence. My first Krav Maga lesson was all about learning to run very, very fast!

[anonymous-user]

i started kyokushin karate and really enjoyed it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyokushin_kaikan
i lasted six months before my knees cried enough. personally i found the philosohpy of martial arts really interesting and enjoyed reading about it.

[stephen300o]

There is a martial arts show at the NEC at the weekend so guess this should be a good place to have a look see to what you would prefer. I havn't been to the NEC before anyone know what the parkings like?

[Lost_BMW]

Arese said:

Thanks for the responses chaps. Apologies, I really should have searched first. I'm just reading on Wikipedia about Krav Maga, which sounds like fun. The fact that it was developed in Israel and used by their special forces makes me think of Zohan, and that's a good thing!

There's an interesting if slightly hammy series on Discovery called 'Fight Quest' - similar to an earlier series that may have had the same title and they both seem to be repeated regularly, or you might find clips on the web - where two Americans, one a pro MMA fighter and one ex. US Army vet and amateur fighter travel to different parts of the world and train and then compete in different disciplines.

The Krav Maga one was v. interesting, mainly in how frightened of the woman instructor the vet was! It did look like it would be very useful for developing an appreciation of risk and the approach to deal with it if escape or avoidance didn't work. Mind you the Filipino knife and stick fighting looked spot on if you developed the skills (not inconsiderable) and could get away after!

Fitness wise they will all work if taken very far, assuming the style doesn't do your back - I'd like to try Ju Jitsu (having done some Judo years ago, but mainly Wado Ryu and boxing) but reckon my dodgy lower back and related hamstring problems would see me crippled in no time!

If you're less injury prone than me what about a mixed martial arts school where you could learn different styles/skills? They seem to be springing up all over right now . . .

[dirty boy]

Sheets Tabuer said:

I did wing chun for years, I felt it was really good, then I took up muay thai.

I aslo did judo then aikido in my junior years.

I suppose they will all get you fit but if you are looking for self defence I'd take up running

As he's not that nimble, Wing Chun is ideal would you agree?


The kicks are mostly low, to the knee area. Being Mr Unflexible myself, I foung Wing Chun the only one I really got on well with.

It's very dependent on the instructor though, mine was a tyrant and would push us very hard on the fitness side of things too, so although I had some useful martial art knowledge, I also had washboard abs.

[rhinochopig]

If you're a big chap, have you thought about Sumo?

[Raify]

The style isn't important, the teacher / club is.

Let's face it, you're not going to train reguluarly anywhere that's far away. So, find the martial arts clubs within reach, sit in and observe a few classes and choose one that way.

You'll be able to spot a good teacher a mile off.

[DarrenL]

Firstly, you need to figure out if you want a full contact, semi contact, or no contact martial art.

I practise a developed style of Choi Kwang Do (i.e, its not Choi Kwang Do, but based quite a bit on it). Ours is semi contact during the advanced classes, but in the early stages its no contact (whats the point of being beaten to a pulp- you wont enjoy it, wont go back, wont be able to go to work and wont be able to train while you heal!)

Choi focuses on the biomechanics of the body, with no lock outs or hyper extended moves. Check out their website/wiki page.

[Arese]

Gents, thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

rhinochopig said:

If you're a big chap, have you thought about Sumo?

I'm not that big.

Raify said:

The style isn't important, the teacher / club is.

Let's face it, you're not going to train reguluarly anywhere that's far away. So, find the martial arts clubs within reach, sit in and observe a few classes and choose one that way.

You'll be able to spot a good teacher a mile off.

You make a very good point there Raify. My local Krav Maga place would be over 20 miles away, and whilst I could go straight from work I could see it quickly becoming a chore, which I don't want.

I've just found this place which is local to me, within 5 miles, and they do all sorts. I can easily pop down there after work and watch a few sessions, see what I fancy.

[swannynhb]

if its a "sport" martial art your after then muay thai is a good aggressve striking art, if its a self defense art your after then id go jkd. just my 10cents worth

[Martial Arts Man]

Arese said:

Gents, thanks for all the replies, much appreciated.

rhinochopig said:

If you're a big chap, have you thought about Sumo?

I'm not that big.

Raify said:

The style isn't important, the teacher / club is.

Let's face it, you're not going to train reguluarly anywhere that's far away. So, find the martial arts clubs within reach, sit in and observe a few classes and choose one that way.

You'll be able to spot a good teacher a mile off.

You make a very good point there Raify. My local Krav Maga place would be over 20 miles away, and whilst I could go straight from work I could see it quickly becoming a chore, which I don't want.

I've just found this place which is local to me, within 5 miles, and they do all sorts. I can easily pop down there after work and watch a few sessions, see what I fancy.

If you're local to Warrington, go try Wolfslair Warrington (formerly known as Warrington Muay Thai).

The coach there, Dave Jackson, is a pretty famous and expert trainer (Bisping/Rampage et al.).

He's also one of the nicest guys you could ever meet.

In a different league to the club you linked to.

[Martial Arts Man]

stephen300o said:

There is a martial arts show at the NEC at the weekend so guess this should be a good place to have a look see to what you would prefer. I havn't been to the NEC before anyone know what the parkings like?

Parking, at the NEC? Seriously?

There must be all of 40 kertrillion spaces!

Glad to see you're heading down to the MAS; I'll be wondering around too!

Since Seni turned all MMA and headed to Excel (thereby betraying all its loyal TMA customers) TMAS deserves all of our support!

[Martial Arts Man]

ShadownINja said:

Here we go.

we could argue all day or even set up a website forum dedicated to arguing which is the best... oh, there already are some.

They're all rubbish though; full of even more "My style's better than yours" fanboys than we get here!

You know what the biggest problem in Martial Arts is?

Martial Artists