Best Martial art to learn?
Discussion
What is the best martial art to learn?
I don't want anything that involves getting punched on the head!
BJJ keeps coming up when I look up the question on Google.
Any other recommendations? I'd like something to help with overall fitness, being able to hold my own in the unlikely event I get involved in a one on one with someone during a road rage incident
I don't want anything that involves getting punched on the head!
BJJ keeps coming up when I look up the question on Google.
Any other recommendations? I'd like something to help with overall fitness, being able to hold my own in the unlikely event I get involved in a one on one with someone during a road rage incident
In a real world scenario I’d say BJJ. If you’re ever unlucky enough to be involved in an altercation, apart from walking away, BJJ is going to be the most useful.
Street altercation are usually scrappy affairs with an unskilled or low skilled opponent. Even if they have the ability to throw a decent punch, I bet 9/10 times it goes to ground.
Having the ability to close the distance and reduce punch or kick effectiveness is important. Even if it’s just taking your opponent to ground, pulling guard or taking mount or their back puts you in a comfortable strong position.
With some BJJ training you’d hopefully be able to look after yourself and neutralise a threat until help came along without having to resort to violence which could land you in bother.
Street altercation are usually scrappy affairs with an unskilled or low skilled opponent. Even if they have the ability to throw a decent punch, I bet 9/10 times it goes to ground.
Having the ability to close the distance and reduce punch or kick effectiveness is important. Even if it’s just taking your opponent to ground, pulling guard or taking mount or their back puts you in a comfortable strong position.
With some BJJ training you’d hopefully be able to look after yourself and neutralise a threat until help came along without having to resort to violence which could land you in bother.
Krav Maga, if you count it as a martial art - many don't due to the lack of rules or competitions. A bit brutal for sparring though, and some nasty ways to hurt people. Not a 'nice' way of fighting, but very effective.
Both my kids do Judo, and love it. Don't discount good old fashioned boxing, it's an excellent tool for building confidence and fitness.
Both my kids do Judo, and love it. Don't discount good old fashioned boxing, it's an excellent tool for building confidence and fitness.
BJJ hands down for me.
For both mental, physical and social benefits I can’t think of a better pass time. It’s got its own ‘sub culture’ that is an extremely positive environment to spend time in.
Search YouTube for ‘BJJ versus the world’ and have a watch.
Best martial art for Self defence is also a tiresome tedious argument that never goes well, fan boys on all sides spouting crap. In truth probably boxing or better still Muay Thai Combined with your common sense and a pair of fast trainers is your best bet.
For both mental, physical and social benefits I can’t think of a better pass time. It’s got its own ‘sub culture’ that is an extremely positive environment to spend time in.
Search YouTube for ‘BJJ versus the world’ and have a watch.
Best martial art for Self defence is also a tiresome tedious argument that never goes well, fan boys on all sides spouting crap. In truth probably boxing or better still Muay Thai Combined with your common sense and a pair of fast trainers is your best bet.
LimaDelta said:
Krav Maga, if you count it as a martial art - many don't due to the lack of rules or competitions. A bit brutal for sparring though, and some nasty ways to hurt people. Not a 'nice' way of fighting, but very effective.
Both my kids do Judo, and love it. Don't discount good old fashioned boxing, it's an excellent tool for building confidence and fitness.
I'd agree with the Krag Mag comment and suggest Wudang Tai Chi Chuan as another option. All the nasty moves can be found there to but with some finesse and you don't have to inflict to much pain if you don't want to. It has sparring, throws, locks, push hands and close quarter applications. Obviously the serious stuff never gets used in competitions.Both my kids do Judo, and love it. Don't discount good old fashioned boxing, it's an excellent tool for building confidence and fitness.
Edited by Boosted LS1 on Saturday 6th November 09:29
I was once in a queue of traffic and the usual bellend tried to drive up the outside and nip in at the end, a lot of beeping up ahead then he got out of his car and stormed over to the beeping guy in the car behind, he threw open his door and promptly got a kitchen knife stuck in his guts.
Man that was a lot of blood, like I didn't even know that much blood could come out of a person and still be alive.
Sorry what was the question?
Ahh yes, you want to fight, well can you take a punch, have you ever been punched? I used to train in Muay Thai many years ago, even had some big fights and the odd inter-gym competition. Anyway this film came out and everyone and their dog turned up to train because of it, many had done Karate or Wing chun for years (as I has previously to MT) and they'd swagger in and proclaim they were there to train. We'd say are you sure and they'd say yeah man I'm the man I've trained for years in wing chun so we'd put the gloves on and get them in the ring (only if they wanted to, no one was ever forced in the ring) Most quit 5 minutes later.
You can waste your life learning airy fairy dance routines, they might tell you you'll be chuck norris in no time but in my experience most people fall apart when punched, especially when they've never been punched and believe me I've seen a lot of Karate black belts that had never been slapped.
So my advice is this, firstly don't get in to road rage, it's pointless, take the moral high ground but if you do want to learn to fight, go fight, go get punched in the face.
Man that was a lot of blood, like I didn't even know that much blood could come out of a person and still be alive.
Sorry what was the question?
Ahh yes, you want to fight, well can you take a punch, have you ever been punched? I used to train in Muay Thai many years ago, even had some big fights and the odd inter-gym competition. Anyway this film came out and everyone and their dog turned up to train because of it, many had done Karate or Wing chun for years (as I has previously to MT) and they'd swagger in and proclaim they were there to train. We'd say are you sure and they'd say yeah man I'm the man I've trained for years in wing chun so we'd put the gloves on and get them in the ring (only if they wanted to, no one was ever forced in the ring) Most quit 5 minutes later.
You can waste your life learning airy fairy dance routines, they might tell you you'll be chuck norris in no time but in my experience most people fall apart when punched, especially when they've never been punched and believe me I've seen a lot of Karate black belts that had never been slapped.
So my advice is this, firstly don't get in to road rage, it's pointless, take the moral high ground but if you do want to learn to fight, go fight, go get punched in the face.
As above
First you need to learn to take a punch or being attacked , you need to learn the adrenaline kick and that fear is ok
Second is try to diffuse the situation before it escalates
Any good instructor in my view will tell you that you will be hit if you get in a fight
As Sheets said Muay Thai is a good option , it teaches you long range , how to defend or fight in a phone box if needed
In my view bjj is good for one on one but you are very exposed if you intentional go to ground to control or choke your opponent from a secondary attack
All in my view of course
First you need to learn to take a punch or being attacked , you need to learn the adrenaline kick and that fear is ok
Second is try to diffuse the situation before it escalates
Any good instructor in my view will tell you that you will be hit if you get in a fight
As Sheets said Muay Thai is a good option , it teaches you long range , how to defend or fight in a phone box if needed
In my view bjj is good for one on one but you are very exposed if you intentional go to ground to control or choke your opponent from a secondary attack
All in my view of course
who knows how to throw a punch and can take one too. pitchfork said:
If that Twitter video teaches us anything, it's that not all confrontations are on a flat, stable surface.
Personally, I think that the martial art is secondary to the instructor.
Speak to them, go and see the facilities, watch a class.
This.Personally, I think that the martial art is secondary to the instructor.
Speak to them, go and see the facilities, watch a class.
The best one is the one you enjoy and with the best teacher. You'll learn more. I studied Krav Maga for 18 months many years ago, before a shoulder injury and 'life' got in the way, but I'm still in touch with some of my fellow students and I think about what I learned every day. That's a good teacher; I was not a great student!
As has been said above, many experienced martial artists haven't been hit in the face and are unprepared. You've said you want to avoid being hit in the face; I'd suggest that experiencing being hit in a controlled environment with a friendly 'aggressor' is a really good thing, weird as that sounds!
Boosted LS1 said:
LimaDelta said:
Krav Maga, if you count it as a martial art - many don't due to the lack of rules or competitions. A bit brutal for sparring though, and some nasty ways to hurt people. Not a 'nice' way of fighting, but very effective.
Both my kids do Judo, and love it. Don't discount good old fashioned boxing, it's an excellent tool for building confidence and fitness.
I'd agree with the Krag Mag comment and suggest Wudang Tai Chi Chuan as another option. All the nasty moves can be found there to but with some finesse and you don't have to inflict to much pain if you don't want to. It has sparring, throws, locks, push hands and close quarter applications. Obviously the serious stuff never gets used in competitions.Both my kids do Judo, and love it. Don't discount good old fashioned boxing, it's an excellent tool for building confidence and fitness.
Edited by Boosted LS1 on Saturday 6th November 09:29
To the OP. Fundamentally you need to be realistic and set some goals. Unless you become really serious you may as well forget about MA as self defence. But as long as you realise you are just a visitor it frees you up to just enjoy it.
If you really want to learn about self defence (or street fighting which is a totally different thing) you have to accept that people are going to try to punch you in the head. If you go to a class that tells you they are teaching you self defence but isn’t sparring, well they are just lying (Krav Maga, I’m looking at you here).
Personally I would find a class of like minded people who do something interesting. Personally, I really enjoy sparring and really really enjoy wrestling. I really also like swords, so if I was going to start again now (I’m pushing 50) I would be looking at western historic stuff (HEMA) which is getting really popular and give up the Bruce Lee fantasy.
I like the idea of BJJ and know lots of BJJ guys, but they are really deeply into it and I think that if you are just a dabbler you’re not going to get much out of it.
Don't get into a road rage fight.
Find a good coach.
Try to be fit, strong, healthy and mobile before you take up "martial arts", it will benefit you generally and you will probably progress more quickly in sports and activities.
I'd recommend running first, then Boxing or Muay Thai -for great conditioning, movement and striking/evasion- and learn some sort of grappling for getting used to close contact and when the distance is close : submission wrestling/judo/sambo -BJJ is a subset of the original judo with a ruleset to encourage groundwork. -Rugby Union in the forwards is also a good grappling sport that will accustom you to close, hard, contact.
BJJ/Newaza might be good for one on one confrontations (and for fairly safe sparring) and could get you out of a fix, but dropping and pulling guard in the street isn't necessarily a good idea.
Sparring/randori are very important. Injury is always a risk with sparring/randori, though.
Krav Maga/combatives are really just specific applications of the tools that should really be learned first in the boxing and wrestling.
Find a good coach.
Try to be fit, strong, healthy and mobile before you take up "martial arts", it will benefit you generally and you will probably progress more quickly in sports and activities.
I'd recommend running first, then Boxing or Muay Thai -for great conditioning, movement and striking/evasion- and learn some sort of grappling for getting used to close contact and when the distance is close : submission wrestling/judo/sambo -BJJ is a subset of the original judo with a ruleset to encourage groundwork. -Rugby Union in the forwards is also a good grappling sport that will accustom you to close, hard, contact.
BJJ/Newaza might be good for one on one confrontations (and for fairly safe sparring) and could get you out of a fix, but dropping and pulling guard in the street isn't necessarily a good idea.
Sparring/randori are very important. Injury is always a risk with sparring/randori, though.
Krav Maga/combatives are really just specific applications of the tools that should really be learned first in the boxing and wrestling.
Edited by MC Bodge on Monday 8th November 10:31
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