Learning a martial art?

There seem to be so many to choose from, its almost overwhelming. I know some of you are very informative of this matter and was wondering what your advice would be. My main interesting is something that is applicable in street fighting situations but is also very good at training/disciplining the body.

 

It really depends what kind of person you are.

Martial Arts have been develop to those who see that it suits them in a perfect manner. For example, there are Martial arts that been developed for those who doesn’t have the strength to actually perform some certain moves. Like Jujitsu. Jujitsu requires the person to have some amount of strength to execute some moves, but now with Brazilian Jujutsu, that was created by Helio Gracie. He work around Jujitsu and created moves that require the user half of the strength to execute.

But in general, all the Martial Arts that require you to throw some sort of kick and punch, will also require you to practice and keep in shape.

I suggest, boxing. Then gradually move into Isshin Ryu, Karate.

 

I think the art has to fit. For self defense, you need an art that covers both stand up striking and grappling as well as striking and grappling on the ground.
Most people find striking arts easier, since you can begin to see a noticeable improvement/learned skills faster. When you learn to grapple, you almost never will go home saying "aha, today is the day I learned how to do an armbar correctly" because even though you might know the steps, it takes 1000s of attempts under duress to really do it correctly.
On the other hand, if your going to learn a striking art, it MUST let you practice at something resembling full force. If you want to learn to defend yourself, a form-centered martial art is not the answer for you (I know from experience - 12 years in Taekwondo, 4 in Karate, 4 in Vietnamese kung fu).
In general, a quality martial arts school will let you take at least 1 or 2 classes for free, let you sit in on a few classes, will focus at least some of the time on conditioning. Take a look at the people attending the class, do they share the same goals? Do they look like they are making any realistic progress towards their goals? Talk to a few students, talk to the professor. Ask them about their pedigree.
Where do you live, I can help if you like.

 

Judo is a great martial art to start. Since it was refined to the point where all the techniques are nearly 100% safe for the practicioners (when executed with control, and on the mats, that is!), it can be always applied full speed and force in a controlled environment - something many martial arts won't give you.

Of course, it takes considerable practice to be able to do any technique even in the dojo, or on the street (and that applies to pretty much any martial art). There are no miracles here, no instant gratification - it's hard work and commitment. But when you have those skills... Even the most basic throw executed on a hard surface will hurt like hell. And if the opponent doesn't know how to breakfall properly... SNAP there goes an arm. Or worse.

And don't listen to poor sods who would tell you "grappling suxx". See some MMA, they all do this form of grappling or another - and focused grapplers win more often then not: sweep, mount/guard, maybe some sucker punches to divert attention and a keylock ends the match.

 

If you want something that might perform well on the street, and will make you look and feel good, I advise Muay Thai, or Boxing.
In MT for example, you have: Good kicks, and punches. Use of elbows, and knees, simple throws, clinch.
When you're done with the basics and intermediate training (few years) You may want to move to Judo/BJJ, to practice some grappling moves and/or ground fighting, but REMEMBER few simple things:

- jumping kicks and knees, and acrobatic moves are useless on the street, Street Fighting is not a contest
- There is NO TIME and CHANCE to fight on the ground when attacked on the street. When you are on the ground you are dead. BJJ/Judo no only teach you how to throw/ground fight, but what is more important, teach you how to DEFEND against such techniques
- Not many agressors on the street have ever trained anything. No schematics learned on TKD, Karate, and Kung Fu are going to work here (street of course)
- Never train any forms, katas, poomses, and stuff like that. If you are a Martial Arts passionate, sure, go ahead, otherwise it's useless in a real fight
- Do not train without a target (kicking and punching in the air)
It doesn't teach you strenght and distance, and can damage your joints.
- On the street, always be prepared to run away... This is no fun, you can die here.
- There is no real defense against a knife, if your opponent has one, don't wait to see if he can use it, RUN.
- MMA,UFC, those are fights one on one, on a ring, and with rules even if not too many of them. Street fighting is almost always a surprise, there are no rules, and there is almost always more than one opponent (usually even more than 2).
- Don't ever hesitate on the street, just act. Whatever you do, make your opponent drop to the ground as fast as possible. Each second is the second you may die in (sounds a bit dramatic, but with an armed opponent... it's more than true).

All in all, if you want to be able to completely defend yourself on the street, you can come close to it by training a striking style with a grappling style. Judo/BJJ (eventually Sambo) for the latter, and Muay Thai for striking are said and proven to be the best when it comes to fighting.

Well.... that's as far as I know. And one more thing, if you go to a Muay Thai training, make sure it's Muay Thai, not some Kick boxing. There are great differences between them, so don't get fooled by some "fake MT school".

 

Thanks a LOT guys. I live in south Florida and in a year i may be moving to Tennessee. But in the next two months I want to start up in some along these lines. Muay Thai and Judo eh? What is BJJ?

 

BJJ = brazilian jiu jitsu.
Florida has a bunch of great gyms, depending where you are:
http://www.americantopteam.com/locations.php
They teach everything there.
http://www.usamuaythai.com/ - they have a nice pedigree
http://www.floridajiujitsufed.com/academies.htm - gracie barra - you can't go wrong with them.

For a few general mma sites
http://www.groundnpound.org this has a lot of resources for the region your going to be moving to. Ron, the website creator is an awesome guy and very accessible. A lot of pro and amateur fighters post there regularly.
http://www.sherdog.net - yeah, shitdog may be a mess, but the grappling forum is awesome.
onthemat.com - a bit wrestling heavy, but another good resource.
mma.tv - good for listing of events and other resources
http://www.lockflow.com - great technique section!

For materials:
http://www.txmma.com - they have the BEST discount products, hands down. Their shorts may be a wee bit rough at first, but they are awesome. Their gloves are great too.
http://www.combatsports.com - an awesome place, the service is very fast and they are very, very helpful. They once gave me a free pair of shorts cause they screwed up an order.
http://www.ssfgear.com - has a very nice selection of gi's and striking equipment. If you get into BJJ, they have probably the best balance of price/quality. I love their own gi brand cause it does not make you look like a nascar car.

 

BJJ is a Brazilian system that derives from pre-WWII judo, with some elements of traditional ju-jutsu. Its standing techniques are almost nonexistent, but BJJ students are probably among the most skilled groundfighting practicioners that walk the Earth. If you can live without throws, but would be satisfied with a few relatively simple takedowns and a LOT of joint locks on any limb, chokes and pins from any position imaginable - you may want to give it a try as your "supplement".

For a more or less even mix of standing and ground techniques (be warned though-joint locks in judo are elbow only, BJJ practicioners could see it as somewhat restrictive)-I believe Judo is the way to go.

Your choice, clubs of all three of them (MT, judo, BJJ) should be readily available as they are fairly popular. Just be careful not to get scammed /forums/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif !

Good luck!