I've been seriously thinking about taking up martial arts, it's one of the few things I've regreted not doing when I was younger. I was just wanting to know people's opinions on which style to do and their experiences with martial arts. I would also like a place where they teach the philosophy of it as well.
Martial Arts
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DyingPhoenix
Newcomer
Wow, finally found an excuse to post...
It depends on what you want to do. If you want to really fight, I would stay away from the traditional arts. In terms of philosphy, well, it depends on what you mean.
I used to do some traditional Karate until I found out the hard way it was useless in actual combat. So now I practice Brazilian jiu jitsu with some Muay Thai added in for good measure. In fact, I woulda became a professional MMA fighter if it wasn't for college.
Studying Computer Engineering is a bitch.
It depends on what you want to do. If you want to really fight, I would stay away from the traditional arts. In terms of philosphy, well, it depends on what you mean.
I used to do some traditional Karate until I found out the hard way it was useless in actual combat. So now I practice Brazilian jiu jitsu with some Muay Thai added in for good measure. In fact, I woulda became a professional MMA fighter if it wasn't for college.
Studying Computer Engineering is a bitch.
I was thinking Tai Chi to start off with maybe. Makes sense to start from an internal approach and go outward. There's a Tae Kwondo club at my college which is only $35 a semester and you go twice a week. You can also take actual classes of martial arts, they're only 1-2 credits though, however that's not a bad thing. If I miss more than 3 classes I fail the class. They have tai chic, tae kwon do/karate, Brazilian JuiJitsu, Japanese Jujitsu, Introduction to Martial Arts, Hapkido, judo, and yoga. most of them have a begginer, intermediate, advanced and advanced II classes. I was thinking about taking two of the intro classes at the same time next semester.
Why do you think that traditional martial arts don't work in actual combat?
Why do you think that traditional martial arts don't work in actual combat?
DyingPhoenix
Newcomer
Experience and history.
Seriously, every traditional martial artist I've seen has had their ass handed to them in a real fight. I've done some of the handing myself.
It might have to do with the overemplasis on forms that most traditional arts have. Forms are great, don't get me wrong, they force the body to develop muscle memory and force the student to develop visualisation and concentration skills. Unfortunately most guys miss the whole point of forms and blaze through them, not even knowing what the hell the motions they are doing represent. Thus in a real fight, they often perform worse than people with no experience whatsoever.
It also might have to do with the sheer lack of strategy in traditional arts. Each art has their own strength, unfortunately most of the time it doesn't teach you how to keep a fight in a phase that benefits you. Case in point, Wing Chun is a friggin awesome art at close range. You can trap your strikes so effectively...except for one problem...how do you get into that range? Same thing with Karate/TKD. They advocate a one strike philosophy...but how do you set that strike up? All one has to do in a fight is to go outside an art's comfort range and that practitioner is majorly screwed.
Which goes to the ultimate point: most traditional arts suck at grappling. And most fights end up in that phase. Even the traditional grappling arts are all but useless if you are up against someone without a gi on. Sorry if it sounds like I am preaching, but I have seen way too many people who have a black belt in TKD or Karate or some sort of Kung Fu get wasted in street fights.
But ultimately it is your decision, and starting off with the intro classes sounds like a good idea.
Good luck with your training, and I hope that you never have to experience a real fight. Lord knows that I wish I did not have to.
In a real right there is only one punch that matters . A punch to the throat . Not to hard though as u don't want to kill um . But enough to knock out thier wind and watch them drop to the floor.
Also learn how to take alot of punches.
Thats what i learned from fighting alot back in the day
Also learn how to take alot of punches.
Thats what i learned from fighting alot back in the day
DyingPhoenix
Newcomer
Only seen that happen once, but that was a very nice punch. Most fights I've seen take the form of a few punches/kicks thrown, both guys clinch up, then they both fall down.
Unless of course they are girls fighting...then the clothes started to come off...
A properly trained martial artist will have memorized all the week spots. When you're in a fight it's not about fancy moves. It's about disabling your opponent with the least number of moves to a weak spot. I have many friends who are black belts and they kick others @ass in the street all the time. Remember we are talking about a black belt against the average person, not against some train grappler. If you're thinking of the latter then you better stop watching those UFC tournaments.
My friends can dislocate joints with a single blow if they needed to. Tell me you'll still be standing if a black belt busts your knee cap with a swift kick to the knee...I dont think so. Heck a woman trained in regular self defense can bring down most guys with a nice kick to the balls.
Let's be realistic here and not downplay martial arts because of what you see in UFC.
My friends can dislocate joints with a single blow if they needed to. Tell me you'll still be standing if a black belt busts your knee cap with a swift kick to the knee...I dont think so. Heck a woman trained in regular self defense can bring down most guys with a nice kick to the balls.
Let's be realistic here and not downplay martial arts because of what you see in UFC.
There is a difference between a white man's black belt and a real black belt. Truely good martial artist use the art to effectively control their body and spend the rest of time figuring out how to make that useful.
I have to agree with Phoenix, plenty of MAs end up having their asses handed to them.
I have to agree with Phoenix, plenty of MAs end up having their asses handed to them.
Captain Chickenpants
Regular
DyingPhoenix said:
The generic answer to this is that is is the Martial Artist and not the art that matters in a fight.
Wing Chun does assume that you are at close range when fighting. If you are close enough to punch someone then you are in Wing Chun range. If you are not then either
A) Get out of there as you don't really want to fight anyway.
B) You have no choice but to fight, so move into range using footwork and bridging techniques that are taught as part of Wing Chun.
I beleive Pankration is a TMA that is primarily grappling...
In general I agree with most of what you are saying. But bear in mind that when you are talking about how to defeat various styles that you are assuming that you know what style the other person is using, and knowing it's weaknesses. Chances are if you came across someone who could spot all that at the start of a fight you are screwed anyway. All MA's (including BJJ and MMA's) have their weaknesses, the point is trying to minimise those whilst maximizing your strengths.
Whilst I have never had to fight (thankfully), I beleive that I am far more prepared now than I was 5 months ago (when I started Wing Chun), if only because I can now at least punch with some degree of confidence that it will cause some damage and have an idea of how to block punches. Given that most people do a MA for a bit of self defence and fitness I don't think it really matters what you go for, the best thing is to try a few different classes and see which one you enjoy.
[edit] Worth visiting http://www.martialartsplanet.com/forums/index.php?[/edit]
CC
If all you want is the well being of mind body and sole part then Tai Chi, yoga and any of the TMAs together would be really good for you.
If you want to do MAs as a self defence technique then I would recommend you try and find a club that will do a range of modern and traditional martial arts. At the club I go to they teach kick boxing and kung fu, seperate classes but it is encouraged to go to both to get a more rounded education. They also do full contact sparing at the higher levels which, if you want to learn MAs for self defence, I cant recommend enough. There are far too many people who do martial arts for 6-12 months get a couple of belts and think they are the next Bruce Lee only to go into a fight over confident and get their ass handed back to them on a plate, as said earlier.
If you want to do MAs as a self defence technique then I would recommend you try and find a club that will do a range of modern and traditional martial arts. At the club I go to they teach kick boxing and kung fu, seperate classes but it is encouraged to go to both to get a more rounded education. They also do full contact sparing at the higher levels which, if you want to learn MAs for self defence, I cant recommend enough. There are far too many people who do martial arts for 6-12 months get a couple of belts and think they are the next Bruce Lee only to go into a fight over confident and get their ass handed back to them on a plate, as said earlier.
Pffffffffft re: above!
http://www.toronto-kendo-club.ca
Been doing it for a while now, I can't wait to get to the Bogu
http://www.toronto-kendo-club.ca
Been doing it for a while now, I can't wait to get to the Bogu
Captain Chickenpants
Regular
zurich said:Pffffffffft re: above!
http://www.toronto-kendo-club.ca
...
Been doing it for a while now, I can't wait to get to the Bogu
Looks fun!
Which one is you?
The graphics in that game sucks. It's all blurry, and the colors are washed-out. Besides, I think they added photoshop-antialias to hide the jaggies!
Bad, fuzzy textures too, and the mipmapping's all screwed up. Look at the side-lines as they go off towards the upper right, there's breaks in them!
Bad, fuzzy textures too, and the mipmapping's all screwed up. Look at the side-lines as they go off towards the upper right, there's breaks in them!
zurich said:Captain Chickenpants said:
Neither
A year? Shurley shome mishtake?
I'm absolutely certain that I saw Tom Cruise become a master swordsman within about two months in "The Last Samurai"!
Captain Chickenpants
Regular
zurich said:Captain Chickenpants said:
Neither
I know the feeling, at my Wing Chun class we don't get to play with the staff or swords until we are in the advanced class (I think), which will probably be about 18 months.
Still boxing gloves are fun!
