Any lounge lizards also martial artists?

[bliss_eternal]

I'm thinking of taking martial arts. How can I find a good studio? Any particular style recommended?

What are the chances of also finding one that is run or owned by a Dem? I understand the lessons can be pricey at times--don't want to give a lot of my money to a rethug--I know it's silly--sorry.

Anyway, what to look for? Thanks!

[McKenzie]

1. depends what you want out of it

I practised Taekwondo for 8 years from age 18 onwards (UKTA style) Good for flexibility and the emphasis on legs, rather than hands, was good for lower body strength. I'm far too old now and I'm not nearly as bendy as I used to be.

It instilled a sense of self discipline too, which is a good thing.

Can't comment on the current scene in the US; I've not trained for...a looong time!

[Seabiscuit]

2. I've been known to kick barn doors down. Does that qualify?

[yorgatron]

3. brute force and ignorance

hasn't let me down yet...

[bliss_eternal]

4. thanks for the feedback.

[LDS Jock]

5. kick-ass-bob

but I think he is only on during the weekdays.. you could PM him though

[Downtown Hound]

6. Brazilian ju jitsu is by far the most deadly martial art out there

mainly because it emphasizes ground combat, which is where most street fights end up anyway. My experience with martial arts has been pretty bad. I've taken a total of three different styles and none of them really taught me how to fight. It was all just standing around kicking the air and crap like like that. That may be a good workout, but it doesn't do anything for your ability to defend yourself. Also, there's a lot of pretentiousness in martial arts that I can do without. I really hate the whole, "This is a sacred dojo, a place of ancient combat and a center of the mystical art of self defense" bullshit that a lot of them preach. They've seen too many Kung Fu episodes. The minute I hear that crap, I'm out the door. Usually when some white guy is saying that to you you can bet he doesn't know his ass from a hole in the ground as far as real fighting goes. In a street fight, you're not bowing or defying gravity with jump kicks or screaming "Kiiiiyaaaa!" You're trying to survive without getting hurt.

Finally I tried just good old fashioned boxing, and after about a year of that, I looked like a chiseled sculpture and literally wasn't afraid of taking on anyone, even a martial artist. I would have fought any martial artist without hesitation based on my experience with many of them, simply because I know that a lot of them actually don't know how to really get down and brawl. Everything they do in their "sacred temples" is very controlled and doesn't prepare you for the actual chaos of street fighting.

The main thing you want to look for when choosing any fighting style, make sure you actually fight! Make sure you are able to spar with other students. If you don't do this, you're wasting your time. You have to learn how to get hit and hit back if you ever want to be any good. Boxing does this. Kickboxing does this. Brazilian ju jitsu does this. There might be other styles that do it also, but I haven't found them or I just had really bad teachers.

[bliss_eternal]

7. I appreciate your honesty-- I cracked up reading parts

of your response. LOL! I've visited a few studios and so many seem to just stress competitions and belt placements as opposed to the actual combat. It seems so many are geared toward the 'competition/trophy award' mentality of today's parents.

As an adult seeking training for myself, I could care less how many trophies kids have won in their studio.

What you've said also was in line with an article I read by a woman martial artist. While she didn't mention brazilian, she did mention Thai boxing for women.

I'll definitely check for brazilian jiu jitsu in addition to the Muay Thai!

Thanks so much!

[Downtown Hound]

8. Thai boxing would do you fine

It really is just a form of kickboxing with a few variations. But you will definitely learn how to fight if you choose to do that.

I can tell you a little bit about Ju Jitsu. You may have heard of Judo. Judo is essentially a watered down version of ju jutsu. Judo was developed by a Japanese ju jitsu master because his students kept getting hurt practicing ju jitsu. Ju jitsu is the real thing, no watered down version. It is hard core. If someone came up to me and said they were a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, I wouldn't give a shit. I'd say, prove you can actually do something with it. If someone came up to me and said the were a ju jitsu master, I'd offer to clean their feet and give them my wallet as long as they wouldn't hurt me. And I'm a former boxer. The moves they do in that art are absolutely brutal if done full force. They can put a human being in the hospital without breaking a sweat.

Brazilian ju jitsu is essentially the same thing as traditional ju jitsu but it has been adapted to emphasize ground fighting more. It was developed by a ju jitsu master in Brazil of all places who realized that 95% of all street fights, in other words, fights where there are no rules, no referees, and no trophy's, will at some point end up on the ground. So he adapted it to make it more effective in this department.

Of all the traditional martial arts that you hear about, karate, kung fu, tae kwon do, it is the only one that I have any serious respect for. That's not to say that any practitioner of those other forms couldn't be effective, but I base that effectiveness more on their personal abilities rather than the form itself.

[bliss_eternal]

11. Given the breakdown of what it is, I see why you

respect this form so much more and would recommend it. I think this is definitely the path to take in terms of which martial art to study. Thanks so much for the explanation and definition.

[absolutezero]

25. actually

pancration is probably the best form. It's a combination of jujitsu, karate, wrestling, kickboxing and whatever else you feel like using.
When the UFC was still big Ken Shamrock beat royce gracie without even breaking a sweat. and gracie is supposed to be one of the best jujitsu masters alive today.

Unfortunatly he's the only person in the world who teaches it and he lives in california, you also need to be invited to train there. He used to work for the WWF but left because he couldn't stand rigged fights or something.

Personally I prefer shorin ryu karate since thats what I always trained with

[JimmyJazz]

9. Let's just say there's a certain mod I wouldn't mess with around

these parts.

[nickgutierrez]

12. The funny one, too.

[JohnKleeb]

13. haha

funniest mod ever.

[instantkarma]

10. Jeet Kune Do is pretty good.

...don't know where you live... here's a international list of JKD instructors.

<http://www.combativesolutions.com/jkdinstructors.htm >

[7th_Sephiroth]

21. i second that

but be carefull about who instructs you, some just read bruce lees book after practiceing or instructing Tae Kwon Do and call it jeet kun do, Kendo is good, if you want to learn swordfighting, Tae Kwon Do if you want plain vanilla exercise and self-defense classes, i perfer Ju-Jitsu myself, if you want to be a hardcore martial artist

[bliss_eternal]

14. Anyone know if Gracie jiu jitsu is brazilian?

While searching my area for brazilian, Gracie came up on the search. There is a studio in my area.

Anyone know anything about this form? Otherwise there are other 'brazilian jiu jitsu' studios in the area as well as the jeet kune do.

Thanks!

[BigMcLargehuge]

17. the Gracies developed what is known now as Brazillian Jui Jitsu

[RevolutionStartsNow]

24. BJJ is awesome

This is the best martial art, in my opinion, if you really want to learn how to fight and defend yourself. It's also great for fitness.

My husband and son both do it; my husband is a purple belt and my son is still a white belt (but he can take kids much bigger than him). This is not a sport where you quickly get belts, as some others are; you have to really earn them.

As some other poster said above, it's the best fighting sport because most real-world fights end up on the ground anyway.

My husband tells me that you know it's the best martial art because the best UFC fighters are always BJJ fighters.

I think it's a very cool sport. Plus there's that yummy Brazilian accent that the best instructors seem to have.

[gizmo1979]

15. My daughter is a Black belt in kenpo karate.

That's alot of work. If you want easy Tae kwan do give away belts like a department store.

[bliss_eternal]

16. Hi gizmo--how long has your daughter studied kenpo?

How does karate differ from Tae Kwondo (if you know)?


If you want easy Tae kwan do give away belts like a department store.

That's funny...LOL!

[gizmo1979]

28. She's been into kenpo since she was 7 she's now 17

[BigMcLargehuge]

19. Tae Kwan Do is a sport

not truly a martial art.

[Enraged_Ape]

20. Just started kenpo, and I love it

I've dabbled in several styles over the course of 10 years, and kenpo, I believe, has the best mix of techniques for all occasions.

But when all is said and done, it's really about the instructor and the students.

[KittyWampus]

18. I So Tai Chi. Yes, It's A Martial Art. Short Form & Sword Form\

[sakabatou]

22. Shao-lin Chu'an Fa

Kenpo
Karate
Jujitsu
Akido
Judo

[BigMcLargehuge]

23. Iv'e studied several, and they all have their pros and cons

from a stylistic point of view. I've studied Shotokan Karate, Kodokan Judo, Parker Kenpo Karate, Aikido. I am currently training in Hapkido, Haedong Kumdo, and Kuhapdo.

The benefits/characteristics of each-

Shotokan was very rigid and linear

Judo was very rough and tumble and teaches how to take really hard hits and grapple

Aikido is very fluid and doesn't require much force

Parker Kenpo concentrates on hand speed and self defense

Hapkido is similar to Aikido except we train to break bones and smash things

Kumdo is the Korean form of Kendo (not practical self defense but a hell of a sport)

Kuhapdo is the Korean form of Iado, literally the art of drawing the sword and is very concentration intensive

The drawkbacks/characteristics of each-

Shotokan is a brute force art so being strong is a requirement. You can get around this sort of by introducing a weight training component.

Judo is a sport first and a martial art second so most people train to compete.

Aikido has almost never been seen "on the street" so lots of shit gets talked about its perceived inability to offer self defense skills. Aikido training is very much oriented to the "ideal" inside the dojo with almost no discussion of application in real life. That said, I found some Aikido techniques were natural when necessary and could be relied upon.

Parker Kenpo is also very ideal oriented and their self defense techniques are very complicated. In my experience they are great in theory but not in practice.

Check references of ANY Hapkido school you run across. Hapkido is the fasted growing MA in the US right now so every Tom Dick and Harry who can spell it is putting it on their signs. Many, many, many, many of these guys are teaching Robert Bussey's bullshit Hapkido based on video taped courses or are teaching simple expansions of Tae Kwon Do 1 step sparring techniques. Look in the American Hapkido Association before signing with any dojang. Another indicator is to sit in on a class. How many students are there? How many of them are upper belts? If there are more than 20 students you are not looking at a Hapkido school. Hapkido training is done almost always at near-full contact "with surprise" so training is hard, strains joints, sometimes snaps tendons, and occasionally breaks bones. Hapkido belts are white, yellow, purple, blue, green, red, black. If you see stripes and levels and other stuff on the belts of students in a class you check you, you are not looking at a Hapkido school. The only Hapkido belts that advance by degrees are black.

Haedong Kumdo is a fun sport but not practical for self defense as you generally aren't walking around in armor and carrying a Shinai.

Kuhapdo is a fun art too, and very beautiful, but you don't want to wave a live sword at someone unless you have a deep desire to experience Jailhouse living.

Here are some general tips for choosing a school.

Do you see 10 year olds wearing black belts? - bad
Is the instructor out of shape? - bad
Does the school insist on a long term contract of prepaying for multiple months? - bad
Does the school offers Kempo Karate, Muay Thuy, Kardio Kickboxing, Gracie Jui Jitsu? - bad
Does the school use Ninjas in their name? - bad
Does the school have a little dragons program? - bad
Does the school advertise a black belt in X-years? - bad
Does the school stack trophies in the window? - bad

Feel free to pepper me with any other questions.

[bliss_eternal]

26. Whoa! That's an informative post!

I love the tips on what to look for in a studio and what's good and bad. There are a few I can take off my list right now! LOL!

The Gracie in my area seems to have trained a great many law enforcement personnel. So I guess I may have to spar with some repubs and freepers (sigh)? Of course, I know not ALL law enforcement is republican--just a lot seem to be...

[Pert_UK]

27. Holy sheet! That's the last time I mess with a Mod!

That's one hell of a resume!

I've dabbled in judo, kung fu, tae-kwon do and fencing, but always ended up moving house / area just when I've got into it, and never starting again.

MA is great for fitness, control and confidence. I just need to get back into something.

I lived in Shanghai for a while and used to have dozens of people practising sword-form outside my window at 6am each day - very interesting.

[kick-ass-bob]

29. Any 10 year olds at my dojo

that are "black belts" are given the rank of deputy black belt.

When they get older, they can test for the regular black belt.

We have a now 15 year old who is a 2nd degree, and he is freaking awesome!

[fit4life]

30. I'd go with Kenpo or Hapkido

You might have a hard time finding someone who teaches the traditional arts though, a lot of instructors just look at what's popular and hang that name on their signs.

Just make sure you don't go taking a few courses and then thinking you're invincible. A good streetfighter can put a real hurting on a martial artist who doesn't have any experience outside the dojo.

[SarahB]

31. ForrestGump might have this info.

He's one elusive dude at times though.

[EstimatedProphet]

32. I studied aikido

I would recommend it if you want something different.
If you want a more liberal version, look into the Ki Society dojos. Of all the aikido variations, they are the most mystical.