I do not know what type of martial arts to do. It has to be defence but i dont want a really popular one like karate or tae kwan do. What would you suggest?
12 Responses to “What type of martial arts should i do?”
Marques Joseph Said:
Krav Maga. If you want simple self defense there’s nothing like it. No needless posturing or rigid stances like in Asian styles. It’s just straight up real-world, life-saving fighting.
Collin Creighton Said:
Aikido!
it’s the same thing that you see when an old japanese man throwing a 400 lbs. man with one finger.
AWESOME!
it’s total defense and mostly throwing and holding.
my Dad worked in a level 5 prison with murderers and rapists, that’s what he was taught to thwart the prisoners in an attack.
Eliezer Duncan Said:
Kajukenbo if you can find a school in your area. It was designed specifically for street defense in hawaii against sailors. Also, Jeet Kune Do is effective and excellent for self defense. Wing Chun works too
Mark Laws Said:
Self-defense: Hapkido, a Korean art that focuses on joint locks, throws and submission techniques, also, weapons disarms and fighting with a walking cane, knife, club and belt/rope – common objects that you could use in everyday life. Systema, a Russian martial art that focus is pure self-defense and Krav Maga, an Israeli art with pure self-defense and disarms – preparing for worst case scenarios as the focus. Jeet Kune Do is a form of street fighting – basically no rules and was designed by Bruce Lee. Silat is an Indonesian art that is truly vicious and Kali is a Philipino art that stresses weapon fighting and disarms. These are all serious arts that are usually only taught to adults.
Hapkido is more likely to be taught at a Taekwondo school since they are both Korean arts. Jeet Kune Do and Kali are taught at the same schools many times since the founder of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee, had a top student named Dan Inosanto and he is Philipino and has studied numerous arts including Kali. Krav Maga is becoming popular and can be taught anywhere and is applicable quickly after beginning lessons and Systema, in my view, has a focus on law enforcement and the military and is another quality self-defense art. I’m sure there are others – but these are the most widely thought of as effective self-defense arts that I’m aware. Aikido is more of a cooperative type art with lots of tradition – I’m sure it is effective in some situations – but has a peaceful phylosophy that might be difficult in a true self-defense situation – it’s like Hapkido without the strikes, tighter circles, sparring and practical weapons.
Taliyah Nixon Said:
My personal favorite is aikido you can use it against opponents all sizes and you don’t have to be that strong
Shayla Cavanagh Said:
LIke someone baove me already stated my favorite systems
Kajukenbo ( I practice it) Wing Chun and JKD ( I also practice it)
try Krav Maga or
Kung Fu San Soo ( ihave studied this, it is vicious)
Emilee Schofield Said:
Hello,
Honestly, and I know Ill get alot of disagreements on here, boxing or wrestling(the real style)…observe
I cant find any wrestling ones but it dominated the early MMA matches. The reason I dont reccomend MMA/Muay Thai/BJJ right now is that MMA is a fad and currently at its peak so there are lots of fake schools out there charging lots of money for bs, Boxing and the Harder to find Wrestling(unless your still in middle or early highschool, in which case boxing makes a great off season sport as well for staying conditioned and in your weight class) are free to cheap at good gyms. TMA and CMA martial arts art to static to learn anything really useful, though they will tell you that you can beat a million guys at once(exageration). Finally, Boxing or Wrestling will get you in the best shape of your life and you will get used to trading strikes or grappling full contact, which is really important. Dont listen to boxers only use one weapon and martial artist know everything, because of full contact training boxers probally know how to us their hands better than most martial artist know how to use their whole body, youll use the hands 90-100% of the time you strike in a street fight. It is also naive to think that most boxers arent smart enough to know how to use basic knees, elbows, eyegouges, etc… and besides you can carry 4 rifles on you at once but you can only use one at a time if that analogy means anything. The only thing I would value more for self defense then these is Parkour(Ive included a video of this too) but that flys out the window if say your girlfriend and you get mugged and shes about to get raped, or any situation in which you have other people to defend…and now, the Parkour Video
Keep an objective mind when watching this, the acrobatics, to my understanding is actually “freerunning” parkour emphasizes taking the obstacles with conservation of movement and the most direct way, I guess free runners and parkour people run in the same crowd, no pun intended, I wouldnt know ive never done it(id love to try, but boxing keeps me busy, 2012 here I come) but my guess is parkour would be great for running from someone who is trying to hurt you in an urban enviorment, probally the best idea if you are alone now and days, with guns and all no body streetfights fair anymore.
P.S.- No disrespct towards MMA I have tons of respect, but I do feel its a fad right now as far as main stream popularity goes, it definately revolutionized fighting, but as a spectator sport I feel it will regress back into mainly the martial arts crowd in a couple years, as did Karate and Kickboxing in the 80s, and it gives me shudders to compare the 2 but as did Pro-Wrestling in the 90s (however I may be wrong I was born in 87 so most of that kickboxing karate stuff is hearsay)
P.S.S.-Before anyone gets offended and starts taking potshots at my syntax, grammar, spelling, etc… I wasent looking to write a doctorial thesis on the subject, and Im lazy. I believe I got my point across fine, my own illiteracy and all.
Yusuf Mcmahon Said:
Well if you like Bruce Lee, then you should take Jeet Kune Do. There are books that he wrote about Jeet Kune Do that would really teach you a lot if you read them. Also Muay Thai or Kung-fu. It’ll take too long to explain them both. If you want to find out about Muay Thai, just Google it. As for Kung-fu, there are many different kinds. Google that too if you’re interested in finding out more about it. ^_^
Marcus Sandhu Said:
it doesn’t matter what martial art you do. whether its popular or not, you want to find a good school with a great reputation.
try not to join a school that only wants to take your money these are usually referred to as Mcdojos or black-belt factories, most of the time you can tell if its a Mcdojo if they have black-belts that are highly disrespectful and or usually have you sign contracts that make you keep paying for a year or more. try looking around your area for dojos that allow 1 to 7 free trial classes, and see if its the right one for you
Addison Burns Said:
Hi there Sabres30goalie !
This is the most frequently asked question from people wanting to join and train in the martial arts for the first time and are clueless on what to do or which art to take.
First and foremost, the internet is full of keyboard ninjas, MMA poseurs, and psuedo karate masters who thinks that they have all the answers you’ll ever need. The problem with this is that they don’t know you, so how can they determine what’s good for you. The fact is only YOU can determined what’s good for you.
I can easily say “oh, take Shorin ryu karate because….blah, blah, blah..” but I won’t. Why ? Well for one, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Second, telling you about my art is like selling you a used car over the phone.
Finding the right school, style and instructor can be a very discouraging and perplexing endeavor. However, I can suggest the following steps to assist you in your search:
1) First thing first, Ask yourself .
- Am I willing to spend the time and money to venture into this “new” lifestyle ? Or Am I just having a Jet Li , Jackie Chan Power Rangers, The Last Samurai , Randy Couture moment ?
You really need to seriously think about this.
Secondly, What style is good for me ?
First, some martial arts styles may depend on your height , weight, build etc…etc.. While I don’t believe in the “one size fits all” mentality. It would be hard to picture a sumotori ( person who trains in Sumo) doing a 360 jump spin triple kick in Taekwondo. My point is that YOU have to find an art that fits YOU. It does not matter which art. Just find an art that will make YOU feel happy.
So let your journey begin with what I have encouraged others to follow. .
Get a phone book ( Available FREE from your local phone company ) , Take it home and start looking for the listing under “ Martial Arts Instruction” or “ Martial Arts”. You should find about 2-3 pages of Schools currently doing business in your area. Some schools have big ads that grabs your attention the moment you opened the phone. Don’t neglect schools that are simply on the basic two lines listing. You will never know what hidden “treasure” you might stumble upon.
Next step is to list the schools and their styles that appeals to you. Since you are new to the Martial Arts it is also a wise idea to check out a style or system that you have never heard off, as I am sure you have never heard of arts like Matsubayashi Ryu , Kobayashi Ryu, Shito Ryu..etc. List them as well and find out more about them.
Then click on this link: type in the styles that you listed. I am 100 percent sure that google will give you detailed information of the type of martial art styles that are being offered in your area.
Do not read one website as the only source of that style. Read as many as you can. It pays to do your homework before you do your legwork.
2) Finding the Dojo
Once you narrowed down your martial arts style search and still feeling enthusiastic about training. Now comes the hard part. To begin with, return to the primary source ( the phone book). Now that you have a clear fundamental understanding of what style of martial arts maybe good for you. List all the available dojo with their address and phone numbers.
Now don’t rely of the phone books alone as the only source of locating dojos in your area. Utilized the power of the information superhighway (AKA the internet). Click on and type in keywords such as Karate ( type in city) or wushu (type in city)..etc
There are dojos that do not advertised or used phone books and the internet to acquire new students. Often these little schools rely of words of mouth or basically are non-commercialized schools.
Just because they are small does not mean that they aren’t any good. Funakoshi’s ( Founder of Shotokan) first dojo was his backyard.
So by now you probably have list that are now 2-3 pages long. The next course of action is to give the Dojo that appealed to you a call and see if they give out try-outs for free or pay the minimal tryout fee’s.
I would strongly suggest to try out these schools for a least a month before you make a commitment. Trying out for one day training session is not enough. If you have to pay for a monthly fee ( Hopefully very small indeed) Just do it ! It is worth the investment.
Titus Willetts Said:
Hapkido; great self-defense Korean martial art. It’s harder than tae kwon do, but worth it!
Nathaniel Butt Said:
Find the local schools around you and go visit them. By doing this you can find a marital art that is not “really popular” that will fit your needs.
Not sure why but when I selected a martial art I did not want a really popular one either. I picked kenpo which is not totally obscure but far from popular.
Krav Maga. If you want simple self defense there’s nothing like it. No needless posturing or rigid stances like in Asian styles. It’s just straight up real-world, life-saving fighting.
Aikido!
it’s the same thing that you see when an old japanese man throwing a 400 lbs. man with one finger.
AWESOME!
it’s total defense and mostly throwing and holding.
my Dad worked in a level 5 prison with murderers and rapists, that’s what he was taught to thwart the prisoners in an attack.
Kajukenbo if you can find a school in your area. It was designed specifically for street defense in hawaii against sailors. Also, Jeet Kune Do is effective and excellent for self defense. Wing Chun works too
Self-defense: Hapkido, a Korean art that focuses on joint locks, throws and submission techniques, also, weapons disarms and fighting with a walking cane, knife, club and belt/rope – common objects that you could use in everyday life. Systema, a Russian martial art that focus is pure self-defense and Krav Maga, an Israeli art with pure self-defense and disarms – preparing for worst case scenarios as the focus. Jeet Kune Do is a form of street fighting – basically no rules and was designed by Bruce Lee. Silat is an Indonesian art that is truly vicious and Kali is a Philipino art that stresses weapon fighting and disarms. These are all serious arts that are usually only taught to adults.
Hapkido is more likely to be taught at a Taekwondo school since they are both Korean arts. Jeet Kune Do and Kali are taught at the same schools many times since the founder of Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee, had a top student named Dan Inosanto and he is Philipino and has studied numerous arts including Kali. Krav Maga is becoming popular and can be taught anywhere and is applicable quickly after beginning lessons and Systema, in my view, has a focus on law enforcement and the military and is another quality self-defense art. I’m sure there are others – but these are the most widely thought of as effective self-defense arts that I’m aware. Aikido is more of a cooperative type art with lots of tradition – I’m sure it is effective in some situations – but has a peaceful phylosophy that might be difficult in a true self-defense situation – it’s like Hapkido without the strikes, tighter circles, sparring and practical weapons.
My personal favorite is aikido you can use it against opponents all sizes and you don’t have to be that strong
LIke someone baove me already stated my favorite systems
Kajukenbo ( I practice it) Wing Chun and JKD ( I also practice it)
try Krav Maga or
Kung Fu San Soo ( ihave studied this, it is vicious)
Hello,
Honestly, and I know Ill get alot of disagreements on here, boxing or wrestling(the real style)…observe
I cant find any wrestling ones but it dominated the early MMA matches. The reason I dont reccomend MMA/Muay Thai/BJJ right now is that MMA is a fad and currently at its peak so there are lots of fake schools out there charging lots of money for bs, Boxing and the Harder to find Wrestling(unless your still in middle or early highschool, in which case boxing makes a great off season sport as well for staying conditioned and in your weight class) are free to cheap at good gyms. TMA and CMA martial arts art to static to learn anything really useful, though they will tell you that you can beat a million guys at once(exageration). Finally, Boxing or Wrestling will get you in the best shape of your life and you will get used to trading strikes or grappling full contact, which is really important. Dont listen to boxers only use one weapon and martial artist know everything, because of full contact training boxers probally know how to us their hands better than most martial artist know how to use their whole body, youll use the hands 90-100% of the time you strike in a street fight. It is also naive to think that most boxers arent smart enough to know how to use basic knees, elbows, eyegouges, etc… and besides you can carry 4 rifles on you at once but you can only use one at a time if that analogy means anything. The only thing I would value more for self defense then these is Parkour(Ive included a video of this too) but that flys out the window if say your girlfriend and you get mugged and shes about to get raped, or any situation in which you have other people to defend…and now, the Parkour Video
Keep an objective mind when watching this, the acrobatics, to my understanding is actually “freerunning” parkour emphasizes taking the obstacles with conservation of movement and the most direct way, I guess free runners and parkour people run in the same crowd, no pun intended, I wouldnt know ive never done it(id love to try, but boxing keeps me busy, 2012 here I come) but my guess is parkour would be great for running from someone who is trying to hurt you in an urban enviorment, probally the best idea if you are alone now and days, with guns and all no body streetfights fair anymore.
P.S.- No disrespct towards MMA I have tons of respect, but I do feel its a fad right now as far as main stream popularity goes, it definately revolutionized fighting, but as a spectator sport I feel it will regress back into mainly the martial arts crowd in a couple years, as did Karate and Kickboxing in the 80s, and it gives me shudders to compare the 2 but as did Pro-Wrestling in the 90s (however I may be wrong I was born in 87 so most of that kickboxing karate stuff is hearsay)
P.S.S.-Before anyone gets offended and starts taking potshots at my syntax, grammar, spelling, etc… I wasent looking to write a doctorial thesis on the subject, and Im lazy. I believe I got my point across fine, my own illiteracy and all.
Well if you like Bruce Lee, then you should take Jeet Kune Do. There are books that he wrote about Jeet Kune Do that would really teach you a lot if you read them. Also Muay Thai or Kung-fu. It’ll take too long to explain them both. If you want to find out about Muay Thai, just Google it. As for Kung-fu, there are many different kinds. Google that too if you’re interested in finding out more about it. ^_^
it doesn’t matter what martial art you do. whether its popular or not, you want to find a good school with a great reputation.
try not to join a school that only wants to take your money these are usually referred to as Mcdojos or black-belt factories, most of the time you can tell if its a Mcdojo if they have black-belts that are highly disrespectful and or usually have you sign contracts that make you keep paying for a year or more. try looking around your area for dojos that allow 1 to 7 free trial classes, and see if its the right one for you
Hi there Sabres30goalie !
This is the most frequently asked question from people wanting to join and train in the martial arts for the first time and are clueless on what to do or which art to take.
First and foremost, the internet is full of keyboard ninjas, MMA poseurs, and psuedo karate masters who thinks that they have all the answers you’ll ever need. The problem with this is that they don’t know you, so how can they determine what’s good for you. The fact is only YOU can determined what’s good for you.
I can easily say “oh, take Shorin ryu karate because….blah, blah, blah..” but I won’t. Why ? Well for one, I don’t know you and you don’t know me. Second, telling you about my art is like selling you a used car over the phone.
Finding the right school, style and instructor can be a very discouraging and perplexing endeavor. However, I can suggest the following steps to assist you in your search:
1) First thing first, Ask yourself .
- Am I willing to spend the time and money to venture into this “new” lifestyle ? Or Am I just having a Jet Li , Jackie Chan Power Rangers, The Last Samurai , Randy Couture moment ?
You really need to seriously think about this.
Secondly, What style is good for me ?
First, some martial arts styles may depend on your height , weight, build etc…etc.. While I don’t believe in the “one size fits all” mentality. It would be hard to picture a sumotori ( person who trains in Sumo) doing a 360 jump spin triple kick in Taekwondo. My point is that YOU have to find an art that fits YOU. It does not matter which art. Just find an art that will make YOU feel happy.
So let your journey begin with what I have encouraged others to follow. .
Get a phone book ( Available FREE from your local phone company ) , Take it home and start looking for the listing under “ Martial Arts Instruction” or “ Martial Arts”. You should find about 2-3 pages of Schools currently doing business in your area. Some schools have big ads that grabs your attention the moment you opened the phone. Don’t neglect schools that are simply on the basic two lines listing. You will never know what hidden “treasure” you might stumble upon.
Next step is to list the schools and their styles that appeals to you. Since you are new to the Martial Arts it is also a wise idea to check out a style or system that you have never heard off, as I am sure you have never heard of arts like Matsubayashi Ryu , Kobayashi Ryu, Shito Ryu..etc. List them as well and find out more about them.
Then click on this link: type in the styles that you listed. I am 100 percent sure that google will give you detailed information of the type of martial art styles that are being offered in your area.
Do not read one website as the only source of that style. Read as many as you can. It pays to do your homework before you do your legwork.
2) Finding the Dojo
Once you narrowed down your martial arts style search and still feeling enthusiastic about training. Now comes the hard part. To begin with, return to the primary source ( the phone book). Now that you have a clear fundamental understanding of what style of martial arts maybe good for you. List all the available dojo with their address and phone numbers.
Now don’t rely of the phone books alone as the only source of locating dojos in your area. Utilized the power of the information superhighway (AKA the internet). Click on and type in keywords such as Karate ( type in city) or wushu (type in city)..etc
There are dojos that do not advertised or used phone books and the internet to acquire new students. Often these little schools rely of words of mouth or basically are non-commercialized schools.
Just because they are small does not mean that they aren’t any good. Funakoshi’s ( Founder of Shotokan) first dojo was his backyard.
So by now you probably have list that are now 2-3 pages long. The next course of action is to give the Dojo that appealed to you a call and see if they give out try-outs for free or pay the minimal tryout fee’s.
I would strongly suggest to try out these schools for a least a month before you make a commitment. Trying out for one day training session is not enough. If you have to pay for a monthly fee ( Hopefully very small indeed) Just do it ! It is worth the investment.
Hapkido; great self-defense Korean martial art. It’s harder than tae kwon do, but worth it!
Find the local schools around you and go visit them. By doing this you can find a marital art that is not “really popular” that will fit your needs.
Not sure why but when I selected a martial art I did not want a really popular one either. I picked kenpo which is not totally obscure but far from popular.
Good luck