So... Which Martial Arts?

Well, I wanna get into learning a Martial Art and wanted it for strength training, self-defense etc. So far I wanted to go with Mix Martial Arts but found there was none in my area.... Just wanna know what's next 'best' or best for my needs... I'm looking for something effective in a fight and wanted to go with Karate then maybe move to Wing Chun....

Prefably want help from people with experience, thanks!

Karate is useless for fighting.

I'd look into Judu, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Krav Magra(for aggressiveness) and for striking I'd look into Kick Boxing

Though it'll be probably hard to find a decent trainer for any of these. I really wouldn't recommend just training with anybody. A good teacher is essential if you really want to learn to fight/defend yourself.

Hapkido is good.

MCMAP, but thats taught to servicemembers so thats pretty much out of the question.

Judo is the best for self defense, and is very useful if you are considering a career in law enforcement, so do that.

Muay Thai, Sanda or Sanshou, Boxing, grappling or ground fighting arts(search on google lol), Krav Maga, and Kyokushin karate are the probably most effective for the average person. Then again, any art can be effective if years of extremely hard training are put into it.

Think I might go with Muay Thai, but bloody hell, can't find any in the area... Muay Thai is stand up and ground fighting right?jasopan

Just stand up. Try to find a grappling art to supplement it also.

hmmm... judo? i took kempo. its was 'okay' i guess. very arms focused.Severed_Hand

Muay Thai + Judo is a great combination. Same with Jujutsu(also Brazilian) are excellent as well. Sanda or Sanshou is basicly a mix of kickboxing and takedowns and grapples.

Ninjustu all the way.CptJSparrow

The legitimacy of that art in North America is rather questionable.

Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Sambo, and Wrestling are in my opinion the most effective arts that you can train.

Muay Thai + Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the absolute best combination of two martial arts imo. But really, all of the above are very effective.

Part of what makes them effective is their simplicity. Take Muay Thai for example, it teaches simple techniques, with brutal effectiveness. There's no mumbo jumbo, know overly complex techniques that are far too difficult to use in actual combat. The first thing to go when you are in a fight is fine motor control. Exaggerated movements take care of this problem.

The other thing that makes the above martial arts so effective, is that you actually put to practice the techniques that you learn. You spar against resisting opponents every single day. They're trying to hit you or submit you in the case of grappling, and you're trying to do the same. There are plenty of other martial arts that do not follow this methodology.

If you don't spar all the time, and utilize the techniques that you're learning. Good luck using them when it really matters.

I have a good background in Judo. Good for defense, solid ground game, and grappling. I also studied a bit of karate for awhile, just for striking to mix in with my Judo. I, myself wouldn't mind taking up Krav Maga, yet there are no places around here that teach it.

muay thai if you can find it. it's like krav maga, but you don't feel you need to be a jerk to defend yourself

Honestly few clubs/gyms are actually well organized, and you're more likely to get hurt than actually learn anything. Find a club/gym you like and join that.

If your looking for self defensethen a systemwhere sparring is a common practice is essential. I personally like boxing the best but who knows what you will like. Muay Thai also looks bad ass

For defense: Krav Maga is the only way to goclembo1990

Just going to go with the flow here. Go for Muay Thai.

In terms of pure self defense, Krav Maga is easily the best. It teaches you how to deal with armed opponents including people with guns. It is actually a survival style, not just a fighting style.

Seeing as Krav Maga is hard as hell to find a place to learn it though, I got to echo the Muay Thai + Brazillian Ju Jitsu sentiments. Muay Thai is incredible for stand up while Brazillian Ju Jitsu is great for grappling and submissions. It is actually the combo I want to take if I ever find the time and money to get back into martial arts.

Yang Mian. Its probably the most lethal and good for self defense

I used to to Taekwondo, which was awesome.

Drunken monkey boxing forever. It's especially powerful if combined with Snake fist, but it will take ya years to master just the basic forms. I practice it all the time with my brothas here in the hood. But we usually end up using guns when it's needed...

Good ol' American boxing and wrestling.

Learn Wu style tai chi chuan and Jeet Kune Do, you can find the demo here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q9kYKtvYU0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEDaCIDvj6I

I wouldnt mess with him :P

There's this fat dude whose a bit taller than me and I tried punching him as hard as i could and he didn't feel it...Anyone know which martial arts would help? x)jasopan

I did Muay Thai for a while, was quite intense, there aint half some fellas that were mega fast. :P
This guy was my instructor. http://www.sitsiam-camp.com/index.php?id=chiefinstructor

"Added to his many years experience in Muay Thai, Kru Tony is a Gold Sash 9th degree Instructor of Krabi Krabong the highest graded student in the world outside Thailand."

I used to to Taekwondo, which was awesome.

JasonDarksavior

I have a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and found it to be pretty useless when it comes down to it.

Kicks are very dangerous to attempt in a real fight and yet thats all Tae-Kwon-Do focuses on. It's great for building balance, but other than that the style itself isn't worth the training....

[QUOTE="JasonDarksavior"]

I used to to Taekwondo, which was awesome.

LostProphetFLCL

I have a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and found it to be pretty useless when it comes down to it.

Kicks are very dangerous to attempt in a real fight and yet thats all Tae-Kwon-Do focuses on. It's great for building balance, but other than that the style itself isn't worth the training....

[QUOTE="LostProphetFLCL"]

[QUOTE="JasonDarksavior"]

I used to to Taekwondo, which was awesome.

DarkSmokeNinja

I have a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and found it to be pretty useless when it comes down to it.

Kicks are very dangerous to attempt in a real fight and yet thats all Tae-Kwon-Do focuses on. It's great for building balance, but other than that the style itself isn't worth the training....

I am not doubting the power of kicks the problem is that they are dangerous to attempt as they leave you vulnerable and they aren't terribly hard to gaurd against.

[QUOTE="DarkSmokeNinja"]

[QUOTE="LostProphetFLCL"]

I have a black belt in Tae-Kwon-Do and found it to be pretty useless when it comes down to it.

Kicks are very dangerous to attempt in a real fight and yet thats all Tae-Kwon-Do focuses on. It's great for building balance, but other than that the style itself isn't worth the training....

LostProphetFLCL

I am not doubting the power of kicks the problem is that they are dangerous to attempt as they leave you vulnerable and they aren't terribly hard to gaurd against.

[QUOTE="LostProphetFLCL"]

[QUOTE="DarkSmokeNinja"]Not really, if you can preform a kick in the person's rib cage hard enough, you can either knock them out of breath, break their rib cage, orcripple them, trust me I've done it before. (and got in big trouble too)

DarkSmokeNinja

I am not doubting the power of kicks the problem is that they are dangerous to attempt as they leave you vulnerable and they aren't terribly hard to gaurd against.

Trust me, watch some UFC sometime.

The vast majority of strikes are punches and such and then when kicks are thrown like 90% of them are quick low kicks merely meant to weaken their opponents legs.

If you screw up a big kick it can really bite you in the ass. The one kick I found useful was a shuffle side kick as I can pull it off quick and it has good power behind it.

[QUOTE="DarkSmokeNinja"]

[QUOTE="LostProphetFLCL"]

I am not doubting the power of kicks the problem is that they are dangerous to attempt as they leave you vulnerable and they aren't terribly hard to gaurd against.

LostProphetFLCL

Trust me, watch some UFC sometime.

The vast majority of strikes are punches and such and then when kicks are thrown like 90% of them are quick low kicks merely meant to weaken their opponents legs.

If you screw up a big kick it can really bite you in the ass. The one kick I found useful was a shuffle side kick as I can pull it off quick and it has good power behind it.

kick boxing, muay thai, judo

muay thai

[QUOTE="DarkSmokeNinja"]

[QUOTE="LostProphetFLCL"]

I am not doubting the power of kicks the problem is that they are dangerous to attempt as they leave you vulnerable and they aren't terribly hard to gaurd against.

LostProphetFLCL

Trust me, watch some UFC sometime.

The vast majority of strikes are punches and such and then when kicks are thrown like 90% of them are quick low kicks merely meant to weaken their opponents legs.

If you screw up a big kick it can really bite you in the ass. The one kick I found useful was a shuffle side kick as I can pull it off quick and it has good power behind it.

UFC is a bunch of garbage.

A real fight doesn't have rules. You aren't squaring off all pretty in a boxing stance. You are being attacked either against your will or in an organized fight. If it's the latter, you may have time to get into your fighting stance and prepare for what you need to do to overcome your opponent, etc. If it's the former, you are either being sucker punched or being rushed at and you don't have time to prepare. You must take a hit(if in the face, that is not something that a traditional martial art like karate, tae kwon do. or "kung fu" will teach you) or have extremely fast reflexes to be able to dodge or parry it. Kicks are hard to use in a fight because the amount of coordination required compared to a simple punch. The adreneline will almost always cause the kick to be sloppy, slow, and misplaced unless you know that you can successfully pull off a kick in a fight and have been trained properly and efficiently. That is something that a full contact, stand up art like Muay Thai or Kyokushin will teach you to do.

As for ground tactics, it's pretty much known that in the majority of fights, it's a "race for the takedown." You either have to go for it first and take your opponent down, or you must know how to reverse it so that your opponent ends up on the ground. Even with BJJ training and all of the ground fighting skills you have been trained with, if you are taken to the ground, you may know how to fight there. BUT you will be bombarded with attacks and that chances of getting hit in the face or hit so that you lose your focus are very high to cause you to not win or get out of there safely. An art like Sanda or a combination of a stand up art(Muay Thai, Boxing, Kyokushin) and a take down/throwing art(Judo, different styles of Jujutsu) are the most effictive. The take down arts I listed are also highly focused in ground fighting so that's a bonus. But learning two arts at the same time or consecutively is very costly which is why I would favor Sanda because you are learning how to fight standing up and how to deal with takedowns. And some teachers may even have a background in ground fighting which they may teach you as well.

Muay Thai is pretty awesome.

There's this fat dude whose a bit taller than me and I tried punching him as hard as i could and he didn't feel it...Anyone know which martial arts would help? x)jasopan

Muay Thai is pretty awesome.

thusaha

/thread