About to start a martial art......

[speed dawg]

Finally about to pull the trigger. These are my motivations/goals:

- Practical, daily self defense
- Something my young kids can learn to help them in the future
- Confidence
- To a lesser extent....a good workout (obviously will need to be upbeat enough to keep kids occupied during teaching)

My choices:

- Krav Maga place right down the road
- Brazilian Jiu Jitsu place right by my house
- TKD place right down the road

Seems like all are around $110-$130 per person.

Any advice based on these things? Seems like all the instructors would be good with kids. Also, what age do they start retaining things well?

 

[Bible_Belt]

That seems a little pricey. Is that a family rate?

TKD is the most popular for kids. I have seen a lot of good BJJ programs for kids too. It depends on who is running it. Being good with kids is a different skill than being good at a martial art.

I've always been skeptical of KM places, which is not anything against the martial art. But the problem is that there are no competitions, so you never know who is good and who is faking it. I would want to see an instructor who has achieved something in a fight sport competition in some other interest. It could be anything, just something that had competitions. Maybe the guy was the Israeli national kickboxing champion - that's a big difference than training under someone who has only watched youtube videos and never been in a real fight.

 

[Who Dares Win]

Go with BJJ, it teaches useful self defence techniques, provides a stimulating training for conditioning and allows you to try out what you learn on hostiles at the end of the lesson.

Plus chances of getting hurt are low despite the sparring, tapping stops the fight before it hurt.

I never tried krav maga but as bible said its hard to evaluate your learning process when you dont have to pratice on an hostile opponent, plus the mental edge you get from being under stress doesnt come.

If you want your kids to be able to defend themselves, be fit and mentally strong BJJ is a great option.

Keep in mind that once you master BJJ its easy to learn some basic striking and get a complete profile for MMA.

 

[AttackFormation]

I'd go with grappling.

- No brain trauma
- Will beat someone who only does a striking art (if you integrate basic takedown shots/trips/throws/rolls), grappling is the foundation of mma
- You can submit people before you do actual damage to them, which could help your legal case if you use it for self-defense

 

[speed dawg]

That seems a little pricey. Is that a family rate?

Nope, that's per person. I live in the Atlanta metro, if that makes a difference.

TKD is the most popular for kids. I have seen a lot of good BJJ programs for kids too. It depends on who is running it. Being good with kids is a different skill than being good at a martial art.

In this case, the BJJ instructor is very good, I like him a lot, gave me a free personal lesson. Much better than the TKD place.

I have not visited the KM place, but it 'seems' more like what I want - self defense and such - but from I'm hearing here, you guys seem like BJJ is better there.

 

[AttackFormation]

I have not visited the KM place, but it 'seems' more like what I want - self defense and such - but from I'm hearing here, you guys seem like BJJ is better there.

The thing with Krav Maga is the techniques you use to do things like kick the balls, stab the eyes, punch the throat, smack the back of the head etc. are not something you need to train for in particular. If you can punch, kick and your movement is fluid, then you can do all of the KM stuff. It's not like there's "secret techniques" or areas to hit the body that you won't be aware of - you just don't go there when you're not fighting to cause permanent damage. You'll just also have the intangible benefits of sparring experience like timing, physical and mental calm that makes your training actually work in a fight, training out of typical bad rookie habits, and toughness.

 

[Von]

Personnally I think BJJ is a joke for ''fighting arts'' no self-defense application.... heck... that's why you have Gracie Jutjitsu (stand up BJJ, like back in the old judo days).

I did BJJ btw.

If you want fitness, practical use, kid friendly.... Boxing, Muay Thai, Judo are my pick

if you want location, kids, no injury, community, improved bed skills... BJJ

If you want kids to have strong leg and good cardio.... Taekwondo (McConnor the UFC champ is Taekwondo guy)

Krav Maga, Japanese Jutjitsu etc... should be picked up at adulthood when you have control of your body, some knowledge.... it will be 100% more effective if you were groomed by ''striking-wrestling standup arts''

From your list: I would pick BJJ

However, in any martial arts.... Teacher/dojo is key, Community is a recipe to improvement..... cause McDojo (self-proclaimed Blackbelt) do exist... so do your research on the teachers before the art

 

[AttackFormation]

Personnally I think BJJ is a joke for ''fighting arts'' no self-defense application.... heck... that's why you have Gracie Jutjitsu (stand up BJJ, like back in the old judo days).

I don't do gi-grappling myself but as self-defense I don't see why it would be useless unless you have absolutely zero skill at getting the fight to the ground, which any half-decent dojo would include in its training. Is the average assailant gonna wear clothes which simulates a gi? yep. Is he gonna try to punch you and so get into grappling range? you bet, he might even get there before he punches you. Is the ground gonna be soft and pliable like the mat is? h3ll no, getting dropped is gonna hurt and take the wind out of you, which makes any kind of grappling more damaging. As a bonus a grappler will by default beat a striker (that's why wrestling is the foundation of mma) if anyone who's trained in striking attacks you, especially because they probably won't expect you to be a grappler or try to grapple them. You'd just need to be mindful of the basic street fighting rules (face your groin away, don't expose your eyes, etc.), but anyone would want to pick up those anyway if they're doing something for self-defense.

The only solid argument I can see against it is multiple attackers when you're alone, which would be true, but the best defense against a fight and its potential dangers when it's on the street, you're alone and they might have weapons is running away from it anyway.

That's not to say grappling would always be better than striking for self-defense, because striking does let you defend yourself with less total body commitment (I won't say faster because a standing choke/crank is also fast, but requires more commitment), just that it's certainly not useless.

 

[Von]

I don't do gi-grappling myself but as self-defense I don't see why it would be useless unless you have absolutely zero skill at getting the fight to the ground, which any half-decent dojo would include in its training. Is the average assailant gonna wear clothes which simulates a gi? yep. Is he gonna try to punch you and so get into grappling range? you bet, he might even get there before he punches you. Is the ground gonna be soft and pliable like the mat is? h3ll no, getting dropped is gonna hurt and take the wind out of you, which makes any kind of grappling more damaging. As a bonus a grappler will by default beat a striker (that's why wrestling is the foundation of mma) if anyone who's trained in striking attacks you, especially because they probably won't expect you to be a grappler or try to grapple them. You'd just need to be mindful of the basic street fighting rules (face your groin away, don't expose your eyes, etc.), but anyone would want to pick up those anyway if they're doing something for self-defense.

The only solid argument I can see against it is multiple attackers when you're alone, which would be true, but the best defense against a fight and its potential dangers when it's on the street, you're alone and they might have weapons is running away from it anyway.

That's not to say grappling would always be better than striking for self-defense, because striking does let you defend yourself with less total body commitment (I won't say faster because a standing choke/crank is also fast, but requires more commitment), just that it's certainly not useless.

In Japanese JutJitsu, Judo... you do learn ground work (which is BJJ) but you also learn how breakfalls, counter people going for the leg (or takedown). Gracie Jutjitsu touch that.

So if decent dojo teaches those with JapJJ, Judo... a student will be better there for OP goal.

In term of self-defence, learning to keep of the ground, breakfall, getting back up is more vital than to roll on the floor. Also, if it's a streetgfight, you'll be bitten/groin/ballbusted... which is something you don'tt consider in sport BJJ

 

[AttackFormation]

In Japanese JutJitsu, Judo... you do learn ground work (which is BJJ) but you also learn how breakfalls, counter people going for the leg (or takedown). Gracie Jutjitsu touch that.

So if decent dojo teaches those with JapJJ, Judo... a student will be better there for OP goal.

In term of self-defence, learning to keep of the ground, breakfall, getting back up is more vital than to roll on the floor. Also, if it's a streetgfight, you'll be bitten/groin/ballbusted... which is something you don'tt consider in sport BJJ

"Bjj" is just an underhanded marketing term for something (ie. grappling) that's existed for thousands of years all over the world, that's why I said gi-grappling. If he was to train at a crap bjj school that pays lip service to standing grappling and assumes your opponent also wants to roll on the ground with you then yeah, he's better off somewhere else. But a properly schooled grappler in a street fight is gonna go takedown > joint lock > fight over, or grab neck > choke/crank > fight over, or just do a trip or something and stomp his head in.

 

[speed dawg]

"Bjj" is just an underhanded marketing term for something (ie. grappling) that's existed for thousands of years all over the world, that's why I said gi-grappling. If he was to train at a crap bjj school that pays lip service to standing grappling and assumes your opponent also wants to roll on the ground with you then yeah, he's better off somewhere else. But a properly schooled grappler in a street fight is gonna go takedown > joint lock > fight over, or grab neck > choke/crank > fight over, or just do a trip or something and stomp his head in.

Interesting concepts. This is a good discussion to me. I myself seemed to think BJJ was the ground game only, which isn't really want I wanted. I most certainly do not want to do sport BJJ - I don't like that at all.

Problem is, you just can't learn much in one lesson. And, you have to pay for a long while to see what it's really all about. I want to make a decision, then commit.

AF - what you said at end of your paragraph is what I want....Von seems to think that is more Japanese JJ. However I bet the BJJ here in my town does that too, I think he's a good instructor.

 

[AttackFormation]

Interesting concepts. This is a good discussion to me. I myself seemed to think BJJ was the ground game only, which isn't really want I wanted. I most certainly do not want to do sport BJJ - I don't like that at all.

Problem is, you just can't learn much in one lesson. And, you have to pay for a long while to see what it's really all about. I want to make a decision, then commit.

AF - what you said at end of your paragraph is what I want....Von seems to think that is more Japanese JJ. However I bet the BJJ here in my town does that too, I think he's a good instructor.

If it's a decent school then it will include all of what I mentioned no matter whether it's Brazilian, Japanese or Martian jiu jitsu, and if it's not it won't. However, it's true that bjj conceptually focuses more on the ground-fighting and if you don't want to focus on that you're gonna need to find another place.

 

[daddymonsterpoodle]

Boxing would be my pick for fitness and self defence. I have done bjj, and unarmed combat (like krav maga). Going to the ground is volunteering for a sh*t kicking, and wrist locks and arm-bars are hard work to get on in a fight. I say this after nearly 25 years of being a bouncer.
Learning a good rear choke will pay dividends, and will save your ass..
TKD is a good sport but a good boxer will punish a good TKD practitioner.
Krav Maga would be awesome and does a good job of teaching combat reflexes. It can be brutal. The down side is it can be too brutal, a knee break, a throat punch or an eye gouge are not a good response to a pub fight.

 

[Bible_Belt]

My mma trainer's background is Japanese Jiu-jitsu. It's very different from BJJ. JJJ is the fighting style of the Samurai, who successfully defended Japan for hundreds of years with hand-to-hand combat, up until the invention of guns. It's actually very similar to KM, in that it is brutal, has no rules, and thus no competitions.

I also had a BJJ instructor and trained a few years of BJJ at the same time. Here's the deal about using BJJ in a street fight: it works when you are losing. I knew a guy who got tackled, sat on, and beaten to death in a street fight. A simple mount escape would have saved his life. BJJ is a defensive art. I competed at the biggest BJJ tournament in the Midwest, and I wasn't that impressed. The two guys who beat me used intricate gi holds to win. Everyone wants to pull guard and drag you down on top of them. It's like the opposite of a real fight. I felt like I would have beaten both those guy's asses if I was allowed to punch them in the face.

 

[daddymonsterpoodle]

+1

 

[ubercat]

May not be available where you are. Hapkido is a traditional martial art that combines tkd and Aikido. does have a grappling component and something nice is it always is evade and block. so if you miss your block you don't get hit and that is a good habit for self defence because he may have a knife that you don't see. moving off the line of attack is important because even without a weapon many Street Fighters r good at throwing lots of hooks quickly

Filipino martial arts are good. they have grappling striking and weapons. a nice thing they do is they have a lot of a joint wrenches. which means you can quickly damage an opponents arm and then be on to the next one. more practical than grappling in my opinion for self defence. in common with most South East Asian martial arts they also have hand trapping which makes striking far more practical.

 

[BreezyB84]

I just saw this...I'm bias lol...I was born in Korea where tkd was the national sport and continue even today... ive had countless sparring matches with people of many different arts ...the best advice I can give us make sure your instructors understanding of real life situations is on par..tkd has served me VERY well. but no matter what it comes down to application and understandingm

The most equipped of all arts is Ninpo hands down ..you just can't find it lol

 

[revolutionnow]

Glad you posted this if your gold is self-defense on the streets I will take outs systeMa if you want to compete in MMA Jiu-Jitsu and Judo taught by a very experienced coach who has at least 15 MMA fights on his belt could go a long way I am a firm believer Systema

 

[ubercat]

Sorry I used to train in TKD. It's a great fun sport with good fitness. It's too incomplete to be a serious self defence system. My sister used to train Taekwondo and wanted to practice sparring with me. My hands are from Wing Chun Kali and boxing. She used to attack I used to defend and she couldn't touch me. I've got another friend you probably outweighs me by 10 kg at least. He decided to pull a Taekwondo joint lock on me for fun. Unfortunately he didn't give me any warning and went quite quickly. I'm trained in counter lock flow from Kali. He ended up on the ground squealing about his injured foot. Muay Thai kicks Muay Thai kicks r more realistic because you don't end up with broken toes and a good round kick to the side of the knee is going to ruin anyone's day. Jujitsu throws are more realistic because they teach them inflow and they teach un balancing. Muay Thai elbows r more realistic because they cover the head in case the guy hits back. Boxing hands more realistic because they practice punching from different angles and zoning away from the rear hand. Like I said Taekwondo is a great sport just don't be under any illusions that you're getting self defence training.

 

[speed dawg]

Update I guess on this....never did do it simply because of money. It just costs too damn much, bottom line. I'm actually going to look into more basic self defense classes and gun training.