Martial Arts. Picking a good one, and a good club?

[Phyzzle]

Interesting overview of the major martial arts you would find most places.

http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=19463
http://www.sosuave.net/forum/showthread.php?t=48559

 

[MaddXMan]

I just want to say that krav maga has been the best for me, building my confidence and I have actually have gotten good at cardio exercises like jumping rope and running, which I used to hate. The training is fun & very hands on!

 

[SharinganUser]

Well, I have to say that the teacher is way more important than the style. The best teacher I've had was trained in TKD, Kung fu, boxing, and Mauy Thai.

Honestly, it's not the style that makes you fit, it's how hard you train that makes you fit.

If you are looking to train for just for self defense, then I agree with the other posters that Krav Maga and MT are really good(tho MT is mostly trained for sport).

I also think that you should keep an open mind about training, a great martial arts teacher will always be better than a bad teacher of a popular style.

Get out there take some classes and network with as many martial artists as you can, when you learn about them and what they are doing, you will learn a lot about what you want to do and find out you might want to learn more than you thought.

 

[speakeasy]

One thing important to mention, I think all styles are of worth so long as there is full-contact sparring. If you go through a martial arts program and don't spar, you will get your ass handed to you on the street. And that's the truth. Learning how to kick and punch against a bag is about 20% of your training. Learning how to use those kicks and punches against another person who is kicking and punching back is the other 80%. So when picking a school, make sure it is one that incorporates full contact(preferably anything goes) fighting. I'm about to join a fight club that my school is providing that will train students in full contact anything goes sparring with purpose of preparing them for the ring/cage later down the line. I'm not interested in doing any competitive fighting myself, but I think the training alone would be awesome.

 

[Rhoto]

Krav Maga + Jujitsu and some power building from Muay Thai, you'll be all set. But it all comes down to your willingness to put in actual work. And regardless of how much training you have, a single punch can still knock you out.

 

[speakeasy]

How about what this guy does? lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O07u7KdRVo0

 

[Alle_Gory]

Ok. So I found a Martial Arts club.

http://www.premiermartialarts.net/

It's in Oakville, Ontario. I've already visited the facilities before. Equipment is top notch. I already met the instructor by chance. Turns out they offer Krav Maga.


Now how would I go about doing some research into this club?

 

[Alle_Gory]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O07u7KdRVo0

haha that was awesome.

 

[Alle_Gory]

Bump.

 

[-HPNOTIQ-]

I haven't read all of the responses to this post. But IMO, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is the only 'belt' you will truely earn. I'm going to get a lot of flack for this from other martial artists...but I don't really care. In Karate or TKD, most people just pay for their belt. Spend enough money, and enough time, do little work...and you can be a TKD or Shotokan Karate black belt. But, a legit blue belt would break the arm of a TKD or Karate black belt. I don't go looking for fights, but, the 2 street fights I've been in - both of them went to the ground. Ask most guys that have been in a fight, and they always end up hitting the ground. Learn BJJ and you'll easily neutralize a boxer, brawler, or TKD black belt.

Chose your martial art for what you want to use it for.

Pure self defense with real life fighting strategies - Krav Maga
Cardio, body sculping - Muay Thai Kickboxing
Ground fighting and all around conditioning - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

I train in BJJ, Muay Thai, and submission grappling. If you chose BJJ, find a legit jits school. Gracie schools are always good. If you want to train Muay Thai, find a gym where the guys actually compete in fighting matches. Find people who are teachers and fighters. I personally wouldn't learn any martial art from someone who hasn't had physical application of it.

As far as finding a good Krav Maga school. Ask the instructors who they teach. If they teach local police and military, then I'd trust their training.

 

[speakeasy]

I wouldn't consider BJJ to be "all around fighting". It's just ground fighting. What if you go head to head with a dude like Chuck Lidell who is good at avoiding take downs? Then you're screwed. If a BJJ practitioner can't get his opponent to the ground, he has NOTHING. So I wouldn't call BJJ "all around", it's excellent at what it does, but it's not complete.

 

[-HPNOTIQ-]

I wouldn't consider BJJ to be "all around fighting". It's just ground fighting. What if you go head to head with a dude like Chuck Lidell who is good at avoiding take downs? Then you're screwed. If a BJJ practitioner can't get his opponent to the ground, he has NOTHING. So I wouldn't call BJJ "all around", it's excellent at what it does, but it's not complete.

Bro...you responded before I could edit my post..haha...Agree. BJJ is pure ground fighting. But like I said, most street fights will end up on the ground. If you can't wrestle and are fighting against a guy with even so-so jits, he's gonna break your arm. Also, for all around conditioning - BJJ is great. Similar to wrestling, you condition yourself against another person. Muscle vs muscle conditioning. I agree, BJJ is not a complete art. I recommend people who want to train BJJ is to complement it with a striking art like Muay Thai. Find a school that can transition from strking to clinching to wrestling to Muay Thai. BJJ is a great martial arts base.

And how are you going to bring up a guy like Chuck Liddell? He's a professional athlete. That's like pitting your baseball slugging skills against Pedro Martinez. I would place a wager that a BJJ blue belt could take down 95% of the guys that train in TKD, Muay Thai, JKD, or Karate. And probably 100% of the guys who don't train at all.

 

[Interceptor]

I love the Clinch game. I really do.