SelfDefence -> Work Out or Learn Martial Arts

[chicksrock]

I want to learn self defence these holidays, it will me feel more confident about myself.

I wasn't sure whether it is best to work out and build those biceps, or learn a martial art.
In self defence which is more effective.
ie can karate kid beatup a WWF wrestler ...or is it the other way round?

and if learning martial art is better, which form should I learn.

Your advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[felony]

Mate,

You should spend some time in the Health and Fitness Forum.

Further i suggest doing some searches in that forum using the key words "martial arts" "self defence" etc.

You will find all the answers there.

f.

 

[fullpint]

Martial Arts is a great way to improve your self confidence. It is extremely important to get involved into a quality program as opposed to what we call a "mcdojo".

Get the UFC or Pride on payperview or rent some tapes at the local video store. Doing so will give you some insight into what type of martial art you might be interested in.

I would reccommend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, grappling (BJJ without the gi) Muay Thai Kickboxing, Western Kickboxing, or Boxing. All of these will get you into great shape and teach you how to defend yourself in real life situations.

STAY AWAY FROM Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu, Akido, Hapkido, or any other TMA (traditional martial arts). While these do have some value to them, their main focus is on preserving the tradition of their form as opposed to teaching how to defend yourself in real life situations. Some of these TMA schools are very good at marketing themselves with promises of of learning the "Dim Mak" (death touch) and other similar crap. DONT BUY INTO IT.

Where do you live? I could reccommend some great schools in your area. Good luck.

 

[n2o666]

For street self defence no system beats Krav Maga, it is the official hand to hand combat system of the Israeli Defence Force. It covers everything from punching, kicking, ground work and weapons threats knifes, sticks, bats, guns etc... Due to it being structured around body reflexes it is quite easy to learn and you should be able to use stuff right from the get go.

If you want something you could pursue as a sport try the BJJ or Muay Thai. I would also not knock the TMAs they just take a bit longer to learn and there is probably more of a spiritual side to them (not necessarily bad).

I personally train Krav Maga, Muay Thai, BJJ and Wing Chun, hoping to fight some MMA tournemants in a couple of years.

I think learning martial arts is definitely worthwhile for a DJ as it definitely improves your confidence knowing that you can handle yourself if the situation arises. I would also do some form of weight training and cardio which also raise self esteem.

 

[fullpint]

I don't like reccomending Krav Maga schools because, in my experience, they vary to much in quality. I know that there are some great ones out there, but there are also some terrible ones. I've seen a few of them who think that they are the Cobra Kai kids from the Karate Kid, when in reality they're technique is laughable. But once again, I will acknowledge that there are some quality ones out there.

I personally prefer to learn from instructors who specialize in one thing or another. There are many schools that have BJJ classes as well as MT classes with good instructors for both.

You mentioned the spiritual side of TMAs. That is the value of them that I was refering to. I just think that most of them aren't properly suited for street defense because of their refusal to evolve. Many of them focus to much on preserving the traditional techniques and forms of their particular system. This is just not the type of system to learn self confidence in. Those jumping spinning kicks that Van Damm uses look cool in the movies, but they don't work in the cage, the ring, or most importantly, on the street.

Good luck

 

[1hepcat]

DUDE! Muay Thai kicks serious ass (literally)! I used to study it. I just love throwing elbows and knees. Wish I could find someone good around here that teaches it. As far as grappling goes, it's not bad to know it, but I would say you want to be able to take the other guy down before it gets to grappling. In the class I used to be in we were taught that we had to take the other guy down in 7 seconds or less.

Originally posted by fullpint
Martial Arts is a great way to improve your self confidence. It is extremely important to get involved into a quality program as opposed to what we call a "mcdojo".

Get the UFC or Pride on payperview or rent some tapes at the local video store. Doing so will give you some insight into what type of martial art you might be interested in.

I would reccommend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, grappling (BJJ without the gi) Muay Thai Kickboxing, Western Kickboxing, or Boxing. All of these will get you into great shape and teach you how to defend yourself in real life situations.

STAY AWAY FROM Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu, Akido, Hapkido, or any other TMA (traditional martial arts). While these do have some value to them, their main focus is on preserving the tradition of their form as opposed to teaching how to defend yourself in real life situations. Some of these TMA schools are very good at marketing themselves with promises of of learning the "Dim Mak" (death touch) and other similar crap. DONT BUY INTO IT.

Where do you live? I could reccommend some great schools in your area. Good luck.

 

[Eternal]

Originally posted by felony
You should spend some time in the Health and Fitness Forum.

I'll help.

Moved to Health and Fitness.

 

[MindOverMatter]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu + Muay Thai will make you near unstopable.

 

[DJBen]

TKD isnt as bad as people think, if you have a GOOD ITF instructor. HKD and Aikido are probably lower down the usefulnes scale..

About the israili special forces. The brittish train them around the brecon becons etc. Just cause they're eastern and special forces, doesnt mean krav maga can be used by anyone

BJJ and some form of boxing would be good. I think BJJ and western boxing, because if you have someone with good timing and strength, even a leg kick could take you down/assist you in a close and meaningful relationship with the nearest window. You never know.

Do MA *and* weight training... why not

 

[chicksrock]

Thanks People!
I really have learnt a lot from everyone's posts..

feel free to provide anymore insights if you can..

 

[madness]

Originally posted by fullpint
Martial Arts is a great way to improve your self confidence. It is extremely important to get involved into a quality program as opposed to what we call a "mcdojo".

Get the UFC or Pride on payperview or rent some tapes at the local video store. Doing so will give you some insight into what type of martial art you might be interested in.

I would reccommend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, grappling (BJJ without the gi) Muay Thai Kickboxing, Western Kickboxing, or Boxing. All of these will get you into great shape and teach you how to defend yourself in real life situations.

STAY AWAY FROM Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu, Akido, Hapkido, or any other TMA (traditional martial arts). While these do have some value to them, their main focus is on preserving the tradition of their form as opposed to teaching how to defend yourself in real life situations. Some of these TMA schools are very good at marketing themselves with promises of of learning the "Dim Mak" (death touch) and other similar crap. DONT BUY INTO IT.

Where do you live? I could reccommend some great schools in your area. Good luck.

A Good post until you say stay away

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH MARTIAL ARTS traditional or otherwise. THey give different things which was explained in the above post. Thus, if you want to learn a traditional martial art go for it.

Whatever you choose, just do not disillusion yourself ie. NO MARTIAL ART MAKES YOU INVINCIBLE or protects you. Some increase your chances a lot more than others though

good luck

 

[madgame]

I think chickrock's original question hasnt been answered yet (at least not directly). If you wanna be a better fighter learning an effective martial art (muay thai for example (+ brazilian jiu-jitsu)) will be way more helpful than just getting bigger muscles, cause they wont protect u if ure getting punched in the face. A lot of people think that just cause somebody is big (has bis muscles) he cant be knocked out as fast as some other guy who doesnt have big muscles, but thats bull**** (of course youll have a harder time knocking somebody out who has a real big frame instead of knocking some really small kid out, but if that small kid put on like 50 lbs of muscles it would still not protect him from punches in the face).

Actually I would shoot for both though, cause muscles will definetly increase your punching power..and be a plus when it comes to chicks and I guess ud like that too cause ure on this forum ;-)

 

[fullpint]

forget the TMAs

There are too many TMAs (Traditional Martial Arts) that waste too much time focusing on useless things such as katas. For those of you who don't know what a kata is, its basically just walking around in circles throwing a bunch of puches and kicks in the air (with bad form, mind you) and yelling. Things such as katas may have value somewhere, but it isn't in helping you learn to defend yourself or becoming a more confident person.

Too many TMAs teach about some BS mystical "inner force" or some nonsense like that.

Too many TMAs value things such as breaking boards. Guess what, boards don't hit back.

Too many TMAs value those crazy spinning aerobatic kicks. These things take years to learn and are still not effective. They are just flashy and look cool in movies.

Trust me on this one, if you want to learn striking, go to a Kickboxing gym. If you can't find one of those, then just go to a boxing gym.

It is also a good idea to spend some time working on groundfighting. You want to be able to know what to do when the fight hits the ground. I personally spend 90% of my training on groundfighting and the rest doing kickboxing.

Once again, Good Luck!

 

[chicksrock]

Originally posted by madgame
I think chickrock's original question hasnt been answered yet (at least not directly). If you wanna be a better fighter learning an effective martial art (muay thai for example (+ brazilian jiu-jitsu)) will be way more helpful than just getting bigger muscles, cause they wont protect u if ure getting punched in the face. A lot of people think that just cause somebody is big (has bis muscles) he cant be knocked out as fast as some other guy who doesnt have big muscles, but thats bull**** (of course youll have a harder time knocking somebody out who has a real big frame instead of knocking some really small kid out, but if that small kid put on like 50 lbs of muscles it would still not protect him from punches in the face).

Actually I would shoot for both though, cause muscles will definetly increase your punching power..and be a plus when it comes to chicks and I guess ud like that too cause ure on this forum ;-)

THANKYOU MADGAME..
this was the kind of answer i was looking for !
< you rock as much as chicks do! >

 

[Sexual]

Muay Thai Kickboxing has my vote. I've been training in it for a few months and already I can out "box" all my friends. If it came down to kicks they'd be out in two seconds.

Then again I'm not too sure how good it is with the competitive circuit. When I fight intermediate/advanced visiting fighters in my class, I get beat most of the time, though then again they've been fighting longer.

 

[DJBen]

fullpoint:

Katas arent useless. Not in the slightest. Your level of understanding just isnt good enough yet. Well... I guess if they are, Tai Chi etc is completely useless too, despite the fact that almost every movement was designed to double as self defence. Just speed up the movements, and off you go. Oh, and they also dont make you gain bad form by the way. I dont know *what* you've been reading to suggest that.

I guess it's just down to personal taste. Personally, I like all that ki stuff. Does it help with self defence? nah, I cant see myself doing a use-the-force stylee move when that guy goes to stab me, but hey, I enjoy it.

The best thing for you to do is just go around a load of places and have a look at as many of the classes as possible. They usually let you go in and observe a lesson, or you could even try a few out yourself before getting serious about it.

Just cause that guys jeans suits his, doesnt mean they'll suit you

 

[chicksrock]

i downloaded ebooks and some videos
is that fairly sufficient to get started and learn..
or do u think i need full blown classes
?

 

[MindOverMatter]

Don't bother trying to learn it on your own, you need classes.

1.) They teach you proper warm ups, proper technique so you don't hurt yourself.
2.) You engage in sparing, which gives you some fighting experiance, and also improves your reflexes.
3.) If you go to a good school, the instructors become aware of your weak points (for example I had a weak left kick) and force you to go through hell in order to improve on them and make them your strong points.

 

[madgame]

Katas arent useless. Not in the slightest. Your level of understanding just isnt good enough yet. Well... I guess if they are, Tai Chi etc is completely useless too, despite the fact that almost every movement was designed to double as self defence. Just speed up the movements, and off you go. Oh, and they also dont make you gain bad form by the way. I dont know *what* you've been reading to suggest that.

Katas arent useless, of course its a matter of taste, but if u want to learn a martial art for self-defense (which chicksrock seems to want), it's probably most effective to learn a martial art by practicing it with a real opponent (or real opponents). Of course u're practicing different techniques while doing katas, but Im pretty sure u can improve your speed / punching power etc. faster by using pads and a bag and working on a certain technique...moreover its important that the martial art u train in is effective and effectiveness lies in simplicity a lot of times (for example why do a spinning kick to your opponents head and turning your back on him if a sidekick to the head could do the job too? just an example a sidekick to the head is pretty risky too ;-) ..or for example why pull your fists back to the waist? It doesnt make your punch more effective ppl just do this because the tradition of a certain martial art tells them to. Of course they can still be great fighters, but theyd most likely be better if they didnt use fancy techniques or didnt pull their fists all the way back to their waist)

oh and katas were designed to teach you how to react in a certain situation but honestly sparring with a real opponent is WAY more useful when it comes to teaching u that.

 

[fullpint]

or for example why pull your fists back to the waist? It doesnt make your punch more effective ppl just do this because the tradition of a certain martial art tells them to. Of course they can still be great fighters, but theyd most likely be better if they didnt use fancy techniques or didnt pull their fists all the way back to their waist)

this is exactly what I'm talking about. I have never seen a TMA school (karate, TKD, etc...) that doesn't do this. If you drop your other hand you are literally asking to get smacked, but all these schools insist on doing it, and they think that walking around in circles doing it while yelling will make you a better fighter. Too much fancy sh!t going on there. Too many kicks above the waste too.

I won't say that katas are 100% useless. They're more like 90% useless. Why waste your time doing them, when you could be sparing and actually learning how to fight?