What type of martial arts should I practice?

[Trevorjc]

Oh I plan on it.

@Trevorjc @edward222 Isn't wing chun some sort of kung fu? Honestly kung fu was last on my list :/ I always thought it was comical. I didn't think it would actually work. Thought it was just for movies. Heard an interesting talk with Joe Rogan talking about kung fu as well. He, as well as some other highly trained fighters like bas rutten, eddie bravo etc were saying how none of it works in a real situation.

Yes it's a form of kung fu and i can straight up it works, but like all martial arts you have to spar and train to overcome the fear that you naturally feel in a real life situation else it's just style and no substance. How effective it would be against a highly trained opponent is difficult to say, that would depend on the ability of the practitioner. The only other martial art i have trained in was Karate 20 years previous to this and there was no comparison wing chun was way better or at least for me it was.

 

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[Even Steven]

but any martial art will be good against an untrained opponent providing you have had a good teacher and the classes have involved regular sparing

This. Anything with good sparring practice that you work on consistently will teach you timing, distance, and help you to anticipate attacks more quickly. If you just want to be able to defend against an average joe on the street, most styles can get you there. If you're looking to be able to beat other martial arts practitioners, I'd say find a good MMA gym. I've heard great things about Krav Maga, but there are no schools around here.

I trained in Tae Kwon Do for a 10+ years, and I've been training BJJ off and on for about a year as work permits. If I could only pick a striking style or a grappling style, I'd go grappling. Most people don't know what to do when you're in close.

 

[Bigguns50]

Source: Worked for years as a bouncer, have trained in multiple disciplines

Same here.
Krav for real life self-defense.
One cool thing about the arts that I've learned, especially with Krav, is that if there's something you don't like regarding a certain tactic...you change it up. I've modified several I've learned over the years.

Whatever you choose, I'm sure you'll have a blast.

 

[loop101]

The MA style you study should be decided by your preferences, motives, and resources. If you only have 3-6 months, take beginner boxing and American wrestling. And know this, you will only be able to do in a fight, what you have practiced in the gym.

Boxing and Wing-Chun are easy to learn, but you are screwed if you get tackled. Wrestling and Judo are probably the quickest to learn enough to get back on your feet. If you are short on time, learn to punch, stand back up, and run away. When I say these arts are "easy" to learn, I mean they are the quickest to learn enough to make a difference in a real fight. None of them are easy to master. Harder styles, like karate and jiu-jitsu require a lot more time to be functional. All these styles, to varying degrees, require you to develop strength, speed, aerobic endurance, and a sense of gravity.

My general thoughts:

Boxing is a requirement, if only to know what the other guy is going to try. Never box without the right safety gear. Quit boxing if you are unable to protect your head. Concussions add up and affect you later in life. Most street-fights start off with a cheap shot to the head, followed by a tackle, then a ground and pound. If you are not use to defending punches, you will get KO'd on the first shot. Also, and this is very important, learn to punch people in ways that will not break your hand in a street-fight. Hit the jaw, not the skull. Verdict: learn basic boxing, but don't make a career out of it, and don't break your hands. Fun fact: A friend studied boxing, broke his hand on the first punch of a street-fight. Ended up repeatedly dropping the other guy on his head via "pile-driver", while yelling "Who turned on the steam?". Apparently he was in some kind of shock.

Wrestling is best learned at a young age, as the sense of balance and gravity mature. Good basic wrestling skills are very useful, especially when you don't want to hurt someone. When I was doing karate, my only option was to hurt people whenever they forced me to "horse-around". Verdict: Learn if you are still young. Fun-fact: My best friend growing up, and his older brother, were both #2 in state wrestling, so I learned to "sprawl" against takedowns in the early 80s.

Wing-Chun is good for punching and blocking. Should be combined with wrestling/Judo/JJ. I use to be afraid of getting punched in the face, then I did WC for a year, and now getting punched in the face is like an old friend, lol. Has no real kicks, just kick-checks. Verdict: Easy to learn, must be combined with grappling. One of my WC teachers was Steve Faulkner who was chocked out by Igor Zinoviev in like 30 seconds. Fun-fact: WC designed for women.

Judo is valid, but more sport-centric. It is watered down jiu-jitsu. It's strength is that you can practice it all day without getting seriously hurt, which means you can use it in a fight. Verdict: Learn Judo if you want to exercise a lot. Fun-fact: (I haven't been able to confirm on the internet), Kano's first Judo school was attacked by a large group of "skeptical" jiu-jitsu students.

Jiu-jitsu is good, and people hate it when I say this, against a single opponent. If there are multiple opponents, you can't grapple with any of them, because that will expose your back to the others. I read an interview with one of the Gracies a long time ago where this happened to him against two guys. Everytime he tried to finish one, the other would get behind him, and he would have to let go. You have to know a striking style to fight with multiple opponents, "hit and move". Having said that, since almost every street fight is 2+ against 1, JJ is about the least useful. Verdict: Learn basic JJ, treat it as a sport for 1-on-1 matches. Fun-fact: JJ will almost always win 1-on-1.

Karate is good for linear attacks, like going through someone. Fancy (circular) kicks are never used in real fights. Most real kicks in fights are stamp or thrust kicks. Side-kicks are good for closing distances. Karate is good if your opponent is willing to not move. Most real karate fights turn in to punching matches. I've trained at karate schools where punching was forbidden in sparring matches because it was "too easy" to win. The big weakness of karate is a lack of grappling moves. See what happened to Ron Van Clief in UFC4. Fun-fact: My 80-yr-old JJ teacher said RVC would have easily beaten Royce had he not been 51 year s old.

The most useful things I learned in karate were dealing with kicks, and how to sweep people. I was pretty adept at sweeping people, I would sweep their lead leg right before it the ground, so they would fall in front of me, and I could usually punch them in the face when the lowered their hands to break their fall. In real fights, I have swept people, and slapped their chest to accelerate the whipping motion of their head in to the ground. Verdict: Karate takes a long time to learn, and must be combined with a grappling art.

Kung-Fu: Wing-Chun is the only form of KF that works. Verdict: unless you really can summon a dragon spirit, stay away.

Krav Maga is as useful as you are able to practice it. I studied a Japanese system of JJ that was similar to KM, it involved a lot of "quick kills". The strength of these systems is that they are pure lethality. The weakness is that you can't really do the moves while training in them. In the JJ system I learned, I was never able to really practice, only using "proxies". Verdict: Learn it if you have to kill someone in like 5 days, otherwise learn a normal style. Come back to KM after a year of doing something else. Fun-fact: I know very little about KM.

Aikido is really weird. The guy who invented it was 100% legit. The circumstances of it's invention was 100% weird. From what I have gathered, Aikdo is like a master class in conflict resolution. I have known several elite level martial-artists who cross-trained in Aikido, and were totally blown away not by the style, but the effect the style had on their style. It made them better at what they were already doing. The ultimate goal of Aikido is to not fight, that is why you never see them in MA. When they fight *for real*, they use a sword, so anyone who says Akido doesn't work "for real" is lucky they don't know what they are talking about. If the founder of Akido had not been the ultimate bad-a$$ of his era, people would probably dismiss the whole thing as "silly". It would be like if Anderson Silva woke up one day and decided hurting people was the greatest sin ever, and devised a MA with the intent to harm your opponent as little as possible. Verdict: Learn Akido if you want to learn conflict resolution, it will help more in life, than in a fight.

Summary: Take boxing and combine it with wrestling or Judo. Do that for 1 year, and you will be able to KO 90% of the people you encounter on the street. In 2 years it will be 95%, and you will have your self-defense needs covered. If you want a life-style-activity, do Judo, JJ, or Karate.

 

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[Mike Kavanagh]

Krav Maga. No frills no bullshit. Especially if you're going for a workout.
I wouldn't call it an art. Beating the shit out of people isn't meant to be in a gallery.

Wing Chun is the only other skill I'd go with. Look at the philosophy behind it and you'll understand why.

Anyways, pretty much any skill will be better than being unskilled, which most people are.
Look at any street fight video on Youtube.

 

[RogueInnovation]

Aikido just drills the stupid out of you, its the best investment you can make imo HOWEVER ITS BENEFITS CANNOT BE SEEN BY THE STUPID (INCLUDING YOURSELF AS A BEGINNER it removes stupid an eccentuates everything you want, but does not give you the rest), the rest is details on fighting aspects, which you can pick up at any half decent gym.

I've trained for 20 years. Seriously, Aikido is like the Apple of the fighting world, and training is consistently excellent.

Then just go to MMA or JKD or kickboxing+ground stuff(judo, jujitsu).

Krav is cool, so is Yang taichi, and Wing chun
But they are hard to reconcile in more passive semi-fight situations, which can up the risk of choking.

If you learn Aikido, you can turn any martial art into a Samurai skill, no joke
Nishio is the best example

Forget peoples tough talk, if you want immaculate skill, you should do Aikido
If you want to yarn on and on about being able to kill people and "self defence" pick any art you like

If you wanna get girls... Learn some boxing, kick boxing etc

I learnt them all pretty much, its all good bro

 

[MorgothBauglir]

For 'self defence' your best bet is a weapon or a quick 40 yard time. That or a silver tongue/non-confrontational demeanor. The idea of the martial artist taking on a bunch of goons is an idealistic hollywood one. The best thing about martial arts is the personal journey it will take you on, rather than any practical application(though there are several).

I'd rather see someone just practice the one that interests them the most. Keep in mind that boxing and muay thai comes with sparring which inevitably leads to brain trauma.

Good luck

Aikido: If you are after an art that can be used by even the oldest of men to throw some young snot into a wall

Good luck doing that with Aikido. If that's your thing learn Judo or wrestling.

 

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[Mike Kavanagh]

your best bet is a weapon

No it's not. You best bet is to not fight at all.
Those unskilled with weapons are asking to get themselves hurt or killed. Maybe even catch a felony charge if they don't know the laws for the state.

Try to not fight period.
If you have to, finish the opponent quickly and move quickly to analyze other threats.
Several times I've been jumped because I took to long with one opponent. Or was showing off.

 

[Steele Concept]

Man there is some solid advice here and some people really talking out their a$$. I wrestled 4 years in High School and have 5+ years of Brazilian Jiu jitsu under my belt... Ever been in a street fight? Most of them are over pretty quickly and end on the ground. Folks who can take a fight to the ground and know ground fighting are really at an advantage in a 1on1 situation. Look at the best street fighters and professional fighters... Striking is boxing/may thai, grappling is wrestling/Jiu jitsu.

The vast majority of aikido or Kung fu people I've met can't fight worth shit. In a fight, the goal is to knock out your opponent, choke them unconscious or maim a limb so they cannot continue. I'm not trying to Mr. Internet tough guy over here but let's not make things too complicated. The person better able to control the fight through superior striking, grappling and/or submission will win. Train at an MMA striking or Jiu jitsu gym and practice live sparring regularly - this is THE most important thing. Live action to train your body how to fight and react, this cannot be replaced.

So I'm biased toward grappling as it is what im experienced with. I also love being able to train most days of the week at 100% sparring and not getting punched in the face. My suggestion is to find a good Jiu Jitsu or MMA gym with a solid reputation. The guys at the gym should be friendly, the atmosphere humble but the guys real tough SOBs who win the local tournaments and/or fights. Life is too short to spend chasing fake skills and belts at a McDojo lol. If you wanna do this right, surround yourself with hard folks who can kick your a$$, then in time you will do the a$$ kicking bruh

 

[MorgothBauglir]

No it's not. You best bet is to not fight at all.

I said that immediately after what you just quoted. And if your life is on the line, your best bet is a weapon.

 

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[OVOvince]

I have relative experience in martial arts and imo boxing itself is pretty efficient for most street fights if you are good. Your footwork alone will destroy anyone trying to harm you, if they dot know how to properly fight that is (typical street thug type). Yeah, you'd be dancing all over them, destroying them in fashion.

Krav Maga is widely known as a survival art and shows useful tactics but don't assume that leaves Maga fighters are superior to a boxer or a must thai fighter or something. At a certain point it comes down to the individual and their skills imo

 

[poro78]

Yup, in the end it's all about the individual's skill. It doesn't matter what kind of martial art or self-defense system you're practicing if you win your opponent and remain as unharmed as possible.
It doesn't matter from which martial art your skills come from if you suck - you'll get your a$$ kicked for sure.
(I'm speaking of full contact and self-defense arts, of course. Theatrical Kung Fu (Wushu) and scorpion kicks are not what I consider self-defense as they're useful only in movies...)

My Muay Thai coach had a saying (I don't know how well the translation goes) "For every horse there's a farrier". Meaning that there's always someone somewhere who can beat the crap out of you.
Always someone.
Keep that in mind, be humble (that big-mouthed a**hole who's picking a fight might just be your "farrier"), work hard and don't try any tricks. Keep it simple, stupid.

Anyway, if self-defense is the name of the game, my humble opinion is that you should check the arts that are based on the army stuff (Israeli Defense Forces' KM [the non-civilian version], Systema, Combat Sambo, Escrima [for those who prefer blades] and so on). If it's used by an army, you can tell it got something to do with self-defense and surviving in hand-to-hand situations and leaving the flashy tricks to the posers.

But in the other hand I think anyone who wants to practice martial art should practice an art that is suitable and ENJOYABLE for him or her, be it Aikido, Wushu or MMA - at least you're doing something... Boosting your discipline, coordination, physical and mental health instead of being a couch potato.
And if you concentrate hard and train your a$$ off, there isn't a training session where you can't beat your worst enemy - yourself.

So in the end, it's all about personal preferences. No martial art or self-defense system can make you invincible or bullet-proof. The sad truth is that if somebody really, really wants to hurt you, doesn't care about the consequences and is willing to put some effort on it, he can hurt you - using the ways where your martial art and/or self-defense skills are useless.
That's why you should just pick one that suits you best and matches your preferences.
Jiu-jitsu wasn't for me (though it has various excellent styles), I felt like home at Krav Maga training (oh, so lovely dirty tricks), but I started to dislike the wrestling/grappling sessions and tried Muay Thai - which was the perfect match for a left-handed stand-up fighter like me.

 

[Formless]

A lot of crap in this thread.

Do your due diligence OP.

 

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[tido]

Another vote for Aikido, best for conflict resolution, neutralize opponent so you can "talk" or throw/break his arm is up to you. You control the situation. I've trained and achieve black belt in Shotokan Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and even tried Kung Fu for a while but once I started training in Tomiki Style Aikido, I've found what I was looking for. My sensei and seniors black belts are police and special forces trainers. Several of them are like me, well trained in other martial arts but we can all agreed that Aikido is the way.

 

[theag]

I do Krav Maga.

 

[LeftBench]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!

 

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[Lathan]

It is watered down jiu-jitsu.

Take boxing and combine it with wrestling or Judo

Why not take jiu-jitsu instead of judo if judo is just a watered down version of jiu-jitsu? Thanks for your in depth response.

Especially if you're going for a workout.

My primary goal is strictly self-defense.

A lot of crap in this thread.

Like what?

 

[teabag]

The best martial art is training your mind to think quicker than the actions of your threat. Period. Martial arts have been exaggerated and over hyped by hollywood as a means of defence. They aren't. What they are is a sport, that is effective with the rules the fighters have to abide by.

Some one has mentioned Krav Maga. Sure it's probably effective in a street fight because you use the environment and your body in ways a lot of people wouldn't be ready for, but how many threats do you encounter where someone leaves their hand out for you to do some fancy hip shoves and roll overs?

I'm 23 and have been a bouncer for 3 years. I've encountered more threats than most people my age, weekly lol.

I'll end the threat with good communication. I've only had to get my hands 'dirty' a few times, and that's when being able to box well neutralised the threat.

As I said before, communication is your best defence. If that doesn't work, you want to be able to maim the enemy and run away. This ain't no movie.

Everyone has different experiences on what they think is the best. This is just my advice from dealing with drunks who think they're heroes and want to throw a punch or two.

 

[Lathan]

This ain't no movie.

Fortunately, no one here is trying to be a movie star, that I'm aware of. Obviously anyone with an ounce of character would avoid the fight if possible. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. I have no desire to go looking for fights or try to show off with 'fancy moves'. Thanks!

 

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[Formless]

Like what?

I'm not going to say. Watch this video series and let it help you make your own conclusion.

 

[Lathan]

I'm not going to say. Watch this video series and let it help you make your own conclusion.

Great video. Thanks for sharing

 

[WolfAmbrose]

If you look into the book The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin he goes into depth about his martial arts background and the martial art he practiced which elevated his learning abilities and such. I think it is called push hands.

 

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[loop101]

Why not take jiu-jitsu instead of judo if judo is just a watered down version of jiu-jitsu? Thanks for your in depth response.


My primary goal is strictly self-defense.


Like what?

(edit: beer #1)

Jiu-jitsu and judo are both fine. Original jiu-jitsu is different than the Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu that most people take today. BJJ is more sport, and traditional JJ is more lethal. Judo is more sport, too. When I say "more sport", that can be good, it means you can safely practice it. It's great exercise, and can be used in a fight. Traditional JJ is often learned to supplement traditional karate. A "lethal" style, might emphasize breaking joints, while a "sport" style might emphasize submissions. A lethal style might involve sacrificing a limb to kill your opponent, which a sport style would never even consider. For example, if you are being held in a wristlock, and being marched off to your death, what do you do? For a beginner, I would suggest a "sport" style so you can practice the real moves.

If you study JJ/BJJ/Judo, I would strongly suggest you also take some basic boxing classes. I would actually suggest boxing first, for 2-3 months, then take a grappling art for 2-3 months. If you plan to grapple, you still have to learn boxing to avoid a flash KO. I've been to grappling schools where they would teach anti-boxing techniques, but they didn't have a real boxer to help them. The students had a false sense of safety, because someone with real boxing skills was not going to be throwing weak "pretend" punches at them. They needed to see real punches.

As others have said, learning two styles at the same time can be a bad idea. I learned a different style each year, for about 8 years. I mastered none of them, but got a pretty well rounded education. One of the more useful things I got was a complete lack of fear of physical threats, even when I didn't expect to win. Bullies like to control people by instilling fear in them. Knowing they would have to put themselves at serious risk to control me, was enough to prevent a lot from even trying.

(edit: beer #2)

A friend of mine was a wrestler for 6 years, Navy Seal for 4 years, got his 2nd black belt, and was a bouncer in a Seal bar for 3 years. Some female friends from out of state wanted to go to a local shopping mall on a Saturday night (not a good idea), and wanted him to go in case they were accosted by delinquents. So he went, and told them, if any little kids threatened him, he would toss them over the Food Court's railing, down the to 1st floor. So sure enough, in the Food Court, a little thug walks right in to him, and says he is going to kick his a$$. My friend and the 3 girls all busted out laughing. The thug slinked away as more people started laughing.

Different styles have different objectives, which can make them hard to combine. For example, in wrestling (I'm guessing here), the most important thing is probably controlling your opponent and defending your "base". While in something like Wing-Chun, the goal is attacking and defending the "centerline". Wing-Chun is based on the idea that if you hit someone hard enough in their centerline, you can kill them. The "centerline" is a vertical line from the top of the head to groin. Even the most basic Wing-Chun moves, like turning to the side, are designed to support the "centerline" theory. If you combine a Wing-Chun block with a wrestling move, you are combining styles built around different objectives, and that are built on different foundations. At middle and upper levels, this will work against you. As a beginner you will suck at everything, so it doesn't matter too much. But eventually you will get good, and the philosophical differences that separate the styles will surface. I think Hapkido was a style that combined the linear attacks of karate, with the circular defenses of Aikido. Just be aware you will eventually have to choose which style will be your "baked in" set of reflexes.

For example, I trained with JJ people who did boxing, but they said they were JJ people. I've met Wing-Chun people who had black belts in Tae Kwon Doe, so they could defend against kicks better while doing their WC. Some styles, like Kenpo karate, they will say "we are going to through a ton of techniques at you, and you pick the ones you want to master".

(edit: beer #3)

Actually, this brings up another topic, how many mastered techniques make "a master". I have mastered two moves, the sweep and a short punch. I can do them from many different angles, very quickly, and with no thought. A typical karate black-belt masters maybe 6 techniques. A 2nd degree has mastered maybe 10 techniques, etc. Some styles, like Aikdo, require you master a lot of moves, before they all fall in to place. The 34th generation samruai at ODU (Hamada) would say "My 1st year karate students always hit my 1st year Akido students. My 2nd year karate students always hit my 2nd year Aikdo students very hard. My 3rd year karate students hit my 3rd year year Aikdo student even harder. My 4th year karate students cannot hit my 4th year Aikido students at all."

 

[MorgothBauglir]

Hmm... maybe there needs to be a competition where we put all the different styles into a ring or cage and see which one is the most effective... owait.

While BJJ has a sporting side, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was developed for self defence first and foremost. It's been proven time and time again, where stuff like Aikido and japanese jiu jitsu has not.

I find it interesting that we still have these discussions, even in a post mixed martial arts era where we've got glaring statistical proof of what works and what does not.

It's more evidence of how far people will take their delusions, even in the face of overwhelming reality. A certain video comes to mind...

There's always going to be bias in these conversations. People have trained their 'lethal' style for 10 years and they don't want to admit that they wasted their time and the shit doesn't work. That's life.

The reality is that nothing is a waste of time. You grew or changed in some way, even if you can't stamp out a guys knee and pop his elbow in epic hollywood fashion.

 

[Skyguy]

I can only suggest what I have practiced myself
I currently do bjj and muay thai/kickboxing (the occasional mma class as well)
Much of bjj has become sport, but I am lucky enough to train at a gym that cares about the core martial art aspect of it as well (self defense). You'll easily be able to tell which moves you can use on the street when needed and which moves to stay at the gym. (such as inverted guard). Most fights will end up on the ground and you'll need to know what to do when it goes there.
Muay thai is really fun and can be a great workout. Fights (generally) start standing, so it's nice to have the skills to protect yourself.

<- just an example of how having good standup skills is a plus!

If you're unsure most gyms will let you try out some classes free of charge! I would also advise to make sure you like the instructors. Don't let a disrespectful/bad instructor ruin your image of the martial art, just go to a different gym!

 

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[RogueInnovation]

Well self defence has three aspects

- Choking under pressure (if your training is a misrepresentation of what you come up against or is very difficult to figure out you probably will default to base instincts)
- Natural reflexes and fitness (this comes down to it being natural for you to use and not worry about)
- Being able to size up threats

Sizing up threats takes VAST experience, so just get fit, good reflexes(from the training your auto responses), and learn stuff that you won't choke on when in a tight spot.

Boxing is great for reflexes btw.
The other day I was almost hit by this jutting tree branch, and I "slipped" it like a punch. I was like "holy cr#p" .

Its terrible against trained opponents (lol), but good against random weirdos.
Its my go to art for knives and muggers btw, because one quick jab to the head breaks distance, giving you enough time to get away, and scoop up a plank of wood etc or take off your coat to smother it.

Against groups, I use a blend between traditional Jujitsu and Aikido, because it is crucial to manipulate where your attackers are, and quickly discourage them.

Jujitsu alone was terrible for self defence when I used it for self defence a long time ago, it was like you had to boot up a PC before getting into a fight and had to throw out 3 techniques for every valid option (rediculous).

Taichi was super cool, but, ultimately unsatisfyingly passive, nobody attacks in this consistant way, they all stutter and wobble around, so being "rooted" just was not great, unless people all rushed you at once.

I dunno, 20 years and hundreds of fights tells me, go to aikido and boxing, cuz when that first "step" of the fight happens aikido will make you not blink to move, and you'll retain balance, and if you box, you'll snap a jab out in less than a second and they'll get a taste.

Those two together will make fights melt away like a hot knife through butter.

... The worst thing you can do is not react, and THEN lock horns, because its not self defence by that point its just random fighting.

If your first 3 seconds go really well, you'll get away nicely. If they go bad...
Make sure you are a guy with at least 3-5 years behind you, who can dig his way out.


For me at 20 years of experience, if I survive the first 3 seconds, I'm magic. Might as well declare victory. But those first 3 seconds... They are what you want to go in your favor, because if they don't, anything can happen.

It's been proven time and time again, where stuff like Aikido and japanese jiu jitsu has not.

I find it interesting that we still have these discussions, even in a post mixed martial arts era where we've got glaring statistical proof of what works and what does not.

Ha, I agree, but Aikido and most internal arts etc need to be applied through another medium.

Example:
I trained with world champion kick boxer, and before I learnt any boxing I tried to box. His hurricane punches... lemme tell you, that was a WORLD of pain first round.

Then I took off my gloves, and told him to come at me, and threw him around like a killer whale to a baby seal, with an Aikido Traditional Jujitsu blend.

Then a three months later, just boxing, I could hold him out with boxing alone, which meant there was no earthly way he could even touch me gloves off.

Point is, I vetted it, and worked the kinks out until, it gave me INSANE advantage.


Fact is, the learning curve for holding these quick victories out is steep but VERY quick to be overcome.

So as long as you vet your art, you can modify it.


BTW MMA guys fighting in club are what I used to call "supermen", not cuz they were good at fights but because they always jump punch.
One fight I fought this huge guy, and basically when he jumped I just plowed him through the ground.

Everything has an exploit.
And you have to get outside of prevailing "wisdoms" or those exploits will get you.

MMA is kind of braindead these days.
They think MMA is real fighting, but usually its some guy thats done it for a few years and overestimates himself because he wins at his club.

MMA has its place, but not as the be all and end all.


BUT but but, when internal arts make the SAME mistake, you can bet, MMA is more critically sound, so you can't go too far wrong with it.

Its just there is more to being an actually skilled warrior vs knowing a few armbars, chokes and stand up moves.


Its actually really intense if you actually train martial arts as deep as you should.
Where it is not just physical, but mental and spiritual.
Learning to use your perception and mental capacities to enhance your ability to fight.
And deeply studying strategy.

I mean, there are just levels of skill that go far beyond the crass combinations that most people throw together, and until you get that, you never feel truly at peace in real fights where knives come out or you have groups around you...

Damn I miss fighting...
Life's better without it though.

Why get your hands dirty if you don't need to?


I say learn, boxing and Aikido cuz everything else is either a guilty pleasure or excessive.
Why get your hands dirty?
Screw that, just learn to be a warrior mentally and learn to deter fights.

Competing is the chumpy middle ground that gets you to lose a tooth or get stabbed.

 

[Lathan]

If you look into the book The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin he goes into depth about his martial arts background and the martial art he practiced which elevated his learning abilities and such. I think it is called push hands.

Thanks. I actually have that book but I haven't read it yet.

A certain video comes to mind...

Lmao @ the part where he's not even hitting the guy and the guy is spazzing out. What a joke.


Thanks everyone for all the responses. After reading here, and elsewhere, I've decided on doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu(or jiu jitsu..gotta look up the differences between the two) along with boxing. Striking art as well as ground work.

Boxing speaks for itself and the only concern of brazilian jiu jitsu I've read so far (here and elsewhere) is that it is only good against ONE opponent. Which I don't think is a big issue as long as you have the striking art along with it. Not to mention that contrary to what a couple people have said on this thread, most fights I've seen are 1 vs 1.

And if worse comes to worse and you are to get jumped, (the chances of that are very slim as it is... much less if you are an observant person who stays aware of your surroundings and doesn't put yourself in stupid situations) you can just flee, and use your striking art if necessary.

 

[Durete]

I'm quite interested why so many people advice "Boxing" as the stand up arts to go.

I've practiced mainly Japanese full contact karate,
With a bit of Bare knuckel Muay Chai and as sports: Boxing, kickboxing and MT.

And while boxing is nice as it focusses on only a few technique's and become a master at those, they have far to many limitations in compared to standing up self defense arts such as karate. (Or the old styles of Muay)

Boxing is to karate as Judo is to Jujutsu. (watered down versions of it. Heck boxing isn't even what it used to be, as boxing used to include the hammer fist and backfists. and used to be practiced without gloves.)

Btw a guy that has some dvd's out there that knows a whole lot about martial arts, and has many years of experience in the protection, security and even bouncer area is "Lee Morisson" They're good watches. I used quite a bit of his idea's and build upon them when I made my first book (Martial arts book- used at the moment for self-defense classes given to the crew on the ship where I work, not worth it to put it online again as it was banned in many countries: Reason: To ruthless/harmfull technique's adviced, even while I never adviced anything that I didn't learn in a traditional MA class myself.)

 

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[Lathan]

I'm quite interested why so many people advice "Boxing" as the stand up arts to go.

I just think you can't go wrong with being a beast with your hands. Plus boxing like you said is more simple so that's another reason I chose it, as BJJ is more technical and also one is striking, one is ground therefore one wouldn't interfere with the technique of the other.

I was back n forth between boxing and muay thai but i just keep leaning towards boxing. Either way I'm most likely not going to train them simultaneously and I will do BJJ first for at least 6 months to a year before beginning the other. Maybe I'll change my mind about boxing by then who knows. But definitely sticking with BJJ.

 

[Toushi]

Hmm, I didn't know so many people on the Fastlane were interested in Martial Arts. I've been practicing for 10 years, I find the dedication and process Martial Arts requires is very conducive to the Fastlane lifestyle.