Martial Arts?

[njstockley]

hi everyone

im looking at taking up some kind of martial art in the coming month or so - its not so much the fighting that im interested in, more so the fitness and chance to be occupied week nights after work (beats the rubbish thats always on tv!).

Ive found a couple of clubs near me, but not sure what discipline to follow - i think its probably between kick boxing, western boxing, and tae kwon doe. just wandered if anyone practices any of these already, and what their thoughts are on them? obviously, if you practice something else and want to sing its praises then dont be shy!!

thanks

nick

 

[Ace Of Spades]

hi everyone

im looking at taking up some kind of martial art in the coming month or so - its not so much the fighting that im interested in, more so the fitness and chance to be occupied week nights after work (beats the rubbish thats always on tv!).

Ive found a couple of clubs near me, but not sure what discipline to follow - i think its probably between kick boxing, western boxing, and tae kwon doe. just wandered if anyone practices any of these already, and what their thoughts are on them? obviously, if you practice something else and want to sing its praises then dont be shy!!

thanks

nick

If you're not a big guy, (I'm not sure heh) then I'd say Jiu Jitsu is your best bet, it has the most relevance to self defense in the real world and it will keep you very fit. I'd mix it with Muay Thai boxing, or if you don't want so much contact, I'd go with something like Kickboxing. Look up Akido also, it's very good, all about join manipulation, Akido and Jiu Jitsu are real traditional martial arts and have lots of history behind them.

 

[sorgan]

if you want to learn how to defend yourself and are not intrested in sparring try krav maga, its nasty, dirty and down right horrid defense for a modern world. students of krav dont do comps and there is no real grading as it is not a sport. it hasnt got the history of the martial arts as it is no art form, you may not come out best if you tryto out fight other styles but thats not what its about.
krav teaches you to stay alive in bad places not look good in the ring, if you wanna get healthy and learn how to look after yourself without all the flair and drama then krav would be a good thing to learn.

 

[woody88]

I'm currently an instructor for a freestyle martial arts club. We specialise in muay Thai, aikido, Kali escrima, vale tudo, shotokan and wado ryu karate and brazillian jiu jitsu.
I done 5 years previous shotokan karate.

I love the discipline side of karate but not the training side if that makes any sense.
IMO you could not use this in a real life situation and the problem with karate is that it's mainly an art and not self defence although you would learn some devistating techniques like mawashi geris, Yoko geris (kicks) etc but it's just too regimented.
If you want fitness aswell as fun then take up either kick boxing mixed with BJJ or join a FMA school as there's no stances and fixed positions and your always light on your feet and get to smack the crap out of pads and kick shields + no boring kata's!

Tae kwon do is awesome and full of flashy kicks etc and Exellent for fitness but to do it properly you'll need to be very flexible and thin.
I've been to too many schools over here and none of them ive seen so far teach TKD like the south Koreans do. The proper way!

This is just my opinion tho and other students/sensei's of different styles may disagree.

Only one to settle it!..........................FIGHT! Lol

 

[njstockley]

I'm currently an instructor for a freestyle martial arts club. We specialise in muay Thai, aikido, Kali escrima, vale tudo, shotokan and wado ryu karate and brazillian jiu jitsu.
I done 5 years previous shotokan karate.

I love the discipline side of karate but not the training side if that makes any sense.
IMO you could not use this in a real life situation and the problem with karate is that it's mainly an art and not self defence although you would learn some devistating techniques like mawashi geris, Yoko geris (kicks) etc but it's just too regimented.
If you want fitness aswell as fun then take up either kick boxing mixed with BJJ or join a FMA school as there's no stances and fixed positions and your always light on your feet and get to smack the crap out of pads and kick shields + no boring kata's!

Tae kwon do is awesome and full of flashy kicks etc and Exellent for fitness but to do it properly you'll need to be very flexible and thin.
I've been to too many schools over here and none of them ive seen so far teach TKD like the south Koreans do. The proper way!

This is just my opinion tho and other students/sensei's of different styles may disagree.

Only one to settle it!..........................FIGHT! Lol

i always thought that tae kwon doe might not have been so suited - im by no means big but stocky, and after a couple of years of semi pro football, and one tour de france, my legs (and therefore kicking ability) is big enough! i still think that boxing might be the right choice - like i said in the OP - its not about fighting but the fitness aspect that really interests me. thanks though for input so far. any more then keep it coming!
nick

 

[raptorrex]

hi everyone

im looking at taking up some kind of martial art in the coming month or so - its not so much the fighting that im interested in, more so the fitness and chance to be occupied week nights after work (beats the rubbish thats always on tv!).

Ive found a couple of clubs near me, but not sure what discipline to follow - i think its probably between kick boxing, western boxing, and tae kwon doe. just wandered if anyone practices any of these already, and what their thoughts are on them? obviously, if you practice something else and want to sing its praises then dont be shy!!

thanks

nick

its several decades since i played/practised my martial arts, have you considered JUDO? less to do with the mind, than some others, but a competitive sport with excellent health benefits. Tae kwan doe offers a mix of action, and is well worth a look.. but, if you are are after self defence as well as a sport, try wing chung. the style of karate i did was tang soo do mu duk kwan . which i would still highly recommend. even so my trainer/tutor, held black belts (or equivalents), in kung fu, karate and wing chung. and its the meld of those styles that made it so effective. well for me anyway.

despite being 51, and now finding an increasing amount of me entering a door, prior to my nose. i can still do the splits, kick a fag off the top shelf. only thing now is, i need much more warning before i try, and very much more time to recover. lol.
which ever you choose, put your heart into it. if you do, the rewards are fantastic. even a useless sod like me was able to take third in the Jersey open championship in 1982. (BJA over 95 kilo). lol beating two black belts on the way, even though i was only a yellow tag (first grading).

 

[EdgeDs]

With Martial Arts its all about finding something that suits you. I have done a fair few martial arts in the past although I can not study any more. Really what you gain more than anything from martial arts is reflex speed and fitness, I would not study style thinking that it is going too be more effective in real life because on the street anything can happen so any preset moves may not be suitable for what occurs. Out of my own personal experience though I really likes Ju Jitsu (traditional not BJJ) Boxing and Kickboxing. Try and find something that you enjoy doing the extra reflex speed and fitness will put you in a good position if you ever do have the miss fortune too have too use it.

 

[backtotropical]

I've always been very impressed with Wing Chun Kung Fu. It's the style which Bruce Lee based his own style on, and is really very good IMO.

C'mon, everyone wants to be like Bruce Lee, don't they?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

I've always been very impressed with Wing Chun Kung Fu. It's the style which Bruce Lee based his own style on, and is really very good IMO.

C'mon, everyone wants to be like Bruce Lee, don't they?

Lol the Bruce Lee thing is so true...............I did boxing, karate and kick boxing and preferred the kick boxing tbh, I couldn't stand the whole fixed to one spot in karate routine and the kick boxing was more intense, I was shattered every week, really gets the blood flowing.