So I'm thinking of taking up a martial art...

[HiddenPandas]

And I'm wondering if anyone here is experienced in one or more and would have any insight into what would suite me? Im looking into Judo, Ju-Jitsu, and Aikindo classes at my university, but I need to decide on one of them soon. While general fitness is a goal of mine, I'm also looking for something that would teach me a way to defend myself in a real life situation. I did take Karate at a younger age for about 3 years, but I never really developed anything out of that.

[Adam Miller]

From a mixed martial arts fan i think striking is obviously most effective in real life but also most people can do it without having to go for boxing lessons. Id go for jiu jitsu its by far the most effective and one of the most well recognized.

1 vote for jiu jitsu.:)

[BackerMan]

I'm planning to take a martial art class later this year. I've been wrestle since age 8 and through college. I won state title in maryland during high school. Can't wait to take on martial art and learn something new.

[Zef]

Origami is probably the deadliest martial art, you should consider taking lessons in that and strike down your foes with neatly folded paper.

Lots of them have really fancy names but are quite similar. I've done Karate and Judo (which aren't that similar) and they were alright. Judo is basically wrestling and Karate is learning extremely pointless routines that don't really work in real situations unless you ask your attacker to do certain things. Either way they are good fun and you get to do it in pyjamas!

[Minty]

Do Ninjisu ;)

Great fun and also gives you weapons training, makes self defense much easier.

[PerpetualHeaven]

And I'm wondering if anyone here is experienced in one or more and would have any insight into what would suite me? Im looking into Judo, Ju-Jitsu, and Aikindo classes at my university, but I need to decide on one of them soon. While general fitness is a goal of mine, I'm also looking for something that would teach me a way to defend myself in a real life situation. I did take Karate at a younger age for about 3 years, but I never really developed anything out of that.

Jujutsu is more of a grappling and submission style. Judo is the art of throwing and grappling. Aikido is also a grappling art. Striking isn't very heavy in most of these arts.

If you want something real life either go with kick boxing, muay thai, or boxing. Also, you may want to go more strike heavy if you don't want to do any of those like Karate, Taekwondo, and styles of Kung Fu.

Personally, I would take up boxing. Boxing is by far the most useful art of fighting for real life. 99% of the people on the streets can't fight worth anything. They just swing for the fences. In close second (for me) comes Muay Thai. In Thailand, people learn that art to defend themselves against thugs on the street and they teach you how to defend against weapons effectively.

[Bluntman428]

One thing you should know before you decide to take up a martial art, is that most of them aren't practical at all in a real fight. Martial arts teaches you how to counter attacks in specific circumstances, but a street fight is too fast and too unpredictable to put martial arts to proper use. While it will teach you some cool shit, and it's generally just a fun hobby, most schools won't teach you jack shit. You'll spend most of your time practicing with kids half your age, unless you find a "serious" school that only teaches adults.

I took tsung su do for several years, was one belt away from getting my black, and I'd say it actually hurt my chances in a fight more than it helped them. I can get out of submissions easy as hell, but martial arts teaches you to be too disciplined. Sometimes, you just need to swing for the head and hope you knock some teeth out, not dance around like a fairy like Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee.

[Kaens]

I vote for Jui-Jitsu. I don't think I've ever seen a fight in my entire life that didn't result in one guy tackling the other and going to the ground. Typical fight is one guy pushes another, guy rushes him and tackles him. Sometimes someone takes a swing in there, but it's always devolves very quickly into a grappling match. Even with a basic guard you can defend yourself really well I'm assuming the point here is to be defensive.

[Adam Miller]

I vote for Jui-Jitsu. I don't think I've ever seen a fight in my entire life that didn't result in one guy tackling the other and going to the ground. Typical fight is one guy pushes another, guy rushes him and tackles him. Sometimes someone takes a swing in there, but it's always devolves very quickly into a grappling match. Even with a basic guard you can defend yourself really well I'm assuming the point here is to be defensive.

Wow what boring fights you have seen lol :p Nah my votes for jiu jitsu as well nothing is more effective than boxing and striking and judo and stuff doesn't translate well on the street.

Having said that im now with you going for Zef origami or Brazilian jiu jitsu its neck and neck...also just master the art of nutting, eye poking and bollock banging seriously with fine tuned skills like those fights wont last long.

[BlaZiN cdn]

I would say take Karate, because you learn Grappling and Striking, I took it for about 2 1/2 years and found it quite rewarding. A couple of my friends take Jui-Jitsu and they say it isn't that great, and that they want to learn more punches and kicks.

[Shinobi273]

You should actually talk to people who have taken the course at your school. My school had shit instructors that just had ppl doing runs (rolls, squats, etc.) back and forth and not so much fighting. It was more of a fitness class. lol

[BackerMan]

I'd take judo.

[PerpetualHeaven]

What it all comes down to is really the style. Not all martial arts will hurt your chances. You really have to take up a fighting style that focuses more on striking. Like I stated before boxing and kick boxing are the sweet areas. I've watched so many street fight videos, and I've seen a couple where some trained boxer comes and fights some douche on the streets. This guy is just swinging for the fences and the boxer slightly moves and knocks him out in one punch. Boxing is just so much more realistic. It teaches you so much about reaction time, dodging, and positioning yourself in every circumstance.

I also think wrestling is sweet. Develops a ton of strength.

[HiddenPandas]

Thanks for the input guys, haven't made my decision yet though.

As far as boxing goes, I have a friend who had been training me over the summer, really helped me build up stamina and quickness. So really im just looking for something that would help provided the fight took to the ground.

[lmc059]

Iv'e been a student of kuk sool won for some time now and its a great martial art for variety of kicking, striking, joint locks, acrobatics, etc really good for fitness too :-D

[T FUNK 1984]

I used to do Ju-Jitsu a few years back and I can say its probably the most practical. It's mainly grappeling and submission but also covers throwing and striking. We also did some stuff about how do disarm a guy with a knife, gun ect which was pretty cool.

Its a lot of fun if you get into it :)

[HiddenPandas]

Kuk sool? Never heard of it, where did it originate?

Right now Im leaning on Ju-Jitsu or Aikido, apparently in Aikido you get to learn some weapon technique.

[getbusy1242]

I have been doing judo for 5 years and i love it. If you are looking for real world defense Krav Maga is the best system. It is world renowned and all the top bodyguards train in it.

Edit: MMA style fighting doesn't translate very well into real world fighting because it is mad for strict one on one fights so you don't learn how to defend agains mulitple attackers. Arts like boxing and kickboxing can help you have a soild base and better power, but they also aren't very applicable to a good self defense system.

[Skillful Bullet]

Search around for a ninjutsu school as you get to learn how to use weapons, jui-jutsu and more deadly moves;) It's a lot of a fun, guarunteed.

If not, then jui-jutsu all the way.

[JesusBread]

I have been doing judo for 5 years and i love it. If you are looking for real world defense Krav Maga is the best system. It is world renowned and all the top bodyguards train in it.


Saw a video fo Krav Maga. Seems really interesting.

[PWSteal.Ldpinch.D]

Well, if you want to be flashy and effective in stand up, you can take boxing or muay thai boxing. I would personally prefer muay thai boxing because you would get to use kicks as well (since they can be umm very deadly. take a full blast MT kick to the ribs and the fight is over), instead of reaching in for a punch with boxing risking a counter. Regular boxing is still good though better punching techniques and is quicker(footwork, punching) than muay thai. Not to say that muay thai is slow, it is very fast and alot more deadly when utilitizing knees, elbow, and kicks.

If you somehow get taken to the ground though, you would need to learn some type of jiu-jitsu preferably brazilian jiu-jitsu.

From my experience, I've been taking martial arts for a couple of years and got into a fight recently, this guy was pretty big. I'm spanish so i'm a short guy, I am 5'9" and he was no less than 6'4". He easily overpowered me on my stand-up simply because he had some long lanky arms and he took boxing for years. That F'd me up but once I got him to the ground, the fight was over in less than 5 seconds after being on the ground. You may have your own opinions but, no martial art is better than brazilian jiu-jitsu(or any other jiu-jitsu form). What other martial art can you utilize for ground defense? none. 80-90% of fights end up on the ground.

But all in all, if you don't care about flashyness, take BJJ, most effective. But if you wanna look cool, take Muay Thai Boxing or regular Boxing. Silat is also pretty effective too if you're interested in breaking peoples' joints and body lol.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. ;)

EDIT: Capoiera is another flashy MA as well.

[M Callar]

Well, I'm starting basic Tae kwon do in the next week or so, but I've never really taken martial arts before so I'm no authority but ju-jitsu sounds like a pretty good option to me.

Depends on your skill level already.

[JoeCool7835]

I'd taken Karate in college, but, while interesting, I think it'd be impractical in a real fight. For unarmed training, I'd choose Muay Thai (I wish my school offered it at the time). There's a greater emphasis on using your knees and elbows than in most other forms, which, I think, would be more practical on the streets.

[PerpetualHeaven]

Well, if you want to be flashy and effective in stand up, you can take boxing or muay thai boxing. I would personally prefer muay thai boxing because you would get to use kicks as well (since they can be umm very deadly. take a full blast MT kick to the ribs and the fight is over), instead of reaching in for a punch with boxing risking a counter. Regular boxing is still good though better punching techniques and is quicker(footwork, punching) than muay thai. Not to say that muay thai is slow, it is very fast and alot more deadly when utilitizing knees, elbow, and kicks.

If you somehow get taken to the ground though, you would need to learn some type of jiu-jitsu preferably brazilian jiu-jitsu.

From my experience, I've been taking martial arts for a couple of years and got into a fight recently, this guy was pretty big. I'm spanish so i'm a short guy, I am 5'9" and he was no less than 6'4". He easily overpowered me on my stand-up simply because he had some long lanky arms and he took boxing for years. That F'd me up but once I got him to the ground, the fight was over in less than 5 seconds after being on the ground. You may have your own opinions but, no martial art is better than brazilian jiu-jitsu(or any other jiu-jitsu form). What other martial art can you utilize for ground defense? none. 80-90% of fights end up on the ground.

But all in all, if you don't care about flashyness, take BJJ, most effective. But if you wanna look cool, take Muay Thai Boxing or regular Boxing. Silat is also pretty effective too if you're interested in breaking peoples' joints and body lol.

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask. ;)

EDIT: Capoiera is another flashy MA as well.

Taking it to the ground when there it's not one on one and there's people around you is stupid. Maybe in that situation you were lucky, but there are ways for someone to be an excellent fighter without having to take BJJ and also having to overcome being small.

Fighting has to be merciless and ruthless. If you're smaller, you have to do what's necessary. I've seen some really great Muay Thai instructional videos that revolves around removing knives, chains, etc from an enemy then breaking their arms, etc.

To me, Krav Maga seems the most reasonable. Who cares about the other stuff. Just get in and get out the fastest and most effective way. It may not be great for someone stepping into a ring but from what I've seen, it seems effective on the streets.

I must also note that training is a large part. Honestly, many people down play the true power of Bruce Lee. They think he was just a movie actor and that he was nothing. His boxers would have told you that none of them would even touch him even though they were much larger then him. He trained religiously, and thought about all scenarios.

Basically, when in a fight, don't think about being nice just go for the limbs. Break what you have to. Muay Thai teaches things like that also.

[1138]

One thing you should know before you decide to take up a martial art, is that most of them aren't practical at all in a real fight. Martial arts teaches you how to counter attacks in specific circumstances, but a street fight is too fast and too unpredictable to put martial arts to proper use. While it will teach you some cool shit, and it's generally just a fun hobby, most schools won't teach you jack shit. You'll spend most of your time practicing with kids half your age, unless you find a "serious" school that only teaches adults.

I took tsung su do for several years, was one belt away from getting my black, and I'd say it actually hurt my chances in a fight more than it helped them. I can get out of submissions easy as hell, but martial arts teaches you to be too disciplined. Sometimes, you just need to swing for the head and hope you knock some teeth out, not dance around like a fairy like Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee.You know what this post reminds me of?

The Karate Kid.

Wax on, wax off.

[Honkymagoo]

As one of the few people I know that can actually fight I've always wanted to take boxing / martial arts for a challenge and a good work-out. I must say I'm intrigued about Krav Maga and have found a place near me that I plan to check out soon.