Taijitsu.
La’
Redsol1
I personally suggest researching yourself. Go to google or another search engine and really research the martial arts so you and you alone can make an educated decision.
I am a martial arts instructor but my or anyone elses martial arts credentials on this board have no bearing in regards to your question.
Research on the net, look in the phone book, visit schools, etc.
Good luck,
Kind Regards,
I highly recommend that you look to an Okinawian art, such as Goju-Ryu or Shorei/Shorin Ryu. Okinawa was where karate itself orgininated…many Japanese styles of karate are “school-house”. Shotokan, for instance, was Gichin Funakoshi’s style that he taught in P.E. classes. His first book, called, Ryu-Kyu Kempo (which is almost impossible to find because an earthquake destroyed the text after only a few were copied) was written before he went to Japan. That style, Ryu-Kyu Kempo, George Dillman’s style, is great also. Just try to reach for the root.
I love Brazillian Jiu Jitsu with the gi. For me this was all that I wanted from other Martial arts but never got. With gi is not MMA or no-gi grappling so there are belts which is somewhat traditional. Okay, there is no kata or weapons but under the right instructor I love this stuff and recommend it to everyone.
In my younger days I trained 3 styles of karate, jeet kune do, muay thai, boxing, even some ninjitsu, taekwondo, aikido, tai chi, san sho and various kung fu styles.
If you want a cool style with kata and weapons then the chinese styles are interesting. Not as linear as the Japanese karate or Korean taekwondo styles, the kung fu’s are very artistic and have a lot of forms with weapons and such. Some of them are very athletic.
Many harder Japanese karates have kata and weapons and they are intersesting too.
All in all, I’d get out the phone book or go on the local net and just start visiting schools. You should find one that merges with what you’re looking for.
The karates I trained in tried to be more practical than most of the kung fu styles. They focused on repetition and the basics. Same goes for taekwondo. Kung fu i found to have very diverse moves and styles and it was fun when I did it under a group of different instructors from the US and china.
I still suggest checking out Brazillian Jiu Jitsu or even judo. Neither should have katas but they are fun.
here’s my two cents about martial arts: tae kwan do is a relatively new sport derived from the real martial arts of korea, hapkido and hwarang-do. TKD was created relatively recently by deliberately taking all of the deadly (and effective) elements out of the two base korean martial arts. to summarize: don’t take TKD, there are many better choices out there.
Good luck!
Judo/BJJ and jeet kune do would be a good mix.
If you love the forms, kung fu is a good bet
A better question is what types of martial arts schools are in your area? Granted there have been many good suggestions on this board but some of these styles are not offered everywhere. Perhaps if you said what your options were we could help you narrow it down a bit. However, what you get out of a martial art is more dependent upon the instructor then the style. You would be better to travel to the different schools, observe a class, and see where you would feel most comfortable.
WOW!..I started this thread over a year ago! Thanks to those who have recently added to the post with suggestions for me. I still have a couple more eyars of serious weight training ahead of me before I get to where I want to be at physically. However, I’m happy to say that when I started this post a year ago I was 210, and now Im 220 with same bodyfat. Yes!!..But, I think I like the idea of a traditional Karate. I could pretty much train in that anywhere, big city or small. Awsome weapons that I, even as an adult, are still fascinated by. Lots of kata, progeression based belt system, and a little cultural stuff like bowing and meditation, etc…
[quote]Bob423 wrote:
I’d suggest looking into Aikido - I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it. You can download some pretty crazy videos off the net. Whatever you choose, make sure it fits your goals. [/quote]
I was thinking the same thing. I’m a Judo guy myself, but from your description soldierslim, aikido might be exactly what you are looking for. It is seaping in tradition and culture. You probably aren’t going to resort to the textbook techniques on the street, but it will help by learning how the body moves and how force is applied. I tend to think of it as a very academic art.
[quote]Soldierslim wrote:
WOW!..I started this thread over a year ago! Thanks to those who have recently added to the post with suggestions for me. I still have a couple more eyars of serious weight training ahead of me before I get to where I want to be at physically. However, I’m happy to say that when I started this post a year ago I was 210, and now Im 220 with same bodyfat. Yes!!..But, I think I like the idea of a traditional Karate. I could pretty much train in that anywhere, big city or small. Awsome weapons that I, even as an adult, are still fascinated by. Lots of kata, progeression based belt system, and a little cultural stuff like bowing and meditation, etc…[/quote]
Hey Bro, one thing that I think has not yet be stated here is that by taking most martial arts you are going to loose muscle mass fairly quickly. Most MA programs focus was to much on conditioning, which basically means high level aerobic activity. That is going to kill your new found bulk.
On another issue; what many don’t realize, from a neuromuscular perspective, endurance training makes you have weak and poor technique. What I mean is, when you train technique when you muscles are tired, your neurological system learns the technique that way. Specificity of training. For example, when you are tired you punch is weaker and your technique poor. Keep training that way over and over day after day and your neuro systems learns the poor technique and also learns to use less force (the amount of force you can generate when you are tired).
This is why general conditioning should be separate from technique training. Technique training should occur while you are fresh and stop once you start to get tired. Any school that doesn’t do it this way should be avoided unless all you want is a workout.
if you find someone who takes Kendo very seriously they’ll teach you japanese jujutsu as well.
Very very very fucking formal shit.
Lorisco, yea I’ve thought about that. I’ll always have a passion for the iron and disciplined nutrition. Ideally, I’d like to weight train 2-3 times a week and do martial arts 2-3 times a week also. I think that I’d use the MA training for my energy systems training. I very ralely do energy systems work nowadays (only pre-summer) as I’m naturally lean and still in my 20’s. But by the time I’m into MA I’ll be in my 30’s-40’s and some weekly energy work will be needed.
Good point on the technique timing, I’ll keep that in mind when looking for schools.
soldier,
if you’re still paying any attention tot his thread i would suggest a traditional style of chinese shaolin kungfu, either southern (which is more concerned with least effort/max force and efficiency in close range combat such as any form of wing chun) or northern (which is more long range based and open in stance work, kicking, punching and all that but nevertheless incorporates much of the efficiency and close range combat found in wing chun) or your best being to try both.
I’ve been training under worldwide Chin Woo Athletics Association, U.K. branch studying traditional northern shaolin kungfu, wushu, san shou (which is the sports side of my school seeing as it covers competitive sparring *note: the training we undergo in preparation for sparring is as rigorous as any competitive fighting be it muay tai kickboxin, boxin, ufc type stuff…which means LOADS of fitness and conditioning) and taichi.
By the way, this martial art and Chin Woo offers more variety within this single artform than one can possibly learn. The amount of forms (equivalent to katas for all you karate masters) that you can choose from are endless. For instance, aside from the “core curriculum” of forms one needs to learn, i’ve learned how to wield a staff, spear, broad sword, straight sword, double daggers, 3-sectional staff, short sticks, etc. you name it! it’s fuckin amazing!not to mention we learn 2 man forms which look fuckin mind boggling when you get hyper speed and coordination mastered. I’ve also been able to learn monkey style, drunken (8 drunken gods), .,., ok ok, i gotta calm down, but you catch my drift?
thing is, you wana be lean as a bean yet big and strong enough to look like you can tear someone’s head off right? well i try not to be arrogant but im not gonna deny that well on my way towards reachin my own personal goals in terms of my physique, strength, and fitness.
Basically, I’m tryin to suggest, in the most objective and unbiased manner possible(which is complete bollox since my opinion is entirely biased…), that maybe you should look and see if there is Chin Woo near you!
check it out
ps. capoeira is definitely on par with this style, or at least the external aspects of it, cuz i duno if you’ve seen those kungfu masters catch someone’s gut punch, crush the fist, and propell it straight back out at the attacker, dislocating the guys arm and leaving his hand feeling sore…ask me not if this is a fable becuz lo and behold i seen it wit me own eyes!
Nippon Genwakai Karate was brought to Holland in the early '70s by a small group of Japanese instructors. The Dutch group of Genwakai is a part of the organization Nippon Karate-do Genwakai (Japan). It has no relations with any Dutch karate association and is supervised by Shihan Akio Kobayashi.
Although Genwakai is a traditional karate-do form, it is a young art. It was established in the '50s by a Japanese group of Gensei-ryu karateka. They simplified their original style and developed a structured way of teaching.
The name Genwakai is composed of “gen” which means “the highest ultimate level”, “wa” which means “harmony” and “kai” is “group or association”.
Genwakai claims to take a scientific approach to karate-do both in training and thinking about karate as budo. This can be seen by the teaching method and the concept of “bunbu ryodo”: a hard physical training in harmony with serious study.
Kumite (free sparring) in Genwakai is performed while wearing a “bogu”. The bogu is an armour which allows full contact.
Kata (fictional fight(s) against one or more opponents) are a very important part of the Genwakai training. Some are different from the ones found in other karate-do forms, others are the same. Kihon waza (basic techniques) receive much attention in a Genwakai practice session.