Hey Guys,
I want to start learning a martial art for several reasons: gives me motivation to train, I’ll have competitions to take part in, and in case I get into any scraps, I can defend myself.
I’m thinking either Judo or Jiu-Jitsu - they seem to be the most popular and they spend a lot of time sparring. I love the philosophy behind Aikido but it seems impractical for me to learn a martial art that has no sparring whatsoever.
What do you guys think?
Kurt
Hi BuddhaBellyBum,
You’re probably going to get a lot of differing opinions on this topic, you may also want to do a search as there have been many other similar threads here.
As far as classical Martial Arts, I’d say that Jiu-Jitsu, Wing Chun, and some forms of Karate (provided they are taught by a good instructor) would be the most practical.
However, I feel that the best systems are those which address all aspects of combat. Everything from Active Combat (which encompasses all sporting and competition systems), to Verbal, Postural, and Psychological Self Defense. It should also train one to use and defend against modern weaponry (guns, sticks, knives, and improvised weapons) as well as teach some basic survival, and stealth.
Any system which covers all of the above is a good one to choose. One that I can suggest is Lysak’s Sento Method. There are others, but Sento is a great system and if you get the chance to train in it I would strongly suggest that you do so.
Good luck and good training,
Sentoguy
The most practical martial art? There isn’t ‘one’. There may be a most natural way for you to fight, but that’s an individual thing, based on your physical nature and personality.
Find something that resonates with you- which engages you- nothing’s practical if you don’t stick with it, which you won’t if you don’t enjoy it.
Find a good coach/teacher who understands training ‘live’, gives their students an opportunity to go hard, but at the same time makes sure that everyone is comfortable working at the level where they perform best- not somewhere where a new fish is just fresh meat. Maybe that’s a BJJ gym, a judo school, a boxing gym, a mma club, a karate dojo, kung fu kwoon, bando- whatever.
Andrew
I love judo. Juijitsu no big deal. If you go the judo route, look for an instructor that is physically small and learned judo in Japan. I promise it makes a difference. Sport judo is too one demensional and you’ll bore with it quickley. “Traditional” judo is infinitly deep and is a life long pursuit.
Two years ago I thought the same thing about Aikido. Then I met some one who really knows Aikido ( I lived in Japan for two years due to work.). It is unbelievable stuff. I been involved in martial arts since 1970 and I have never seen anything like Aikido. If you need to prep for a fight 6 months from now, go judo. If you need to prep for a fight 10-15 years from now go Aikido. Aikido is beyond words but you must find the right instructor (Honbu Dojo recognized is a good start) and be patient and spend a lot of time on the mat. good luck.
okay all you ground fighters, try using your judo or bjj or what not in a fight on the street where the guy hitting you from behind has 3 guys with him
while your mounting him on the gruond his friends are hitting you from behind or stabbing you or worse, NOT A GOOD IDEA
if you want to learn an art in any part for self defence in the real world you need to AVOID THE GROUND at all costs,
i love muay thai, 6 point striking, you learn close clinch fighting, which is how most fights end up or start in, and you learn how to use knees and elbows and powerful kicks and punches
as for karate being practicle? lol dont even make me laugh, there are a few good forms of karate out there, the rest are a joke, if you tried that stuff on someone who knew how to fight at all YOU would be the one getting hurt
wing chun, what can i say bruce lee studied it for a little while, but didnt stick with it alone, i dont really know too much about it other than its very structrued.
thats what you want to avoid if you plan on fighting at all, the real world doesnt wait for you to change to tiger stance or to perform some weird elaborate kata before you strike, its a brawl.
boxxing would be awesome for being in shape as well as for fighting your average drunk joe blow in a bar, muay thai even better, karate not so much taikwando they do some crazy stuff that leaves themselves open and off balance, there is a bunch
just dont expect to use bjj or ju jitsu in the real world fighting on the ground against more than one person ( and in the real world everyone has people that jumps in on fights)
To be honest, I think the best thing a complete beginner can learn is boxing. It is very simple and to the point, quality training is not hard to find (compared to some other styles at least), and it gives you pretty much everything you need for a solid foundation. If you’ve got spare time you could also do BJJ or some other grappling style to be more well rounded.
The thing I don’t like about kickboxing and Muay Thai is that you’re not guaranteed a solid foundation in punching. It is extremely beneficial to have things like punching technique and head movement down, but Muay Thai fighters especially aren’t exactly known for their punching. I think it’s great for someone who is more experienced, but that was my reasoning behind choosing boxing over a style with kicking involved.
Hi Skroom,
Well, that depends on who you learn kickboxing from. I learned it from 2 of Joe Lewis’s black belts (and Joe himself). Lewis has trained with Angelo Dundee, Mohammed Ali, and Sugar Ray Robinson to name a few. He teaches as good of a punching/boxing structure as anyone out there. He also teaches exellent kicking technique. So, the striking instruction in Sento is world class.
As far as the ground fighting comments made. Yeah, I agree that ideally you probably don’t want to go to the ground in a real fight. But real fights are seldom ideal. If you should end up on the ground, then you’d better know how to fight from there. Also, should you find yourself in a one-on-one fight (which does in fact happen) and realize that your opponent is a superior striker, then it may be appropriate to take the fight to the ground.
There really are no absolutes in fighting.
Good training,
Sentoguy
[quote]buddhabellybum wrote:
Hey Guys,
I want to start learning a martial art for several reasons: gives me motivation to train, I’ll have competitions to take part in, and in case I get into any scraps, I can defend myself.
I’m thinking either Judo or Jiu-Jitsu - they seem to be the most popular and they spend a lot of time sparring. I love the philosophy behind Aikido but it seems impractical for me to learn a martial art that has no sparring whatsoever.
What do you guys think?
Kurt[/quote]
The best martial art? 200m sprints. Then YOU decide when to fight, not the other guy.
[quote]buddhabellybum wrote:
Hey Guys,
I want to start learning a martial art for several reasons: gives me motivation to train, I’ll have competitions to take part in, and in case I get into any scraps, I can defend myself.
I’m thinking either Judo or Jiu-Jitsu - they seem to be the most popular and they spend a lot of time sparring. I love the philosophy behind Aikido but it seems impractical for me to learn a martial art that has no sparring whatsoever.
What do you guys think?
Kurt[/quote]
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Hi BuddhaBellyBum,
You’re probably going to get a lot of differing opinions on this topic, you may also want to do a search as there have been many other similar threads here.
As far as classical Martial Arts, I’d say that Jiu-Jitsu, Wing Chun, and some forms of Karate (provided they are taught by a good instructor) would be the most practical.
However, I feel that the best systems are those which address all aspects of combat. Everything from Active Combat (which encompasses all sporting and competition systems), to Verbal, Postural, and Psychological Self Defense. It should also train one to use and defend against modern weaponry (guns, sticks, knives, and improvised weapons) as well as teach some basic survival, and stealth.
Any system which covers all of the above is a good one to choose. One that I can suggest is Lysak’s Sento Method. There are others, but Sento is a great system and if you get the chance to train in it I would strongly suggest that you do so.
Good luck and good training,
Sentoguy[/quote]
Sentoguy,
I did a web search on Sento and was impressed. I recently began taking Krava Maga because it is reality based also. They seen closely related. Thanks for the post.
systema and krav manga, tried systema, was top class, simple to learn and effective for street defence
SteveS makes a good point.
What are you drawn towards? Find a style that fits your psychology.
What are your attributes - are you physically built inclined to ground fighting, are you built for kicking etc ? Find a style that matches your pyhsical build (it’ll be easier to learn)
What do you want as an end state? What are you prepared to do? Kill with weapons? Break bones? or restrain only? Will you be comfortable with the repurcussions.
When you really know what you want to do, then you can choose a style to meet your needs.
Paraphrasing Bruce Lee, ‘there is no "best " martial art’. It’s all in how you use it.
[quote]buddhabellybum wrote:
I love the philosophy behind Aikido but it seems impractical for me to learn a martial art that has no sparring whatsoever.
Kurt[/quote]
Responding only to the sparring part above, it’s really not a concern at all in some places. Where I trained, we were chastized if we wen’t too easy on a skilled partner. If my partner was a black-belt, and I didn’t attack with intent to injure (so long as I could safely take his counter), there was a problem.
Training with a short-staff at full speed is also quite a rush, and knowing that if you fail to block an attack, you may be going to the hospital is a great motivator for learning quickly.
All around, I would say it’s lots of fun. If defending against committed attacks isn’t enough, sometimes some of the senior students would stick around after class and just spar. I never did this, because there is no way I could have safely taken their counters at full speed, or performed counters at full speed, without someone getting hurt. Just so you know 
Do not lump Aikido together into an homogenous mass. Tomiki Aikido contains a lot of sparring and sparring against a knife. You learn the basics fairly quickly.
But find a style with a good instructor. That will teach you more than any particular style. A good instructor knows the limits of the particular style and has picked up stuff from other places and has integrated them.
And watch the ego. There are a lot of super egos out there. You can tell because as soon as you breathe the air around them, you sear your lungs.
Brass knuckles & Red Bull.
[quote]john-lennon wrote:
okay all you ground fighters, try using your judo or bjj or what not in a fight on the street where the guy hitting you from behind has 3 guys with him
while your mounting him on the gruond his friends are hitting you from behind or stabbing you or worse, NOT A GOOD IDEA[/quote]
Ummm, judo starts standing up. The idea of judo is to stay on your feet and smash the other guy into the ground. But I digress…
If it is 1 against 4 you will lose every time, doesn’t matter what style you use. 1 against 4 you either need a gun or to run. Hell 1 against more than 1 you will almost always get your ass kicked unless you have a tremendous size and strength advantage.
Ok, but what if things end up on the ground (as they often do)? Then you flop around helplessly?
Sure, muay thai is good stuff. But what good is it to clinch someone and elbow them while his buddies pound your head in from behind?
I’m all for having all ranges covered and running the fuck away if you are outnumbered.
No, not every fight is against multiple opponents. And if it were boxing and muay thai are completely useless as well. A gun is pretty much the only equalizer when you are outnumbered.
[quote]jamej wrote:
I love judo. Juijitsu no big deal. If you go the judo route, look for an instructor that is physically small and learned judo in Japan. I promise it makes a difference.[/quote]
This is ridiculous. It doesn’t make any difference at all.
You sound like someone who either never competed or had their ass handed to them in competition. There is nothing one dimensional about sport judo–it is the heart of judo, without it judo is a dead art.
Gayest thing I’ve read in a while.
“Traditional” judo is dead. The only reason there is “traditional” judo is for pussies and old men who can’'t fight any more. Seriously. There’s plenty of great sport judo players who probably don’t know more than one kata, but they could kick ass on the 5th dan in “traditional” judo. The guy who practices the live art wins everytime.
It is pretty simple really–if aikido were actually effective, we’d see it in MMA. Period. The cage acts as natural selection in the martial arts. Aikido does not actually work against resisting opponents who want to smash your face in.
A wrestler will get an aikidoka to the ground (and hard) every single time. A boxer will punch an aikidoka in the face at will. A muay thai guy will kick them in the leg and get them in the clich and elbow the crap out of their face whenever they want.
Aikido looks all pretty and all in the dojo, but less elegant in the octagon. I imagine the street would make it even uglier.
[quote]Sentoguy wrote:
Hi Skroom,
Well, that depends on who you learn kickboxing from. I learned it from 2 of Joe Lewis’s black belts (and Joe himself). Lewis has trained with Angelo Dundee, Mohammed Ali, and Sugar Ray Robinson to name a few. He teaches as good of a punching/boxing structure as anyone out there. He also teaches exellent kicking technique. So, the striking instruction in Sento is world class. [/quote]
That’s great, but also completely irrelevant. I suggested boxing because quality instruction is easier to find, and most kickboxing/Muay Thai schools can’t be counted on to teach good hand skills. If he had the option of training with some of the best kickboxing/Muay Thai guys in the world, my advice would obviously be different.
I don’t really care if the striking instruction in Sento is world class, and I doubt he does either unless he has the option of training there.
If you never done anything before, I’d reccomend either boxing like one guy said, or Tae Kwon Do. I’ve been taking it for yhe past 4 years and I’m a black belt since April.
TKD is more of a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none type dealie.
The self-defense part of my training is probably where most of the cross discipline stuff comes into play, because a lot of the moves involve throws, trips, knees, elbows, etc. Sparring also help you learn how to apply what you’ve learned on an actual opponent.
It’s helpful if you want to wear down the body in a street fight (sparring, that is. Anything above the chest is useless in sparring)
Find out all the clubs in your area for every style from judo to ludo…
Go there and ask to watch a class…if they don’t let you they’re tossers.
When you find and instructor with passion and knowledge, who practices real sparring - not just prearranged forms - go for it! Even if it’s a style that’s supposed to be crap! How good you are depends on who taught you, otherwise we’d all learn from books and DVD’s!