Educate me...

Okay, so I'm looking for some information from people here who know about this sort of thing...so first up, I'd like to say that if you've got nothing useful that directly contributes to any questions I may ask, then don't write anything. I want to keep this thread on topic long enough for me to get the answers I'm looking for...

1. How many people here do martial arts?

2. What can anyone tell me about the different styles? For instance, Tae Kwon Do does a lot of kicking, but what do the other styles concentrate on?

3. Is there any particular style someone here would recommend? Note that I don't want to do Tae Kwon Do, so if you were going to suggest that, then think of something else.

I also have searched the net for this information, but trying to find detailed information on something other than the major (kung fu, karate, TKD) ones is like trying to get blood from a stone.

 

Well, I don't know much, but if you're thinking of doing Kendo, I'd recommend doing Kenjutsu instead: Kendo is fairly basic, there's only really 5 or 6 stroke variants, but kenjutsu is a fully developed style (something to do with the samurai).

 

I did judo when I was seven or eight, but I quit because I got a headache from all the falling (I didn't have my hair to protect me back then).

 

All styles aim at crippling your knees. I did Karate Shotokan for a few years and now have a summer break. Most positions strain your knees seriously, so before you start training consult a doctor on how to warm up, perhaps some vitamins or other pills might help, etc. Trust me, you won't regret looking into that before taking up training.

As for the style itself. Karate is concentrated on kicks and on punches. There's not too much of hand twisting and such. It also depends on a school you choose. Some specialize in Kata (series of moves, which show how you mastered techniques) or Kumite (fighting). If a given school covers both it won't give you a lot as there's still basic techniques' training which occupies most of the time.

As for trainings don't bother yourself if you won't manage to train at least 3 times a week, 1,5hour per training session.

 

Is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that really boring style that the Gracie people do? I watched that guy in the UFC, and all his fights were boring as hell - trip them on to the ground, spend five minutes slapping them in the head until they move just enough for you to slap a hold on them, and wait for them to submit.

I guess I'm looking for something that'll give me a good all-round series of skills that would actually be useful if someone decided to fight me in the street. I don't want to wrestle for five minutes, or need to carry a wooden sword around with me all the time, I just want to learn how to take a hit and also be able to kick someone's ass with my bare hands...maybe I should look into Muay Thai .

 

Karate tends to be a meaningless misnomer. Any dojo that says they do "karate" is probably not one that you should be involved with.
Kung Fu and Jiu-Jitsu are also fairly meaningless, because they are both broken down into myriad subtypes, which are vastly different.

Seriously, though, if you want to do a martial art, you are going to have to run around to the nearby dojos and watch what they do. What they call it really doesn't matter so much.
Some dojos are big into sparring, some are really for show, or for exercise, and not truly fighting techniques.
Many of the dojos in my area offer free trial lessons, to get you to sign up. It would probably be worthwhile to look into that.

 

Are you only interested in Far Eastern martial arts, or also in other combat techniques like, suppose, the Russian SAMBO, Israeli krav maga, Brasilian kapoera (sp?), the Greco-Roman wrestling and so on?

 

SAMBO is basically a mix of jiu-jitsu and judo.

I went for Tae-Kwon-Do untill I got a yellow belt. I then signed off. The lessons were weak. You can just keep coming and you'll eventually get the next belt. Hell, I was barely tired after the lessons.

Karate is the best. You'd have to watch for "fake karate" because it's, well, fake: they are usually called something like "Death Strike Karate School of Martial Arts" or "Grey Black Dragon Ball Super Karate-do Dojo". You know what I mean.

 

Well, decide. Do you want to look cool (Muay Thai) or learn "something that'll give you a good all-round series of skills that would actually be useful"? There's a reason why the Gracie's kick so much ass. Cause the style is effective.

Muay Thai is cool and all, just know that you WILL GET YOUR ASS KICKED learning it. Watch some thai kickbooxing; Those guys take big hits.

If you just want to learn how to defend yourself well enough, take some boxing/kickboxing. But don't punch like a kickboxer, learn how to punch and move like a real boxer.

Really, though. Jiu-Jitsu is really effective. If you're concerned with defending yourself in a fight, would you rather look pretty and maybe get your ass beat, or look "boring style" and totally own the guy trying to fuck you up?

I hear that Krav Maga is another one like that. Just brutal, effective street fighting - no flash. Good luck trying to find someone to train you in that, though. You'll probably have to join the Mossad or something.

 

Perhaps I should clarify why I'm not too keen on BJJ...it takes Gracie an eternity to win those fights in UFC. If I did that in real life, and the guy I was fighting had his mates around (most likely) then they'd be using my head for soccer practice while I'm waiting for the guy below me to get into position. One on one, BJJ probably will win out eventually, but it's not a style I could see myself learning.

And yeah, I've looked in to Krav Maga. There may even be a place in Brisbane where I can learn it.

 

It takes an eternity to win those fights on UFC and Pride because they're fighting other top martial artists who are prepared to fight against that particular style.

I know it's not flashy or stylish, but grappling shit is where it's at. How many fights have you seen in real life that DON'T end up on the ground? Trading punches and doing simultaneous katas in each other's direction is movie stuff. Almost every single untrained fight I've seen is punch-punch-grab-fall, and the guy on the ground who doesn't grapple well always loses.

 

Jar, I've almost started this exact same thread for days, just been putting it off...

All I gotta say is mostly to echo Milo's last point. If you can't grapple well, you're toast, ESPECIALLY, if you will be fighting someone bigger than you. For me, at 6'2", and 136 lbs, everyone is bigger than me. However, I'm slender of limb, and pretty flexible, so I can sometimes hold my own in a sparring match against bigger friends. (I know this means shit all in an actual fight)

One other thing. It's all about the pressure points. I've found myself locked up with a guy I used to spar with that weighs 220 lbs, and he's pretty solid. Not totally without flab, but mostly. The only thing that saved me was pressure points. There are 102 in your body. There's 4 in the neck, two (that I know) in the wrist. These are something I go for quickly, and I usually get "You fight dirty". Uh-huh. Ain't no such thing as fighting fair. Fair fighters get dead.

A shot to the balls is also highly effective (duh) but you would be surprised at how difficult it really is to kick an aware person in the nads. Guys have had tender balls for millenia, and have developed amazingly quick reflexes to avoid said shot. One other disabling hit is the punch to the Adam's Apple. Now we're getting into liability territory. If you hit someone hard enough, you will crush their trachea. Not a hit I would recommend if you're sparring with your younger brother. "Oh shit, he's died!" Probably the most basic first-shot hit I got from martial arts buddies was the jab to the nose. Fist tucked in tight to your side, and push with the shoulder, not swing with the arm. Bloody somebody's nose, and they'll get teary eyed and maybe disoriented just long enough for the ol' kick in the pills.

I realize that all of this really doesn't quite answer your original questions Jar. I don't know much about fighting styles. I have friends who have taken Jiu Jitsiu, Akido, Judo, High Flying Get Their Ass Kicked Generic Style Karate.. I tried to learn from them, mostly quick moves. I'm not going to last in an all out tussle because I'm little, and I don't have much force in my hits. I need that ficitional "one stop shot". I'm probably going to get my ass whipped, I've come to terms with that. But if I can disable somebody, or at least sting them enough to back off long enough for me to run, or pull a gun, then I've done well, in my opinion.

Oh, one other thing, and I'll let you pull this train back on her tracks. Screaming like a banshee, although girly, does a fairly good job of intimidating maybe half of your potential opponents.



Screaming while attacking, that is. I didn't mean while they have their foot up your ass. Screaming then is just inevitable.

 

Oooh, Krav Maga looks alright. And there's about ten or fifteen schools in Australia, Solaris, so it looks like I'm in luck...

 

I don't see too many fights in the street, but organised biffs we had at school didn't end up on the ground. Of course, it was against the few rules we had, but you never saw anyone fall over either. I've got nothing against grappling and take-downs themselves, it's just that if someone wants to fight you and they come in swinging, they've usually got mates backing them up, and you voluntarily going to ground while they're around would be a good way of getting your ass kicked.

I guess aikido or judo would probably be useful for taking someone down and hurting them without going down or overextending yourself. I'm actually looking at doing a combination of one of those and Muay Thai just to cover most bases. Probably be really expensive though.

Retard, I'm 5'10/5'11 and weigh just over 70kg. You cannot lay claim to "everyone is bigger than me" while I'm around. I was always the smallest person in my year at school. One thing I am good at though is dealing with pain from pressure points and the like - when I decide to that is.

 

Well I trained at Shotokan and thought it was a waste of time. The style focuses too much on striking so you better have good muscles and aerobic capacities for your fights will last long. Usually in Shotokan, they won't let you fight (kumite) with other disciples until you reach black belt (can take a year in a best case scenario). Kata is useless in my opinion. Five different styles Shito Ryu (fag style, without much strength), Wado Ryu (old style), Goyu Ryu (old style), Gosoku Ryu (new style, supposedly very tough) and Shotokan (invented by Gishin Funakoshi, focuses on strength and speed).

Jiu jitsu may look shitty but it is the most effective art I have seen. Sure, you may get hit once or twice but once you close in they can't punch or kick you with any effect (point blank). You grapple them, twist them around and put them in a choke hold. Fights over unless they know how to get out of a grapple.

Judo guys are pretty effective too.

Aikido is a very painful art to watch. I have a friend (axel urriola) that trained a year in that shit. Whenever we did mock fights he would catch our punches and twist our damn fingers or wrists into VERY FUCKING PAINFUL positions. An effective Aikikai (student) can stop the fight without spilling blood, just using painful holds.

The art of Jet Kune Do was invented by Bruce Lee (aka Toughest Motherfucker Alive). It literarily means the way of the intercepting fists. It basically means you wait until your opponent tries something then you beat him to the punch by punching faster. It combines many other styles including Wing Chung Kung Fu, Kempo (ancient Japanese Karate), among others.

Kenjutsu is nice if you want to get arrested. I don't think you can legally defend yourself using a katana to slice your assailant into oblivion down in Commieaustralia. Very dangerous if you learn how to carry your sword in your pants like Highlander. This is what you would call Japanese Fencing (although you may die if you fuck up). Do not confuse with Batojutsu (samurai drawing of the sword).

Capoeria is a Brazillian art invented by black slaves (cimarrones) to free themselves from servitude. Effective since the movements make it hard to predict. Very hard to learn as your need insane strength in your hands to do handstands and flips and other shit. Don't try this if you are not black. White men don't have the Nigga Reflexes® required.

Sambo, Pancratio (greco-roman wrestling) and other grappling style martial arts are very effective. Face it, once you close up and grapple with someone, their punches and kicks become useless. A Russian guy I saw in the Gracie demo video was the only one who put Gracie in trouble as he knew how to twist and countergrapple.

Tae Kwon Do and Hwoarang Do are two different Korean styles. The first is derived from Hwoarang Do. Focuses on kicking. Requires flexibility and good coordination (flying spin kicks are tough to pull off). Hwoarang Do is an old style from feudal Korea. Developed to fight against animals so guaranteed to be tough.

Muay Thai is Thailandese Kickboxing not a cocktail. Focuses on punches, kicks and elbow and knee smashes. Very brutal and effective. This is what Jean Claude Van Damme and Sagat practice.

I don't know jack about Krav Maga, Savate (French martial art, probably involves surrendering so don't try it), Penkak Silak (a polinesian art, often called the death dance), Lima Lama (polinesian wrestling) or Kung Fu (all different styles).

 

Yep. It is the Israeli army fighting technique, not sport. The main rule is "hit him where it hurts the most". Teaching Krav Maga is not uncommon in the US, although it is less popular than the Far Eastern martial arts (less popularized by movies, less flashy, no ranking system, no competitions).

Savate is also an effective, kicking based fighting style, despite it being French. I think it served as a basis for modern kickboxing, although I am not sure.

 

Funny, I have yet to see a Brazillian type capoeria in italics. How do you pronounce italics anyway?