Martial Arts.

[eric922]

I'm interested in learning a good marital art for self-defense. I was considering Karate,Jujitsu or Judo. I'm taking class next semester that goes over basics in those three but I may decide to skip the class and start an indepth session now. I'm also open to any other suggestions aside from those three so if anyone is fond of a different style feel free to list it. I've looked into Sombo as well, does anyone here have any experience with it?

[Ele'ill]

Muay Thai and BJJ are the only two I have experience in. It was expensive and time consuming in order to actually start retaining the skill sets needed to be proficient in them.

[The Red Next Door]

i am learning shotokan karate.

[FreeFocus]

If you have at least a semi-decent income and care enough about self-defense you can find room in your budget to pay for the classes at a reputable gym. Shit can get expensive, it takes up a good chunk of what I make, but I cut other stuff out for it.

I don't have any experience with Sambo, but it's a solid art. Fedor is a Sambo practitioner. BJJ is always a solid choice, as is boxing and Muay Thai (I've trained in all of them). If your school has a wrestling team or club, join that. If you can get free training somewhere, go for it.

[eric922]

My school does have a club that teaches Jujitsu, but it isn't BJJ its Shingitai Jujitsu. You know anything about it?

[Catmatic Leftist]

If you can find an academy without a cheesy instructor, Tae Kwon Do works wonders.

[eric922]

If you can find an academy without a cheesy instructor, Tae Kwon Do works wonders. I have tried Tae Kwon Do, but my problem was twofold. 1. I've heard it is more of a sport and isn't as useful in self-defense as the more combat oriented styles. 2. My biggest problem and this may be wrong on my part, but the classes I was taken had separate classes from kids and I feel that if your teaching the marital arts to 6 year olds as some sort of after school program, then you are not teaching them correctly as they were originally meant for self-defense and combat. Am I totally off base with that statement?

[Bitter Ashes]

Martial Arts seems like a good way to get fit and meet people. As far as self defence goes, I wouldn't bother. When was the last time you saw somebody going all Bruce Lee on the coppers with a pair of nunchucks? It doesn't happen.

Your best three self defence moves are (a) Being able to run away very fast (b) Developing your sneakiness to ensure you don't get into trouble in the first place (c) Getting a gun

It'd be far better to concentrate on (a) and (b)

[Sasha]

actually, if your in the luck of having a Krav Maga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga) school in your neighborhood this is an excellent self defense "martial art", only problem is that your often training together with military, cops, prison guards and other law enforcement personnel so you might want to hide your politics while at the gym. and lots of israelis/zionists so no discussing palestine either.
but its by far the best self-defense course i know and well worth suffering through the negative bits for.

see http://www.kravmaga.com/ for schools

[Fieldmouse]

I'd say that BJJ is an appropriate style if you're into using leverage against your opponent. I've trained in it for many years and its been hugely beneficial from my experiences. It is however (like all physical activities) very intense and requires a lot of your free time. I'd recommend googling different styles of Martial Arts before you go after a teacher. This way you won't have the disappointment of picking a style that wasn't really what you wanted.

[☭The Revolution☭]

Systema, all the way. Not many places to learn it, but it is by far my most favorite fighting style.

[Illuminati]

actually, if your in the luck of having a Krav Maga school in your neighborhood this is an excellent self defense "martial art", only problem is that your often training together with military, cops, prison guards and other law enforcement personnel so you might want to hide your politics while at the gym. and lots of israelis/zionists so no discussing palestine either.
but its by far the best self-defense course i know and well worth suffering through the negative bits for.


Beat me to it :thumbup1:

[Rooster]

Karate is fine if you're fighting samurai and Tae Kwon Do is good if you want to show off. I'm reluctant to suggest a grappling martial art if you're wanting to defend yourself though. Normally in a street fighting situation, you don't want to be on the ground pulling holds. But, saying that, Jujitsu is a good one to learn but just remember that you don't want to be on the ground for a long period of time. I found that traditional martial arts are kinda stilted, especially karate and tkd, with their big stances and from the shoulder punches. You should try to combine something like kickboxing or thai boxing with some grappling martial art (it doesn't really matter too much which grappling art), so that you can at least know how to punch someone and then when they get too close, be able to throw their ass to the ground then stomp on their knee caps. If you can find a jeet kune do (sorry if I've spelt that wrong, it was the style Bruce Lee kinda synthesised), then try to do that, but it really is just kickboxing with some wing chun. Most of it is standing up but it teaches you not to try and land high kicks and it teaches you that movement is a good thing. So yeah, any sort of modern art is better than some traditionalist ritualistic thing.

[Sasha]

Karate is fine if you're fighting samurai and Tae Kwon Do is good if you want to show off. I'm reluctant to suggest a grappling martial art if you're wanting to defend yourself though. Normally in a street fighting situation, you don't want to be on the ground pulling holds. But, saying that, Jujitsu is a good one to learn but just remember that you don't want to be on the ground for a long period of time.

exactly the reason why i push for kravmaga, kravmaga teaches you to fight on street surfaces (wet with rain or beer, with pavement sticking out, with parked mopeds etc) and to stay the fuck of the ground at all times. If you train at all to fighting on the ground its aimed at; if someone gets me down how do i get up as fast as possible? being able to do all kinds of fancy arm bars on the ground is all nice when your fighting one on one in a ring or cage but on the street you will regret it as his mates will just soccerkick you in the face.

[manic expression]

I'm a little annoyed because I was on my way to Kazakhstan for some weeks...the perfect opportunity to train some intensive Sambo (my first choice). Well, it's not happening so I'm back to looking for Judo and MT schools/gyms. As far as Kravmaga goes, I considered it, but a very big part of me doesn't want to touch it because of the Zionist connection. It'd feel like going to a "bulldozing Palestinian homes" class. Maybe someone here can argue otherwise, though. On edit, I just found a few Escrima schools around my way...looks very promising, I've had great experiences with the art before.

[eric922]

Karate is fine if you're fighting samurai . Well, if I could beat a samurai in hand to hand combat, I think I'll be okay in a street fight, I mean weren't they the elite warriors of their day?

[Bitter Ashes]

Well, if I could beat a samurai in hand to hand combat, I think I'll be okay in a street fight, I mean weren't they the elite warriors of their day?
No. It was just another word for soldier.

[Sadena Meti]

I recommend read "Kill or Get Killed" by Colonel Rex Applegate

It's on my website along with a few other eBooks

http://www.sadena.com/Books-Texts/US%20Marines%20-%20Kill%20or%20Get%20Killed%20-%20Colonel%20Rex%20Applegate.pdf

http://www.sadena.com/Books-Texts/US%20Army%20-%20Hand-to-Hand%20Combat%20Training.pdf

[Sadena Meti]

No. It was just another word for soldier.

Their code of fighting made them a bit more than soldiers. They didn't just want to win, they wanted to find an opponent on the battle field and defeat them one on one through skill. Then they moved on to the next opponent. There were no dirty tricks, no ganging up, no dirty fighting.

[Anarchist Skinhead]

Most useful for streetfighting is boxing, kickbozing and muay thai (actually MT is the best in my opinion, but often also most expensive to learn). After 3 months you will be able to usie basic techniques on the street, sparring will give you some more confidence as well. Any martial aret is ok to keep you in shape, but if you dont heave years and years for training and want some effects pretty soon then those 3 I mentioned would be the best. Don't expect miracles of course.
KravMaga is good but as psycho mentioned already, there is a price to pay usually ;) Also the thing is that I am not quite sure I actually would want to be legally responsible for using lots of those tricks in a streetfight (yes Your Honour, he tried to punch me so I gouged his eyes out, ripped his throat and then broke his wrists :) )

[Sasha]

Most useful for streetfighting is boxing, kickbozing and muay thai (actually MT is the best in my opinion, but often also most expensive to learn). After 3 months you will be able to usie basic techniques on the street, sparring will give you some more confidence as well. Any martial aret is ok to keep you in shape, but if you dont heave years and years for training and want some effects pretty soon then those 3 I mentioned would be the best. Don't expect miracles of course.
KravMaga is good but as psycho mentioned already, there is a price to pay usually ;) Also the thing is that I am not quite sure I actually would want to be legally responsible for using lots of those tricks in a streetfight (yes Your Honour, he tried to punch me so I gouged his eyes out, ripped his throat and then broke his wrists :) )

The fact that you know how to do these things doesn't mean you should offcourse...
But yeah, learning not to be afraid of confrontations, being able to take some and give some is a solid start for self defence so MT/kickboxing is very good for starters.
But if you actually want to do proper self defence go for kravmaga. Lots of kravmaga schools offer 3 month self-defense courses, shotgun disarment etc is then not on the curriculum.

[Ballyfornia]

What you need is some rex kwon do

[Dr Mindbender]

if its for self defence purposes i'd advice you not to do karate. I found karate boring and i didnt learn any practical techniques that would help in a streetfight. Its mainly for kata and tournaments.

I've heard good things about Jeet Kune do, Muay Thai, and Jui Jutsu. The bujinkan is definitely worth a look if you can find a dojo.

[Terminator X]

There is a Krav Maga gym (actually 3 of them) in my city, and I've had the pleasure of taking several courses. It's a fantastic workout and you really do learn basically how to kick ass and then get the fuck out of Dodge. They tell you in the class that you don't get "points" in a street fight, so other martial arts are useless for self-defense. Basically you spend an hour each class kicking people in the nuts and punching people in the throat. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to go through the Level 1 test, but I've learned quite a bit in my short time of training.

Can't recommend it enough. (Make sure you go to a legit Krav gym, though, there are a lot of imposters.)

[-marx-]

In my opinion Jeet Kune Do (or "Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do")is superior to most Martial Arts. Although there's lots to be learned from them all.
I took to it very naturally.

[red_rich]

Well, if I could beat a samurai in hand to hand combat, I think I'll be okay in a street fight, I mean weren't they the elite warriors of their day?

More than just warriors, they were in a class of their own. Literaly!

[progressive_lefty]

I did boxing for about 2 years and still have an alright grasp of the technique. I'm hoping to get back into it again soon. It was amazing for self-confidence. But in saying that though, there's a lot of concepts that I haven't come across eg. kicking, particular scenarios in street fighting... I got into boxing because a friend of my father suggested it. This friend had done a range of martial arts over a number of years BUT found that boxing was the best form of self-defence - something which surprises me.

Does anyone know much about Aikido? And is it a form of Jiu-Jitsu? There's a gym very close to me, but it looks a bit expensive, but I thought I would start doing it to add to my boxing ability.

[Inquisitive Lurker]

I would endorse Krav Maga. I only took a year of it but it was fantastic. Also there is a manual which is very good for self/pair study, Kill or Get Killed by Colonel Rex Applegate, which you can find by searching the web.