For a beginner..

Well some recent events have shown me that I should get back in learning an MA (at least until we revolt and take over the means of productions of the state so we have our own gunslol jk).Anyway, while being tall, I'm not buff and I can never be much due to my family's inherited body type.As such, a grappling kind of MA such as judo, sambo or greco-roman wrestling (doing) would be out of the question.Instead, I'm looking for a MA that employs swift strikes, fast/agile movements and maybe joint locks.I used to do 5 animals Shaolin Kung Fu (although I didn't manage to reach the 5 animals yet lol) for 2 years but then stopped due to changing neighbourhoods, so I could return at it.Apart from that I was suggested Muay Thuai by a friend but I also was told to steer clear from that by a comrade since it attracts many neo nazis in my country.I also remember seeing some Hapkido sparring in a park in England last summer and that stuff looked good.Any suggestions on those or maybe another MA?I don't have problem if it's traditional as long as there is a chance I can find a school nearby.

One thing I have in consideration though is, will I get sufficient preparation for a real life scenario only by training/sparring?Cause the way I see it, apart from the techniques you learn and how much you build your body, the biggest thing in fighting is having the confidence and discipline to actually use them.For example I still remember some Kung Fu moves I can do in the confidence of my house or amongst friends, but I really don't think I could recall them or even pull them off should I be assaulted IRL.Thoughts on this?

Find a real gym, and don't be deterred by the political ideologies of the people a particular art attracts. Muay Thai is an amazing martial art, and to not train in it is a serious disservice. Also, I doubt that you are physically unable to bulk up a bit, if you eat enough and lift hard, you WILL gain weight. A grappling art is necessary, whether it be BJJ, Sambo, Judo, wrestling, whatever. These are just good skills to have.

If you train and spar seriously, you'll be ready for a lot of situations. Most street fights are basically boxing with some grappling. Don't do fancy stuff and try to get cute in a street fight.

Find a real gym, and don't be deterred by the political ideologies of the people a particular art attracts. Muay Thai is an amazing martial art, and to not train in it is a serious disservice. Also, I doubt that you are physically unable to bulk up a bit, if you eat enough and lift hard, you WILL gain weight. A grappling art is necessary, whether it be BJJ, Sambo, Judo, wrestling, whatever. These are just good skills to have.

If you train and spar seriously, you'll be ready for a lot of situations. Most street fights are basically boxing with some grappling. Don't do fancy stuff and try to get cute in a street fight.

unless you've pretty much won and you're showing off XP

most street fights for me involve knees and elbows to the face

heres some advice:

if you can, find a gym that cross-trains in multiple MA's or discipline

try to avoid belt systems and choreography (most wushu excluding sanda, karate, taekwondo, and even judo and jiu-jitsu to a degree, etc etc)

if you just want to learn self defense, I'd look for a Krav Maga instructor in your area

I train Muay Thai, Western Boxing, Judo, and Brazilian JJ. I do everything but Judo at a Mixed Martial Arts gym

one more thing: you can never go wrong having a close friend as a training partner. remember-- move at your own speed

Why avoid arts with belt promotions Intifada? It takes too long? He doesn't have to worry about becoming a black belt necessarily, if he ever got to purple in BJJ that's very solid for his purposes, you learn the most as a purple belt anyway.

Belt systems, in my opinion, are counterproductive to the purpose of learning a Martial Art. For example, in my Judo class I just recently got my green belt (adult yellow), where as my best friend will soon be a blue belt even though we started at the same time. The only difference is he competes in tournaments ($50-60 fees complete BS) and I haven't yet. That doesn't mean one of us is better than the other necessarily. Yet I have to stand further down the line from him when we bow, have less freedom to focus on techniques that are effective for me, cause I am always being told I need to learn more, etc etc.

I feel like without this hierarchy, you have more freedom to learn at your own pace and focus on techniques that are effective for you. Also there's less ego in general, the only thing praised is good technique not, "oh you're gonna let a white belt do that to you?!" On the streets you don't get into physical confrontations and know what skill level the people you are engaging are at. You just have to fight. If a guy has a knife, a black belt in Taekwondo isn't gonna do shit to help you disarm him. The sheer amount of experience you have knife fighting will. That's why I can't stand going into a McDojo and seeing these 11-12 year old kids with black belts. In the real world they'd be destroyed...

There is a story about old man Kimura (legendary Judoka and forefather of BJJ) taking a break from competition and training at his dojo and going to the woods to practice for a year. He practiced one technique, O-soto Gari over and over on a tree for the whole year. When he came back to the city and returned to training at his dojo, no one would fit in with him because he knocked out 10 judoka in a row with this throw. This story just demonstrates what happens when you push yourself according to your own mind, your own pace. You develop more efficiently and effectively as a martial artist.

@ the Original Poster:

I would definitely take a closer look at Krav Maga. It was created in order to take civilians who had no experience in Martial Arts and teach them how to survive real combat situations in very short periods. It hasn't had much popular in traditional Martial Arts circles, but police, paramilitaries, and armies all over the world have used it to train new recruits in a short period of time. To me, this screams effectiveness. Please take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcyrGuUnmMk

ignore the horrible politics if you can. you might need a little brown bag...I almost barfed.

I guess that kinda sucks lol. Still, I think you learn enough useful stuff in a BJJ or Judo class to justify putting up with that type of stuff, although hopefully it's not like that at every gym (very subjective belt promotion, insulting lower belts, etc). Isn't a gym supposed to be like a family? Why attack the self-esteem of a lower belt by insulting their skill level?

Moreover, from gym to gym, belt promotion is pretty subjective, so a black belt under one person may not be as good as a brown or even purple under someone else. A better way of judging skill is credentials, i.e. performance in tournaments (although you said they were kinda expensive, I think you should try a few if you can).

I guess that kinda sucks lol. Still, I think you learn enough useful stuff in a BJJ or Judo class to justify putting up with that type of stuff, although hopefully it's not like that at every gym (very subjective belt promotion, insulting lower belts, etc). Isn't a gym supposed to be like a family? Why attack the self-esteem of a lower belt by insulting their skill level?

Moreover, from gym to gym, belt promotion is pretty subjective, so a black belt under one person may not be as good as a brown or even purple under someone else. A better way of judging skill is credentials, i.e. performance in tournaments (although you said they were kinda expensive, I think you should try a few if you can).

yeah, belt systems work fr certain trainers but it's even subject to changes in individual's own fighting. i.e. when I was a green belt in karate, i could out-spar most of the junior-black or black belts in my dojo. however, there was one person when I was a brown-belt who was a yellow-belt and I think i beat him once ever.

“A black belt only covers two inches of your ass. You have to cover the rest.” - Royce Gracie

I'd say try krav maga or both muay thai and jiu jiutsu.

jiu jiutsu can be extremely useful. as long as you have a sword or knife or rope or plastic drinking straw or car antenna or guitar with you. but coupled with muay thai as An archist suggested it would be GREAT!

Well some recent events have shown me that I should get back in learning an MA (at least until we revolt and take over the means of productions of the state so we have our own gunslol jk).Anyway, while being tall, I'm not buff and I can never be much due to my family's inherited body type.As such, a grappling kind of MA such as judo, sambo or greco-roman wrestling (doing) would be out of the question.Instead, I'm looking for a MA that employs swift strikes, fast/agile movements and maybe joint locks.I used to do 5 animals Shaolin Kung Fu (although I didn't manage to reach the 5 animals yet lol) for 2 years but then stopped due to changing neighbourhoods, so I could return at it.Apart from that I was suggested Muay Thuai by a friend but I also was told to steer clear from that by a comrade since it attracts many neo nazis in my country.I also remember seeing some Hapkido sparring in a park in England last summer and that stuff looked good.Any suggestions on those or maybe another MA?I don't have problem if it's traditional as long as there is a chance I can find a school nearby.

One thing I have in consideration though is, will I get sufficient preparation for a real life scenario only by training/sparring?Cause the way I see it, apart from the techniques you learn and how much you build your body, the biggest thing in fighting is having the confidence and discipline to actually use them.For example I still remember some Kung Fu moves I can do in the confidence of my house or amongst friends, but I really don't think I could recall them or even pull them off should I be assaulted IRL.Thoughts on this?

the last bit.......real world confidence most people over look! they think cause they train in a martial art they can go on the street and kick shit out people life right and centre but what you find nine times out of ten is your body freezes up and you react with your fist instinct be it run away,cover up or attack!

This is why sparring is so important....you begin to change those instincts and those fancy techniques you picked up in your training become second nature.....which can be a problem for anyone trying to learn a new martial art who has experience in a particular style

As for what art to do find out what's nearby and do that! every martial art has practicalities for the 'street' be it capoeria or combat sambo! In essence in don't matter what you do as along as you do something and train hard at it.

as for muay thai attracting neo-nazis i'm sorry but you comrade is talking bollocks! Neo-nazis maybe attracted to muay thai but they will also be attracted to silat,boxing, sambo anything in the same way 'lefties' are attracted to martial arts! You need to be sensible when you join a gym...if its coverd in neo-nazi imagery its proly gonny be full of neo-nazis if not got any that pish it will proly just be filled with people who love fighting!

Just for the record muay thai is fuckin brutal but don't let people fool you into thinking its the best striking art!

Muay Thai is the best striking art. What is better in your mind?

I can't really say there is one stirking art that's the best.....muay thai is brilliant and fuckin brutal but id argue its not the best and ive done it for years and still do train.......... But my argument is that no striking art is really any better than the other becuase without cross training your missing out on too many important skills. Muay thai sets you up for a good base to explore other striking arts but so does traditional western boxing and karate etc. Basically the best striking art is the one you first started with cause thats going to be the most natural to you and the one you'l end up using be it in mma or in the street! Do you get my argument?

Couple things ive noticed bout Muay Thai though is that....

1.The clinch despite being fuckin brutal can be escaped and countered but guess this more to do with your grappling skills

2. Far too reliant on far too few attacks.... i understand you can mix it up changing your angles, combos etc. but you look at other striking arts with their various other strikes... corkscrew jab found in western boxing, some of the kicks found in savate and taekwondo. I know some thai boxing schools teach you other punches and kicks but thats not common

3. Head movment is not as emphaisesd in Muay Thai as it is in western boxing which is quite shocking considering that you got knees and elbows flying at your head

4. I'd also argue the normal jab is also under emphaised in muay thai and i understand that the teep has replaced the jab for controlling a fight but still being aware of how to jab with a fist well is essential look at BJ Penn

guess you train muay thai what you think of those critiques? have you done any other striking arts?

if you look closely, okinawan karate is a striking art most of the time and there are some interesting techiniques that I don't even know the names of to replace traditional or western techniques with less effort and less risk of being countered

@ Harry:

the only point I agree with you on is the third. that's a good point but it has a easy remedy-- move yo head.

i think you are being rash with your other criticisms. muay thai is the called the "art of eight limbs" because it is one of the few martial arts that have always included knees, elbows, and headbutts (although illegal in competition). in fact, many modern practical styles of both japanese and chinese tradition (sanda/sanshou and karate) have begun to incorporate the muay thai knee.

muay thai, from the beginning, has not included much fluff. it has always been a devastating form. the ancient ancestor of muay thai called boran is a little more-- ceremonial (like Karate and TKD)-- but is much more practical and destructive.

you are also somewhat correct about the clinch-- it is only as effective as the grappler who is implementing it. personally, i throw the shit outta guys when i'm thai boxing. because of my judo background, and also due to the typical thai fighters center of balance when utilizing the clinching, its easy to sweep or even hip throw from the clinch.

also-- so many styles are clashing with each other right now because of MMA's growing popularity.

in Thailand, and in the world of high level competitive kickboxing, jabbing and head movement are certainly now being incorporated into Muay Thai. fighters like Ramon Dekkers, Ernesto Hoost, and all the K-1 guys proved to the Thais that a good set of fists is irreplaceable.

one more thing...Machida v. Rua. excellent example of advanced Karate vs. mma-oriented Muay Thai. this first gif's a perfect example of what i'm talking about (the meshing of styles). Machida throws a beautiful straight knee (muay thai), while Shogun throws a nice right hook (western boxing)...

@intifada i take what your saying being a bit rash..... new guy at the gym is a bit Muay thai mad...... guy has done a couple classes and thinks he can come and try and school everyone cause his amazing at striking. I think I might have taken some of my fustration out here!

Muay Thai is a brilliant art and i am being over critical. But I totally agree about the meshing of styles....in fact thats my argument. The best striking art is a meshing of styles that is uniqe to each individual fighter. So for the guy who asked the original question....find a gym that teaches you something and stick with that for a few years! After that start cross train in anything and enjoy ya self!

@intifada is Boran kinda like Penkak Silat than? A little art but brutal and pracitical once you get past the arty bit and feeling a bit foolish.

harry....hahaha its all good brother meant nothing personal by anything I said....you made some good points i guess i was just in a mood.

anyways

muay boran is like what you see being used in the Tony Jaa movies. like "flying elephant muay thai" or whatever.

it incorporates weapons and is what the thais used to fight the burmese during the millions of little wars theyve had since the 16 century

Learn to grapple, or find yourself mounted and G & P'ed out every time.

At the very least practice some defense against takedowns, i.e. learn to sprawl.