# Fighting style no.2



## lufc (Mar 16, 2007)

first of all i would like to thank everyone who posted comments on the other thread i have posted. there is some very valuable information there and i will use it to the best of my ability when deciding which style to learn. 

many of the comment were very un-biased and were great however, maybe i really meant to ask 'what is the most suitable and realistic fighting style that can most benefit and effective in a fight outside a controlled envonment eg. street?'

i do not mean to make this sound like 'i wanna be able to be the best street fighter?' because this is not my intension. my intensions is to be more aware and effective in a typical street fight to avoid me getting hurt and if neccessary using disabling them/ using a fighting style to 'beat' them away.

i know this sounds like a very broad question with many factors i have not mentioned like that of the intructor and distance from my house but with all this aside, which fighting style would be most effective and suitable in a real life fight? I have narrowed it down to BJJ, muay thai, boxing, Krav Maga however i may very well be niave and missed some very effective fighting styles.

if it would help:
I am 16 y/o
i am 5'6
Bench: 90kgs
I do alot of football (soccer)and swimming so my fitness is quite high
15.3 on the beep test (australian beep test that is)
i am coordinated, naturally sporty.


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## Kacey (Mar 16, 2007)

Not to sound like a broken record... but it really depends on the instructor.  You need to check individual schools, talk to students and instructors, and watch a few classes.  No matter how good a style is - if you don't mesh with the instructor, you won't stay, and the style won't matter.

You will get out of a martial art what you put into it - the harder you work, the more you'll learn and the better you'll get.  The particular style is less important than the instructor and the atmosphere of the class, and your own mindset when you train.

Being in good shape will help any art; an instructor who understands and teaches application will help with your desired application.  YOU NEED TO VISIT CLASSES AND SEE WHAT THE INSTRUCTOR AND CLASS ATMOSPHERE IS LIKE.  Nothing else is going to help you - we're not there, we don't know the instructors in your area - any style can have good, mediocre, and bad instructors - THE INSTRUCTOR IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE STYLE.  I don't know how else to say this - no matter what the style, you need to be comfortable with the instructor and the class, or you won't train, and the style WON'T MATTER.


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## green meanie (Mar 16, 2007)

My advice in response to your previous post still applies. Good luck. :asian:


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## still learning (Mar 16, 2007)

Hello, JUDO ...do not underestimate it's effectiveness...(NOT the sport side).

In alot of MMA's arts... those with JUDO experiences are more fear..because those with Judo backgrounds usually take the other person down first (an advantage here).

Anybody can kick and punch...but when grab by a JUDO expert...you will know what is it to go FLYING.....

I have very little experience in JUDO...and lots in Kempo....Judo is awesome! to learn....BUT training with the experts open my eyes of how effective it is................just my thoughts.....Aloha


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## zDom (Mar 17, 2007)

Or to put it another way, 

its like saying,

"I'm hungry! I want to go out and get the best meal! Should I eat at the Mexican restaurant, Italian restaurant, Thai restaurant, Chinese restaurant, sushi bar or steak house?"

Well... it kinda depends: what kind of food do you like? And it depends on your local restaurants: I love Italian food, but the local Italian restaurant is only so-so here, so when I go out to eat I usually hit the Mexican place, as it is great.

But if you live near The Hill in St. Louis, DEFINATELY go to an Italian place!

So, again: go watch a couple classes from all the schools you are considering and SEE for yourself what the best option is for YOU in that particular location!


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## theletch1 (Mar 17, 2007)

:wah: One more "what's the best style" thread and I'm gonna break down in tears.  There are just way too many variable to make ANY style best for the street (or non-controlled environment if you prefer).  As has already been said, the instructor, the individual martial artist, the environment etc will all make a huge difference.  If I said that kenpo was the best art and your personality didn't suit the art then you wouldn't be motivated to take the art to the level that it needs to be taken to make it the best FOR YOU.  Same with any other art.  It isn't the art that makes it the best it's how well the individual blends the art with the thousand personal variables that make it best.


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## tshadowchaser (Mar 17, 2007)

> which fighting style would be most effective and suitable in a real life fight


 
lets break down your question a little more.

are you talking about a one on one in a house or hallway?  
are you talking about a one on one in a club or parking lot or on the street where after it starts it may not be a one on one? 
are you talking about a gang warfar encounter where there are many combatants going at it all at once? 
are knives involved or sticks or just hands and feet?
are you on sand, concret, snow, ice, in the water?

Each may have an art that is better or worse for one reason or another. the possibilities of saying one art is best in all of the above is small and a person would have to be blind to all other arts to say so


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## blackxpress (Mar 17, 2007)

theletch1 said:


> :wah: One more "what's the best style" thread and I'm gonna break down in tears.


 
Amen, brother.  I avoid posting in these threads because I usually can't say anything that hasn't already been said ad nauseum (depends on the instructor, school, individual, etc.).  However, it occurs to me that "what's the best style?" is really the wrong question to ask.

Most people, when they are considering taking up an art, are worried about choosing one that will make them a better street fighter.  I had the same concern myself.  Then it dawned on me that I've only been in a couple of fights since I was a kid and one of those was my own stupid fault.  I've had some pretty dangerous jobs over the years (cab driver, bartender, night club owner, etc.).  There were times when MA skills might have come in handy but, for the most part, self defense was more cerebral than physical.  Bottom line, if you're really worried about self defense buy a gun and learn to use it.  It's a whole lot cheaper and easier.

Martial arts is more a way of life than it is a way of learning how to fight.  In my case, I started out in a Wado-ryu school that had a heavy emphasis on Jujitsu and self defense (more so than the typical Wado school).  Our school recently closed down and I was forced to take up a different style.  The only viable alternative was a small dojo that teaches traditional Okinawan Kenpo.  The instructor has been teaching 36 years and is a wonderful instructor.  I was apprehensive at first because I knew we wouldn't be training in Jujitsu and I was worried about losing the self defense component of my training that I had always considered so important.  We spend a lot of time working on form and technique.  Basics.  Our sensei is almost fanatical about perfect form and execution.  He's also fanatical about physical fitness and building core strength.  For him, MA is more about building us into better and stronger people than it is about building us into better fighters.  

Now, I realize my earlier fears about changing styles were unfounded.  I'm actually better off than I was before.  I'm 6'5" tall and weigh 220 pounds.  The likelyhood of someone wanting to start a fist fight with me is pretty slim.  If it does happen, I feel confident that my MA training will kick in and the aggressor will have had a very bad day.  But that's not why I train.  I train because I love it and because Kenpo has become an integral part of who I am as a person.  The longer I train, the stronger I become, not only physically but also mentally and spiritually.  

So then, the question is not "which style will make me a better fighter?"  The most important question to ask is "which school, regardless of style, will make me a stronger and more focused person?"

Just my $.02 FWIW.


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## Xue Sheng (Mar 17, 2007)

OK let me put it this way, I'm 6'1" much (MUCH) older then 16 and have not got a clue as to what I can bench. I do Taiji, Xingyi and Sanda all have advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation. 

And I have been at MA for longer than you have been alive. But in all honest I cannot answer the question you are asking. It is up to you and it is sometimes just trial and error to find what is best for you. 

You can spend days, weeks, months years researching and looking when all you really need to do is go start training one for a while and see how it feels. If it doesn't feel right or of you don't like it then try another. You are young enough and have time to do this. So just get out there and start. 

You can read, analyze, discuss and think about it from now till the end of time but I am fairly certain it is much better to get out there and train. 

BJJ
http://www.answers.com/topic/brazilian-jiu-jitsu
muay thai
http://www.answers.com/topic/muay-thai
boxing 
http://www.answers.com/topic/boxing
Krav Maga
http://www.answers.com/Krav Maga


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## still learning (Mar 18, 2007)

Hello, Try JUDO?  It is design for a smaller person to take down a bigger person.

Most martial arts are effective....you just have to train and train and train for the automatic response to any attack.

You will have to build your body and mind and spirit.... to a level above the rest.  It is not about the style or arts.

NOTE: NO one can be prepare for a false crack which give the attacker the advantages.

JUDO: is the basci for all arts, it prepares you how to fall,roll, and takedowns.  

Read: about Masahiko Kimura...was consider a JUDO GOD.  No one could beat him.  Train 9 hours a day and did 900 push-up each day too.

..............you make the art fit you (automatic responses)....Aloha


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## exile (Mar 18, 2007)

Danny, I just want to add a note to the very good, sensible posts that people have already sent in, to add a little extra emphasis that, for street application, what is crucial is not so much the form of the art itself but whether or not you _train_ your art for the street. And by that I mean, maximum realism. Whether it's a `softer' art like aikido or a very hard linear art focused largely on striking like any of the karate-based styles (Okinawan/Japanese karate, TKD/TSD, Ken/mpo, etc.), the trick is to learn how to apply the techs you learn in a training environment as close as possible to the situations you want to use your art to defend yourself in.

That means you need training partners who will launch attacks on you in unscripted ways using common acts of violence: swinging head punches, grab-and-punch sequences, knee attacks to the groin (possibly combined with simultaneous attacks to your head), head-butts... the lot. Partners who won't telegraph their moves, and will only perform them at reduced speed early on in the training, speeding up and throwing in variations as you work out the basic response techs. This kind of realistic combat training is used in certain karate schools in the UK, and is very effective, but there's a catch: you could very well get a bit shaken up during training. You have to be prepared for that. And `suiting up' in protective gear isn't necessarily a way out of this, because (i) you can still get hurt anyway (a hard blow to your head is going to send shock waves through your brain unless you're wearing so much protection that you can't see or move!) and (ii) you can't get _too_ insulated or you'll lose the ability to perform important techniques. Muchimi techs in karate (where eg the punching hand of your prior moves shifts quickly to become a gripping hand seting up an elbow strike with the other hand, which then moves to unbalance or secure the attacker) are virtually impossible if you're wearing any kind of serious gloves, so you and your training partner are best off practicing these realistic scenarios bare-handed. And so on.

My advice to you is therefore that you worry less about the style and much more about the way the instructors train you for street combat. A lot of schools don't. If you can find one that does, don't worry about the style itself; look at the quality of the instruction and all the other things people have urged you to pay attention to already. Keep reminding yourself that unless you train in earnest for the street, your MA training is very likely not going to be as effective as you want or need it to be in the actual event. People always say, you fight the way you train, and they keep saying it because it's _true_.


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## kidswarrior (Mar 18, 2007)

exile said:


> Danny, I just want to add ... a little extra emphasis that, for street application, what is crucial is not so much the form of the art itself but whether or not you _train_ your art for the street. And by that I mean, maximum realism....the trick is to learn how to apply the techs you learn in a training environment as close as possible to the situations you want to use your art to defend yourself in.
> 
> That means you need training partners who will launch attacks on you in unscripted ways using common acts of violence: Partners who won't telegraph their moves, and will only perform them at reduced speed early on in the training, speeding up and throwing in variations as you work out the basic response techs.... but there's a catch: you could very well get a bit shaken up during training. You have to be prepared for that.... so you and your training partner are best off practicing these realistic scenarios bare-handed. And so on.
> 
> My advice to you is therefore that you worry less about the style and much more about the way the instructors train you for street combat.


\

Exile's a scholar, and I'm just a teacher, so I've broken his very fine, extermely comprehensive post into manageable chunks for myself. Here they are, in case there is another mere blue-collar scholar like me out there. :ultracool

1. _*Train for the street*_. (doesn't mean tradition isn't important, nor that it should be thrown out--I enjoy it myself--just don't sacrifice the street component)

2. _*Have partners lauch unscripted, untelegraphed, 'simulated' (slowed down) attacks*_

3. _*Even at the slow pace,*_ with a friendly partner, _*you're going to feel it.*_ This is the reason for slowing it down--we get hurt from the unscripted attack/counter even working slowly.

A personal note: In Kung Fu San Soo, my instructor always called this 'practice', but in the wider art it's the san soo part of class. It's both the most fun and most painful part of the session (some of us need professional couselling, I know).


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## Shaderon (Mar 18, 2007)

*points upwards*

I'm not quoting them because it'll be too long but Exile and Kidswarrior have got to the essence of the point here.   

I can only add that whatever style you choose, if must suit you and you must enjoy doing it, if not, you won't learn as much as you would otherwise.  You can go to a class for a year and study something you don't really like or doesn't suit you, and then change to a style that suits you and learn more in a few weeks that you did in the previous style.

Good luck with your search.


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## Cirdan (Mar 19, 2007)

You know, somewhere along the line I started hating the word _effective_ when it is used to judge the martial arts. I much prefer the term _functional_. Does it work? In most cases it does, when applied the right way as taught by a good instructor. 

Danny, any of those four can be the best for you as can many others arts if you train to make it yours. Just steer clear of the McDojos and pick something you will enjoy doing.


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## kidswarrior (Mar 19, 2007)

Cirdan said:


> Does it work? In most cases it does, when applied the right way as taught by a good instructor.
> 
> Danny, any of those four can be the best for you as can many others arts if you train to make it yours. Just steer clear of the McDojos and pick something you will enjoy doing.



Good advice. :ultracool


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