# Best for me?



## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

Greetings! I have yet to make a proper introduction on this forum, just signed up today, but for some reason I figured this would be best. 

I am new to pretty much any sort of physical activity. Not that I am completely inactive, but I'm generally the lazy type. I do a decent amount of walking and I do ride my bike a lot, but I'm very much not in shape. Today it sort of hit me that enough is enough, and would like to figure the best path for me. However, I am not sure where to start.

With what little info I can give, perhaps the experts here can give some good advice.

I am a 19 year old male, but I stand at a mere 5'1". I am roughly 125lbs. Pretty damn small. I fit under the LGBT community, so personal safety and ability to defend myself is a bit of a concern. Not everybody is receptive to the idea of transgender people. I have been on Testosterone for a little over two years, so theoretically speaking, I should be able to gain muscle mass if I started working out. 

Anyways, my main goals are to gain muscle mass and generally pick up a more defensive art. I am fine with offensive arts as well, but likely not my first choice. Given my size, assuming it is a factor, which forms of martial arts might be best for me?

Thanks!


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## Cirdan (Jun 29, 2015)

Hi Arkjoww, welcome to MT 

The usual awnser to your question is to check out what is in your area, ask if you can try out a class for free (most clubs will let you do this) or sit down and watch how they train. What is taught varies a lot depending on the instructor`s background and focus, not just the art.

I have some background in Wado Ryu Karate, Ju Jitsu, Kali and Kenjutsu. I`d say any of the three first ones should suit your needs just fine, but again check what is available close to you then make a choise. Good luck.


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## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

Thanks for the response. 

I did take Kendo for a while back before I realized it was more competitive than a practical defense skill. I feel picking up a martial art that uses weaponry just isn't for me. Unless it includes disarming. I don't know how similar Kenjutsu is to Kendo outside of being in the same general family. 

Ju Jitsu (particularly Brazilian) has been of interest in the past.


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## Dirty Dog (Jun 29, 2015)

Arkjoww said:


> Thanks for the response.
> 
> I did take Kendo for a while back before I realized it was more competitive than a practical defense skill. I feel picking up a martial art that uses weaponry just isn't for me. Unless it includes disarming. I don't know how similar Kenjutsu is to Kendo outside of being in the same general family.
> 
> Ju Jitsu (particularly Brazilian) has been of interest in the past.



You studied a sword art thinking it was a practical defense skill?
Lots of people walking around carrying a katana where you live? 
Must be an interesting place...


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## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

Dirty Dog said:


> You studied a sword art thinking it was a practical defense skill?
> Lots of people walking around carrying a katana where you live?


Ha! No, of course not. At the time I was just looking into doing something physical. I knew it wasn't practical, but I hadn't really considered that perhaps I might actually be in a dangerous situation someday. 

Most I got out of Kendo was useful stretches.


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## Tez3 (Jun 29, 2015)

Arkjoww said:


> Ha! No, of course not. At the time I was just looking into doing something physical. I knew it wasn't practical, but I hadn't really considered that perhaps I might actually be in a dangerous situation someday.
> 
> Most I got out of Kendo was useful stretches.




Welcome to MT! 

Swords aren't practical but they are so gorgeous lol. Sorry, I really do like swords 

Don't worry about your height, to quote a cliché it's not the size of the dog in a fight but the size of the fight in the dog that counts....


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## Buka (Jun 29, 2015)

Welcome to MT, bro.


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## Langenschwert (Jun 29, 2015)

For you, boxing to start.

If you're small, you're going to need to learn to maximize the amount of damage you do, and minimize the damage you take. Small people need to learn to move A LOT, and boxing will teach you great footwork. Get outta Dodge and all that. It will also get you in great shape. Just remember that punching without boxing gloves is different than punching with them.

After that, a grappling art, either wrestling, BJJ or Judo. If you're small, there's a good chance you're going to get clinched to your detriment and end up on the ground. Gotta learn how to deal with that.

Also, Martial Arts and Self-defence aren't the same thing. No amount of boxing or BJJ is going to save you from a knife attack. Which comes to weapons: arts that don't train weapons generally don't have very good weapon defence. If you want to learn weapon defence, then you need to train in a place that does weapons well. Any weapon defence is a last-ditch kind of thing. The average black belt in whatever martial art does not have the skill set to deal with a determined knife attack. If you're attacked by someone with a knife, you're very likely going to get cut and stabbed no matter how good you are, and end up in the hospital for an extended stay, assuming you survive at all.


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## Tez3 (Jun 29, 2015)

Some of the best boxers I know are jockeys, they tend to be stroppy because they don't eat enough so they are often scrapping.


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## dcj0524 (Jun 29, 2015)

Hi!  Welcome to the forums even though I'm just about as new (joined 2 weeks ago). So essentially your goal is to put on muscle,  get in shape and learn how to defend yourself. As said before self defense starts before the martial art part,  see if you can attend self defense seminars at a local dojo, general awareness is your most powerful tool. 

what martial art you should do is all based on where you live. If there's any Shaolin Kempo karate schools they're good for your needs,  from my experience they won't buff you up but you're cardio will improve and you might get toned.  Generally those schools teach actual self defense, striking (Karate and kung-fu) ,Jujutsu (joint-locks,grabs and grappling) and weapons training all in one package. Just type martial arts in [X] City in google and find out what's available and get back to us. 
Naturally I'm biased as we all are so dedicate some time to just trying some of the schools that are near you. 

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk


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## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

These are all of awesome help. Thank you all! 

Boxing would be of particular interest. My city isn't too dreadfully large, so any time I've gone to ye olde Google, I don't seem to find a motherload of results. But perhaps with more specific things to look up, I'll have better luck.


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## dcj0524 (Jun 29, 2015)

Best of luck to ya!

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Tapatalk


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## Tez3 (Jun 29, 2015)

Arkjoww said:


> These are all of awesome help. Thank you all!
> 
> Boxing would be of particular interest. My city isn't too dreadfully large, so any time I've gone to ye olde Google, I don't seem to find a motherload of results. But perhaps with more specific things to look up, I'll have better luck.



Anyone help?


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## Steve (Jun 29, 2015)

I'll let the others tell you what the best style is.  Whatever gets you excited to train and where you'll keep going is the right one, as far as I'm concerned.

If you decide BJJ or MMA are possibilities, I know a couple of excellent BJJ/MMA schools in Portland.  Just let me know.


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## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

Steve said:


> I'll let the others tell you what the best style is.  Whatever gets you excited to train and where you'll keep going is the right one, as far as I'm concerned.
> 
> If you decide BJJ or MMA are possibilities, I know a couple of excellent BJJ/MMA schools in Portland.  Just let me know.


Yes, definitely! BJJ, MMA, and Muay Thai have appealed to me before. I'll gladly take some location names, if you don't mind.


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## Tez3 (Jun 29, 2015)

Arkjoww said:


> Yes, definitely! BJJ, MMA, and Muay Thai have appealed to me before. I'll gladly take some location names, if you don't mind.



I'm sure someone will have some names etc, if you were in the UK it would be no problem I could point you in lots of directions, but  people are good here, there will be somewhere.


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## WaterGal (Jun 29, 2015)

If your goal is to gain muscle mass, going a gym and lifting weights will help you more than taking a martial arts class.  As far as martial arts goes, while of course there are some styles that are more practical for self-defense than others.... I think you should probably just check out some different local places and see what place has good training and is welcoming.  Martial arts schools are like any other place, and you'll encounter prejudice at some.  I think it'd be better to go to a wushu school that's welcoming and you love going to than a krav maga place that makes you feel unwelcome, even if it's going to take you 3x as long to learn how to defend yourself at the former.


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## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

WaterGal said:


> If your goal is to gain muscle mass, going a gym and lifting weights will help you more than taking a martial arts class.  As far as martial arts goes, while of course there are some styles that are more practical for self-defense than others.... I think you should probably just check out some different local places and see what place has good training and is welcoming.  Martial arts schools are like any other place, and you'll encounter prejudice at some.  I think it'd be better to go to a wushu school that's welcoming and you love going to than a krav maga place that makes you feel unwelcome, even if it's going to take you 3x as long to learn how to defend yourself at the former.


My main two goals overall are split pretty 50/50 between gaining muscle and actually picking up a form of martial arts or defense. It's just which one suits me best is the problem.
Edit: I don't know much about Krav Maga, but there is a place in walking distance from me. Is there a general stigma about it's practitioners being unwelcoming/unfriendly?


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## WaterGal (Jun 29, 2015)

Arkjoww said:


> My main two goals overall are split pretty 50/50 between gaining muscle and actually picking up a form of martial arts or defense. It's just which one suits me best is the problem.
> Edit: I don't know much about Krav Maga, but there is a place in walking distance from me. Is there a general stigma about it's practitioners being unwelcoming/unfriendly?



I picked Krav and Wushu just as examples, but MMA/Krav-type places do _sometimes _have a reputation for being.... "bro-y", if you know what I mean?  I'm not sure if that would be a problem for you or not, though, or if that's even the case at that particular place.


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## Arkjoww (Jun 29, 2015)

Interesting. I believe it's a commonly used art in the military, so if that sort of "gung ho" masculine attitude carries over, I suppose I could see the connection. I'm fine with that sort of a mentality just as long as it's in a reasonable team player/sportsmanship-like way.

But hey, if it's really an issue in some of these places, that's what Yelp reviews are for.


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## Steve (Jun 29, 2015)

Arkjoww said:


> Yes, definitely! BJJ, MMA, and Muay Thai have appealed to me before. I'll gladly take some location names, if you don't mind.


Five rings is excellent.   Ribiero/lovato jr affiliate.   Very, very good.  

Impact Jiu jitsu is also really good.   

There are a ton, that I'm sure are excellent  but these two I can personally recommend.


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## crazydiamond (Jun 29, 2015)

My two cents

1) If your taking Testosterone, get your level up nice and solid, within male ranges, but above average, like 600's.
2) Follow a weightlifting program called 5x5 or 5x5 stronglifts.  Use protein powder (I like stuff from Optimum Nutrition - Costco or Amazon).
3) Because I study it - I like KALI/FMA/JKD.  A quick Google search yielded this school in Portland which covers this and BJJ       Home Page


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