# Looking at a few diffrent Martial Arts



## Naked_Snake (Jan 11, 2007)

Now i am someone who needs to kind exactly what they strive for, but also someone who needs to find what they are going to be the best at.

I have been looking at Shaolin Kung Fu at this place

http://www.notkarate.com/

Aikido at this place

http://www.suffolkaikikai.com/


I am mainly looking for something that could quikly and safely get me out of a fight and insure that the person who decides to throw the first punch dosent just retaliate and hit me while i'm not looking. I am not the kind of person to get into many fights seeing as my temperment reraly lets me see a confrontation as serious and if anything i and up regretting not fighting back, cause then i just get lip from the other students in my school. I am also not looking for a quick martial art that would take me less then a year to attain credability within said art but i want something that is very potent in a verbal disagreement turned into a fist-fight.


----------



## still learning (Jan 11, 2007)

Hello, Have you check out JUDO?   Many people underestimate it's effect.

It is really more than just throwing or learning how to fall!  It can be very effective on the streets.

This is a great art for ALL children and adults! ...just my thoughts....Aloha


----------



## Steel Tiger (Jan 11, 2007)

Shaolin Kung Fu is a very good art for developing the basics beyond that I do not know very much about it.


----------



## Naked_Snake (Jan 11, 2007)

I am not very interested in Judo simply because it dosent fit me.


----------



## exile (Jan 11, 2007)

Naked_Snake said:


> I am mainly looking for something that could quikly and safely get me out of a fight and insure that the person who decides to throw the first punch dosent just retaliate and hit me while i'm not looking...I am also not looking for a quick martial art that would take me less then a year to attain credability within said art but i want something that is very potent in a verbal disagreement turned into a fist-fight.



NS, any of the following would serve your purpose: the karate-based arts (Goju ryu, Shotokan, Wado ryu, Shito ryu, Kyokushin ... (Okinawa/Japan), Tang Soo Do/Taekwondo (Korean)); various related throwing/grappling arts with some striking components (Jiujutsu/Aikido (Japan), Hapkido/Kuk Sul Won (Korea); innumerable varieity of hard and soft Chinese styles; Kenpo/Kempo; a number of Filipine/Indonesian arts (Silat, Arnis, ...) and a million others. Every one of these arts was devised for self-defense purposes under everyday life conditions of considerable danger and occasionally horrible brutality. They exist to this day because they were effective under these severe conditions in the days of their creation.

The problem you face is not the choice of an art, it's the challenge of finding a school which puts a primary emphasis on realistic close-quarters combat _applications_ of that art. Karate and Taekwondo are often taught with a sport orientation; it's not that common to find a school which not only teaches the self-defense `core curriculum' of these arts, but _trains_ that curriculum to comparatively realistic `street' standards. Finding a school which is unequivocally committed to that kind of training is the most important factor in your choice. Whichever art it isand I've already said, the technical content of any of these arts is loaded with effective self-defense principles and tacticsthe real question is, will they teach you to use it in the way you want? 

You have to visit a number of schools and talk very directly and candidly about your interests and objectives, along the lines of your post here. A lot of schools, if they're being at all honest, will let you know early on that they don't go that way. For those where they say they do, visit a few times and see if your intuition tells you that this is indeed what you want, what you require for your own preferred use of the art. There's no other way to do it.


----------



## Kacey (Jan 11, 2007)

I agree with Exile.  In addition, there's a very similar discussion going on here, as well as others that have occurred on the site.  Look around and find the art that fits you best, in a school where you mesh well with the instructor and students, and go from there.

Good luck!


----------



## TaiChiTJ (Jan 11, 2007)

```
The problem you face is not the choice of an art, it's the challenge of finding a school which puts a primary emphasis on realistic close-quarters combat applications of that art.
```
 
Well said.


----------



## shrek (Feb 2, 2007)

Naked_Snake said:


> Now i am someone who needs to kind exactly what they strive for, but also someone who needs to find what they are going to be the best at.
> 
> I have been looking at Shaolin Kung Fu at this place
> 
> ...


 
You just described what Aikido does better than most, and because many basic techniques are trapping moves which require the attacker to strike first to implement them.  You just intercept the attack and convert their motion into one that disables them.

Hope that helps.


----------

