Hey everybody, my name is Derek...I am new to the whole martial art scene and I could really use some advice! I am very eager and interested in learning some form of martial arts, but i dont know what direction to take. I really want to learn combat style art, as in striking and kicking..can anybody lead me in the right direction?...thanks for your time
Beginner Would Like Some Info
- Thread starter Suomi21
- Start date
bydand
Senior Master
Welcome to Martial Talk, Derek!
Take some time and search through the different forums and thread here because there is a tremendous amount of information. There are tons of very friendly and helpful people as well. About the best thing you can do to find which art is for you, is to try as many as are avaliable in your area. Go talk to the Instructors, sit in on as many classes as you can. The one that feels best, start on that journey first.
Also where are you located at? As many people that are on MT, maybe someone can recomend a school in your area.
Take some time and search through the different forums and thread here because there is a tremendous amount of information. There are tons of very friendly and helpful people as well. About the best thing you can do to find which art is for you, is to try as many as are avaliable in your area. Go talk to the Instructors, sit in on as many classes as you can. The one that feels best, start on that journey first.
Also where are you located at? As many people that are on MT, maybe someone can recomend a school in your area.
Greetings and Welcome to MT..As far as your question is concerned NO ONE can tell you what the best for you except YOU..Check out the Yellow pages and visit a few schools..If you like what you see take a few classes..DO NOT get roped into any long contracts..Eveyone here has their favorite discipline/style and what works for me will not work for someone else..Hope this was of some help..
Greetings, Derek, and welcome to MT---you've had good advice so far. The problem is that there are many different striking styles, and without knowing just what it is you're after more specifically, it's hard to know just what advice to give you. And that's probably a problem for you as well as us, because you may not know what what aspects of a striking art will appeal to you. Do you want an art with more emphasis on flowing movement, or a kind of hard angular way of sequencing moves? Kenpo and the Chinese MAs would be good for the first, with the karate-based arts, such as Shotokan or Tang Soo Do/Taekwondo prime candidates for the second. Hand techniques or foot techniques primarily, or an even mix? Weapons or not? There are just so many variable that might weigh decisively in your choice...
The best advice is what you've heard already: go out and look around. Try to go to at least one school in each of the following: some CMA, one of the Filipine MAs, some style of karate, some style of one of the striking Korean arts, and a kenpo style---bearing in mind that what you see at one school may well be different from what you see at another nominally teaching the `same' style. Don't be in a rush to make up your mind, just watch and take it all in and observe what seems to be appealing to you. Talk with the instructor about the orientation of the school---primarily sport oriented? Self-defense oriented? A bit of both?
And definitely, as you've been warned already, avoid any long-term financial commitments at the beginning. Any good school will let you start off on a provisional basis---maybe two weeks of classes to see how you like it---on a pay-as-you-go basis before requiring you to sign anything. Be very, very careful about signing even after you think you've made up your mind. Read the contract carefully. If there's anything in there that seems fishy, you can probably get some good advice about what's going on from the crowd here---there are a lot of very experienced instructors and school owners at MT whose expertise you can and should take full advantage of.
Welcome to Martial Talk! 
Greetings and welcome. Plenty of help to be had here.
