Choosing the right martial art for me?

[drop bear]

So what are you argueing? If they teach self defence they teach self defence. What did I say?
Funny, I might have thought that addressed those concerns.

BTW, what style was I bashing?

You wrote this.

"The question you need to ask yourself is, "do I want to test my martial art in competition or do I want a more reality based style that is mainly suited to self defence?"

That is not a question you need to ask yourself the martial arts both do self defence. They claim it on the website.

So you are creating an issue here where none exists. Style bashing occurs where are saying that their claims are lacking.

Now I don't have an issue with a bit of style bash within reason. I think you have to do it to compare one style to another or to honestly critique the merits of anything.

But you say you don't do it. The look weird at people who do.

 

[drop bear]

And did you bother to open the tab on 'self defence'? It says nothing at all about self defence other than they teach it.

Good. That is that sorted then.

 

[K-man]

You wrote this.

"The question you need to ask yourself is, "do I want to test my martial art in competition or do I want a more reality based style that is mainly suited to self defence?"

That is not a question you need to ask yourself the martial arts both do self defence. They claim it on the website.

So you are creating an issue here where none exists. Style bashing occurs where are saying that their claims are lacking.

Now I don't have an issue with a bit of style bash within reason. I think you have to do it to compare one style to another or to honestly critique the merits of anything.

But you say you don't do it. The look weird at people who do.

Oh boy. You should read some of Hanzou's posts.

Claiming something on a website and delivering the goods are not always the same.

 

[drop bear]

Oh boy. You should read some of Hanzou's posts.

Claiming something on a website and delivering the goods are not always the same.

I agree.

 

[drop bear]

Oh boy. You should read some of Hanzou's posts.

Claiming something on a website and delivering the goods are not always the same.

I wonder if that has been hanzou,s point all along?

 

[K-man]

I wonder if that has been hanzou,s point all along?

No. Hanzou has never posted a website to illustrate why he considered his karate training a waste of time. All he has ever posted, when bagging, are videos of third rate performers as representing the whole art. Now you posted the link to the Kyokushin website. I went in there and opened the link to self defence and there is nothing about self defence in there. What was your point?

 

[drop bear]

No. Hanzou has never posted a website to illustrate why he considered his karate training a waste of time. All he has ever posted, when bagging, are videos of third rate performers as representing the whole art. Now you posted the link to the Kyokushin website. I went in there and opened the link to self defence and there is nothing about self defence in there. What was your point?

That they claim self defence. As it is right under their karate banner. I am going to suggest that it is a primary focus.

So self defence is a primary focus of that karate.

Now they also do sport. So you don't have to choose between sport and a martial art that focuses on self defence.

Unless the martial art itself fails to deliver in execution what it is claiming on the box. Now there are martial arts that do this. And hanzou is pretty vocal on his opinion as to what they are and why.

But if the argument is that a martial art may fail to deliver on its claims. Then a claim that it focuses on self defence is not really worth the paper it is written on.

And that focuses on self defence becomes a bit of a false distinction.

From here we need to look at a martial art less on what it claims to focus on and more on what it delivers.

And that you and hanzou can be like peas in a pod sometimes.

 

[Hanzou]

Now see, here I am saying something good about Karate, and people still think I'm style bashing.

I just can't win.

However, since this was brought up, let me just say that Kyokushin is probably the best karate to take for self defense, with Ashihara and Enshin also being good choices. I say this because those styles put more emphasis on fighting than other crap that can hog up your dojo time. Kyokushin gives you a good mix of fighting and kata, while the other styles put a stronger emphasis on fighting than kata. Either way, I'd pick those three over any other style of karate being practiced today.

Now if you're not set on karate, there's some other great choices that I would recommend.

 

[MaxRob]

Hi Welcome,
Self defense is also about awareness and avoidance, these are very important aspects.
Street fights can be very situational, requiring different tequniques each and every time.
Kajukembo and Krav Maga I found very useful.
I would also recommend you look up these and the teachings of Adriano D. Emperado on self defense.
All the best

 

[Yassine262626]

Now if you're not set on karate, there's some other great choices that I would recommend.

Yes please!

 

[drop bear]

Yes please!

Do you want to punch and kick. Or grapple and ground fight?

 

[Yassine262626]

Do you want to punch and kick. Or grapple and ground fight?

Punch and kick would be great!

 

[Kan Ryu]

Yassine262626:
You are very welcome and good luck Sir!

 

[drop bear]

Punch and kick would be great!

What do you have in your area by the way?

There may be something interesting that sits well but is outside the norm a bit.

 

[drop bear]

For example kuyokashin is good but there are other karate schools that bang.

There is even the odd tkd school that produces fighters.

 

[Yassine262626]

What do you have in your area by the way?

There may be something interesting that sits well but is outside the norm a bit.

I live Tunisia and when it comes to martial arts there aren't alot of choices.. here's whats in my area: Karate,TKD,Judo,Boxing,Kickboxing and Aikido

 

[drop bear]

I live Tunisia and when it comes to martial arts there aren't alot of choices.. here's whats in my area: Karate,TKD,Judo,Boxing,Kickboxing and Aikido

Ok. Of that you have the striking which is karate,tkd,boxing and kickboxing.

Now boxing and kickboxing are worth a look but are not the cultural immersion you are looking for.

So it is karate or tkd. Both can be either good or iffy. Karate a little less so because their sport rule set is a bit more applicable.

Now I generally look at the sport ones because without having an idea of what is functional and what isn't i already have a gauge to judge them.

See if the club wins competitions it can at least use its stuff against somebody somewhere. Now you can further test this by either how hard these competitions are or how many people compete.

So if the karate or even the tkd is competing in some national full contact limited rules thing. Then it can objectively be considered effective if just in that environment. If they compete in cross style stuff then you know it is effective in a range of environments.

You will know that at the very least they can punch and kick and avoid being punched and kicked.

Focused on self defence is trickier and you have to know what you are looking for. There are some good schools out there. But there is no consequence if the school is garbage either.

 

[drop bear]

Otherwise the other thing to look out for is the environment. The school can be technically effective and just be a crappy place to train. Either being people you don't get along with or a teaching style that you hate. All the way up to running like a scam or a cult.

 

[Yassine262626]

Oh yeah and another thing, is Karate good for losing some weight and keeping it off?

 

[Spinedoc]

Any martial art if done well will help you lose weight, tone, and keep weight off if you do it properly. That being said, if you don't practice hard, probably not as much, but that goes for ANY physical activity.

I was just at an Aikido seminar for 2 days. 6 hours, both days. I burned close to 10,000 calories by my crude calculations and lost 3 pounds over the weekend. I was drenched in sweat, and my heart rate was often at 140-150. BUT...and here's the but...I was practicing hard. Several other students and I were going full bore, non stop...get thrown immediately back up and attacking again, get thrown and right back up......others went slower.

The point is...part of that will be up to you.