Don't know what to start with.

[Fimbulvinter]

I'm 18, and 161cm/5'4 tall.

I haven't trained in any martial arts the last 10 years(I was forced to quit then) but the passion for it never ended. And I finally am able to start again.

Out of what I have a little attraction to, my city offers:
ITF Taekwondo.
Taijichuan.
Judo.
Jujutsu.
Kali.
Krav maga.


The rest which I don't feel attracted to is: Shotokan karate, MMA, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Wrestling, Muay thai, and some more..

I have been adviced before to start with taekwondo to get the basics with flexibility, balance, etc. before I find something else. But the person I asked practice taekwondo, so I rather hear more voices before I decide.

What I want from the martial art? Health, being practical, control of the body, cultural background for it.

So, any inputs?
Thank you.

 

[jarrod]

i primarily practice judo & jujitsu, so clearly those are the best styles.

really though, just visit the schools & see which one you like best. pretty much any style will give you the benefits you are after, so try find a school that you like where you get along well with the people & respond to the instructor's teaching style.

good luck!

jf

 

[bluekey88]

Forget about style...what you want is a good school. Go to each of the schools you listed. Watch some classes. Many schools have intorductory sessions For free or low cost where you can participate. When you find a school that fits, you'll know it.

ANy art taught well will give you a good grounding in the basics. That's not a style thing. More improtant is your fit with the instructor and other students and how the training feels to you.

Peace,
Erik

 

[Nebuchadnezzar]

...I have been adviced before to start with taekwondo to get the basics with flexibility, balance, etc. before I find something else. But the person I asked practice taekwondo, so I rather hear more voices before I decide.

What I want from the martial art? Health, being practical, control of the body, cultural background for it.

So, any inputs?
Thank you.

Taekwondo will not give you anything that the others can't. Most of those that you are interested in and so that you aren't interested in (at this time) will give you what Taekwondo can't.

 

[AMP-RYU]

Start with tae kwon do, it will get you the basics and help you envolve in your Martial Training! Tae Kwon Do is known for its high kicks which will give you amazing flexibility that will help in other martial arts! Not saying others won't but hey im a TKD man. Actually my style is based on Tkd but includes Karate, jujitsu, several chinese arts, and several more but its built on a tkd base! The reason why I would personally start with TKD!

 

[CDKJudoka]

I have to agree with bluekey on this one. Going to any martial arts school will give you what you are looking for, but finding the right dojo/dojang is key. I would try out all the ones that interest you, and see which suits you best.

Any reason why Shotokan isn't in you choices? It is basically the same as TKD as in what it will teach for the basics.

 

[SteffenBerg]

Here are some general guidelines of what I recommend when people ask me this question...

1. First you need to identify the schools that are available in your area. Then find the ones that are located within tolerable distance from your home / office / school.

2. Go watch classes at each of the schools that appeal to you and talk to both instructors and students. I'd even go to the ones that don't appeal to you at the moment (you may change your mind)

3. Identify a couple of the schools / arts that resonated with you based on observation.

4. Go watch classes again - preferably a different class, i.e. an intermediate or an advanced class if you saw the beginner's class or vice versa.

5. Pay close attention to the apparent skill level of students and how the teacher and students interact with each other.

6. You can now begin to whittle down and choose a school based on atmosphere, attitude to training, skill level of students etc.

Just remember that if you stick with martial arts you're going to be spending a lot of time with these people, so training at a place that is "comfortable" is going to be important (particularly if it's your first martial art). I've seen too many people get a sour taste of martial arts because they chose their school based on location or price...

Also, don't base your choices on preconceived notions in terms of what you think you can or can't do... or what an art has or doesn't have...

Just my 2 cents...

Steffen

 

[GBlues]

I'm 18, and 161cm/5'4 tall.

I haven't trained in any martial arts the last 10 years(I was forced to quit then) but the passion for it never ended. And I finally am able to start again.

Out of what I have a little attraction to, my city offers:
ITF Taekwondo.
Taijichuan.
Judo.
Jujutsu.
Kali.
Krav maga.


The rest which I don't feel attracted to is: Shotokan karate, MMA, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Wrestling, Muay thai, and some more..

I have been adviced before to start with taekwondo to get the basics with flexibility, balance, etc. before I find something else. But the person I asked practice taekwondo, so I rather hear more voices before I decide.

What I want from the martial art? Health, being practical, control of the body, cultural background for it.

So, any inputs?
Thank you.

Well, I'm 5'3" and may have some different advice. Being small your going to find that no matter what you take, it's going to be beneficial first of all. As far as Taekwondo goes for your first art, that is a personal choice, but beyond basics being smaller your going to be naturally quicker than the average joe, so taekwondo is going to give you lightning fast kicks. Just from the practice, they've got a plathora of kicks. Great art for staying back at a long range, ( my opinion). On the down side for me if you watch any taekwondo tournaments, you'll notice right away that their hands are down at there sides, not much defense going on. They seem to be waiting for that giant flying roundhouse kick, that's going to take the guys head off. That's what I've noticed about those guys. Personally. Also they've got alot of power in those kicks too.

Now, Taijichuan, I assume is the same as Tai Chi, haven't had much experience in the art. However my understanding is it takes along time to be effective in combat, but once you are your devastating. If time is a factor as far as immediate use goes, it may not be your first choice, but may be later. It's very good for many other things beyond just combat effectiveness, health etc...

Judo I don't know too much about. Seems to me from what I've read when I was a kid, it was created more for sport, to get the japanese children more into an after school curriclulum. Kind of a watered down jujutsu if you will. Still very effective, it will give you the ability to take your oponents balance and drop him on his head, among other things. Good art.

Jujutsu obviously will give you the ground game. However, some styles also have a pretty good stand up game from what I understand. So that may be something else to consider. Jujutsu is the art that the samurai used, for combat. Very effective and has been used for well over a thousand years for that purpose.

Kali is the art that they chose to depict in the movie the Borne Identity and the two sequels. My understanding is it's kind of alot like the Philipino version of Wing Chun. Alot of traps, and destructiveness going on in that art. You will here depending on who you talk to that kali has better traps than wing chun, and vice versa, but still seems to be a pretty solid art to me. Very good for stand up fighting, not very many people fight inside trapping range to my understanding. However, I think that, that may be changing as more and more people go from one art to the other, and incorporate different aspects of various arts into there own style of doing things.

Krav Maga is an Israeli art. They have been doing it for a very long time. It's battle tested, reality style training. The Israelis have been at war or the verge of war for as long as anybody can remember, it's what they use, and I would imagine there is a reason for it. You can find clips of it at the history channels website, under human weapon. OR maybe it's the discovery channel. I forget. Also I'm pretty sure most of the arts that you have mentioned you can find there, I know kali is one that they did, judo is, not sure if they did one jujutsu yet or not. Actually they did do an episode on brazilian jujutsu, they've done so many you know.

Anyways, for a small guy with what your interested in like everybody says, I would check out all of the schools and find one that has the environment that your looking for. I know that where I attend I felt at home immediately. Everybody was very friendly, and welcomed me like they knew me my whole life. Just a great family atmosphere. As far as style goes, hmm....If I personally had to choose just base on style from the list you gave I would choose between krav maga or kali. Just personally I think they would give me for my size more of what I need. That's me though, you may find that they aren't what your interested in once you check them out. But check them out. Don't just go and sign up, to the first one. And distance is a consideration, but the bottom line is if it takes you an extra twenty minutes to drive to the school you like, are comfortable in, and are getting what you want and need, then you drive the extra twenty minutes. My opinion.

I hope that this was helpful. Good luck with making a decision and let us know what you decide. I'm sure everyone here will be interested. Have fun, and enjoy it, cause really it's your money. So make a good decision for yourself.:asian:

 

[shihansmurf]

Hi.

Check out the schools in your area and find one with an instructor that has a teaching style that works with the way you learn. Make sure the atmosphere of the school is a place that you will be comfortable spending a bunch of your free time.Ensure that the dues and any contracts, if applicable, fit within your budget and you find them to be acceptable. Also find out if there are additional costs associated with training like uniform fees, association fees, testing fees, certificate fees, required tournaments, camps, or what not. Make sure you know this up front. Ensure that you are comfortable with how class times are offered and how those times fit your schedule. Beyond that all of the choices you have, system wise, are pretty well interchangeable, as far as I am concerned, with the following caveats.

Do you want to punch and kick and yell a lot? TKD.
Do you want to punch and kick and yell in a Tee shirt and pretend you're a commando? Krav Maga.
Do you want to flip people on their butts? Judo.
Do you want to wrestle around a lot? Jujutstu.
Do you ant to hack people up with knives? Kali.
Do you want to do Kung Fu slow, like David Carradine ? Tai Chi.

All of the above is firmly tounge in cheek, of course.

In all honesty, look for a school that you will be comfortable training in. No matter what system you choose if you dislike the school, the instructor, or the majority of your fellow students you will get very little out of the experience, or quite outright. I'm not saying look for a place that the training will be easy, look for a place where that training will be difficult, but the environment will be positive.

Best of luck
Mark

P.S. Out of the choice you offered, I gotta say I'm partial to Krav Maga. Its the whole pretending to be a commando thing. I loved the A-Team as a kid.:ultracool

 

[Hand Sword]

I'm 18, and 161cm/5'4 tall.

I haven't trained in any martial arts the last 10 years(I was forced to quit then) but the passion for it never ended. And I finally am able to start again.

Out of what I have a little attraction to, my city offers:
ITF Taekwondo.
Taijichuan.
Judo.
Jujutsu.
Kali.
Krav maga.

What I want from the martial art? Health, being practical, control of the body, cultural background for it.

So, any inputs?
Thank you.

Practical? Krav Maga fits that. Health, background and body control? Taijichuan fits that.

(I've never practiced either, so no bias on my part)

 

[CDKJudoka]

.Do you want to punch and kick and yell in a Tee shirt and pretend you're a commando? Krav Maga.

That is funny!! The worst thing is, I can now picture a Smurf running around in Camo, with a Galeel, punching, kicking and screaming, "I Pity the foo!"

 

[Fimbulwinter]

Out of what I have a little attraction to, my city offers:
ITF Taekwondo.
Taijichuan.
Judo.
Jujutsu.
Kali.
Krav maga.


The rest which I don't feel attracted to is: Shotokan karate, MMA, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Wrestling, Muay thai, and some more..

Bolded was McDojos.

Also, I got banned without spesific reason. So I just want to thank everyone for their helpful replies before they ban this one for ban evading.

 

[shihansmurf]

That is funny!! The worst thing is, I can now picture a Smurf running around in Camo, with a Galeel, punching, kicking and screaming, "I Pity the foo!"

The crazy thing is that people always assume that Hefty is the tough one.....

Mark

 

[hongkongfooey]

The crazy thing is that people always assume that Hefty is the tough one.....

Mark

Looking back, it is so obvious that Hefty was in the closet.

 

[shihansmurf]

LOL! I won't get into how Handy earned his name.....

Mark

 

[arnisador]

Thanks for providing enough details for us to have a chance to offer some applicable comments! Are you sure you're banned, or do you just need to contact an admin with more details (real name/locale or the like)?

Out of what I have a little attraction to, my city offers:
ITF Taekwondo.
Taijichuan.
Judo.
Jujutsu.
Kali.
Krav maga.

If the last three schools are unacceptable, the three remaining can all give you what you want. There's only three left, so visit each. For what you want, Judo stands out to me...if you enjoy it!

 

[Fimbulvinter]

I'm finally unbanned.

Can someone list pros and cons with ITF Taekwondo?

---

Also, I have some questions regarding muscle training.

What muscle regions should be trained in general martial arts?

I only know that there are different kinds of muscle fibre, so would some muscle training actually be disadvantageous?

I read in an article that someone being muscular should actually drop off the muscles to gain speed. Would that only matter in extreme cases of being muscular or? I’ve started weight lifting a bit, but now I’m worried that it was a mistake.

I can’t afford modern training equipment, but I own a forest. So can anyone recommend more “natural” ways of training the specific muscle areas?

 

[Drac]

You've gotten so much great advice it's hard to add to it...Visit these schools and observe the classes...Listen to the " little voice " within, it will tell you when you have found what you seek...

 

[jarrod]

I'm finally unbanned.

Can someone list pros and cons with ITF Taekwondo?

---

Also, I have some questions regarding muscle training.

What muscle regions should be trained in general martial arts?

I only know that there are different kinds of muscle fibre, so would some muscle training actually be disadvantageous?

I read in an article that someone being muscular should actually drop off the muscles to gain speed. Would that only matter in extreme cases of being muscular or? I’ve started weight lifting a bit, but now I’m worried that it was a mistake.

I can’t afford modern training equipment, but I own a forest. So can anyone recommend more “natural” ways of training the specific muscle areas?

for the moment you want to focus on core strength using compound lifts (meaning, lifts that hit more than one muscle group) rather than isolated. you will not lose speed so long as you pay attention to your flexability. speed comes from being relaxed, not from being small.

there are plenty of exercises you could do in a forest (wish i owned a forest!). rope climbing, log lifting, & sledgehammer swings come to mind.

pick up a small log & see how far you can carry it before you drop it. get a sledgehammer & smash a log or a rock with it. run some hill sprints. there's all kinds of things you can do.

jf

 

[CoryKS]

I can’t afford modern training equipment, but I own a forest. So can anyone recommend more “natural” ways of training the specific muscle areas?

Oh, I think we have someone around here who can give you some ideas.