Looking to start martial arts

[billc]

Go into the filipino martial arts. You will learn Panatukan, empty hand, and Dumog, wrestiling, both from a very free form methodology, and most important for self-defense, weapons training of the best kind. If self-defence is your goal, the weapon based filipino arts will make a lot of sense for you. I don't know how old you are, but if you are an adult, most life changing, or life ending encounters will involve being attacked by someone with a weapon, or a group of unarmed attackers. The focus on weapons training improves your empty hand applications incredibly. Once you train with the stick, sword or knife of the filipine traditions, which you will do from your first class, anyone punching or kicking at you will be at a disadvantage. the weapons drills increase your ability to see strikes coming in, because weapons are a great deal faster than the fastest empty hand techniques. The weapons training increases your timing because they give the opponent an advantage, so when someone comes at you without a weapon, it will seem like it takes forever for them to complete the action. A lot of empty hand arts do not deal as effectively with weapons as the fillipino arts do. I have years of experience in Kenpo,and have dabled in a lot of the other arts, judo, aikido, shotokan, sport karate, hapkido, iaido, western fencing and some others. I have yet to find any that are as familiar with weapons, that are the most commonly encountered in the real world. Just my humble opinion and my humble suggestions.

 

[Rayban]

Most of your decision will be geared around what sort of rapport you can establish with an instructor and the other students.

For example, you may absolutely love Aikido, but if you don't like the way it is taught locally, you may end up disenchanted with the art.

Go to various schools and ask them lots of questions. You will want to come back to the one(s) you like.

Having a good idea as to which side of the fence you are on in terms of classical MA or self defense will help a lot too.

I wish you well

 

[Aiki Lee]

With regard to grappling, most traditional Okinawan karate does not do much grappling that I'm aware of. That is the realm of jujitsu and judo if you're talking Japanese arts.

I read a book a while back called "Tui-te" or soemthing like that, and it was about a karateka looking at the bunkai of his kata and experimenting with the possibility that certain movements that could be interpretend as parrying or striking could also be joint locks or throws if looked at from a different angle. So I actually wonder if this kind of stuff was in there originally and maybe it was dropped over time for some reason?

EDIT: Ah, heres a link to amazon with the book i was talking about. http://www.amazon.com/Okinawan-Karate-Secret-Art-Tuite/dp/0965008584

 

[Ken Morgan]

Iaido.
Everyone needs to learn iaido. It makes all the others obsolute

 

[Langenschwert]

Any art can be great with the right teacher. Wrestling, Judo, Boxing, MMA and all that are good bets for solid training regardless of location.

I agree with the FMA for a lot of modern weapons. I did Arnis de Mano as a kid and really enjoyed it.

Iaido/Batto etc is really neat. I love my JSA studies.

European swordsmanship is really fun. In a good school you'll get fair degree of unarmed and other weapons as well. The knife/dagger defences are second to none if the interpretations of the source material are solid. Ok, I'm a German longsword teacher, so I'm biased. Blatant plug and all that. So take that for what it's worth.

But of all of that means nothing if you don't vibe well with the instructor, or if that art itself isn't what you're after.

Best regards,

-Mark

 

[IZDemon]

There is no Boxing gym located in yoru area? Boxing is often overlooked by people who are searching for a place to train martial arts. It has been my experience that boxing is a very effective form of self defense and it will get you in top shape.

 

[Cirdan]

I read a book a while back called "Tui-te" or soemthing like that, and it was about a karateka looking at the bunkai of his kata and experimenting with the possibility that certain movements that could be interpretend as parrying or striking could also be joint locks or throws if looked at from a different angle. So I actually wonder if this kind of stuff was in there originally and maybe it was dropped over time for some reason?

Who said it was dropped over time? It is very much still taught in many places.

 

[Bruno@MT]

It depends on whaat you are looking for, as most people have said already.
The most important thing is that you like what you are doing (so you stick with it) and trust your instructor.

If you don't see yourself kicking a lot at head height, taekwondo is probably not for you.
If you don't like grapling and rolling around on the floor, then BJJ is probably not for you.
If you want self defense, then sword based arts like iaido is probably not for you.
etc...

 

[Aiki Lee]

Who said it was dropped over time? It is very much still taught in many places.

I figured it would be, but so many people claim that karate is a striking art. Saying that makes it sound like it doesn't do grappling, locks or throws which doesn't appear true from my experience.

 

[Cirdan]

I figured it would be, but so many people claim that karate is a striking art. Saying that makes it sound like it doesn't do grappling, locks or throws which doesn't appear true from my experience.

Karate is a mixed bag with many styles and schools, it is hard to describe all with one word. Some do weapons, breaking, hard conditioning etc in their training, others don`t. You would expect to find a solid striking game in all Karate Dojos however.

 

[rooke]

Kenshin,

I came from an art that did lots of throws and sweeps. When I saw the Shotokan forms back in 2000, that's ALL I saw. A wonderful series of techniques to throw, sweep and off-balance someone. I wasn't "misinterprettting" what they had. It wasn't "conceptual". It was quite literal and obvious if you came from that background.

Infact, you'll see Machida doing some of that occasionally. I think Crafty once commented that Machida did something that looked like a kinjit from Silat a year ago or so.

I would wager that this stuff was always there. It was just hidden until they found someone "worthy" to pass it on to. When they didn't, that knowledge got to fewer and fewer people.

Karate is an amazing art. Unfortunately to really unravel some of the great stuff in it, you probably need to find a good teacher who also knows it (VERY VERY rare), or cross train, so you recognize what's in it.

Rooke

 

[Aiki Lee]

It always looked to me like grappling should be in karate. I unfortunately had a karate teacher for years who taught a very basic watered down version of the original Isshin ryu. I practiced that for 12 years and never got what I would consider quality training. This does not mean I don't think the art itself isn't good, just not my particular school.

 

[ETinCYQX]

Judo I think would be my pick for self defense. The downside is the lack of striking.

My favorite thing about grappling-based arts for SD is that 90% of my SD has been subduing friends or pulling people out of fights, when I really don't want to hurt them. Judo works great for that IMO.

 

[K-man]

I read a book a while back called "Tui-te" or soemthing like that, and it was about a karateka looking at the bunkai of his kata and experimenting with the possibility that certain movements that could be interpretend as parrying or striking could also be joint locks or throws if looked at from a different angle. So I actually wonder if this kind of stuff was in there originally and maybe it was dropped over time for some reason?

EDIT: Ah, heres a link to amazon with the book i was talking about. http://www.amazon.com/Okinawan-Karate-Secret-Art-Tuite/dp/0965008584

Tuite should be part of any Okinawan based system. It is part of the 80% of karate that you don't normally see. The other word mentioned in the posts was shu-ha-ri and basically that covers the same topic. 'Shu' refers to the basic kihon kata and the simple bunkai application. Unfortunately, this is all you will see in most karate schools. 'Ha' covers the next level including much of the tuite. 'Ri' is the top level and realistically you may not see much of it except in schools with a number of experienced martial artists.

So in response to the OP. Have a good look around, talk to some of the students as well as the instructor and take advantage of any free lessons a school may offer. Aikido is a great MA but it will probably take longer to become reasonably proficient. And, if you want to avoid a lot of kicking then perhaps TKD is not for you.

I admit total bias here but I would be looking at an Okinawan based karate that hasn't been sanitised via the school system.

Good luck! :asian:

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

Hello everyone.

I've been looking to start martial arts for a while but am struggling on what style to choose to learn. The joint locks and throws etc from Aikido really intrested me so i started to read more about it however the more i read about it the more i go 'it doesnt work'
But i mean it must work if it has been going this long? Or is it something to learn after you have study'd another martial art?
I also like the idea of Ishinryu.

What im really trying to ask is what advice you would give to a beginner on what to learn and is Aikido worth a beginner learning?

Thanks for you time and help its much appreciated

If you have any questions feel free to ask me, and if you need a idea on the martial arts in my area just ask

No hapkido in your area? You might find it to be just the ticket. A goodly amount of strikes and a lot of techniques similar to or in common with aikido.

And welcome to MT!

Daniel

 

[fenglong]

Hello everyone.

I've been looking to start martial arts for a while but am struggling on what style to choose to learn. The joint locks and throws etc from Aikido really intrested me so i started to read more about it however the more i read about it the more i go 'it doesnt work'
But i mean it must work if it has been going this long? Or is it something to learn after you have study'd another martial art?
I also like the idea of Ishinryu.

What im really trying to ask is what advice you would give to a beginner on what to learn and is Aikido worth a beginner learning?

Thanks for you time and help its much appreciated

If you have any questions feel free to ask me, and if you need a idea on the martial arts in my area just ask

From what I can tell, Aikido originates from times in Japan when the sword was the main weapon.
When you pay attention, you will notice how most of the moves in Aikido seem to be designed for defending yourself against attackers with swords.
In my opinion that is the reason why Aikido has such big problems competing with other self-defense styles, but after all, it is still an art.
As long as an art can fulfill your life, dont worry too much about what people think about it and how it competes with other arts.

If you like throws and joint work a lot but are looking for something more useful for actual self-defense, I'd say take a look at this:

 

[Daniel Sullivan]

From what I can tell, Aikido originates from times in Japan when the sword was the main weapon.
When you pay attention, you will notice how most of the moves in Aikido seem to be designed for defending yourself against attackers with swords.

No. Aikido originates from times in Japan when the rifle or pistol was the main weapon, as in the 1920's.

It is not designed to be used against attackers with swords. Aikido is a 20th century martial art and is not Koryu budo. Founder Ueshiba studied Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu under Takeda. His Aikido originates with that and is influenced by the Omoto Kyo religion. DRAJ was not an ancient art at the time he studied, and I believe it was founded at the turn of the last century.

Aikido and I believe its predacessor, Daito Ryu, were influenced by sword arts and (at least aikido) has an element of sword work in it, but were not designed for defense against sword wielding attackers.

In my opinion that is the reason why Aikido has such big problems competing with other self-defense styles, but after all, it is still an art.
As long as an art can fulfill your life, dont worry too much about what people think about it and how it competes with other arts.

One thing that I have noticed about Aikido is that it tends to attract those who are as interested in philosophy and Japanese culture as they are in technical proficiency.

I won't get into how applicable it is in self defense either in general or as compared to other arts, as I am not an aikidoka, though I suspect that that is more dependent upon the practitioner than it is the art.

If you like throws and joint work a lot but are looking for something more useful for actual self-defense, I'd say take a look at this:

This video is hwarangdo, which is related to hapkido and likely has a goodly amount of technical overlap with aikido. I suspect that those takedowns are all things you will find in aikido and are definitely things you will find in hapkido.

Daniel

 

[Mass]

Almost every school has some type of introductory lesson. Go to different schools and try a few class of each till you find what you really love. You will know right away if it is something worthwhile to YOU right off the get go. It's tough to ask others which style is better or what the think of a particular style because everybody has different goals, different mindsets and different abilities.

 

[dancingalone]

From what I can tell, Aikido originates from times in Japan when the sword was the main weapon.

Aikido was invented in the 20th century well after the samurai class had been abolished as a privileged, weapon-bearing class.

When you pay attention, you will notice how most of the moves in Aikido seem to be designed for defending yourself against attackers with swords.

Aikido is meant to be an unarmed method of peaceful conflict resolution. Not many unarmed fighters would do well against a trained swordsman, no matter the system they practice, and aikido certainly was not designed to be a silver bullet for the sword.

That said, the study of the sword has long been intertwined with aikido. O-Sensei was a sword expert himself of several schools and he reportedly taught it to a few of his most senior students. Even today, 'cutting' drills with bokken is used to illustrate and practice certain concepts, and it could be argued that it might be essential to trace O-Sensei's own technical progression by also studying swordsmanship if you are a serious aikido-ka.

 

[Yondanchris]

If you are looking for self defense (stand-up and ground) I would suggest one of three options:

MMA
BJJ
Kenpo

or a mixture of the three! I am personally attached to kenpo, but some schools including mine
teach grappling skills as a requirement for advancement. As has been said before a lot of your
training depends on your instructor and environment and the style not as much!
Take everyone up on some free lessons and see what melds with you the most!

Chris