Never practiced a martial art before

[J W]

FWIW, I will be checking out a Kyokukshin karate place later this week. It's about a 15 minute highway drive from my house, but their website shows that its $99 a month with no contract. I'm not sure how Kyokukshin karate differes from Shotokan karate anyway. Anyway, I'm going crazy here trying to figure out what to do. In Brooklyn alone there are 5.5 million people, you would think their would be more/better schools to choose from.

Kyokushin, from what I understand, is a very "hard" style of Karate. Great if you really want to learn to take a punch and shrug it off! Someone else may be better able to elaborate, though.

So far you've mentioned BJJ, Wing Chun, Shotokan, MMA and Kyokushin. Some folks would love to have a selection like that! Not to mention there are probably plenty of schools in Brooklyn that you haven't found yet, and all the options you'll have if you're willing to travel to Manhattan.

Take your time and check out a bunch of places. I'm sure you'll find something to suit you with that type of variety available.

 

[WaterGal]

Thanks!

That is a good question to ask. I will include that in my barrage of questions from here on out. I mean the way the guy taught last night seemed effective. He seemed focused on how to fight in the street. He is the only one who teaches the classes as well, but that sales pitch really turned me off. And the incompetant brown belts threw me off too. Also, is $140/$160 a month reasonable for karate? I'm not sure where the price points falls for this sort of thing.

For month-to-month at a school in an expensive urban area, I think probably that's reasonable. When I lived in DC I looked at training at a place down the block from my work, and they were charging I think $160 a month as their normal rate, which was out of my budget then. That was 5 years ago.

 

[CK1980]

I would say it is important for you to find something well rounded... A well rounded school will offer aspects of stand up and ground fighting and perhaps even a simple weapon system or 2. These schools typically cost a little bit more and require a contract of some sort... One good way to get a "feel" for a system or a particular school is to ask about a "trial period". Many schools (at least used to) offer up to 3 or 5 classes on a trial basis for a small fee and sometimes even free. They typically don't teach you very much in these classes but it should give you an idea as to the type of instruction you will receive and whether or not it is what you are looking for...

As far as your comment about the brown belt that seemed to be lacking... It could be possible that he was learning something new for his next rank (presumably black belt or brown with a tip). At all levels of training, learning something new tends to make you look like you don't know what you are doing... That is basically because you don't. This is something you will experience for yourself as you start your training.

 

[jks9199]

As far as your comment about the brown belt that seemed to be lacking... It could be possible that he was learning something new for his next rank (presumably black belt or brown with a tip). At all levels of training, learning something new tends to make you look like you don't know what you are doing... That is basically because you don't. This is something you will experience for yourself as you start your training.

Or he could have been been sick, worn out from something else, distracted... It's dangerous to make an assumption from one student, on one night, about the whole program.

 

[GaryR]

If you can only pick 1, I would go with the Wing Tsun. Overall I have come across more of those practitioners than can fight than Karate/shotokan. BJJ would be a good supplement, everyone can use ground-skill--one should avoid the ground in a real fight if able, but it can happen.

Good Luck.

G

 

[enthusiast]

Any of the three will do. Just make sure that you take a night class, one that will prevent you from going to the bar


jk. even if one martial art is superior to the other, it will not be effective if you don't like what you are doing, so I believe that you should observe first and imagine what's it like if you're the one training. then go for the one which you think you'd like to do for at least a year. that is the most effective martial art for you.

 

[rframe]

As others have said the best self-defense is being aware and staying clear of threatening situations. Skill in a martial art becomes important when the options of avoidance have seized to exist.

There are three main realms in the empty-hand arts: mitigating attacks launched at you (distancing, deflecting, redirecting, blocking), offensive striking (slapping, punching, kicking, kneeing, elbowing) used to neutralize the attacker so they no longer can hurt you, and grappling when you get tangled up and/or are taken to the ground.

To make it simpler: you need both a stand-up/striking game and a ground game.... lacking in either will prove to be a major problem if find yourself in either position in a real conflict.... and a "real fight" will very likely involve both.

After studying martial arts a bit here's my general view: I think that from a self defense perspective the most important thing in the stand up game is to learn distancing. Learning to block and deflect attacks is a highly developed skill that takes a long time to effectively develop and is highly prone to error in a real confrontation, but remaining too far or too close from the attacker for them the launch an effective attack is relatively easy. When it comes to launching a strike, you want to understand the basics of throwing a good slap and/or jab, but the rest is really just details of a style and plenty of untrained fighters have knocked someone out with a sloppy haymaker.

Now, the skills you can learn when tangled up and on the ground are where there's a lot you can learn to neutralize a threat. Nobody wants to go to the ground in a real fight, but then again nobody should "want" to be in the real fight in the first place, but it can happen. Being able to control and neutralize someone on the ground is essential to survival. Yes, his buddies might kick you in the head, but they'll do that whether you know BJJ or not. There is NO system that is reliably effective against multiple attackers. Anyone who tells you otherwise lives in fantasy land.

So.... find a martial art you enjoy studying and with people in a school you enjoy being around. That's the most important thing. Realize that a lot of what you learn and practice is not going to be about self defense, accept that and enjoy the learning process. Arm yourself with some basic skills in distancing, know how to throw a good slap to the ear/eyes, kick/knee a groin, and then learn some basic combative BJJ (I'm not talking about perfecting a sporty rubber guard, but basic positional control, arm breaks, and chokes)... and that will cover you for the self-defense side.

As for Shotokan and Kyokushin karate, they are both considered hard striking styles. Kyokushin is often practiced with full force punches to the body which seems to give it some "tough guy" reputation, but its very similar to other karate styles. Whether you study Kung Fu, Karate, or Muay Thai is just a matter of preference for the enjoyment of doing so. The basic striking skills you will develop over time will help you, but it's a journey, not a quick fix for a street fight in 6 months.