New to Martial Arts

[Tony Dismukes]

Did he carry 2 sets of boxing gloves? One for him and one for who he wants to fight? The problem I would see with this is getting the other person to agree to a boxing match. Why would I want to agree to your style of fighting? Maybe im a wrestler or some other fighting style instead.

I suspect those weren't boxing gloves. Just regular gloves so he could punch harder without hurting his hands.

 

[KenpoMaster805]

Choose karate its very effective

 

[dda21]

Hi! my name is Chris and I decided to do martial arts but I need help figuring out which one I should do. Please tell me which you do and suggest one I should do, thanks!

I do ITF style Tae Kwon Do. My school is mostly traditional, but we do spar with headgear, shin and instep guards, and chest protectors, so there is some contact.

I am 41 years old, 5"11 and weight 185 ibs. I would say im in average shape. Workout at the gym about 3 times a week. Cardio workout on a elliptical machine. Could probably lose about 10 pounds though.

While you are not exactly young for MA, you have no physical limitations that would prevent you from starting a MA program. I was both older, and heavier than you when I started TKD earlier this year. That said, MA training will work your body much differently than just stepping on an elliptical machine 3 times a week, so be prepared for a little soreness initially.

The options for martial arts training in my area are Wing Chun Kung Fu, Boxing, Mu Thai, BJJ, Judo, Karate.
What I looking to get out martial arts training is to gain self confidence and learn some practical self defense skills.
Any one of the styles you mentioned above should fit the bill. Boxing, Muy Thai, Judo and BJJ especially should be focused on martial sport more than martial arts, which if you are looking to mix it up against live competition more or less right away. Karate, Kung Fu, and other traditional martial arts will have at least part of the curriculum based on kata, or forms. This is where you need to know yourself. In the early colored belt testings, a lot of martial arts base advancement on knowledge or mastery of curriculum, especially forms, and not sparring or combat. Something like MMA, Boxing, Muy Thai, and BJJ especially are all about fighting against a resisting opponent, all the time.
- Your Understanding of katas is very little if you believe they do not have to do with combat. Katas are 100% about combat and learning the applications of movements (my background is a TKD, Karate and Muay Thai)

My initial thoughts looking at my options of martial arts styles is to go with boxing. Most likely the easiest and quickest to learn. I would think boxing is a good option for a street fight / bar fight scenario. Not that I get in those very often at all but you never know.

I have a lot of respect for boxers, but I wouldn't assume boxing is easy to learn and especially not easy to practice. As a 41 year old, you might ask yourself how much you want to get hit, both to the body and to the head. As to your idea about good options in a bar fight or street fight, I would partially agree with this caveat. Boxing teaches you how to fight against one skilled opponent. So it stands to reason that if you can handle yourself against a trained fighter, you should be able to take down a drunk idiot at a bar. (same goes for other martial sports like BJJ, muy Thai, and Judo). On the other hand, boxing teaches you to punch hard with hands taped up wearing boxing gloves. You just might break your hand doing the same punches bare knuckled that you practice in a boxing gym wearing boxing gloves.

Finally, I would suggest that at age 41, you shouldn't be anywhere near a bar fight. Getting in a bar fight could result in your getting arrested and charged with a crime, the severity of the crime dependent on the damage you inflict. And, in this day and age, you just might get yourself killed, if the guy you are beating up has friends, or perhaps is carrying a weapon. (or might use something like a glass or bottle as a weapon) So again, while I agree it is good to be confident that if a psychopath attacks you and in a life and death situation, you stand a better chance of surviving, in practice, I would say to make it a priority never to get into a street fight or bar fight.

My concerns with Asian martial arts Kung Fu, Karate, Mu Thai is that im thinking they take a very long time to get good and are very complicated to learn.
Not really. I cannot really speak about Kung Fu, I started back with TKD after a long hiatus from the practice, so for me the first few months were a process of shaking the rust off, and since then working back to where I was a long time ago. But I have seen a fair number of people start up. For those who put in the work, you can see a lot of growth in the first 3 or 4 months. A lot of folks who can't even throw a basic punch or front kick are mixing it up in sparring 3 or 4 months in. Not to say they are great fighters, as that takes a lot of commitment, but I imagine that is equally true of boxing.

 

[dda21]

As others have noted, your build is irrelevant to your choice. Any of the arts you mention will work just fine for someone of your size, age, and condition.

The general answer to these "which art should I choose" posts is always the same. Visit as many of the available schools as you can. Pay attention to the general atmosphere, teaching style, schedule, location, and costs. You might find the best art in the world, but if the teacher doesn't click with you or you don't enjoy the atmosphere or you can't afford the tuition or the schedule or location are too inconvenient then you won't end up training consistently.

I can give you some general ideas about the experiences you might find in the arts you list and how those might translate into improved fighting ability. ("Self-defense" is a broader, more amorphous term. Most self-defense is not fighting and most fighting is not self-defense, although there is some overlap.)

Wing Chun: WC is a specialized art focused on close range striking. It has some good physical principles and can be effective. However many schools do little or no free sparring and focus almost exclusively on stylized drills for countering other WC practitioners. Without sparring and pressure testing against non-WC stylists, a practitioner is likely to fall apart against a tough opponent.

Boxing: A good boxing gym is one of the fastest routes to solid unarmed fighting skills. You'll gain good physical and mental conditioning, the ability to hit hard and non-telegraphically, the ability to evade punches, good footwork, and the ability to not freak out when you get hit. Downsides - very limited grappling (just some basic clinching) and you won't work on preventing takedowns or how to protect yourself on the ground if you do get taken down.

Muay Thai: Much the same as boxing, except that you will also learn kicks, knees, elbows, and solid clinching skills. The wider range of skills covered means that you will have less practice time to refine your punching and footwork to a high level. Depending on where you are located, the available Muay Thai instruction might be anywhere from mediocre amateur to world-class professional.

BJJ: Primarily a grappling art, specialized in ground fighting. Any legit BJJ school will get you in great shape and help you develop excellent ground fighting skills. The thing to watch for is whether the school has retained the self-defense curriculum: punch defense, takedowns, standing clinches, dealing with common real world standing attacks. Many schools these days have started to focus almost exclusively on sport BJJ, which is mostly about grappling on the ground. A lot of the sport applications can carry over into self-defense ... but not if you can't defend against strikes and get the fight to the ground in the first place. If you can find a BJJ school which devotes a good amount of practice time to dealing with strikes and stand up situations, then this would be an excellent option.

Judo: The parent art of BJJ. Primarily a grappling art, Judo focuses more on throwing an opponent to the ground. Judo does include ground grappling, but it's typically not as developed in that department as BJJ. Pros: You'll get in great shape, you'll learn how to throw people around, you'll learn to fall without being hurt (one of the best self-defense skills out there), you'll learn to keep from being taken down, you'll learn enough ground fighting to handle most untrained opponents easily. Cons: In most schools you won't get practice defending against punches. If you have the option of studying both boxing and Judo, they make a great combination.

Karate: There can be a huge degree of variation in what you find in different karate schools. Some focus heavily on physical conditioning and full-contact sparring. Some focus on solo forms as performance art and tippy-tappy tagging the air sparring. Some are all about kata (sequences of techniques performed solo) while others do no kata at all. Some are just focused on striking. Some have a blend of striking and grappling. Some instructors have a solid understanding of unarmed fighting. Other instructors are clueless and delusional. You have to check out the individual school to see whether it's worthwhile.

Hope that helps. If you can provide links to the websites of your local schools we might be able to spot any potential red flags.

This is a great Response!!!

 

[mrt2]

What I know about forms compared to what you know about forms? Don't know, since anybody can claim anything on the internet. I will not pass judgment on your knowledge, or lack of knowledge of forms, and application to fighting. I know about application, but I also know that a lot of this gets lost in the modern practice of forms. And that for many, they should expect to practice forms for quite some time before they learn the application.


Don't mislead impressionable newbies about forms. It is a traditional part of martial arts, and a way to pass down the practice. That said, there are martial arts that focus purely on combat from the get go and dispense entirely with forms, or kata.