Looking for Fighting Styles?

Question

so, im a 15 male, and i have recently been interested in learning a fighting style (karate, tae kawn do, kung fu, etc) Which one is the best (doesnt have to be listed) to learn and is the most enjoyable to do?

Answer 1

capoeira's prty cool but outta dose i'd say Tae Kwon Doe

Answer 2

Tae Kwon Do. It's worldly recognized as an Olympic sport, unlike Kung fu and probably Karate. You'll learn to be quick on your feet. You won't necessarily learn how to actually "fight," however, you will learn to spar.

In Tae Kwon Do, quick and precise kicks are more emphasized than punches, while, Karate is a little of both.

From what I have observed, not necessarily true, Karate-style kicks tend to be slower and lack the "snap" than that of Tae Kwon Do.

There's my two cents.

Answer 3

Jiu-jitsu :)***

Answer 4

The question is really one of finding the best instructor in your area that is teaching realistic self-defense. All arts have self-defense but many tend to teach the art as sport, not self-defense.

Sam ....  You made a comment about karate not having the snap that TKD kicks have. You might want to do your homework before making such a claim. You obviously are into TKD which is fine. However you don't have the knowledge to be stating facts about arts that you do not have extensive background in.

Answer 5

The styles you listed are primarily striking arts.  If that is what you are looking for, than you have to decide if you want something effective or fun/sport oriented.

For an effective striking art, Muay Thai is the best.  You won't find any jumping spin kicks, or board-breaking here.  You will just learn how to strike hard, fast and accurately with your hands, feet (or shins rather), elbows, and knees.

If you are looking for something just for fun, Tae Kwon Do is alright.  Lots of fancy kicks and board-breaking, and padded sparring where you wont take any real damage.

Or you could try Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art  that can best be described as break-dance fighting.  Really amazing to watch.

If you are open to grappling arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is both fun and effective in real life situations (with limitations of course).   And there is plenty of opportunity to try out your skills in tournaments with little to no risk of injury (as long as you tap out when you should).

Answer 6

I recommend taekwondo. There are 2 main styles you could learn - ITF and WTF. WTF would be better if you were interested in sports and competition sparring. It focusses mainly on kicks, as they score more points in a sparring match. Sparring is full contact, so you'd eventually need a lot of protective equipment. ITF style is more useful as self defence. It's a complete martial arts system, focussing in both kicks and punches. There are also a lot more patterns to learn, as well as breaking. Sparring is light contact, so you still need basic protective equipment, like gumshields, etc.

Both styles are going to be featured in the Olympics this year.

It's up to you which one you choose, but personally I prefer ITF style as it's "proper" taekwondo, and is much more useful in self defence. WTF style isn't really taekwondo at it's best. However, both styles will teach you to be fast on your feet, as taekwondo is a fast paced martial art, and you'll also increase your flexibility through streching. It'll be very enjoyable to learn, and taekwondo is a highly popular martial art, so you'll probably meet people from different backgrounds along the way.

Answer 7

no martial art is the best, Karate and Taekwndo are closely related as taekwondo is heavily influenced by karate, Taekwondo uses kicks about 70% of the time, some of the kicks in taekwondo have jumping or spinning in them that can be effective if uses right. Karate usually uses the hands more than the feet or equally depending on what style it is, while karate is a striking art primarily, it has a few joint-locks and a little bit of stand up take downs. There are many styles of kung fu, some are really flashy while others will mimic animals, because many predtors in nature like the tiger, lepoard, mantis, etc. show ferocity the creator(s) of kung fu decided to have their styles mimic these animals.

Like i said before no martial art is the best, all of them have strengths and weaknesses, if you want a good martial art to join you should just do some research to find which one will suit you.

Answer 8

as far as enjoyment is concerned and usefulness I would tell you to take up Boxing. I don’t enjoy most forms of karate, I like to use the main arts implied in MMA Boxing, Muay thai, wrestling and BJJ. I would suggest one of those three they are the most useful and the most entertaining.