Want to learn a martial art... which one?

Question

I'm a 21 year old female and I want to learn a martial art. I'm very into yoga for it's relaxation and balance but would like to pursue a martial art as well. What would you recommend? Thanks!

Answer 1

I recomend mixed martial arts / self defense, as it is all the martial arts mixed together too be used in a practical self defense way. It does improve your balance ALOT! im 13 years old and believe me when i started i couldnt balance at all! now i have great balance, more confident, less stressed, fitness levels are very high and its just so much fun and mixed martial arts academys usalyy have for e.g ji jitsu classes sometimes and if it doesnt work out for you, you can ask them about martial arts and tell them what you are looking for and they will find one too suit your needs!

good luck

Answer 2

Join Aikido

mostly about balance and relaxation and if you can do that then you are good

and it isn't the most pshyical art but one of best self-defence and it's roots where from karate and jiu jitsu judo and more

Best thing about it that is for me is i releve my prussure on my partner =)

Answer 3

hmmmmmm uve not given enough info  for me to say what u will find as an ideal art but u have said enuf for some reccomendations but i am nameing some extra arts too soo u can see wat u like

tai chi-similar to combat yoga if u take combat tai chi.this is a style of fighting and exercise some places only teach the exercise aspect though and well u should look for combat tai chi.you should be able to meditate

hising yi- has many different names is an internal art revolving around chi[qi prana energy etc.]  and they focus on learning a way to use fa jing which a master can hit someone and bring their energy into peoples internal organs and paralyse or kill them on a lower level is very hard to use due to lack of sparring

aikido- the art of peae.in the days of old 4-18 hours aday of meditation was required but now u should have a yoga or chi kung history. teaches fighting without force and defeating enemies without causeing harm to them using their own force and intentions. most schools discourage using this stuff for competition or such and u cannot trealy use it too attack others.

karate- be strong like a rock. ,any blocks punches and kicks

kipuar- u may find this style but it may be not in ur yellowbook good style excelent skillz

wing schun-good for womens self defence and anyones commpetition fighting[ not to say us guys cannot use this style]

krav maga-straight up self defence no meditation or nuttin just quick practical human biology invoked combat

also look at shaolin gong fu , xma, kempo, and ninjuitsu

Answer 4

hmmm since you're a girl. the best self-defence for u is probably krav maga.  or jujutsu if u like giving ppl join locks n stuff.  n btw, i reckon wing chun/wing tsun would be rlly for u. it's practical and useful especially in a street situation, and it's the only style thats created by a woman n it was made famous by Bruce Lee.  jus type in wing chun self defence in youtube or sumthing.     n also, my friend's mum does yoga ( shez rlly flexible!!), nows she's into tai chi and she loves it    :S.

Answer 5

Go for variety.  Read some books.  Most schools will offer free lessons.  If you're looking for something immediately applicable to a self defense situation, I'd suggest Jeet Kune Do.  You'll be exposed to most ranges of attacks and defense and you won't have to deal with ridiculously petty scrutiny,  archaic and impractical techniques that you are likely never going to use.

Answer 6

This is the most frequently asked question from people wanting to join and train in the martial arts for the first time and are clueless on what to do or which art to take.

First and foremost, the internet is full of keyboard ninjas, MMA poseurs, and other fledging psuedo karate masters  who thinks that they have all the answers you'll ever need.  The problem with this is that they don't know you, so how can they determine what's good for you ?  

The FACT is only YOU can determined what's good for you.  

I can easily say “oh, take Shorin ryu karate because….blah, blah, blah..” but I won’t. Why not ? Well for one, I don’t know anything about you. Second, trying to get you to join my art would be a lot like selling you a used car over the phone.   Would you buy a used car over the phone ?  Of course not !  You need to go to the car lot or dealership and test drive the car you want.      

Finding the right school, style and instructor can be a very discouraging and perplexing endeavor. However, I can suggest the following steps to assist you in your search:

1) First thing first, Ask yourself .

- Am I willing to spend the time and money to venture into this “new” lifestyle ? Or Am I just having a Jet Li , Jackie Chan,   Power Rangers, The Last Samurai , Randy Couture or BJ Penn moment  ?  In other words, you had a spur of the moment enlightenment and desire to become a martial artist / Ultimate MMA fighter after watching these guys on TV.

You really need to seriously think about this.  Why ?  Because training in the martial arts is a hard long and often time a frustrating journey !  It requires patience, guts , determination, perserverance and don't forget good finance.  Sorry, but this is the harsh reality of the facts !    

  

Secondly, What style is good for me ?

Some martial arts styles may or does depends on your height , weight, build etc...etc.. While I don't believe in the "one size fits all" mentality. It would be hard to picture a sumotori weighting 400 lbs ( person who trains in Sumo) doing a 360 jump spin triple kick in Taekwondo.  My underlying point is that  YOU have to find an art that fits YOU. It does not matter which art. Just find an art that will make YOU feel comfortable and satisfied.

Martial arts does not descrimate on the basis of race, religion, national origin, color, s*x, age, veteran status, or  disability or age.  



So let your journey begin with what I have encouraged others to follow.  .

Get a phone book ( Available FREE from your local phone company ) , Take it home and start looking for the listing under “ Martial Arts Instruction” or “ Martial Arts”. You should find about 2-3 pages of Schools currently doing business in your area. Some schools have big ads that grabs your attention the moment you opened the phone. Don’t neglect schools that are simply on the basic two lines listing. You will never know what hidden “treasure” you might stumble upon.

Next step is to list the schools and their styles that appeals to you. Since you are new to the Martial Arts it is also a wise idea to check out a style or system that you have never heard off, as I am sure you have never heard of arts like Matsubayashi Ryu , Kobayashi Ryu, Shito Ryu..etc. List them as well and find out more about them.

Then click on this link: www.google.com type in the styles that you listed. I am 100 percent sure that google will give you detailed information of the type of martial art styles that are being offered in your area.

Do not read one website as the only source of that style. Read as many as you can. It pays to do your homework before you do your legwork.

2) Finding the Dojo

Once you narrowed down your martial arts style search and still feeling enthusiastic about training. Now comes the hard part. To begin with, return to the primary source ( the phone book). Now that you have a clear fundamental understanding of what style of martial arts maybe good for you. List all the available dojo with their address and phone numbers.

Now don’t rely of the phone books alone as the only source of locating dojos in your area. Utilized the power of the information superhighway (AKA the internet). Click on www.Google.com and type in keywords such as Karate ( type in city) or wushu (type in city)..etc

There are dojos that do not advertised or used phone books and the internet to acquire new students. Often these little schools rely of words of mouth or basically are non-commercialized schools.

Just because they are small does not mean that they aren’t any good. Funakoshi’s ( Founder of Shotokan) first dojo was his backyard.  Just remember one thing, many great martial artist did not train in a muli-million dollar dojo.  

So by now you probably have list that are now 2-3 pages long. The next course of action is to give the Dojo that appealed to you a call and see if they give out try-outs for free or pay the minimal tryout fee’s.

I would strongly suggest to try out these schools for a least a month before you make a commitment. Trying out for one day training session is not enough. If you have to pay for a monthly fee ( Hopefully very small indeed) Just do it ! It is worth the investment.

One last thing, I don't mean to sound abrasive, but If the above suggestion is too much work for you, then the probability of you being serious in joining a martial arts school is less than zero.   I am sorry to say this but, there's plenty of answerer's here that wants to sincerely help you in your quest, but you have to do your part.

Answer 7

Just to let you know before I give you my opinion, there will be people that will say that one martial art is better for you than another based on your age, weight, male or female, etc. That is a load of c**p.

Research martial arts over the internet (wikipedia has very good descriptions of the major martial arts) find ones that sound interesting, see if there are schools that are in your area (beware of the schools that do contracts, most of them are really for just making money and dont teach you much). Go look in on a couple of the classes, see if you like it, and pick which ever one suits you.

Every martial arts has its strengths and weaknesses. Learn whichever one you want. You dont need us to tell you which ones are better than others, because, there is no martial art that is better than another, the person who is using the martial art is what matters.

Answer 8

listen to what prince said and ignore everyone else (except me of course lol) ...and wing chun was NOT created for or by a woman. but it is good for women.

seeing you are 21 obviously you arent a little kid who wants to be a super sapien or whatever.

another thing to consider is what you want from your art.

sport (boxing, kickboxing, judo, muay thai, wushu etc etc) which can be applicable to real fighting, but also very limited in what kinds of techniques you will learn.

health...yoga, tai chi, cardio kickboxing, tae bo...etc will give you a killer workout

self defense...quick and easy to learn arts such as krav maga, jeet kune do (paul vunak is highly recommended)..vee arnis jitsu, hocks cqc...jim wagner...etc. these arts are based on street self defense, and do not beat around the bush.

traditional study...these arts are more what i cal "wholistic" in their approach. caveat?...they take years to learn and longer to master. so if you want usable self defense now...stay away from very traditional arts such as karate, kung fu, etc. you will spend time learning forms when you could be learning simple self defense moves.

if you're not in a hurry, and want something you can study for life...traditional arts will serve you very well. and will produce self defense ability as well..just takes longer. its more wholistic in the sense that you not only learn "krotty" or fighting...but history, culture, language in some cases, philosophy. and the ultimate goal of many is to balance body, mind, and spirit.

so, what styles are available to you? and which one fulfills your needs best?

Answer 9

There are many styles of fighting, of self-defense or body-development. Asian martial arts- yes there are other than asian out there- are split into four great pillars.

India. With a long history and a great number of cultures residing on it's teritory. India is home to the mystic fighting styles. They revolve round a deep study of the human body as well as the soul, analyzing strenghts and weaknessess onto which the style itself will be built. It consists of riguros training of the jonctions and balance.

China. Chinese martial arts are represented best by four great schools- Shao'lin Chuan, Hsing'i Chuan, Pok'uu Chuan and Tai'chu Chuan. The Shao'lin are indian based arts that train the body to it's limits- which are very unclear actualy-. They are called 'outer arts' due to this reason. The other three are the' inner schools' they focus on mental balance and training the jonctions in a more or less planned way. My basic style is Taikkiken, of the Hsing'i. I was taught to hold my hands and feet in certain positions, or stances, and move them in a few planned sets, called kata. The idea of the style is to adapt to the enemy's movements and use the kata one by one in whatever combinations I consider best. The purpose ws to wait for the opponent to attack, stop the assault and counter in one sweeping or bullet motion -when the opponent moves you move, when he stops, you stop. There is not much footwork in Taikkiken, the hands are the main training objective after meditation and patience.

Thailand. This exotic country is home to styles that emphasis on muscle training, on velocity of movement. The average Tai Kwan Do practicer can deliver kicks with a speed of 19 m/sec. There are no meditations, no body or spirit studying, just training. It's a rough style, it takes concentration and stamina. Not the most highly tought of, due to the fact that they are very vulnerable in a few key aspects.

Japan. The most common link we make with 'Nihon' is samurai. Samurai were an elite class of people, the symbol of their power were their swords. They were trined to use them, to cherish them, to consider them part of their soul and body. Martial arts here were created as complimentary to the sword fighting styles. That is why they are taught in military and police academies all over the world. They are all practicall in various situations but cannot exist on their own.

A battle fought solely on karate is not possible.

Now that you have a basic idea you can make your choice.

Answer 10

It really depends on what you're looking for in a martial art. There are a lot of choices out there, and if you haven't done your research it can be a little daunting.

If you're interested in the spiritual side, with a focus on relaxation, whoever suggested Tai Chi was spot on. Tai Chi is a soft, flowing, easy paced martial art with questionable combat application. If any at all. A good alternative might be Aikido. However, it's combat application is questionable as well. Both are considered soft, or internal martial arts.

Traditional Karate, such as Shotokan might be a better bet. The history is there and there's a sense of spirituality, but it's a lot more combat worthy.

It really depends on what you want. But don't let anyone scare you. If you want to train go out and train. Don't let anything stop you. Experiment with several arts, research things on your own. Read up, watch some classes. Find out what is right for you. And when you find an art you love, stay with it. Don't let petty things get in the way.

Hope that helps.

Answer 11

KARATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... I absoulutley love it!

Answer 12

Tell us your goals , and what you wnat to take the martial art for and we can better help you. In general ,Krav Maga.

Answer 13

Judo and Boxing are a ton of fun - and hey, if they're the two most popular of the five martial arts in the Olympics they must be pretty decent.

Answer 14

The closest to yoga is Tai Chi.

If you decide to go for Taiji, make sure that you find a place that does push hands and offers weapons options. That way you are sure that you have a teacher who teaches Taji as a martial art rather than as an exercise routine. You might want to look into the fan as a weapon sometime down the line. (I practice Taiji Walking Stick myself.)

When you get into push hands you learn the self defense applications.

Then again, you may be looking for something entirely different!

Follow Prince's method.