What is a good form of martial arts to learn for someone who?

Question

wants to learn how to defend themselves and has never been into any form of martial arts in the past.

Answer 1

for self defense i would reccomend jujitsu

Answer 2

All right, wudang mountain teaches boxing, and if you're willing to try hard and not give up you can do it. It requires TONS of practice; but I was a couch potato before I came here and it was hard for me. But here I am! It is excellent self-defense, and not showy. Very practical.

Answer 3

Hey adam n- What makes you think there are not just as many MMA schools opening up now where the instructor is only out for money?

Anyway not having previous training is not big deal. There is an old saying that "The longest journey begins with a single step". Corny yes but very true. We all started out knowing nothing.

I would say rather then style, choose what to take based on the following:

1) The best teacher in your area.

2) A school that trains realisticly, with progressive resistance.

There are many good answers about finding a school and instructor on here, and what to avoid. A search for "finding a good school" will turn up enough questions and answers to keep you busy for a while. It does not matter what style you choose, because a style will not defend you. The moves within the style are what you will use to defend yourself, and how well they work for you depends on how well you are taught, and how well you train them.

Everything now from many fanboys is MMA and BJJ, which quite honestly MMA will give you very good self defense. BJJ is more for one on one, and alkso realize that the majority of techniwues are done on the ground. I hate to say it but if you ar going to defend yourself, chances are it will be from a sexual assault, and your attacker is probably going to be much bigger and stronger. Good technique can only overcome so much. Also do you want your only option to be to go to the ground with somebody intent on violating you? Better to learn hopw to do initial damage and get away, which is preferable to staying and fighting.

Answer 4

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is good for one on one fights, also helps with cardio and strength conditioning along with being a fun class. Boxing is good for stand up, kickboxing is also available. A little more rigorous martial arts excellent for stand up is Muay Thai.

Answer 5

Try to find a good mixed martial arts school. It is well rounded teaching you everything from where and how to punch, kick, elbow, knee and grapple.

some other good ones are Jeet Kune Do, Kickboxing, boxing

Beware of frauds that charge ridiculously high and hands out blackbelts like candy. Some schools you might want to be cautious about are TMA (traditional martial arts) like Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kung Fu etc. Although some of these schools may be legitimate, there are a growing number of frauds that scam you for your money.

if you're learning to defend yourself, stay away from bjj. Bjj is critical for mma, but however not important when defending from multiple attackers.

Answer 6

It is irrelevant whether you have had previous martial arts experience or not.

The best thing that you can do is to visit as many martial arts/self-defence classes as possible in your area and try out the ones that you like/interest you.

Classes that are expensive be wary of, because they are labelled as 'mcdojo's (money-making) and do not necessarily have good-quality tuition.

Don't be impressed by the size of the place- just be sure that you feel "ok" in there.

It is better to find a good instructor rather than worrying about martial arts style.

When shopping for a martial arts school, the "style" the school teaches is secondary to who teaches the classes and how they teach them. A good instructor will make you feel good about what you're doing. He or she will help you stay healthy and take an interest in why you've joined the school. If you're a complete novice to the martial arts, don't shop for a style or method, shop for the best teacher or teachers  you can find. Find the right teacher and you'll love the martial arts. Find the wrong teacher and it won't matter what style they teach.

Answer 7

Krav Maga because it teaches u how to defend on the street against multiple attackers and against weapons such as knifes and guns and is pretty easy to learn

Answer 8

Look up a Women's self defense in certain schools to see if they have it.

In my opinion, here are the arts listed.

Wing Chun- Invented by a girl, uses leverage against muscle. Very good and easy for girls to catch on with since they already know how to be soft and this is a soft art.

Aikido- Consists of Joint locks and is made for smaller people just like Wing Chun. Probably harder to catch on with but can be very effective.

Krav Maga- Israeli Street Combat, seen it and it can be very effective for the average joe walking in the street.

Kali/JKD- Very effective self defense combat consisting of trapping techniques from Wing Chun and weapon Disarming of Kali. JKD was created by Bruce and Danny passed his own version down with Kali.

There's much more you can do than listed here, but these are the ones i personally like.

But in the end, it all depends on what instructor teaches you and how much effort you put forth to it.

Good luck! and don't slack off!

Answer 9

Krav Maga or boxing.

Answer 10

It depends on what you like.  If you want to grapple for defense aikido or jujitsu is good, if you want a good punching and kicking style muay thai, krav maga, jeet kune do works well.  It all depends on your body style and what your intention is.  As a beginner though I would suggest something like shotokan karate or shito ryu karate to gauge how well you would do and if you would like it.

Answer 11

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Though it may not be ideal for multiple-person fights, quickly breaking a limb of any opponent is a great defence. The art is more scientific than many others, and concentrates on using leverage to put your opponent into a joint lock/choke (a choke that puts someone to sleep quickly is the ideal defence). Very useful if you ever get taken to the ground.

Look up Royce Gracie and read about his early days in the UFC.

Answer 12

tae kwon do. popular and practical martial art.

Answer 13

Krav Maga or CQB (see toddgroup.com)