What style of martial arts should i try?

Question

I am very interested in taking a class like tae kwon do or karate...something along those lines. i want to get in shape and learn to defend myself. i am not sure what style of martial arts would be the best .... any suggestions?

Answer 1

Depends on what you're after.  You want to beat people up, maybe TKD or Karate.  If you want to get in shape, learn where your body is and how to use it, and in the process meet some really cool and nice people, then check out Aikido.

Answer 2

tea kwon do... it self defense!

Answer 3

Well if you want to learn to defend yourself then there are only a few I recommend.

Jeet Kune Do Concepts

Krav Maga

Lotar

Combat Hapkido

Answer 4

kung fu. it is sooooo much fun, and it sounds cool! hoped i helped

Answer 5

go with tae kwon do =]

much fun.

Answer 6

Try all the schools in your area willing to give you a free lesson, or at the very least, a very cheap introductory lesson and see which one seems the most practical.

If you see a lot of near-full contact sparring and not a lot of Kata and understanding people, you've found a great school.

Otherwise, move on.

Answer 7

You can also check out Kenpo which is American Karate. Good luck.

Answer 8

Jujitsu

Best martial arts in the world

Most UFC fighter do it

Answer 9

I agree with alex, look around

what's important is not so much the style as the teacher and school

for every style there are good teachers and bad teachers, good schools and not so good schools

also equally important is that you stick with your training long term, which means it's important you enjoy the training

if you don't enjoy it, you won't train as often, and you won't develop as much skill

It's hard for any of us to really say what's best for you, because we don't know you, and can't say what you'd like; so try a few classes at a few different places; if you find a place where you feel yourself wanting to go back again, go back again

the longer you train, and the more other students you encounter, the better you'll be able to distinguish the better training opportunites

Answer 10

Formalised martial-arts is essentially useless for self-defense, IMO, unless you have studued for years and years, and can perform the moves without having to think about it at all. I am not saying that a black-belt WON'T kick your ****, especially if you have little fighting experience, but to learn a martial-art with the aim of 'self-defense' in mind is pretty useless I think...

Try Krav Maga or something similar, as you will get a good workout, and learn the fundamentals of street-fighting and defense. Other military-oriented programs might be worth a look as well (LINE etc...) although I have little experience with them.

Boxing is good (or kick-boxing) as it tends to be a little more brutal than a lot of other fighting arts, and gets you used to being hit and recovering very quickly.

OR

Buy some protective gear, find a willing friend who is a match for you, and GO AT IT. This will acclimatise you for a real fight better than anything you could learn in a dojo.

Cheers and good luck.

Answer 11

Japanese Jiu-jitsu.

Best wishes :)***

Answer 12

Do u guys not know anything do Muay Thai and Brazilian Jui jitsu all UFC  

Answer 13

Why oh why do people do it? Most on here will recommend the style they take, or what they see on the UFC. I can grantee you Hans G doesn't even train. There are far more then muay thai and BJJ represented in the UFC.

Honestly there have been numerous quiz es posted on here the last couple of weeks and guess what, the same people answer them, and none of the people who have answered your question, with the exception of Zenlife and myself, have answered them.

When you get a what style question on here they come out of the woodwork, yet ask a question about actual techniques that a fairly new student would know and nada from them.

Actually Alex has the best advice up until this point. A style will not defend you, because you do that using a style. I do not know everything that is available in your area, so here is the best advice I can give you, and I will grantee you that the other people who actually answered the quizes, and not just best style questions, will tell you the same thing.

1) make a list of all the schools available in your area.

2) Search on here for questions on finding a good school, there are many good answers, or go to bullshido.com and they have a very good list on what to look for in  good school.

3) Visit each school and watch or participate in couple of classes.

4) make your decision based on the best instructor, the school that trains most realisticly, and that you can affor.

Style is no where near as importent as how it is taught and trained.  

Answer 14

My advice is to take a free into lesson at every martial arts place in your area.  Look in the yellow pages under "martial arts" and call every place near you to schedule a trial lesson.  You can also google "martial arts" plus your zipcode and it will give you a list of schools.  

It is much better to find a school this way than to pick a style first. You will find out first hand about many different styles, and you can pick the school that best suits your interests and personality.    

Answer 15

If you're young (<13) and/or smaller sized, I would suggest looking into Judo. You train alot in defensive techniques and how to use leverage to use people's own weight against them. This takes away alot of the natural advantages of larger opponents. Eventually, I would look for a gym where you can train multiple disciplines and styles including Muay Thai (kick boxing) and Brazilian Ju Jitsu. Judo and Ju Jitsu are basically two branches of the same tree, so there are alot of similarities. The main differences are that JJ is more of a ground based/grappling style while Judo involves alot more upright throws and power moves. Brazilian Ju Jitsu is somewhat of a hybrid in which JJ (mostly) and Judo are used as a base and other disciplines and styles throughout martial arts are incorporated within based on their actual combat worthiness. BJJ was developed and perfected over about 80 years of tournements, challenges, and actual streetfights by the Gracie family and is today recognized as the most effective in regards to true fighting effectiveness.

In terms of getting in shape, I don't think anything compares to BJJ. I was in Judo as a kid and wrestling in H.S., but neither even comes close to BJJ, based on conditioning. My main complaint about karate and TKD is kata based training. Basically that means you earn your belts based on your ability to memorize a sequence of moves. Not all schools use it, but alot do (moreso karate than TKD). Also alot of training is done against a "passive" opponent. I.E. someone who does a certain action in order to allow you to perform a certain move. Problem is that neither of these things do alot to prepare you for an actual fight, since most real attachers refuse to follow choreography. BJJ students, on the other hand, primarily train by "rolling" whic means you practice against a live opponents who is actively resisting you.

With the popularity of MMA these days it isn't really hard to find a gym that does multiple disciplines. Be careful of fly-by-night groups trying to ride that wave though. Sign up for free day passes at several gyms and make sure you are getting what you pay for (and that you actuallly are up for it) before you actually put down a bunch of money on a membership.

Answer 16

Any  stand up style would do  ..........

Do not take grappling unless u prepared to take another style to also learn about stand up ................

I know allot of people say BJJ but guess what i bet u non of them had to face more then 1 person in a street fight ..............

Try putting someone in the lock while his friend stomp the **** out of ur head with his boot...................

simple trues is BJJ and all grappling is 1on1 fighting styles when it comes to 1 vs many they simply don't work by themselves...........