Which martial art is ideal for a young woman's self-defense?

Question

what martial art would you suggest for a 5-foot-tall, petite 22-year-old w/ no prior martial arts experience?

open to japanese, chinese, korean, filipino methods

not really interested in fanciness or competition, just whatever gets the job done & builds self-confidence

Answer 1

Krav maga, its an Israeli self defense, no matter your size strength or weight you can defend yourself and against multiple opponents if need, im only 5,8 and have learned krav maga form an Israeli commando,i am not scared of anyone because it gives you confidence, its all about speed, technique and mind set. Its called krav maga, check it out, i think there is some youtube videos

Krav maga is all about mind set, they learn how to defend themselves in any situation, knive, gun  stick, multiple opponents, its all bio-mechanics , theres no fancy c**p, its get in, get out, stay safe

Heres one from some people i know, they are 10+ years learning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNkU9zyHu... so dont go by what they are doing, they are doing advanced things

Just to add krav maga is a mix of jujitsu, judo, shudokan Karate, and mau-tai

Answer 2

kick boxing

Answer 3

I would suggest any of the following; Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Muay Thai, Kali, or Wing Chun.  You might be surprised to learn, that the highly effective trapping, punching, and kicking art of Wing Chun was developed by a Chinese woman, a Buddhist nun named Wing Chun.  

Answer 4

The art isn't going to matter.  The instructor will matter.  A good self-defense instructor is not going be limited by one art form anyway.

Go to several schools and interview the instructors.  Take a self-defense course at the Y and see if the instructor teaches somewhere locally.

Answer 5

I would suggest Taekwondo given by an ATA certified instructor. You can check out them online as well at:

https://secure.ataonline.com/about/

They are amazing!

Answer 6

all martial arts will teach you self defence. just look what is close to you and what you can afford. Almost all the women i know who do martial arts do tae kwon do or karate.

Answer 7

Jujitsu.

Its pretty straightforward. You learn how to use leverage, balance, momentum, and human anatomy to your advantage.  Its used alot by law enforcement and the military.

Answer 8

i would say tae kwon do.. it doesn't require that you be really close to the person and it mostly focuses on using your legs by kicking.

Answer 9

If you want quick results, things like FAST Defense (http://www.fastdefense.com) will expose you to high stress encounters to help you effectively manage your adrenaline response to turn it into powerful self-defense. I don't like that it takes on a fairly typical "Don't! Stop! Hand's off!" self-defense strategy, but being able to kick and punch full force against an attacker when you have no prior training can be good.

Krav Maga can be great, and we did a lot of simulated training scenarios when I was doing it for handling things like muggings, bar fights, etc. It can be pretty intense.

If you're looking for something long term, any martial art is good given two things: a quality instructor that you get along with, and your willingness to learn. Remember that sport and self-defense are not the same thing. Many martial arts focus on training for competitions in which there are rules. Others are more into the "martial dance" aspect of things (-many- Kung Fu schools are this way). Further, there are martial arts, then there are fighting methods (Krav Maga and some forms of Kali/Escrima/Arnis are like this).

Just throwing it out there, but Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu (my current love interest) can be great for self-defense training and self-confidence boosting. It's not about competition, and there are a lot of nutters out there who get pretty into the "I'm a ninja! FEEEEEEAAAAR MEEEEE" BS, but the training is great, ranging from striking, throws, locks, groundfighting, etc to traditional, modern, and improvised weapons. It's funny learning how you can tie someone up with a stick and bludgeon them with a rope (no, I didn't get those backwards).

Good luck, and train hard!

Answer 10

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, strength is not required and you learn hot to manipulate you opponent. If you have a small frame your going to enjoy using your leverage to take down people twice your size XD

Answer 11

I say you try wing chun or jeet kune do. Jeet kune do is more realistic, but wing chun is more classical kung- fu. Jeet kune Do was made by bruce lee and he put wing chun in jeet kune do. Bruce lee learned  wing chun first, but wanted to make it more realistic in real life combat so he add different arts like boxing, judo, jujitsu etc. Anyways both are great arts.

Answer 12

Any Martial Art builds self confidence and gets the job done, but it only happens when you put in the EFFORT.

I do Wing Chun and this is a Chinese art of Southern Kung Fu. It was made for smaller people to defeat bigger ones and it was created by a girl and just like yoga was for guys, Wing Chun is for girls, no I'm not advertising my art to show off because honestly if you were a tall big guy i wouldn't go advertising, but Wing Chun is made for small statures such as you. If you live in or near Orange County we have one of the 2 best Wing Chun schools in California, just a suggestion.

But then again, just like there's more fish in the sea, there's more arts to look forward to, some will fit you, some wont, but it all comes down to how you interpret your art.

Good luck!

Answer 13

There are many styles that are very good for self defense, but to be completely honest for a young woman I would suggest Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I have been an assistant instructor (AKA beat up dummy) for several self defense courses and 2 rape prevention courses with our local police department and a good portion of the rape prevention course was Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The way that they teach the guard and the usage of control & submissions from the guard seemed ideally suited to me. I only did BJJ for a short time and to be completely honest I preferred the time I spent doing Bushindo Japanese Jiu Jitsu, but I think that was more a matter of the schools. For a woman though and particularly in a rape type setting I think BJJ would be the best bet. So much so that I have my fourteen year old daughter doing BJJ right now. I have taught her a good bit of self defense myself and feel pretty safe for her, but I'd rather be more safe and she enjoys it.

Like I said there are several others that would do nicely; Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, Japanese Jiu Jitsu, I think any of these and many others depending on the school.  

Answer 14

2 be honest there's no ONE ART. I'd advise U to look into the philosophy of Bruce Lee, or watch this interview perhaps:

http://watch-movies.net/movies/bruce_lee...

some key stuff in there.

What U've gorra do is learn from everywhere, take what's useful n discard the rest. But obviously it's still better to learn a martial art that more practical the a tip-tap sport. (There's more useful stuff n less nonsense)

I would advise U not to fall in2 the trap of Tae Kwon Do, Kickboxing n most styles of karate at Ur level. Although on Ur way U can check these styles out. 4 now a good starting point would be...get something fairly simple and effective. I would extremely recommend Thai Boxing/Muay Thai. See in simple terms theres more then 1 aspect to a fight.

2 places a fight happens. 1 STANDING, 2 GROUND

2 types of fighting:  1 STRIKING, 2 GRAPPLING

So probably the best n most complete stand-up/striking system out there ESPECIALLY FOR A BEGINNER is ThaiBoxing

Its limited in groundwork, but does a BRILLIANT JOB in stopping the fight from getting there. The striking the overall best for when it comes to stand-up (the punches are the same from as western boxing, U can add a few fun variations). Also the striking is also very effective when Ur on the ground, top or bottom. And there's a level of grappling even in the stand up.

To be the best grappler and ground fighter...Id say submission fighting (usually from an mma background). It takes ju-jitsu n other ground systems and just makes them work that bit better.

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) IS the most realistic kind of fighting U'll get BUT the reason I didn't recomend that straight away is because to be the best type of MMA fighter U gorra be good in all aspects. And SOME MMA schools use more of a kickboxing approach to the stand-up etc. So mixed martial arts are good, if Ur mixing the right arts. So it's better to learn the cream of the crop, n then go to mixing. Thai-Boxing 1st (later aided with a touch of western boxing). Submission fighting 2nd. N remember, TECHNIQUE wins over speed, size, strength, etc n as U get deadlier U'll later see how U put Ur own personality in Ur fight n make it work for U.

I kno there's allot I said but it is all important. See fighting is simple and easy, if done right. If Uv got any question or need any futher guidance drop me an e-mail or something x

Hope I helped