I have always wanted to learn a martial art. Now that I’m out of college and settled for the moment, I feel like I finally have the time to take classes. Only issue? I’m not sure which type of class to take. I don’t know much about the different styles of marital arts -e.g. karate, tae kwon do, etc. Any information would be helpful. Thank you!
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That is a tough question to answer. In the end, it comes down to your personal end-goals.
If your goal is self defense, most martial arts will do just fine. I would recommend MMA or possibly jiu-jitsu. They are arguably the most practical all-round, no matter where you live, these would be useful to you. However, some dojos that teach karate are also very good; if available, I might recommend kenpo (or kempo; both are the same thing) karate. It provides a good means of self defense like MMA and jiu-jitsu while also giving you a foundation rooted in traditional forms (or kata). These kata might seem pointless, because they are “fights against invisible attackers,” but trust me; they help very much in that they build muscle memory, so you can react instantaneously to a situation that requires action. In a fight, thinking is not what you want to do. However, I will admit that most karate dojos do not train their students as rigorously as MMA clubs do. This is simply because in karate, instead of being a purely fighting sport, it is actually an art, and there are some things that you just have to suck up and learn, like the kata, that don’t help until you practice them over and over many many years. But if available, I would absolutely recommend Muy Thai, which is in my opinion, the most brutal of the martial arts. Its practitioners are trained to kick with as much power as those in tae kwan do, while they also incorporate hand strikes such as those in karate. It is an absolutely deadly martial art for self defense, BUT learning and mastering it is a long and arduous process that involves a lot of pain (at a proper dojo, that is). The end results are worth it, but you ought to think it through.
In a fight between a mixed martial artist, a properly trained karate black belt, and a properly trained muy thai practitioner, I would put my money on the muy thai artist, and then the karateka (practitioner of karate), and last would be the mixed martial artist. However, the road to being a properly trained, fully fledged practitioner of karate or muy thai is much longer than that of MMA. Think it through, once again.
If your goal is fitness or entertainment, I would say any martial art would suffice. But if your goals are just fitness and entertainment, then I advise against “hardcore” martial arts such as muy thai.
People say that all martial arts are useful, and all are practical in a fight, but believe me; it’s not true. The more traditional martial arts (those even more so than karate) like kung fu, are not nearly so practical in this day and age. However, any martial art you study in a proper dojo would be beneficial. Whatever you chose, make sure the dojo you decide with is not what they call a McDojo, a dojo that is so modernized that it’s aim is more for financial gain than training its students. Watch out for those…
The only martial art I would really advise against (for an all-round purpose of fitness, self defense, and entertainment) is Tae Kwan Do, though it is more modern. And this is not because it is a bad martial art. It does improve fitness, it does provide self defense, BUT I personally feel that in most dojos, most of the techniques taught are not nearly so practical in a fight as those in other martial arts. The level of fitness you attain takes a bit too long to get to, and that fitness is too localized in certain parts of the body. There are those that would say otherwise, and they would be right, with regard to very few dojos. The majority are not like these.
I wish you the very best in your studies in the disciplines of martial arts; whichever you choose, good luck, and have fun! 🙂
Cheers,
Jack M.
Source(s): 3rd Dan Kenpo Karate
Sanda Kung Fu
2nd Dan Tae Kwan Do
Currently studying Shotokan Karate
Experience in Muy Thai
Here we go-
Before I go into each style, each school is different- you will have to look around in your area and decide which school(s) are best.
-Stand up fighting arts-
The first martial art I will go into is the one I practice, Kempo. Kempo is the combination of Karate, Kung fu, and in some styles, some form of grappling. So, to spare time, I’ll just explain karate and kung fu. Karate means empty hand. They are usually very serious, with powerful fight ending techniques. They use closed fists, its a hard style. Few weapons are taught. In kung fu (which means hard work and experience or something) they use open hand, softer blocks, animal styles, and weapons. Both as a combination are better than the two separate. Thats why I do kempo.
Muy thai- A very hard-core Cambodian boxing style. The style is known as “Art of the Eight Limbs) because they use feet, fists, knees, and elbows (really they should use their head for headbutts 😉 , but no style is complete). A very good style, and from what I’ve heard good for staying in shape.
Taekwondo- There are two forms of Taekwondo, Olympic (which is a sport, I don’t recommend wasting your time) and the rapidly disappearing Traditional. Taekwondo is mainly kicks. They do board breaking (awesome) self defense (alright) forms (eh. You might like them) kicks (YEA!) and basics (important but boring). Not as many hand strikes are used, but they still expect you to break boards with them -_-. But don’t get me wrong, Traditional Taekwondo is still good, they have reasons for everything (ex. In korea is mountain contoury, thats the reason for all the flying kicks). Its really up to you.
Boxing- Do I really need to explain this one? Opposite of Taekwondo, only fists.
Kick boxing- A very good conditioning and competition style that, surprisingly, uses kicks too!
Krav maga- The Israeli, very good and apply-able self defense style. Actually probably best for self defense.
Ninjitsu- lets face it, we all want to be ninjas, but the truth is, ninjas where only assassins during the federal japan age that everyone spread rumors about, having mystical powers, jumping 20 feet or whatever. The truth is, all those flips and stuff are just for movies that got famous in the 80’s and unless you are going to be an assassin then this style isn’t for you. But if you want to learn flips and cool stuff, do the sport parkour.
-Grappling-
Judo- A good effective style for throws and submissions, but personally I like BJJ better.
Brazilian Juijistu (BJJ): BJJ was made famous by the MMA fighter Royce Gracie. It is a very efficient style, and it will insure you win ground fighting on the street (masters can submit/choke out 3-4 people at once, with their legs!) I plan to do it once I get a well paying job and can afford it ( the only Con is that it can be pricey).
Basically, if you want to be a mixed martial artist, don’t join that hugging **** they do in MMA classes. Learn a stand up (muy thai, karate, exc.) fighting art along with a grappling art (BJJ, Judo) and then buy the Tome of Jet Kune Do, by yours truly, Bruce Lee. Don’t learn Jet Kune Do, its like…. forgive me if I compare it to religion, but its like church- if your a true christian, you don’t need to go to church. If your a true martial artist, you don’t need to do jet kune do, just combine the styles you know for the best martial arts arsenal. GOOD LUCK!
Source(s): I’ve researched alot of styles. 3 years in kempo, and time in Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan, and Freestyle Karate.
Well you should find what interests you, and what’s in your area. There’s many different styles some with focus on certain aspects like boxing or Taekwondo. There’s also grappling styles like Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu which grapples on the ground, Judo which is throws, takes downs, and some ground work that is in BJJ, and Aikido, which is intercepting an attack and refocusing your opponents energy. Maybe you want a traditional system like Karate, Taekwondo, or Hapkido. There’s so many different styles you should look into what interests you specifically
Also look out for mcdojos.