Martial Arts World

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1. choosing a Martial Art is about personal choice. What is it that YOU want to get out of studying Martial Arts for YOUR OWN PERSONAL BENEFIT? No one here can tell you which one is going to be right for you. there isn't a "best" Martial Art. Only YOU can make the decision about which one is best for YOU and what you want to get out of studying Martial arts for your personal benefit.

   more confidence, fitness, sport, a hobby, self defense, perhaps it's for personal enrichment (ie becoming a better person through learning discipline and respect) or enlightenment?

   each person who studies Martial Art has to figure out for themselves what they want out of the discipline they choose, no one can tell them which discipline will work for them.

   What many people fail to realize about Martial Arts is that there isn't a particular "brand" that is a "best fit".

   There IS NOT a Martial Art that works for people with SPECIFIC body characteristics (height, weight, body type, gender, etc.)

   Because the fact is that when people ask "what's a good Martial Art for me to learn?" or “what’s the “best” Martial Art to learn” has 2 major problems:

   1st: these questions just beg for the majority of people here to start blurting out names of disciplines that are probably not even available in your area.

   2nd: Just because they recommend a Martial Art that they may (or worse MAY NOT) have studied and it just happened to become THEIR favorite Martial Art because they’re interested in studying it or it worked for them doesn't mean that it's going to work for you or that you’ll find it interesting.

   the only thing you really can do is this:

   First of all, what YOU need to do is research local schools by looking in the phone book or internet search engine to find out if there ARE any Martial Arts schools in your area.

   Second, if you can find at least 3 schools that interest you, watch a few classes at each one and decide which one out of those 3 schools that interested you the most.

   Third, the next thing you should do is find out if they have some trial classes (up to a weeks worth to help you make a decision, hopefully without being hassled to join or sign a contract to join the class), and if you find that you like the school, then enroll in the class.

   You just need to find a Martial Arts School that will provide a safe, friendly, "family like" environment for you and that the instructor(s) are going to help you become the best Martial Artist that you can become.

   The discipline you may wind up studying DOESN'T MATTER because there is NO discipline that is better than another, because they ALL have their strengths AND weaknesses so therefore not one single discipline is better than another, so it comes down to the individual and his or her own training ethics to really determine how good he or she has learned the discipline they have chosen. If one has a good training ethic, then one can become a good Martial Artist, but if one has a poor training ethic and does not train on a regular basis, then they will be a poor Martial Artist; the discipline is only as good as the individual who uses it.

   What matters is that you feel comfortable in the classes (and like the classes) and feel comfortable that the instructor (and the instructor's TEACHING style and not the discipline itself) can properly teach you self defense without the "smoke and mirrors" .

   The instructor should also like to do it more for the teaching aspect rather than the "making money" which it is a business to make money after all; but it should not be the only reason for teaching the discipline.

   There IS NO "best" Martial Art to speak of, and no one here is an expert on EVERY discipline to rate each individual discipline and tell you which one is the "best".

   The principles of each Martial Art are similar to each other, but they are taught in different ways by different people so they will ly vary from discipline to discipline.

   good luck in finding a good school to study at.
   References :
   15yr student and assistant Martial Arts instructor, Tang Soo Do and Hapkido

   1. quiksilver8676 on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

2. Jonathan, add to your question a list of styles in your local area. then we can start by describing the ones that are relevant for you.

   if you dont, I would suggest Muay Thai. you are at a good age, and it would be good to start off right and with honest moves that work, and not with a McDojo that gives you fancy that will not save you.
   References :

   2. SAINT G on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

3. The FIRST thing you need to do is find out which martial arts are taught in your area! This will narrow your choices quite a bit.

   Next you visit each dojo, talk to the sensei about the martial art that s/he teaches and see if you can take a free class or two.

   Once you have an idea what the local schools attempt to teach, you pick the best fit for yourself.
   References :

   3. David N on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

4. Do your best, and what ever style you choose endorse 100% of your focus. All styles share a common factor or foundation, some styles emphasize upon majority defense or offense. You are the only person that can choose your self character, and what you would really enjoy and love to study will make you a better competitor in martial arts. As for me, I learned Judo and Kung-Fu at 7-10 years old, and 11 yrs old I studied Ju Jitsu, and Finally I studied Kempo and Shito Ryu Karate for one stike blows and won 15 years of tournaments. My lesson to you is "Never Give Up" and always try your best.
   References :
   30 years Martial Artist and Champion

   4. kikaida42 on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

5. if you have a great body, i'd just go into modeling.

   Otherwise, figure out what you like, do you want to join competitions…just learn to defend yourself…….maybe a more spiritual look into it. Do you prefer wrestling or boxing????

   Then yeah, look through this board…..lots of striking / grappling debates and you'll find out what styles are what.

   Then peep out the class. I'd say any art can be good, your motivation plays a lot into it, but the quality of the instructor matters a lot. Without any real expereince you shoudl be able to eye out if the instructor is any good.
   References :

   5. Bruce K on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

6. A good well rounded style would be freestyle Karate.You will learn stand up,ground,grappling and weapons.What a lot of people don't understand is that freestyle Karate is about practical street defence not who can kick the highest or punch a pad the hardest.It's definitely not a sport martial art like TKD or BJJ.The motto of my style is the best of everything in progression.Basically that means we don't care where the technique comes from we improve it and integrate it into our style while still maintaining tradition as do most freestyle Karate's.
   The hardest thing is finding a good experienced instructor.I would recommend Bushi Kai or Zen Do Kai, but if your not in Australia or New Zealand you may have some difficulty finding some one who teaches these styles.These styles also usually have separate classes available to everyone in Muay Thai and BJJ/Submission/Shoot wrestling.If you can't find one of these i would suggest Kempo or Enshin or another freestyle Karate.
   http://www.zendokai.com.au/countries2/USA/index.htm
   References :

   6. BUSHIDO on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

7. Karate: probably the most popular, many different sub categories. Japanese/Okinawan in nature, lots of tournaments, rich in tradition and form. Deals in the "stand up" phase of a conflict, striking. Broken into many belts to give constant feel of improvement. Shotokan, Shito-ryu, Gojo-ryu are a few of the styles. Straight forward.

   Aikido: Japanese in nature, more with control, balance, falling, rolling. Deals with the second phase of conflict, when one person has ahold of another. Tourneys available, although not quite as many as karate. Steven Segal's #1 source of moves.

   Taekwondo: Korean in nature, heavily focused on sparring and physical conflict. Breaking boards/bricks etc. is usually involved. Probably the most commonly practiced, and easiest to find tournaments.

   Kenpo: americanized karate, deals with strikes//blows, light on tradition and form, considered "cheap" by traditionalist. Lots of tourneys.

   Judo: Somewhere between the second and last phases of conflict: grappling/groundfighting. Also rolls, throws, and tumbling involved. Not sure on tourney…

   Jujitsu: ground fighting, generally Brazilian in nature, not as many tourneys, but they're there. Fewer belts compared to the rest.

   Wing-Chun/kung fu: Chinese in nature, think jet li flying through the air. Flashy circular moves, this is probably the most visually stunning of them all.

   Mai-Tai: kick boxing, indian in nature, hard core practitioners go for hours smashing shins into trees to build a good striking blocking surface… the set back is it keeps you from walkin' right after about 27. Straight forward, first phase of conflict. Short arms (elbows, mostly) and long legs (tons of kicks and using legs to block) unsure of tourney possiblities.

   Kobudo: Okinawan general weapons. Includes: tonfa, bo, jo, eku(my favorite), sai, and a few more. Deals more in form than practice fighting, and in my experience usualy supplements a traditional karate. As Funakoshi put it, kobudo and karated are two spokes of a wheel that rolls towards improvement.

   Tai-chi: non competitive, but nice for mental health, balance, and strength.

   My best advice is to look around town and visit several places first. Most should let you participate in a class or two for free, just wear some sweats or something loose. Sometimes the teacher can be more important than the actual art as to your success at it.

   You also need to pick a sport that fits your muscle types, fast works well for karate, while slower and stronger would fit aikido/jujitsu better.

   I would strongly recommend a traditional form, one that has more emphasis on form than practice, especially for starters. All the karate competitions that I've been to have competitions in forms (kata) and fighting (kumite) and occaisionaly weapons (kobudo).

   I'm sure I left out some, just take a look around your area.
   References :
   At 16, I started with karate, (and used it to substitiue for my high school atheletics credit,) a traditional Shito-ryu, quit when I moved a year later.

   In college, I was a member of the karate club for 3 years, Shotokan style. While there, I also picked up several weapons from kobudo, some jujitsu, about 1/2 the short form of tai-chi, and some aikido. Currently non practicing– moved again and haven't found a place I really like.

   7. brothergoosetg on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

8. scroll back you will get alot of answers
   if you would like to see San Sao go to
   http://www.krackedskullz.com
   free and fun
   References :

   8. SanSooJitsuMan on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am

9. You need to go check out a few different Dojo's and talk to their Sensei and watch a couple of workouts and see if that is what your looking for.Jump in and train with the class and see what works for you.
   References :

   9. Steven on November 30th, 1999 at 12:00 am