Any Martial Arts practicioners?

[Daemoniac]

I've been looking into getting back into martial arts again, and figured id see if there are many other people on here that do

I tried doing Judo when i was a little younger, but i never coped too well with all the rolls etc.. and moved to a 'traditional' style Karate dojo (Go Kan Ryu) with a really great Sensei until i moved to the Gold Coast. Tried another dojo up here, but it was terrible and the class sizes were too big, and teaching style just did not agree with me, so i left.

Took up Ninjutsu with Wayne Roy as the Sensei in Brisbane for ages, which, honestly, was one of the best experiences of my life. Its called 'ninjutsu', and while it does incorporate a large degree of 'ninjutsu' (Taijutsu) training, it is impressively modernised to deal with modern situations etc.. with short, brutal efficiancy.

The whole concept agreed with me, and i really wish it wasn't so difficult to get up there for the lessons

This is what i was doing: Ninjutsu Australia - Welcome To Ninjutsu....

Any other martial artists?

 

[Tiger]

Okinawan karate for (Shotokan) 14 years now, pretty much daily! Its a way of life.

 

[Daemoniac]

^ Nice. Unfortunately the most i could do mine was twice weekly for 2 hour sessions What's Shotokan actually like? I've heard of it before, and remember it sounding interesting.

 

[jymellis]

i boxed for a number of years. and i was a skatefag in a redneck midwest town in the 80s and 90s.

 

[ShadyDavey]

Taekwon-do and a couple of different Kung-fu styles up to the time I was 18 or so - Judo before that. At 18 I picked up the guitar and its been downhill since ;p

 

[Daemoniac]

It's interesting stuff Martial Arts, and fighting in general. Just a whole different world.

 

[auxioluck]

Thaiboxing here.

I did Tae-Kwon-Do for about a year, lived with a 4th level black belt in TKD...he taught me a little Judo and Jeet Kune Do as well. But Thaiboxing is where my heart stays.

 

[Daemoniac]

Very nice. My cousin in Melbourne did TKD for 5 years, got his black belt, and has now moved to Capoeira :holyshitflip:

So, he can kick people off their horses, and dance...

I really want to go back to the Ninjutsu classes I loved the concept of it, and the way it was taught. Great stuff.

 

[progmetaldan]

I've been thinking about getting into something, mainly for fitness, but also for being able to deal with that unexpected situation...

However I'm 19, and never done any before, is this considered too old to start out? Also I've got slightly impaired movement of my right shoulder...

There's a place near where I work called Street Defense Tactics ww.sdtactics.com.au and they mainly work off Krav Maga, as well as a combination of stuff which looks rather interesting, and is geared towards real life situations rather than competition, anyone had any experience with this kind of thing?

 

[Daemoniac]

My Ninjutsu class was geared towards actual situations and actual defense more so than fitness, and generally with the kind of blunt, efficient styles it shouldn't matter too much if your shoulder is a bit out. Just let them know whats up. My experience with that kind of Martial Art is that complete flexibility isnt needed, as most kicks that hit over a certain height are redundant, the time i did the class i never had to kick over belly height and there wasn't too much flexibility needed in your shoulder.

Also, 19 isnt too late at all

 

[Jachop]

When I was a kid I took Ju-jiutsu. In the end, I found it a bit.. I dunno, soft maybe? But then again, I never really left the kids' class.

More recently I've tried Wushu for half a year. It was pretty awesome! We started out with Changquan. I find it quite an cool art form, although drunken-style naturally is the most awesome of schools. (anyone know the chinese name for that style of wushu btw?).

I don't know why the hell I quit. I'm stiff as a rake now.

 

[ShadyDavey]

19 is fine, and a lot of the British Police syllabus is based on Krav - its also popular in HMF for exactly the reasons you want - simple, efficient and adaptable...its also quite "immediate" in that you can use it straight off the bat.

TKD for example - great with some practice but being predominantly kicking techniques (yes, there are a plethora of other ranges employed but its best known for its flowerly kicking) its of doubtful use in the street unless you're very practicsed and that takes time - or you get an instructor who also manages to teach Self-defence and some of the "non sport" applications.

Wing Chun is absolutely hardcore when you've got some experience under your belt but its next to pants until then - the techniques require a lot of effort to polish to the point where people feel comfortable fighting with them.

Best style for fitness and immediacy has to be boxing imo - everything works time and again without any real complications and its...efficient.

Whatever you do, be sure to learn a bit of grappling if you can - most fights start out from 18" or so and rapidly devolve into grappling range where a large, beered-up thug has the distinct advantage.

 

[Daemoniac]

Same happened to me... i stopped dancing, swimming, tennis, and beating people up and all of a sudden my body's seized up and am no longer at all flexible

Best style for fitness and immediacy has to be boxing imo - everything works time and again without any real complications and its...efficient.

It's probably a personal thing, as most boxers are giant, but i never feel like it could be effective, especially seeing as how a whole half of your body (so far as im aware) is ignored... To be efficient you have to be taught a pefect combination of grapples, kicks, and punches, and weapons are a bonus. What we were taught was to escape first and foremost, and then to fight if there were absolutely no other options.

It always gets me how little some otehr Martial Arts are actually about 'self defence'...

 

[AK DRAGON]

19 is not too late to start. I started at 30. I should reach black belt in Jinen Ryu Karate by June.

 

[ShadyDavey]

The thing about boxing is that its hard to beat for taking people out of the fight quickly. Most boxers I know are fitter, faster and stronger than their opponents and those techniques are practicsed time and again to say nothing of the fact that they train to take a punch or two and still deliver some punishment.

You just don't need the extra tools when a competant boxer has the speed, power, and the experience in that range - and the beautiful thing is that with so few techniques the ones that are coming your way come from any angle with absolute conviction - the fitness aspect is of course self explanatory.

Let me give you the perspective from being "rigid" with the styles I have any experience in (I might throw in some thoughts from my old boss who was an Aikido and Wing Chun instructor).

Taekwondo - traditional blocks are total fail against boxing because they're designed to defend against traditional TKD attacks. You can adapt them but you'd better make sure you get it right because he's an expert in punching range and you're at a disadvantage in 90% of confrontations. If you have any ability you can kick his legs to bits but given a fixed (close) range you're in trouble.

Wing Chun. Tricky. Again, you can adapt techniques but my boss never had any luck with "straight" techniques against boxing because of the angles you can exploit. If you can defend effectively then the "straight blast" punches works quite well but its far from certain and you will need to have trained to defend against it.

Judo/Aikido. Game over if you get hold of them - neither is the ideal style to defend against any striking art. A lot of Aikido works but needs to be stripped down and practiced obsessively plus you have to go in with the intent to hurt people. Restraints and locks are of no use in many modern confrontations with drunks etc - and it might just be the UK but if you grapple someone and hold them on the floor then you'd better keep an eye out for his friends "Judasing" you in the back of the head.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's any one "best" art and I would definately agree that some competancy with all ranges/weapons is to be desired (don't pull any sort of weapon in the UK - the courts are very, very eager to prosecute these days) but I would rather fight anyone than a boxer or Thai Boxer.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

I used to do Muy Thai and Brazilian Ju Jitsu at a local MMA gym for about 4-5 months

The stuff you learned there was so much more useful than the crap i learned at a karate place when i was little

 

[Daemoniac]

The thing about boxing is that its hard to beat for taking people out of the fight quickly.

True. The other thing is that they're so fit anyway that any hit they throw is going to be effective, especially against the people that dont do a martial art (most of them...)

Most boxers I know are fitter, faster and stronger than their opponents and those techniques are practicsed time and again to say nothing of the fact that they train to take a punch or two and still deliver some punishment.

Again, true. At my class however, what we were taught was largely basic motor skills put into brutally effective strikes. We focused less on 'technique' and more on repetition and adapting them to ourselves, our limitations, and/or preferences. My point is that im not one for "uber technique"...

You just don't need the extra tools when a competant boxer has the speed, power, and the experience in that range - and the beautiful thing is that with so few techniques the ones that are coming your way come from any angle with absolute conviction - the fitness aspect is of course self explanatory.

The fitness part, yeah. As for the rest though, anyone who is trained for attacks ranged beyond a boxers will have the upper hand (even if only slightly). Take Tae Kwon Do for example, what happens when a flurry of kicks flies their way, or below the belt? What happens when the Ninjutsu guy picks up a stool and smashes him with it? (its one of ways we were taught: Survive. Do anything you can to, if you cant escape). The concept of boxing always gets me as it seems slightly flawedas a form of self defence, but i do acknowledge its efficiency against most people.

Taekwondo - traditional blocks are total fail against boxing because they're designed to defend against traditional TKD attacks. You can adapt them but you'd better make sure you get it right because he's an expert in punching range and you're at a disadvantage in 90% of confrontations. If you have any ability you can kick his legs to bits but given a fixed (close) range you're in trouble.

Yup, blocks are where most martial arts (traditional ones at least) fall apart completely. Other than that though, should an experienced boxer and an experienced Tae Kwon Do practicioner meet anywhere, theyd be on reasonable even ground. The short and brutal nature of boxing is one thing, but the close range at which a Tae Kwon Do guy can still launch a kick to the throat/face/head is pretty incredible.

That being said though, its all about technique, and as such unless you're a black belt then you're screwed.

Wing Chun. Tricky. Again, you can adapt techniques but my boss never had any luck with "straight" techniques against boxing because of the angles you can exploit. If you can defend effectively then the "straight blast" punches works quite well but its far from certain and you will need to have trained to defend against it.

I have little experience with Wing Chun, but i imagine that its still a very traditionally taught art.

Judo/Aikido. Game over if you get hold of them - neither is the ideal style to defend against any striking art. A lot of Aikido works but needs to be stripped down and practiced obsessively plus you have to go in with the intent to hurt people. Restraints and locks are of no use in many modern confrontations with drunks etc - and it might just be the UK but if you grapple someone and hold them on the floor then you'd better keep an eye out for his friends "Judasing" you in the back of the head.

This one i totally agree with. Its too slow, its not focused even slightly on evasion, and grapples unless PERFECTLY executed and tained, are worthless.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's any one "best" art and I would definately agree that some competancy with all ranges/weapons is to be desired (don't pull any sort of weapon in the UK - the courts are very, very eager to prosecute these days) but I would rather fight anyone than a boxer or Thai Boxer.

I wouldn't pull a weapon. The thing about training with weapons, the ones we did at least, was that it teaches you some idea of how to defend yourself from similar weapons (even bare handed). I mean, the way someone comes at you with a bat or a plank of wood will be vaguely similar to the way someone comes at you with a sword or a short staff, the knife is pretty much the same and so on...

I just don't think enough of these places put enough emphasis on real life situations and problems, and put far too much emphasis on ancient techniques that they somehow expect to just 'work' today...

 

[Marv Attaxx]

More recently I've tried Wushu for half a year. It was pretty awesome! We started out with Changquan. I find it quite an cool art form, although drunken-style naturally is the most awesome of schools. (anyone know the chinese name for that style of wushu btw?).

I don't know why the hell I quit. I'm stiff as a rake now.

I did Wu-Shu for about 7 years and I was taught by a real chinese champion
But then she stopped doing courses
I've been practising Judo for about 6 years. And I did some Wing-Tsun, Karate and Wrestling, too.
I loved it but I had to stop because of school...
I may start again soon, though

 

[ElDuderino]

I've been doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for a couple months. I'm digging it so far.

 

[progmetaldan]

Cheers for the advice fellas, I might look into this Krav Maga thing methinks...