Whats you Favorite Martial Art and Why

I actually asked this to a high degree black belt in hapkido. Hapkido is a korean fighting method that is a balance of hard (ie, tae kwon do-korean) and soft (ie, aikido-japanese) arts. It is more offensive than say aikido employing strikes as well as throws and holds. I thought that he would endorse that method as he has authored several books on hapkido (as well as combat fighting techniques for the military; knife and hand-to-hand). Surprisingly he told me that if you had to learn just one martial art for self defense that it should be wrestling. He said that most street fights end up on the ground in less than 10 secs and mastery of wrestling techniques will make the difference between winning and losing.

I like Guardian Kempo. You have to learn two years of Guardian Karate, Guardian Jujitsu, and Guarding Kobujitsu to even enroll in the Kempo classes at my dojo. The Guardian Kempo system is a fluid combination of jujitsu, karate, and kobujitsu (weapons), with additional fighting skills gleaned from various other disciplines: Aikido, street fighting, etc. The system also requires reading 20 books a year (certain are required reading and some are books you select yourself), plus watching martial arts videos from other systems and writing papers about said books and videos. Additionally, you are required to compete in at least one independent, cross-platform competition and place in the top three in your division in order to be earn your first black belt.

There are weekly lectures about life-skills and lively discussions application of martial arts principles to everyday life decisions. You are required to demonstrate good character in your everyday life and document your good deeds daily. They call it their "Black Belt in Life" program.

It is the most encompassing, demanding, well-rounded and yet comprehensive program I have ever heard of.

I like kenpo. great roots that style has. lots of shaolin influence. lots of chan quan (long fist) can be made out in the style of boxing kenpo uses.

The hopkido the other poster was talking about is also a kick ass art. studied that for a while. lots of chin na (kung fu version of locks, throws and grappling) involved in the hopkido art.

pex is dead on with the kung fu comment.

people don't understand that real kung fu would almost never be seen in a match because it's all pretty much maiming and or lethal strikes to nerve points joints etc. the match would be over real quick and the kung fu fighter probably sued into oblivion by the other fighter for the injuries incurred.

real kung fu isn't the stuff you see on tv. Real kung fu especially shaolin methods have a real strong foundation in chi gong. the power is in your stances. firm contact always with the ground. your whole body uses the leverage of the ground and acts like a single harmonized unit. the whole body is in motion when you strike. the power one can develop when doing real kung fu is amazing. a lot of people see dilluted forms of kung fu and notice that the strikes have no power in tight up close positions. but that is not the case with real kung fu. you are using a lot of leverage with your body and your feet pushing against the ground in the strikes. your whole body goes into it. think mike tysons famous upper cut. the best part is the fighting style is continuous if the initial strike fails. well every inch of the body is a weapon and the forearm or wrist or elbow or shoulder with work too. in real kung fu the punch is not thrown and if missed the fist is not retracted it just modifies it's strike to hit the target with another part of the fist or body.

everybody knows that the more space you have to swing an object the more power you can generate. even little kids know this. to hit a ball hard with a bat the swing has to cover a lot of distance to develop power. if you want to shoulder check a guy in hockey you know that you need to get back a few feet to develop the power needed to slam that guy just right. well direct straight line strikes are like this. lets face it the arm isn't long and developing real power in your strike won't happen if you just use your upper body. kung fu has a principle called reeling the silk. it's in reference to how people reel silk in a circle. coiling circular movements like dragon style strikes and stances allow the body to move much farther while not moving from your stance to develop power. just like when you use a golf club you really want to torque the club starting from far behind you to drive the ball and develop power. that fluffy twisted leg and bodys movements you see in kung fu are really just taking advantage of this principle.

The weird thing about kung fu is that it looks simply pretty with useless moves but a real sifu will be able to show you the application of the moves. the basic snake posture in the 18 lohan movements looks pretty but then you realize that the blow shatters the guys arm drags the victim into you and then you shatter his entire knee basically putting your entire body weight while doing the basic snake position on said shattered knee. from there you can easily flip the guy onto the ground and start wailing on their head or face. the move takes under a second to do. a lot of damage for such simplicity too. but looks can be deceiving. the move looks like it's for tradition or show but in application very brutal.

tiger is a nasty art too. tons of external power lots of full body twisting motions and half the punches go to the guys armpit while you use his other arm to grab and drag the opponent close to you where you can basically maim the hell out of them.

snake would be pretty immoral to use in any mma match as all the strikes are nerve acupressure points and half the strikes target the nerves responsible for the cardiac pulse. dim mak is some real stuff.

reply to post by runetang


i'm an mma fanboy and no, not every fighter trains in a traditional martial art as well. mma is as close to the real thing you can get.

i would rather have a solid base in greco/folk/catch wrestling than in tae kwon do.

catch wrestling is my favorite but for the real world imo the best art would be muay thai.

It doesn't matter which martial art that one studies. They are a way of life. They are determined by the individual. Skill, stamina, technique, strength, power, speed, etc. All these aspects have an effect to all that trains. I have trained in the arts since childhood. Quigong is excellent for developing energy flow. Kung-Fu is a good all aroung complete art. Taekwondo is great for long range kicking. Muai Thai(Thaiboxing) is great for in-fighting, Jujitsu is great for submissions, Chin-na is great for joint locks, breaks, etc. There are so many out there. To be a complete martial art, one has to know striking(Kicks, punches, etc.), in-fighting(Knees, elbows, joint locks, etc.), and grappling(Submissions, chokes, etc.) I have found that the Israeli martial art Krav Maga is one of the best reality-based arts out there. Hard-core, down to the point, end it quick mind-set. Once again, it all depends on the individual...

-Ryuchad-

Jeet Kune Do. Bruce Lee's philosophy of using what works seems extremely sensible and practical.

Be like water my friend.

Ju-Jitsu since I studied it for over a decade and was the intermediate champion of Great Britain at 19. (I'm now 28 and out of that racket due to injury but it got me out of some scrapes in the past!)

Th8nker

yep jkd is pretty cool. it's not a martial art though. i see a lot of places advertising that they teach jkd kung fu. jkd is a philosophy. resinviens got it right. kudos for him for knowing the difference.

Bruce lee studied. wing chung. a centerline style of kung fu. when you look into the tao of jkd you see a lot of wing chung techniques that he learned as a little kid. same for the green hornet and his movies too.

whas interesting about this philosophy is that it's basically the same philosophy that most high level masters of martial arts develop. interesting that bruce lee came to that realization so soon in his studies. even a shaolin warrior monk will tell you to learn other styles and to always be thinking about mr murphy. they are also correct in their stance that one should major in one certain style and then use the other styles to compliment their main style.

the dude who studies 15 thousand things but never masters a single one is not powerful in what they do. the guy who gets real good at one style and then mixes his a little with another style is someone who's got real power.

Originally posted by titorite
Is there a martial artform that involves the use of guns? I had first seen the idea purposed in the movie Equilibrium and I thought to myself, "WOW if ever their were a martial artform I wanted to learn, THAT would be the one.

Hojuku is the Japanese art of the long rifle. and it works for me

Dude! Krav Maga! its the best style of no holds barred fighting. its the simplest most deadly martial arts in my opinion a person with no experience at all can pick up some pretty advanced take down moves within an hour or so.

If one is faced my multiple opponents or needs to take out your oponent in the quickest way possible Krav Maga is the best. The israli military uses it as thier premiere fighting style.

I'll learn which ever martial arts allows me to dodge bullets and arrows.
Some martial arts are just that ARTS, not much good for real combat, I had this Karate student pick a fight with me about 16 years ago, He screamed, jumped into a T stance, then collapsed as I hit him with a big heavy glass ashtray.................. The object of unarmed combat in a survival siutation is to kill or be killed, therefore I adopt the old British army adage of if you can hit em as hard as you can from behind, then hit em again to make them stay down. I would respectfully suggest the wisest approach would be to cherry pick bit from various martial arts that suit your own style of fighting best. Thats what the SAS did.

[edit on 5-12-2008 by Northern Raider]

reply to post by deathpoet69


I would recommend AIKIDO.....

It will help you realize that height doesn't matter.

I agree. I studied aikido and hopkido for a while and I was able to toss 225lb men on their back pretty easy. And I'm 5-3 maybe 5-4.

You dont kneed to know any form of martial arts to survive a fight. Just be friends with a Ninja and keep him close to you at all times.

You said it!!! A personal ninja friend to go everywhere with you will work wonders. also, you can post him near your car and he can take care of the meter maid when they show up.

Or even better in this economy and hard times.
Repo man comes for my car in the middle of the night, ninja hops out of tree saying.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Just would be weird to wake up from time to time with said ninja hovering over you and quickly hiding his tanto.

me "What are you doing!!!" sort of concerned voice, sorta confused

Ninja friend "uuhhh...nothing, nothing. go back to sleep, all be in the next room, go back to sleep."

That is the trying part about having a ninja with you everywhere you go.

Was he scheming or practicing, or did he see a spider crawling on me that he was going to "take care of?"

Originally posted by chaostheoryd
I personally love Krav Maga and would like to visit Israel within a few years to train if possible. What I like about it is the fact your trained to fight with in the smallest of enclosures to defend yourself.

Peace

km is just sloppy wing chun,came through mogolia to easten europe and from there to isreal.

When I was a younger man I studied several traditional, as well as non traditional ( called freesryle back then) martial arts... hence the nickname " Ninja".

I started with Sim-Do, a militarized Korean MA developed in tyhe early 40's by the Dir Gen of Korea and taught to the armed forces.
I also studied BJJ, Kendo, Shotokan, and even boxed a bit.

Today's Mixed Martial Arts scene has shown which techniques from different styles actually work in combat.


There is no "one best Martial Art".
Martial arts training is simply learning to use tools and strategy.

Each system has flaws, each system has it's strong points.
a true master can take the techs that work and use them and leave the techs that don't behind.

Take Tae Kwod Do

here's an example anyone who has trained ..say... tkd will Recognize:

.high roundhouse kick to head.. teaches you to keep hand up as guard.
This is flawed.
Sim-Do teaches you to drop the lead hand to block the groin which is very clearly exposed in the TKD tech.
Sim-do however, ignores ground fighting for the most part, and leaves you in an awkeard position to shoot or to take your opponent down.

The reasons?
TKD is now an olympic sport with rules that do not allow groin strikes, etc, so no need to train a counter for them.

Sim Do is militarized, and used to train hand to hand combat. In a real war, when using hand-to-hand techniques...falling to the ground during battle usually means you're dead.




If someone is interested in starting to learn, I would recommend Brizillian Ju Jistu.
It was developed to WORK. Developed to let a smaller, weaker man take out a larger stronger opponent.

If you are in High school or college, by all means ....Wrestle.
Its a great base, and you can learn from professional coaches for free.
Then find a BJJ coach and pay for good lessons.

Wrestling Teaches you to take down and control...but it doesnt teach you how to fight off your back.

The old saying goes: "What do wrestlers and turtles have in common? Flip them both on their backs and they are helpless."

reply to post by OuttaHere




THIS^^
Modified TMA styles can be very effective.

Take the best techs from a traditional art like Kempo, take out the silliness and stuff that doesnt work, keep what does work, and incorporate working techs from other styles.

This is the true meaning or mixed martial arts.


Even Bruce Lee was all about mixing styles and using what works.
JKD has no "Traditional stances" or predisposed techniques.

It eliminated excessive movement and actions, making Bruce's own style a fluid first example of a mixed martial art.

Even in one of his movies, ( enter the dragon I think..) he is seen wearing old MMA style speedos, kempo gloves with fingers, Pancrase style boots, and pulling off a ( very sloppy) takedown and armbar

reply to post by _Heretic


Greco roman, Stay on your feet keep them dominated. It's my favorite because I'm an ametuer and It still keeps me from getting my head kicked in from gangs of people.
When your feet are on the ground people just hesitate to jump in, when fighting someone outside the octagon rolling around on the pavement isn't viable.