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What martial art should one learn?

HungryJoeHungryJoe
edited July 2007 in Suggestions
Suppose one had an inclination to try a martial art. Suppose further that one is 6'2", 230 pounds, is over 40, has some kissin' cousin familiarity with Karate and Systema, and is primarily concerned with feeling cofident in one's ability to put an opponent down fast.

I'm leaning towards Krav Maga. Any thoughts?
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Comments

  • iSuckiSuck
    edited July 2007
    When I was seven, I was in Taekwondo. I have no clue what Krav Maga is. Care to explain?
    Post edited by iSuck on
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    If you want to stop someone attacking you without needing to exert any force on them I suggest kendo, just stopping the sword or long implement in front of someone's faces is usually enough for put them off. The down side of this is that if they don't get the hint you would be in effect beating them with a stick.
  • KieyKiey
    Krav Maga is the martial arts of the Isreali military. All their soldiers learn it.
  • kiwi_birdkiwi_bird
    I would also suggest kendo.
  • HasbroHasbro
    If you were looking to learn something useful in an actual fight, I can recommend nothing more than taking some lessons in jujitsu. While martial arts like Taekwondo and weapons training like kendo are definitely fun and interesting to learn, they are in many ways geared more towards the sporting side of a martial art rather than the practicality. That's not to say that training in either one is entirely useless in a real life situation, far from it in fact. In reality any training at all is better than none. But in that same token, consider how often you are going to be carrying around a sword, or even have the space and maneuverability to pull off a well executed Taekwondo kick. As for Krav Maga, while I've heard of it, I've never seen a school that taught it myself, so I'm not sure how easy it would be to find a good school to learn at.
  • AmettoAmetto
    edited July 2007
    Where are you going to learn Krav Maga?
    Post edited by Ametto on
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    Where are you going to learn Krav Maga?
    There's a place in D.C. that advertises a lot.
  • SymmetrySymmetry
    For a good mix of practicality, flexability, and effectiveness American Jujitsu is pretty good. Its always best to have both a grappling and a long range style at one's command.

    If you're willing to trade just a bit of effectiveness for being much more able to surpress people without actually hurting them then Hupkido is pretty nice. I'd recommend finding a non-Ji Han Jae school though because he added way to much mystical BS and showy kicks to and otherwise excellent martial art.
  • Hitman HartHitman Hart
    Learn to fight on the ground, no matter what you do, unless you want it just for exhibition
  • DrexDrex
    edited July 2007
    Tae Kwon Do is an excellent martial art for exercise and building confidence. However, in the real world some of the skills are difficult to use or ineffective against an aggressor, for these situations I agree with Hitman Hart grappling martial arts are more effective for defending yourself. Obviously you want to avoid these situations as in many cases the use of techniques learned through martial arts can end up with you being charged with assault.
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • AprecheApreche
    I saw the title of this thread and I thought Krav Maga is a good choice. Lo and behold, it is mentioned in the top post. Krav Maga is an excellent martial art for practical purposes. Unlike some other martial arts, Krav Maga is actually designed as a way for you to practically defend yourself from physical harm brought on by other humans. It also teaches practical ways to deal physical harm to other humans. It's not the only martial art that does this, but it's a top choice.
  • SymmetrySymmetry
    While its true that you want something thats pretty effective, I think that the things that make a martial art good for a soldier in an army aren't the same things that'll make it good for your average civilian who finds themselves needing to beat people up and/or avoid the same. People in the army are freqeuetly carrying 100 pound packs, fighting on bad terrain, fighting after marching 20 miles, and generally don't have to worry about whether they kill the guy they're attacking.

    Far better to learn a martial art developed by organized crime. Sure, it might not be glamorous, but your average mafioso is going to be getting into fights in roughly the same kinds of conditions that you would as the potential victim of a crime. And both myself and your average criminal enforcer are reluctant to kill people when we don't have to. Now, some motivations for that might be similar (not wanting to get into more legal trouble than neccesary) and some might be different (human decency vs "Dead men don't pay protection) but the effect is the same.
  • tuttle88tuttle88
    Most of my friends have taken up learning pole dancing. Now its not a martial art but...
  • SuperflousPrimeSuperflousPrime
    I take Tang Soo Do, and it's pretty good.
  • RymRym
    Guns.
  • AndrewAndrew
    edited September 2007

    Guns.

    I wonder how feasible it would be to create a real "Gunkata" for close combat firearm engagements and whether it would be practical...

    Post edited by Andrew on
  • SailSail
    whether it would be practical...
  • ThaedThaed
    Suppose one had an inclination to try a martial art. Suppose further that one is 6'2", 230 pounds, is over 40, has some kissin' cousin familiarity with Karate and Systema, and is primarily concerned with feeling cofident in one's ability to put an opponent down fast.

    I'm leaning towards Krav Maga. Any thoughts?
    This doesn't have anything to do with a believe that we are headed for WWIII does it?
  • GreatTeacherMacRossGreatTeacherMacRoss
    All of them.
  • Double ZDouble Z
    What movie is that video from? that looked bad ass.
  • AprecheApreche

    What movie is that video from? that looked bad ass.

    Looks like Equilibrium. It's sort of a bad remake of 1984 that has a handful of awesome action scenes.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited September 2007
    It's sort of a bad remake of 1984 that has a handful of awesome action scenes.
    There's a lot of films made in England along that sort of theme. Its like your saying Harry Potter is a bad rip off of Lord Of The Rings. [Bad analogy, go back three spaces.]
    Afterthought: That is mildly awesome on the scale of equilibriums action scenes.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • merry_minstrelmerry_minstrel
    I'm doing taekwondo and judo, and I think it's a pretty good combination, because the concepts are completely different (kicking and punching vs. grappling), which makes it pretty interesting.
    I think it's pretty important to have some sort of randori-element. If trying out things on partners that are not compliant is not part of the training, it's fairly useless. Plus, it's a lot more interesting if you actually get to fight.

    As for self defence:
    1. stay-out-of-trouble-do
    2. don't-get-cornered-do
    3. use-your-head-do

    Martial arts does not make you invincible. Your opponent has a gun - you lose. You're drunk, your opponent is not - you lose. Your opponent surprises you - you lose. You are vastly outnumbered - you lose. It's not like anyone will come charging at you with a spork from the front in a place where there's lots of space. People will only attack you when they're confident to win. And when they are, they are either right or idiots. And you don't need martial arts to defeat idiots.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    It's not like anyone will come charging at you with a spork from the front in a place where there's lots of space.
    Forgive me if I sound dumb when I say this but: Why are people so afraid of box cutters? I've dealt with and heard of many assaults involving box cutters, and I hardly ever hear of any real harm being done by the box cutter wielder. However, people freak out when they're threatened by box cutters.

    I honestly think I would have a hard time not laughing if someone threatened me with a box cutter. Unless there's some sort of box cutter-fu, I just don't think that a box cutter would be very effective.
  • bunnikunbunnikun

    Martial arts does not make you invincible. Your opponent has a gun - you lose. You're drunk, your opponent is not - you lose. Your opponent surprises you - you lose. You are vastly outnumbered - you lose. It's not like anyone will come charging at you with a spork from the front in a place where there's lots of space. People will only attack you when they're confident to win. And when they are, they are either right or idiots. And you don't need martial arts to defeat idiots.
    I couldn't agree more. I've seen so many people who think that because they have taken a martial arts class, it makes them invincible. If you are attacked by someone who knows what they are doing, you lose, hands down. Learning how to do an elbow strike isn't going to defend you against a group of three guys with knives.

    If you're just taking it for recreational reasons, then go right ahead. I just don't think it's going to help practicality wise.
  • RymRym
    Why are people so afraid of box cutters? I've dealt with and heard of many assaults involving box cutters, and I hardly ever hear of any real harm being done by the box cutter wielder.
    Boxcutter injuries are not terribly deadly, but they're horribly disfiguring.  The wide slashing motions coupled with the extremely sharp blade, when directed at the face (as almost all boxcutter attacks are), will almost invariably produce permanent scarring and prodigious amounts of blood.  You could easily lose your nose or an eye.
  • HungryJoeHungryJoe
    edited October 2007
    Boxcutter injuries are not terribly deadly, but they're horribly disfiguring.  The wide slashing motions coupled with the extremely sharp blade, when directed at the face (as almost all boxcutter attacks are), will almost invariably produce permanent scarring and prodigious amounts of blood.  You could easily lose your nose or an eye.
    True. I'm not disputing that the blade is sharp and could be dangerous. However, I believe the likelihood of someone getting close enough to me with that little blade is vanishingly small, unless they've somehow been trained in the aforementioned box cutter-fu.

    Now, I've seen demonstrations by cops how a box cutter could be used offensively. However, I've never seen a box cutter case in which the box cutter wielder was a highly trained, 28 year old ex-military type in good physical condition. I have seen a lot of box cutter cases in which the wielder was a half-zombie crackhead. I'm pretty confident I could defeat such a wielder.
    Post edited by HungryJoe on
  • bodtchboybodtchboy
    edited October 2007
    Krav Maga is the martial arts of the Isreali military. All their soldiers learn it.

    That stuff is lethal. Do you want to take someone down, or take their life?

    I knew a guy who learned Go Ju ru (don't think that is spelled right). Sounded like a good one. Teaches you the hard and soft of martial arts: How to hurt them with hard parts of your body to soft parts of theirs. They also feel implementing other styles helps further their art. Went to their dojo one time and a guy who was a boxer was teaching them about how important stances were and why boxers use their stance.
    Post edited by bodtchboy on
  • Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)
    edited October 2007
    personally, I take Isshinryu karate, and I think it would be a relatively good choice unless you intend to use it a lot. It teaches you some good methods for gaining control of or avoiding confrontations without seriously injuring or killing your opponent. Also, remember: the best person at self-defense is the person who never has to use it.
    Post edited by Linkigi(Link-ee-jee) on
  • bodtchboybodtchboy
    personally, I take Isshinryu karate, and I think it would be a relatively good choice unless you intend to use it a lot. It teaches you some good methods for gaining control of or avoiding confrontations without seriously injuring or killing your opponent. Also, remember: the best person at self-defense is the person who never has to use it.

    I must be pretty good at it, then. The key is to cower to your opponent and let him/her walk all over to you. That's how I handle confrontations. Just ask my wife!
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