What martial arts should I learn?

[ZaneNBK]

I would go with Muay Thai if you want a traditional art, it's one of the most effective and easiest to learn traditional styles. Otherwise I'd find a mixed martial arts gym (such as a Jeet Kune Do gym or generic MMA) and focus on finding one that teaches in a manner that you like. Watch a few classes and make sure the energy level is where you want it to be, that they spar often (in higher classes that should be every class), etc...

Those gyms generally teach multiple styles and allow you to gain rank in each style seperately if you wish. My gym (a Jeet Kune Do gym) teaches a mixture of Muay Thai, Savate (French kickboxing), Jun Fan Gung Fu, Brazilian Jui Jitsui and Kali/Silat.

The biggest change for you will be focusing more on the hand-work and ground skills as well as the Muay Thai kicks. You'll have to get used to turning your hips/body into the kicks instead of snapping each kick TKD style. Jun Fan and Savate both use TKD style kicking though (though they don't do all the kicks TKD does, the ones they do do match TKD). These are the issues I noted while training with a 13 year veteran TKD black-belt that just joined our program (and I've had a couple months of TKD myself long ago).

If you're just looking for a good work-out then look for a cardio kick-boxing program or get into Capoeira. Capoeira isn't all that useful compared to Muay Thai or MMA but it's a hell of a workout and looks very cool.

 

[LordMaul]

North Shaolin Kung Fu.

 

[Krk3561]

If you want self defense, take krav maga

 

[kh3443]

Judo

 

[Koing]

Originally posted by: LuNoTiCK

Originally posted by: BDawg

Originally posted by: JMaster
I'm looking for something to do to get some exercise and I decided to take martial arts. I have a 1st degree black belt in TaeKwonDo, but I don't agree with how it's taught, so I'm looking to learn something else. I was thinking of taking Aikido, but anyone else recommend something else?

Brazilian Kickboxking

I say take thai kickboxing instead, also known as muay thai. If you wanna do grappling take Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, people here don't seem to like it, but so far 1 on 1 it beats any other martial art. If you want self defense, take krav maga. The fastest effective martial art would be boxing.

Thats with rules in the one 1v1 though. No eye gouging or low belows and strikes tot he knees.

But I do agree with the confides of rules like in UFC BJJ is THE BEST though.

 

[JMaster]

Originally posted by: Brutuskend
Ching Ching POW...

That was pretty racist...

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

Tae Ku Mu Sul--- Very, very effective as it's a mix of techniques. May be hard to find in your area.

Kenpo Karate--My favorite. My teacher trained us on the more lethal aspects of this technique. Over the years, I never witnessed any of his students lose a confrontation--whether street or tournament. Some of his students got disqualified in tournaments since they were instinctively trained to take out an opponent quickly rather than counter-move spar.

Most martial arts are good, but I say avoid tai-kwon-do as it's the easiest to master and least effective. It can be fun for the tournament-minded, but in the street--fughetaboutit.

 

[Koing]

JMaster you must be pretty sufficient with a black belt 1st Dan in TKD right?

Have you entered in competitions that are full contact? Can you 720" then kick? Can you do many acrobatic moves?

Me I'm only personally interested in full contact fighting and moves that are very acrobatic that look cool (not for fighting prefences but because they look cool and I think spinning and flipping looks amazing, also the reason why I do gymnastics also). Hoping to enter into a competition sometime this year to see how I fair up.

 

[ZaneNBK]

Check out Capoeira Koing, it sounds like something you'd love. Lots of spinning and flipping.

 

[Walleye]

Shaitowkan

or something like that. i think that's how it's pronounced. hukd onn fonix werkd 4 Me!

that's about the most aggressive fighting style you can get. kicks any judo, kung fu, tae kwon do, or kempo master's ass easy.

 

[Gyrene]

Originally posted by: Walleye
Shaitowkan or something like that. i think that's how it's pronounced. hukd onn fonix werkd 4 Me! that's about the most aggressive fighting style you can get. kicks any judo, kung fu, tae kwon do, or kempo master's ass easy.

Classic falacy. It's not the art, but the practicioner, that determines the successfulness of a technique. You can't say one style beats another, it all varies from person to person, and there is always someone better.

 

[TheeeChosenOne]

Originally posted by: dtyn

Originally posted by: Walleye
Shaitowkan or something like that. i think that's how it's pronounced. hukd onn fonix werkd 4 Me! that's about the most aggressive fighting style you can get. kicks any judo, kung fu, tae kwon do, or kempo master's ass easy.

Classic falacy. It's not the art, but the practicioner, that determines the successfulness of a technique. You can't say one style beats another, it all varies from person to person, and there is always someone better.

COMPLETELY AGREE. It's all about the practicioner. American style TKD, though, can't be viewed in the same light as other methods. I have a tremendous bias against TKD.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: TheeeChosenOne

Originally posted by: dtyn

Originally posted by: Walleye
Shaitowkan or something like that. i think that's how it's pronounced. hukd onn fonix werkd 4 Me! that's about the most aggressive fighting style you can get. kicks any judo, kung fu, tae kwon do, or kempo master's ass easy.

Classic falacy. It's not the art, but the practicioner, that determines the successfulness of a technique. You can't say one style beats another, it all varies from person to person, and there is always someone better.

COMPLETELY AGREE. It's all about the practicioner. American style TKD, though, can't be viewed in the same light as other methods. I have a tremendous bias against TKD.

Depends on the styls of TKD taught. IMO, I'm completely biased against the WTF and the ATA . . . McDojos if I ever saw one, and the other is a "sport" at best. Of course, like every evaulating a practitioner by belt color, it's wrong and in reality it mostly depends on each school - I'm making a gross generalization at this point .

I'd suggest Wing Tsun - it's a little more conceptual than most other styles, but it's designed specifically to go against other martial arts: linky to the N. American Section. Yes, even against "Shaitowkan". Of course, I'm a little biased since I'm the head student of my local kwoon .

And if you want to stay in something similar, look around different TKD schools - and Shotokan is very similar to TKD as well, both technique-wise and current-state-wise as well (most of them are geared for competition as well). And lastly, look for a good university club around your area. Granted you're over 18 (for insurance reasons, but most will take you even if you're not over 18), they're a better bet then the ones driven by money.

IMO, finding a good martial arts studio is a combination of luck and enthusiasm. Look around as much as you can and you'll find it. Good luck!

 

[AznMaverick]

i'd say jiu jitsu, aikido, or muay thai.

 

[Walleye]

however, some arts are designed to be more aggressive than other arts.

and some arts demand more of their masters than others.

my opinion is that shaitowkan demands more of people who seek to attain the highest belt, so, in an average of matches, the one practicing shaitowkan will win. because i have seen other fighting styles, and i was severely dissappointed with the level of skill their black belts were coming out with.

with the exception of okinowan Kempo, as that's what i was trained in



but it's hard to find a good okinowan kempo place. if you're in denver, i can reccomend one, but nowhere else can i find one. havent searched that hard, though.


there's way too much variance between sensei to sensei to make a clear distinction as to what fighting style will win in a fight, but that's not really the point of Martial arts. (well, that IS the point of shaitowkan).if you want a good style, go with the standard ones. eg: kung fu, kempo (just not american kempo.), jujitsu... and so on goes the list.

 

[Schadenfreude]

WTF is "shaitowkan"? Shotokan, shitoKan, or something else?
Anyhow, if they're intent on making you the highest ranked student, it sounds more alike a "McDojo" to me. I'd much rather recommend KyokyushinKai Karate, created by Mas Oyama, the man who defeated bulls among other things, or Muay Thai if you're looking for the more external styles (and guarenteed arthreitis! I'm already a member).

 

[JMaster]

Originally posted by: Koing
JMaster you must be pretty sufficient with a black belt 1st Dan in TKD right?

Have you entered in competitions that are full contact? Can you 720" then kick? Can you do many acrobatic moves?

Me I'm only personally interested in full contact fighting and moves that are very acrobatic that look cool (not for fighting prefences but because they look cool and I think spinning and flipping looks amazing, also the reason why I do gymnastics also). Hoping to enter into a competition sometime this year to see how I fair up.

I used to be pretty acrobatic. I used to be able to do a 720 and kick, but it's never really used at all during full contact sparring. In fact, there isn't much spinning at all except to counter another attack. I only learned it because I thought it would be cool. If you enter a competition under the lowest belt (I think you have to be at least 3rd belt, which was purple for us) you'll probably do ok if you're pretty acrobatic, but any other class above that, you're gonna need to know how to counter, block, etc...

Thanks for all your input guys, I'll be looking into all your suggestions.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Tell us what you decide on as well!

 

[phaserx]

Originally posted by: JMaster
I'm looking for something to do to get some exercise and I decided to take martial arts. I have a 1st degree black belt in TaeKwonDo, but I don't agree with how it's taught, so I'm looking to learn something else. I was thinking of taking Aikido, but anyone else recommend something else?

Have you thought about Tai Chi? This practice has great health benefits as well as puts you in major shape.. After a few months of practicing, you can really feel the energy flowing through your body.. Let us also not forget that Bruce Lee said he would never want to get into a confrontation with a Tai Chi master..

 

[Wheatmaster]

Originally posted by: phaserx

Originally posted by: JMaster
I'm looking for something to do to get some exercise and I decided to take martial arts. I have a 1st degree black belt in TaeKwonDo, but I don't agree with how it's taught, so I'm looking to learn something else. I was thinking of taking Aikido, but anyone else recommend something else?

Have you thought about Tai Chi? This practice has great health benefits as well as puts you in major shape.. After a few months of practicing, you can really feel the energy flowing through your body.. Let us also not forget that Bruce Lee said he would never want to get into a confrontation with a Tai Chi master..

yeah i would go with tai chi, my dad taught me tai chi. I'm a 15 year old teenager and helps with major stress

 

[SnapIT]

Finnish boxing....

Can't beat it, nobody can...

 

[H34D0N]

take Hop-Ki-Do its a very interesting class and its very effective if the moment spurs it.

 

[StageLeft]

jiu jitsu

 

[phaserx]

Originally posted by: H34D0N
take Hop-Ki-Do its a very interesting class and its very effective if the moment spurs it.

Ho-Ki Po-Ki?

 

[Schadenfreude]

Originally posted by: phaserx

Originally posted by: H34D0N
take Hop-Ki-Do its a very interesting class and its very effective if the moment spurs it.

Ho-Ki Po-Ki?

Hapkido, you ignorant *****!