Best Martial Art to Learn?
I am looking to get fit while learning self defence. I would like to know the most practical self defence to learn so as to stay safe, rather than learn to become a brawler. All of them seem to have their benefits and drawbacks. In your opinion which is best?
I am leaning towards western boxing as its cardio, footwork and handwork all lend themselves well to defending against your average scrapper.
I am leaning towards western boxing as its cardio, footwork and handwork all lend themselves well to defending against your average scrapper.
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Original post by Mr Student
I am looking to get fit while learning self defence. I would like to know the most practical self defence to learn so as to stay safe, rather than learn to become a brawler. All of them seem to have their benefits and drawbacks. In your opinion which is best?
I am leaning towards western boxing as its cardio, footwork and handwork all lend themselves well to defending against your average scrapper.
I am leaning towards western boxing as its cardio, footwork and handwork all lend themselves well to defending against your average scrapper.
How about Taekwondo?
I used to do it and I'm a black belt, it's really rewarding and a great workout. I originally started it because like you said my mum wanted me to learn how to defend myself if anything ever happens. Like you said it's both footwork and handwork so it's not limited. For your exams you have to learn patterns which are routines of moves. Hope this helps 
I agree, I'm 16 and have been doing taekwondo for 8 years. It's amazing with self defence as well as having a competitive side with sparring
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I agree with them. Might be biased cuz im also a black belt but tkd fits ur criteria. Research into whether you want to wtf or itf taekwondo and visit a few clubs so you can avoid the mcdojangs
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If you really want to learn to fight Take up something like Boxing or Muay Thai for striking and Judo, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu or wrestling for grappling skills or MMA which puts it all together.
These are all full contact martial arts and are the most effective in a real fight.
Taekwondo teaches you pretty kicks but isn't realistic enough to teach you how to fight on the street. I Know I'm a second Dan Black belt in it and have been in a fair few street fights.
I now do MMA and all it's aspects (Boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and BJJ) and have to say I wasted alot of time with Taekwondo.
Granted TKD will give you very good kicks (I still use the head kicks and spin back kicks in the cage) , but if you want to really learn to fight theres nothing better thatn the styles I've mentioned.
IMO, if you wanna learn purely for self defence reasons, go with Boxing and Judo.
These are all full contact martial arts and are the most effective in a real fight.
Taekwondo teaches you pretty kicks but isn't realistic enough to teach you how to fight on the street. I Know I'm a second Dan Black belt in it and have been in a fair few street fights.
I now do MMA and all it's aspects (Boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and BJJ) and have to say I wasted alot of time with Taekwondo.
Granted TKD will give you very good kicks (I still use the head kicks and spin back kicks in the cage) , but if you want to really learn to fight theres nothing better thatn the styles I've mentioned.
IMO, if you wanna learn purely for self defence reasons, go with Boxing and Judo.
I'm sorry, those people who are saying Taekwondo/ Karate have obviously never been in an actual fight. Most people wear jeans and can't kick because of that, so that rules taekwondo out. Same with karate, which has weird punching styles that is very regimented and traditional, and does not work in an actual pub fight/ mugging etc. Good sport but that is it.
If you want to learn self defence, do something like boxing/ kickboxing/ MMA and maybe something like judo/ jujitsu/ wrestling that allows you to wrestle etc. But you need to remember never go to ground in an actual fight, you will get your head smashed in by his mates.
The best way to defend yourself however is 1) walk away 2) talk calmly and reason with them and 3) don't act like a prick and look for fights
If you want to learn self defence, do something like boxing/ kickboxing/ MMA and maybe something like judo/ jujitsu/ wrestling that allows you to wrestle etc. But you need to remember never go to ground in an actual fight, you will get your head smashed in by his mates.
The best way to defend yourself however is 1) walk away 2) talk calmly and reason with them and 3) don't act like a prick and look for fights
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by the mezzil
I'm sorry, those people who are saying Taekwondo/ Karate have obviously never been in an actual fight. Most people wear jeans and can't kick because of that, so that rules taekwondo out. Same with karate, which has weird punching styles that is very regimented and traditional, and does not work in an actual pub fight/ mugging etc. Good sport but that is it.
If you want to learn self defence, do something like boxing/ kickboxing/ MMA and maybe something like judo that allows you to wrestle etc. But you need to remember never go to ground in an actual fight, you will get your head smashed in by his mates.
If you want to learn self defence, do something like boxing/ kickboxing/ MMA and maybe something like judo that allows you to wrestle etc. But you need to remember never go to ground in an actual fight, you will get your head smashed in by his mates.
THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU SOMEONE THAT KNOWS ABOUT FIGHTING!
Original post by HaQ_mAn_
THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU SOMEONE THAT KNOWS ABOUT FIGHTING!
No worries.
Martial arts is not self defence. It is an art, it won't work in an actual fight in the street where there are no rules and people use dirty tricks. For example I'm a black belt in Judo and Kickboxing, but I never ever start round kicking people in the face or doing fancy Judo throws on the actual street. What I do now is MMA with the infantry army reserve unit I am in, and that is more focused on killing/ injuring the enemy, rather than fancy moves. You never ever see people there doing fancy head kicks or Ninjitsu stuff because you will simply get rugby tackled and your head kicked in and jaw broken.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by (Ari)
Disregard everything said above.
Wing Chun.
Wing Chun.
lol
I find jiu jitsu good for a few reasons. In terms of exercise, you get a very good cardio workout. In our sessions, we tend to do a fairly intense cardio session which can consist of a lot of standard push ups, sit ups, burpies and a few other things (being almost 1 can't remember the whole thing 
) Our style is good because you get the "art" whilst also being able to learn some stuff from a self defense POV.
As the previous users have suggested, try out a few styles and see what one floats your boat. Then go from there
) Our style is good because you get the "art" whilst also being able to learn some stuff from a self defense POV.As the previous users have suggested, try out a few styles and see what one floats your boat. Then go from there
Original post by the mezzil
No worries.
Martial arts is not self defence. It is an art, it won't work in an actual fight in the street where there are no rules and people use dirty tricks. For example I'm a black belt in Judo and Kickboxing, but I never ever start round kicking people in the face or doing fancy Judo throws on the actual street. What I do now is MMA with the infantry army reserve unit I am in, and that is more focused on killing/ injuring the enemy, rather than fancy moves., You never ever see people doing fancy head kicks or Ninjitsu stuff because you will simply get rugby tackled and your head kicked in and jaw broken.
Martial arts is not self defence. It is an art, it won't work in an actual fight in the street where there are no rules and people use dirty tricks. For example I'm a black belt in Judo and Kickboxing, but I never ever start round kicking people in the face or doing fancy Judo throws on the actual street. What I do now is MMA with the infantry army reserve unit I am in, and that is more focused on killing/ injuring the enemy, rather than fancy moves., You never ever see people doing fancy head kicks or Ninjitsu stuff because you will simply get rugby tackled and your head kicked in and jaw broken.
Judo always looked good to me, but I recently gained huge amounts of respect for it when I was thrown around by a high level Judo practitioner in the gym recently lol.
Tbh in every real fight I've been always starts with swings and then a clinch of some sort, which is why I feel boxing and Judo is the way to go
It's best to go to a few different clubs and see which best suits you. I'd be tempted to say that no one martial art really encompasses everything you could want/need in a real life self-defence situation, so your best bet would be to find a club that is open to other styles - or even just going for MMA. (Edit - your best bet is to not actually get in to a fight..!)
You should definitely make sure whatever it is you're learning is based on full-contact sparring as training on semi/no contact isn't really worth your time unless you're only looking to look pretty.
I've been doing Karate for the last 7 years, and I absolutely love it. I'm really lucky though, as the club I am part of often attend seminars and run group sessions with instructors from different Martial Arts including Judo, BJJ, Aikido, Kendo, Escrima and KAPAP.
I'd personally say KAPAP is the most 'gritty' realistic version of self-defence I've tried and so it'd probably best fit what you're looking for - but like I said, look around a few different clubs and you might find something really takes your fancy.
For me, I fell in love with Karate even though only half of what we do is full contact 'street wise' training - I just love the art in it and the physical training. So you might find you end up enjoying something like Tae Kwon Do that is stereotypically more 'showy' than practical.
You should definitely make sure whatever it is you're learning is based on full-contact sparring as training on semi/no contact isn't really worth your time unless you're only looking to look pretty.
I've been doing Karate for the last 7 years, and I absolutely love it. I'm really lucky though, as the club I am part of often attend seminars and run group sessions with instructors from different Martial Arts including Judo, BJJ, Aikido, Kendo, Escrima and KAPAP.
I'd personally say KAPAP is the most 'gritty' realistic version of self-defence I've tried and so it'd probably best fit what you're looking for - but like I said, look around a few different clubs and you might find something really takes your fancy.
For me, I fell in love with Karate even though only half of what we do is full contact 'street wise' training - I just love the art in it and the physical training. So you might find you end up enjoying something like Tae Kwon Do that is stereotypically more 'showy' than practical.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by HaQ_mAn_
Judo always looked good to me, but I recently gained huge amounts of respect for it when I was thrown around by a high level Judo practitioner in the gym recently lol.
Tbh in every real fight I've been always starts with swings and then a clinch of some sort, which is why I feel boxing and Judo is the way to go
Tbh in every real fight I've been always starts with swings and then a clinch of some sort, which is why I feel boxing and Judo is the way to go
Yeah Judo is good to defend yourself with, but there realistically about 5 throws that you would ever use on the street, and the groundwork is basically useless since 1) you never want to go to ground 2) if you choke somebody out/ brake their arm you will get done by the police for excessive force 3) it is very rare you ever want to restrain somebody on the floor and if you do, you will usually have a couple of mates/ bystanders to help. Most of the time a fight is a few punches, one guy goes down and the winner walks off. It's either that or a clinch like you said. I agree, those two martial arts are probably the best realistically to defend yourself with on the street.
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Extremely biased but JUDO! ****ing love it!
Original post by the mezzil
Yeah Judo is good to defend yourself with, but there realistically about 5 throws that you would ever use on the street, and the groundwork is basically useless since 1) you never want to go to ground 2) if you choke somebody out/ brake their arm you will get done by the police for excessive force 3) it is very rare you ever want to restrain somebody on the floor and if you do, you will usually have a couple of mates/ bystanders to help. Most of the time a fight is a few punches, one guy goes down and the winner walks off. It's either that or a clinch like you said. I agree, those two martial arts are probably the best realistically to defend yourself with on the street.
Even though you might not want to end up on the ground, realistically speaking you probably will end up there at some point
Original post by HaQ_mAn_
Even though you might not want to end up on the ground, realistically speaking you probably will end up there at some point
Oh yeah of course! But I meant you really don't want to be there if you can help it!
TKD is very good but it is very kick reliant. If you are looking for something purely on self defence reasons take up Gojuryu karate. It has numerous defensive cutters which should help. The breathing and timing techniques will benefit you as well naturally in your everyday life.
Technique beats brute force all 99 times out of 100
Technique beats brute force all 99 times out of 100
Jiu-jitsu is the best martial art for you. Having done judo, boxing and Jiujutsu and been in a fair few fights myself, I can say that it makes you the most versatile fighter other than mma which I do not recommend unless you've got a decent grounding in a martial art first.
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