How many users on here practice martial arts?

[Sterone]

And Silat which started in Indonesia. I wanted to know if anyone on here has heard of these types and how effective they are?

Yeah Silat is it. Several of the most skilled and respected martial artists (such as Dan Inosanto) say silat stacked with some chin na (chinese) and possibly some philipino style is the way to go. Dan says that silat has some of the smoothest most efficient techniques he knows of. My teacher says the same thing.

Im not just intrested in killing people but hopefully growing spritually and mentally.

The styles you mentioned are martial arts. That means they were originally intended to be used by the military and/or police, or something similar. If you want to mix in religion with your fighting, I understand Ba Gua and Tai Chi are both good.

 

[Rookie70]

I took about a year of ju jitsu

 

[bpdaddy]

I once feel over a tall railing and landed on my feet, for that moment everybody thought I was a Kung Fu Master....now I just watch Bruce Lee Flicks

 

[SofaGeorge]

When I was a kid I started in tae kwon do when Bruce Lee movies were the big thing in the early '70s... then started studying kung fu styles...8 step Praying Mantis/Wah Lum...7 star praying mantis... pa kua chaun... so rim... wu shu... chin na... chi gung... much of it was a real waste of time... then I fell in love with boxing and started working on the heavy bag by myself. Currently I'm looking to take a class in boxing or kick boxing... so far I've only learned from friends and tapes.

 

[DaMan]

muay thai
krav maga (love it!!!)
starting bjj in about a month

 

[Zyglamail]

Was in southern praying mantis kung fu for a few years way back, more recently bagua for a few years, but had to drop class and stop lifting due to eye surgeries etc a couple years back.

 

[JaTruTheGreat]

I am...

have been involved in Goju Ryu Karata for awhile and also taking some forms of grappling lke Kempo and BJJ. I have met Frank Sharock and Royce Gracie in diff places and have got a few chances to learn from some of the greats.

 

[Sterone]

When I was a kid I started in tae kwon do when Bruce Lee movies were the big thing in the early '70s... then started studying kung fu styles...8 step Praying Mantis/Wah Lum...7 star praying mantis... pa kua chaun... so rim... wu shu... chin na... chi gung... much of it was a real waste of time...

I'm sure it was, but at least you learned it, and can continue to train in the techniques from each style that you find most effective, and dump the rest. That is what Bruce Lee did, and I agree with it.

then I fell in love with boxing and started working on the heavy bag by myself. Currently I'm looking to take a class in boxing or kick boxing...

So why don't you learn boxing. Learn it by itself until you have a good grasp on it and then begin to incorporate tecniques from your other styles into your training. You already should know a full spectrum of decent kicks from Tae Kwon Do, so there you know how to kickbox. Plus you learned Wu Shu and other exotic Kung Fu styles, so you should already have some concept of balance and stances etc. I would think all you would need to learn is boxing and then incorporate that into your training and then you will know everything you need to effectively "kickbox", you could even go to advanced kickboxing, such as Jeet Kune Do or Muay Tai, without learning much more than you already know. On top of that you already studied Chi Na which is an excellent system of joint locks, and pressure points that really kicks ass.
I hope you don't ditch some good techniques. Any well rounded proficient fighter knows how to properly execute at least a few techniques from each category (strikes, locks, and throws).

 

[Pat Mycroch]

5 years of bjj under carlson gracie, as well as 2 years of thai boxing.

 

[daveyboy]

3 yrs - Korean Tae Kwon Do (Moo Du Kwan)
Taken a long time ago.