I want to get into a martial art but am not sure what yet..

[elcrisp76]

Wing chun is pretty good if you're not the biggest guy... Basically chinese boxing, fast, efficient, and well thought out.. Be careful of who you go to for instruction, make sure of their reputation.

If you just want to survive it's ideal, if you want to crush maim and destroy go for something else.

 

[Academy780]

Alright I don't know if this belongs here, I don't know where else to talk about this though. I am a muscular guy and I haven't seriously fought anyone before. It's mainly because i try hard not to get into any fights and avoid people that look like they are looking for trouble or groups of guys that look like they are going to pick a fight with someone and try to beat the living hell out of them. I want peoples opinion on If I really should learn a martial art or something. I have 3 good friends that take Tae Kwon Do and one of them is fit guy and into bodybuilding like me and a black belt. I'm kinda the only one of my long time friends that doesn't know a martial art. Should I be taking Tae Kwon Do as soon as possible at my nearest Dojo? Whats your guys's opinion on Tae Kwon Do. I'm starting to worry about being able to fight people back and able to successfully kick there ass.

MMA so tha tyou are well rounded.

 

[azntomahawk]

Avoid TKD at all costs. Take it from someone who was stuck doing it for 6+ years growing up. I think the only things I got out of it were balance and good hips which helped with wrestling. Id say Muy Thai and BJJ. Wrestling wouldn't be the worst thing either because of the conditioning and the ability to control who you are fighting.

 

[liffalot]

I agree man, TKD is a hobby, not a fighting style. If you do BJJ, I'd also do judo for some stand up too. You'll get great on the ground with bjj, but I've had problems in the street trying to shoot takedowns on 300 lb monsters. Thats where your striking and judo comes in.

 

[elcrisp76]

TKD is a sport... MMA is a sport.. Takedowns are totally impractical unless you are guaranteed a fair one-on-one fight on some matting..

Do you want to learn how to fight, or how to survive? If you want to learn how to fight, go learn kickboxing or some other mindless idiocy and start looking for trouble.. You will win some fights, and that might make you feel good, but eventually you WILL come up against someone who can outfight (or simply shoot) you, and you WILL get hurt...

If you want to learn how to survive, learn something practical and flexible... Many "martial arts" are simply for thugs looking for trouble.. Whatever you choose, make sure you've completely sussed it out before wasting a lot of time and money learning possible bad habits, and make certain that your instructor has a good reputation. And for god's sake just because he's a 26th dan or has trained tournament winners DOESN'T mean he's any good. Tournaments and street fights are like chalk and cheese. A good brawler will hand a grandmaster his teeth and thank him for the good time in most situations.

Chinese styles in general are fast and standup, Japanese styles are more powerful, but also slower, Korean styles normally involve lots of pretty (useless) high kicks, Brazilian styles are generally strong on the floor but not so much when upright, Thai styles were designed to be used in a ring... the list goes on and on..

Look into the heritage of the art you are thinking of dedicating your time to... How/why was it invented? Who used it? Was it a sport, or something else...??

 

[liffalot]

Takedowns are totally impractical unless you are guaranteed a fair one-on-one fight on some matting..

Are you afraid you might skin your knee shooting a takedown in the street? I've used takedowns as well as judo throws on concrete before and yes: it hurts the next day. Did the guy charging at you end up getting hurt a lot worse? Indeed.

So I agree completely, if you have a bleeding baby gap between your legs, it is impractical to use a takedown in a fight.

And if youre looking for a fighting style that will do more for you than claim that they can teach you to defend yourself against multiple opponents, keep looking, youre not going to find one.

If your worried about getting shot by a guy with a big gun and a small dick, then either dont stand up for yourself or carry a bigger fucking gun. End of story.

 

[Nomadic Dreamer]

TKD is a sport... MMA is a sport.. Takedowns are totally impractical unless you are guaranteed a fair one-on-one fight on some matting..

Do you want to learn how to fight, or how to survive? If you want to learn how to fight, go learn kickboxing or some other mindless idiocy and start looking for trouble.. You will win some fights, and that might make you feel good, but eventually you WILL come up against someone who can outfight (or simply shoot) you, and you WILL get hurt...

If you want to learn how to survive, learn something practical and flexible... Many "martial arts" are simply for thugs looking for trouble.. Whatever you choose, make sure you've completely sussed it out before wasting a lot of time and money learning possible bad habits, and make certain that your instructor has a good reputation. And for god's sake just because he's a 26th dan or has trained tournament winners DOESN'T mean he's any good. Tournaments and street fights are like chalk and cheese. A good brawler will hand a grandmaster his teeth and thank him for the good time in most situations.

Chinese styles in general are fast and standup, Japanese styles are more powerful, but also slower, Korean styles normally involve lots of pretty (useless) high kicks, Brazilian styles are generally strong on the floor but not so much when upright, Thai styles were designed to be used in a ring... the list goes on and on..

Look into the heritage of the art you are thinking of dedicating your time to... How/why was it invented? Who used it? Was it a sport, or something else...??

LOTS of disinformation here.

Brazilian Kundote is the brazilian equivalent of muay thai...it's very similar to traditional muay thai, therefore, it is a striking art and not a ground art. Capoeira is also a striking art, albeit an artful dance, but still a striking art....your claim that the brazilian martial arts are only good on the ground is extremely unfounded.

Traditional muay thai or the ancient art of mae may muay thai is NOT designed to be used in the ring and was in fact created for soldiers of the thai army. A sport spawned from that teaching that is used in the ring because mae may muay thai is too dangerous....most techniques were designed to kill and maim the combatant.

Ofcourse anyone can get shot....that doesn't prove anything in terms of the argument which style should one choose. Most martial arts still teach to use your fighting for competition or self defense...not be a tough guy in the street. Those types of clowns will look for trouble whether they had trained in a martial art or not.

 

[Nomadic Dreamer]

Are you afraid you might skin your knee shooting a takedown in the street? I've used takedowns as well as judo throws on concrete before and yes: it hurts the next day. Did the guy charging at you end up getting hurt a lot worse? Indeed.

So I agree completely, if you have a bleeding baby gap between your legs, it is impractical to use a takedown in a fight.

And if youre looking for a fighting style that will do more for you than claim that they can teach you to defend yourself against multiple opponents, keep looking, youre not going to find one.

If your worried about getting shot by a guy with a big gun and a small dick, then either dont stand up for yourself or carry a bigger fucking gun. End of story.

You don't have to shoot a double to put a guy on his back.

A combination of a judo or muay thai sweep works lovely when you are in the street. A nice hip toss on to the concrete could very well serve to end the fight. I've used them before.

Or my favorite is double unders, lift and sweep out the legs....dump the guy right on his shoulder or back...sucks bigtime....I use it all the time in training as well. Done right, it's all leverage.

 

[liffalot]

You don't have to shoot a double to put a guy on his back.

A combination of a judo or muay thai sweep works lovely when you are in the street. A nice hip toss on to the concrete could very well serve to end the fight. I've used them before.

Or my favorite is double unders, lift and sweep out the legs....dump the guy right on his shoulder or back...sucks bigtime....I use it all the time in training as well. Done right, it's all leverage.

Oh i agree completely, I was including judo throws in the takedowns category. I was just saying that claiming that you wont be able to shoot a takedown on the street is ridiculous.

 

[bgbay]

I have to agree with everyone else, stay away from TKD, you're not going to be trying to throw crazy ass spin kicks in a fight. Although some forms of Karate are good I would go for something like boxing/kickboxing and BJJ. and in BJJ you do learn throws. or if you want, just do MMA. as i think someone said earlier, it's exactly what it says it is Mixed Martial Arts, stand and bang it out, or take them to the ground and pummel them. Either way do something that compliments standing and being on the ground.