Martial arts advice for a newbie please

[rgosit]

khafra, that link most be wrong.

i was going to start keet kune do and also be doing some wrestling to start hows that sound??

would wrestling 2 times a week, jeet kune do 2 times a week and lifting 4 times a week b to much??

i would like to do bjj or muay thai boxing but its not avialable in my area.

how do u guys trian wile doing martial arts? what kianda lifts do u do..do u do explosive work and plyometrics?? cardio

thanx

 

[farmer2001]

what a thread...

Although I do not have many posts on this [great] site, I do a lot of reading. I just finished reading this whole thread, and would like to make a few comments. I started taking TKD at a very early age..I went through all of the rigga-mawroe, but I did have a good master from Korea and he DID know his stuff.. The usual workout was agonizing and sometimes brutal--full contact was the rule, not the exception. I was pretty good, but in my heart of heart, I was simply aiming for that highly-held black belt... THEN, after about 5 years of training, this guy named Bill walked in. He was in his early 50's, not all that big (about 190#), but hard as a rock. He was dressed in what looked like a black karate uniform. He was introduced to the class, and we were told that this was his first day of TKD. He drove up in a '60's model Ford p/up that was all ragged-out--i could smell the cig. smoke on his uniform..
We were doing some full contact sparring that day, and it got pretty ugly..several students had been kncoked out that day. there was one or two students that were EMT's, and they being in class was always a good thing--(personally, i think they should have gotten a break on their rates because they were always 'doctoring'!!) [On with the story] I went up against Bill (kinda thinking I would mop the floor with him) but he DEMOLISHED me....He was using techniques that were not EVEN kin to TKD!! Grappling, JJ, etc...
I thought WTF? This guy is not 'supposed' to do this in here!!
I quickly realized that Bill was the epitome of real-world fighting.
To make a long story shorter, it was no time until I had asked Bill to train me.. I later learned that he had studied (mastered) about 7 other arts, and simply wanted to incorporate TKD into his regeme. I put in countless hours with him, and he tought me a lot. All of my training with him was in the TKD studio, right under the nose of our master (kim). I inherently dropped the desire to simply go up in the TKD ranks to get my black belt because I was learning soo much from this guy. I quit taking TKD with [only] a red belt, but could whip any of the people in my class--with the exception of Bill--but even that match had gotten close and the end of our training...I really like my TKD training, because in our school, we were focused on real-world situations--we incorporated TKD into real-world situations.. Yes, we did indeed do katas, but mainly learned them so that we could do them for belt tests.. Master Kim's grand master's were always there during belt tests, and i think he simply wanted them to see that we did do katas..
In closing, you can usually learn as much as you want to in most any school. While my TKD was awesome and I disagree with some of the comments made about it in earlier posts, it all depends on WHO your instructor is, and what he likes!! My training (even without Bill) was far from traditional.. Also, look around, meet others--there is a GOOD chance that there are a lot of experienced people in there! Just because a person is a white belt does not mean they dont know how to fight (ie Bill).
Good luck with whatever you decide!

 

[Thaibox]

Good story farmer

I studied Kenpo for a while under a guy who believed the best belt system is white and black. So, of course there was many very skilled white belts in this dojo. I can't start to tell you how many white belts from our school whooped the snot out of black belts from other schools. Those schools that weren't familiar with us were pretty upset to see this. It always made me laugh.

Belt systems are great for kids to have something to work for and accomplish. Other than that I believe they just provide a false sense of security which can be pretty dangerous

 

[LeviathanX]

Just a heads up... in the first martial arts organizations the belts were only white and black. It was the americanization of the belt system that lead to different colors being introduced.

Personally, I don't think your belt color means squat (no pun intended). I've seen 7th degree black belts from some systems that are 150 pounds overweight and couldn't take on green belts from many schools.

 

[danielson]

we only have 2 belts (well sash)

no belt for newbie

belt for student

belt for instructor

damn confusing when i first walked in

 

[Mjollnir]

Go with the one that suits your body type

I've been practising Judo since I was 8 (35 now) and it's quite suffficient for anything that's ever been thrown (pardon the pun) at me. The only difficulty it ever brought me was in competition, where the shorter guys with lower centers of gravity had a distinct advantage (I'm 6'3").

Punches and hits are fine for some things, but for defense, grappling and ground level techniques are what almost always win the day.

Have been a bodyguard and a stage guard, I have seen no fight, ever, that looked like someone actually was using something complicated that they learned in a dojo.

Krav Maga is an Israeli form, developed specifically for close combat, and, although not available everywhere, is very, very effective, from what I've seen of it.

Also, never be afraid to inquire of an instructor if he/she can specifically gear your training/conditioning for street situtations, if that is your need.

 

[Thaibox]

Mjollnir

One art that I haven't studied formally is Judo because I always thought it was too much of a sport oriented art. This point of view was smeared pretty good when I was fighting a bunch of guys(friends) on the beach in San Diego. We would argue about the effectiveness of one art versus the other and during the fight would stick to one chosen discipline. I was the most experienced fighter there and everyone expected me to do well. I did through most fights. One guy was a Judo instructor and he was a very strong fighter. I learned that underestimating Judo was a mistake and felt pretty lame when I was tapping out. Yes, I know have more respect for Judo as more than a mat art. With 27 years of Judo experience, I'm sure that you have easily overcome any weaknesses of the art.

 

[Immortal Juicer]

Its all the same shit. Punching is punching, kicking is kicking and grappling is grappling. Try to learn to fight according to a "style" is just limiting yourself as a fighter. Learn from as many people as you can and train with as many different people as you can.

On the street, someone who has mastered a single art and cannot fight outside that is fucked.