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Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

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Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#61

Post by amanuel »

Qz wrote: post #27

My suggestion would be Tai Chi (also spelled Tai Qi and Tai Ji depending on who you ask...). You might not even think of Tai Chi as a martial art, and that's because although Tai Chi is in fact a martial art, it is also something of a meditative practice akin to yoga. Similar to the aikido suggestions below, Tai Chi is not a striking art, but is mostly about redirecting the opponent's energy, as well as moves that hi…

I've been doing tai chi for 8 years now and love it. It is peaceful while being very powerful.

My recommendation to any newbies is to get past the awkward beginning stage as fast as you can...otherwise you will not progress smoothly.

When I started I went to 4 classes a week. In 3 months I still knew very little but I wasn't feeling like a n00b and embarrassed. I got over the hump.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#62

Post by giardini »

Since you have practiced fencing, you might be interested in studying at an ATT (American Tire Tool) dojo. We generally drink a few beers, then either beat on each other with our tire tools, or go find some geeks to beat up for practice.

Our dojo held an initial advanced class in American poleaxe hachetry, but the defensive sparring suit didn't work very well (sorry, Chuck, hope you get out of the hospital soon). American medicine is really the best in the world: they can re-attach entire _limbs_ these day!

Honestly, this discussion is inappropriate for HN and went downhill from the get-go. It's a question that dozens of other more appropriate forums have discussed ad nauseum.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#64

Post by callmeed »

thomaspaine wrote: post #3

I've been doing brazilian jiu-jitsu for about 5 years, and would highly recommend it to anyone. I know a wide range of people who practice it, from professional fighters to little kids to a guy in his 60s. I think it fits especially well for the HN crowd, because there's generally very little mystical bs that goes on, and although this analogy gets abused, it's basically human chess. There's a very analytical approac…

I just started 3 weeks ago (so did my 6 yo daughter). Love it so far.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#65

Post by gexla »

Lots of people here are mentioning all kinds of different martial arts, but some of these may not be available in your area. It's pretty simple really, take a tour of the local martial arts schools and pick one which gives you the warm and fuzzies. I would say the environment, people and instructors are more important than anything else.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#66

Post by sayemm »

I studied Ninjitsu for 2yrs a long time ago and I did amateur boxing in undergrad.

If your goal is to get fit and also learn how to kick someone's ass, start boxing.

Don't get me wrong, martial arts are a great discipline, but I've never ever had a workout session in any sport or martial art as intense as my boxing practices. Hitting the bags or sparring with someone tests your stamina/endurance real quickly.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#67

Post by momotomo »

If you want to get fit, boxing. Been around a few different arts, and its been the most physically intense, especially if you train with competition crews.

Served me pretty well self defense wise too, been in a few scraps at clubs / pubs and things have generally worked out quickly, and in my favor.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#68

Post by jiangrongjiao »

If you can find a great teacher in your area I highly recommend the Internal Arts: Chi Kung -> Tai Chi -> Ba Gua -> Hsing I. Once you get the basics of internal energy work and you get to Ba Gua. It's hard not to become addicted. Lethal Martial applications if desired, but amazing health benefits as a meditative art. To truly learn the arts though you must practice the meditative and martial aspects.

In the best case scenario you will choose an art that you will have the best opportunity for regular partner sparring/training/drills to apply the martial aspect. The drills and forms practiced by themselves are just an abstraction and vehicle for learning. You need to interact with someone to understand an opponents and your own energy and potential.

By all means go to whatever different classes are available. Good teachers will usually let you sit in and test the waters before you take the plunge. Take them all for a spin. The right one will find you.

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#69

Post by ecaroth »

huherto wrote: post #16
thomaspaine wrote: post #3

I've been doing brazilian jiu-jitsu for about 5 years, and would highly recommend it to anyone. I know a wide range of people who practice it, from professional fighters to little kids to a guy in his 60s. I think it fits especially well for the HN crowd, because there's generally very little mystical bs that goes on, and although this analogy gets abused, it's basically human chess. There's a very analytical approac…

I started practicing BJJ a few months back. I loved it. It is like chess, but physical. Unfortunately, I was in the receiving end of a neck crank. I was injured (cervical hernia). So if you practice BJJ make sure that you are always safe and don`t hesitate to tap.

Agreed about the neck cranker... he should have known to stop well before injury occurred, especially in practice. I would be slightly more forgivable in a tournament, but still should never have happened. BJJ is very technical, which I find awesome. Going to train right after a whole day of programming at work is a seamless transition. The mode your brain already is in lends itself to the jiu-jitsu ideas of thinking multiple moves ahead, and applying logic and technique to your art. Being stronger than the other guy helps too ;-)

Re: Ask HN: What martial arts do you practice? What do you recommend?

#70

Post by omnigoat »

LiveTheDream wrote: post #58
sberder wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you provide such a definitive advice on the arts to avoid?! I can't even believe this answer was upvoted. I'm not a big fan of Kenpo Karate myself or of capoeira-under-the spotlight but I wouldn't say to avoid them, there is interesting learnings in any martial arts. You don't even know what this guy is exactly looking for and you make a selection of very MMA oriented arts. I don't understand how you got up…

He stated arts to avoid based on his personal preference of the martial art being practical, which I take to mean as being practical for self-defense. Modern karate-like martial arts tend to optimize for point-fighting, which won't do you much good in a physical self-defense scenario. OP implied he wanted to train for fitness with no comment on self-defense, so the practical nature doesn't apply, but regardless, the…

It depends on which dojo you train at. In our (Shotokan) dojo, every couple of lessons or so, someone will ask "but that's illegal in a tournament, right?", to which our sensei laughs and says in a real fight there's no such rules. We are taught to end any fight in one strike. We are taught to destroy the three weak areas of the human body (can't fight if you can't see, can't fight if you can't breathe, can't fight if you can't walk). We're also taught judo, because most fights end up on the ground. We're taught a wide variety of self-defence moves, most of which end with us taking a joint or two or theirs.

I'm sure there's plenty of Shotokan dojos that don't have such a good sensei though. YMMV.

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