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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?

#21

Post by doron »

I used to practice KravMaga and systema as a full contact martial art for more then 10 years, both are practical martial arts, if you do not mind getting black and blue from time to time, it will also improve your physical fitness, conditioning, and instincts very fast.

For the last several years i am practicing Iaido, which is generally speaking, the martial art of drawing, striking, shaking off the blood, and sheathing back the sword.

It has no practical use as a martial method,and is highly ceremonial. I find it to be the most demanding martial art i ever practiced in terms of mental requirements. The simplest forms take years to master, it is a humbling and often frustrating experience, I highly recommend.

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

#22

Post by coryl »

I am of the school of thought that believes in practical martial arts (ie. proven through combat, sport, and sparring).

This includes but not limited to: Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Judo. And depending on the quality of teacher, some styles of Karate, Tae kwon do.

I train in jiu jitsu and muay thai. Some people like the more spiritual / philosophical side of martial arts, which is totally acceptable and understandable. I've never tried any of it myself, but if you're into drunken monkey, 5 animal styles kung fu, go for it.

However, I'd hate to train something for years and only embarrass myself when push comes to shove and its time to employ that martial art in a no rules street fight.

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

#23

Post by thomaspaine »

terryjsmith wrote: post #11
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…

Have you tried other martial arts like karate or taekwondo? How does it compare? I recently moved to Toronto and have yet to find a great (ie. non belt promotion based) school downtown. I've found a number of potential BJJ schools though and have been curious.

I did taekwondo when I was little and I know some people who still do it. All martial arts are technical once you get into them, but grappling is different from striking in that what you do with your body is very similar to following a decision tree. Eventually these decisions get internalized into your muscle memory, but there's still a high degree of "if he does A, I'll do B, which will leave me open to C and D, which I can counter with E, F, and G, etc". Basically getting better at grappling involves filling out this decision tree.

Striking arts operate at a much faster pace so you really can't do that, the depth of the decision trees are much shorter, which is why I think bjj is more analytical and appropriate for most HNers.

I don't want to get into a flame war, but I personally don't find taekwondo and karate to be particularly realistic to fighting. Everyone has different motivations for training though, if you enjoy the fitness and athleticism of those arts, go for it.

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

#24

Post by gotrythis »

I am a Yoshinkan Aikdio sensei.

I began training almost 20 years ago when I was still a major nerd programmer. With seven Karate schools in town, it was the philosophy of Aikido that hooked me.

My take on the philosophy is that we are all in this mess together and someone who is attacking us is reaching out for help in the only way they know how. They are damaged and need help. Hurting them will increase their damage and add more pain into the world. As a responsible person and martial artist, that is not my goal. Aikido provides non-violent ways of protecting yourself as well as your attackers. The founder called it the martial art of love.

It's also handy when someone you care about gets triggered, temporarily loses their mind, attacks blindly, and needs to be controlled without being hurt. (That's happened to me.)

Nobody mean or aggressive tends to stay in Aikido. It's taught cooperatively and is a very good environment. Nobody is out to hurt anyone in Aikido classes making it a lot of fun, whipping people through the air and having them laughing and coming back for more. It also seems to attract intellectuals. Many of my instructors had PHD's.

What it comes down to though, is the individual teacher, more so than the martial art. I would avoid teacher's who are on a power trip. Nice, confident, warm, instructors in any martial art are people I'm honored to train with.

I also highly recommend joining a yoga class.

John.

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

#25

Post by terryjsmith »

thomaspaine wrote: post #23
terryjsmith wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried other martial arts like karate or taekwondo? How does it compare? I recently moved to Toronto and have yet to find a great (ie. non belt promotion based) school downtown. I've found a number of potential BJJ schools though and have been curious.

I did taekwondo when I was little and I know some people who still do it. All martial arts are technical once you get into them, but grappling is different from striking in that what you do with your body is very similar to following a decision tree. Eventually these decisions get internalized into your muscle memory, but there's still a high degree of "if he does A, I'll do B, which will leave me open to C and D, wh…

Yup, no flame here. That's the problem I'm finding here in Toronto (or any major city I would imagine). I lived in a much smaller city a few months ago and was fortunate enough to have a really great instructor and an even better master. Thanks for the advice though, I'll be sure to check it out!

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

#26

Post by wushupork »

I have been practicing wushu for 12 years. I find that it is a sport that constantly pushes me. I focus mostly on sport wushu forms. I do not generally enjoy hitting other people and wushu has a performance focus that resonates with me. I grew up watching Kung Fu movies so it was a good fit for me.

I think saying one style is better than the other is like saying orange juice is better than apple juice. I think you need to find the style that suits your body type and personality. Any school worth their salt will let you at least try a free class. You should try the class. Also another important factor is the skill of the students regardless of style. You should pick a school where your classmates will challenge and push you. Trying out the class will also let you see if you will get along with those people. After all if you are serious you ilk probably be spending a lot of time with them. Location is another factor. Ideally it should be close so that you go often.

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

#27

Post by Qz »

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 hinder or disable the opponent from attacking you in the first place. Tai Chi focuses on sensitivity and receptiveness rather than force or strength, so even if you do it for years, you won't come out of it looking like Bruce Lee, which may or may not be a positive for you.

I don't have a lot of experience with other martial arts, aside from a few random Karate lessons when I was young, but I've been going to a local Tai Chi class for about 6 months now and I highly recommend it.

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

#28

Post by thomaspaine »

aeontech wrote: post #5

I've been doing Wing Tsun kung fu for over ten years. If you find a good school, it's a very methodical, highly intelligent and very technical martial art. There's a lot of depth to it, and as you get better, it gets more and more subtle (as well as a lot more effective). Unfortunately, there's also a lot of schools that are not very good (as with any martial art), so your experience may vary. In my experience, the g…

It's easy to take Muay Thai classes or watch it and think it's not very technical, especially in the US because Americans are generally not very good at Muay Thai. But going to Thailand and getting your ass kicked and thrown all over the place by a 16 year old thai kid half your size will make you change your mind that it's not a technical sport.
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