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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?

#91

Post by espadagroup »

Over the last 4 years I've done two years of boxing, one year of MMA, and am currently doing Wing Chun. The boxing was through my college and was pretty good; great fitness and cool people and I learned a lot about the basics, though I never felt I was actually in a position to feel confident about defending myself.

Then I switched to MMA and basically got my ass kicked (and kicked a few asses) for the next year but I figure any pain I get in the ring/dojo is one I won't get outside of it. With boxing as my base it was an uphill battle to learn everything else. It's easiest to have BJJ as your base and learn the rest from there. But I did learn a lot and felt pretty good at the end.

Wing Chun was a decision to try a more traditional style but one I felt had a lot of promise for being very practical and boy was I right. They are very efficient and it's basically learning a few moves that they have decided are the best and doing them a thousand times. Everything in it has a point and a reason.

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

#92

Post by kls »

nandemo wrote: post #80
kls wrote: post #36

It really depends on what you want to get out of it, if you want street defense then there is really nothing better that Jiu-Jitsu or Aikido. I like small circle Jiu-Jitsu out of all the Jiu-Jitsu disciplines, but it is hard to find schools. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a good art just keep in mind that it has been adapted over the years to focus on competing in MMA tournaments. As such it has eliminated a good deal of kno…

The main reason Brazilian jiu-jitsu doesn't spend much time with small joint manipulation, striking and other such unpleasant techniques is because live sparring is an integral part of training. The focus is on techniques that you can apply to your sparring partners without injuring them. That is true even for the "old-style" Gracie school, which tends to focus primarily on jiu-jitsu as self-defense and "no-holds-bar…

Sure, I just wanted to note that BJJ, is an adaptation of the JJ art, and has a heavy focus on the techniques that are geared towards MMA competition. Therefore, some very effective techniques are not given the attention of some other forms or JJ or Akiedo.

One I think of immediate is a isolated wrist flip a technique that results in the dislocation of the wrist, elbow and shoulder in a single technique, but cannot be applied in a manner that the opponent is afforded the ability to chose to submit, therefore it is not an applicable technique to MMA competition. There are a lot of these "instant" techniques that result in too much injury for it to be acceptable in MMA.

My point is while BJJ or MMA are exceptionally good arts for defending ones self (some of the most contemporary) the competition aspect of the art has, like Taekwondo has caused a hyper-focus on certain techniques. Nothing wrong with it, just wanted the author to have full disclosure.

You can have the utmost confidence defending yourself on BJJ knowledge, far more than say Taekwondo it is a well rounded art, and MMA competition is as close to the real thing as you can get without creating grievous harm to everyone who enters the ring. Like I said though, I just wanted to ensure he had all of the facts.

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

#93

Post by iterationx »

My favorite is wushu, but its hard to find a studio if you're not in a big city. There's a lot of focus on leaping and spinning kicks, its not the most deadly martial art, but I think its the most fun and the prettiest to watch. I used to train here, http://www.extremekungfu.com/, until I moved to Minneapolis. There's a video on the main page.

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

#94

Post by Banion »

mdda wrote: post #32
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…

There are many different approaches to Tai Chi - from the 'spiritual', via 'health', the 'form', 'weapons', 'push hands', ... , all the way to 'tournament fighting'. I've just come home from a lesson where we had to wear chest protectors... But one thing that I've heard, and I kind of agree with : I don't recommend Tai Chi to anyone. If someone wants to do it, then I'm happy to point them in the right direction. But…

    Tai Chi has been a great experience for me as well. I think because of its strengthening and stretching, balance and control as well as low risk of putting me out of work with an injury. It has been awesome for my lower back. 
    It can be very calming and has a spiritual side which you can explore if that's your thing. Tai Chi contains the roots of all other chinese martial arts so you could use it as a stepping stone off the couch. 
    I personally hope more people will find and benefit from Tai Chi.
"It's like Yoga without having to roll around on the floor :)" - me

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

#95

Post by webgambit »

The best piece of advice I can give is to stay away from McDojo type places. You know the ones. Usually franchises, instructor's with questionable lineage, 'clubs' that will take you from nothing to black belt for a set fee, etc. One in particular has added several new belts in my lifetime just to keep people longer. Some teach their own version of an art, so what you learn won't transfer if you ever move.

Some forums were already suggested. If you're interested in learning about traditional martial arts I highly recommend http://www.karate-budo.com/. It's a small forum and they don't approve everyone (or, they didn't when I joined; not sure now). But the people there are serious about their martial arts.

Others have mentioned researching the schools. I'd recommend researching the Sensei. Find out who he trained under and research that person as well.

My $.02 worth.

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

#96

Post by chipocabra »

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 do taijiquan too. It can be brutal if you train it like the yang family did. Low stances, excruciating chin na, jing punches to gut.

Its sad that it sort of evolved into this slow dance. Read up a bit about how Yang Luchan and his sons used to train. They didn't get the nick name "Yang the invincible" for doing ballet.

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

#97

Post by DennisP »

vgurgov wrote: post #87
waterside81 wrote: post #57

Systema - the martial art practiced by the Russian Elite Force (Spetsnaz) and since taught to many military special forces. It combines breathing techniques and relaxation techniques with the ability to disarm and kill an individual. I cannot say enough good words about how Systema has helped me become a better athlete and person. http://www.russianmartialart.com/

I never practiced systema, let me ask you this. What is a point of studying lethal army tricks for geek? Ok if your are on battlefield in Iraq attacked by terrorist or in spetsnaz forces, that might be one thing, but if drunken guy in bar will say that you are asshole are you going to kill him by punching in neck or make him blind for entire life by punching in eye? Are you serious??

Civilians do face lethal threats now and then. If a couple guys intent on raping your girlfriend come at you with knives, you're on a battlefield.

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

#98

Post by waterside81 »

vgurgov wrote: post #87
waterside81 wrote: post #57

Systema - the martial art practiced by the Russian Elite Force (Spetsnaz) and since taught to many military special forces. It combines breathing techniques and relaxation techniques with the ability to disarm and kill an individual. I cannot say enough good words about how Systema has helped me become a better athlete and person. http://www.russianmartialart.com/

I never practiced systema, let me ask you this. What is a point of studying lethal army tricks for geek? Ok if your are on battlefield in Iraq attacked by terrorist or in spetsnaz forces, that might be one thing, but if drunken guy in bar will say that you are asshole are you going to kill him by punching in neck or make him blind for entire life by punching in eye? Are you serious??

It's about confidence and internal strength (I know that sounds kind of fuzzy). I don't take Systema so I can go around murdering people - I take it because I feel great knowing that I'm more in control of my body than I was before. One of the drills in Systema is having your partner hit you for 5 minutes straight and learning how to breathe through this and take the blows. At first you're afraid and tense up which is what leads to bruising and pain, but as you learn the system, you get more relaxed and don't bruise anymore. I used to come home looking like an abuse victim but now I don't.

I really, really recommend that you read up on Systema and try to find a local chapter. Or if you're in Toronto, come by for a free lesson. Vlad (the head instructor worldwide) will be more than happy to show you the ropes.

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

#99

Post by zaphar »

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…

I studied Hsing Yi kung fu in St. Louis which has some similarities to Wing Tsun. I highly recommend either one for the same reasons you've mentioned. There is a Wing Tsun school here in chicago that I'm considering going to since I can't find a Hsing Yi school here.

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

#100

Post by David »

silentbicycle wrote: post #37

Another data point - I trained in Aikido for several years, and enjoyed it tremendously. I eventually moved away from my dojo and couldn't make it often enough, so I stopped, but I highly recommend it. It's been particularly helpful in defending me "on the street" - it taught me to be really good at falling without hurting myself , which is an incredibly practical self-defense skill. It's come in handy many times on…

I have a friend through Karate (he's my age, 18/19) who went to boy scout camp a couple years ago and was screwing around with some friends. They were free-climbing a cliff. He fell from around 40 feet up. He broke many of the bones in the left side of his body, but a few months later he was fine. He actually owes his life to knowing how to fall correctly.

If that ain't a reason to pick up a martial art that trains falling... (Or you could have common sense. Either way.)

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