Anyone here take a martial art?

[Vahz]

I'm actually looking for an efficient martial art in terms of self defense and someone mentioned the Israeli art of Krav Maga. It seems to be focused on real life situations as many security and police forces employ it.

My original prospect was learnin Muai Thai kickboxing but was recommended against it because one has to be in amazing shape before finding a teacher and since I work in a corporate enviroment, the idea of coming into the office with bruises might not reflect well on myself.

[Kuroyama]

Vahz if you can find a knowledgeable teacher, I would seriously recommend Chen style taijiquan. Theres a lot more there than just punching the other guy.

But, if you are looking for a no-nonsense lets-get-down MA... IMO Judo is way underrated. Judo doesnt rank its players by how many pieces of wood you can break. You have to beat people to get ranked. You might be thinking that Judo is a sport and not a martial art. Thats true. But if some guy grabs you and throws you hard onto the concrete... how many more blows will it take to finish the fight? Judo might not have Teh Str33t rep that vale tudo, krav maga, or other arts have... But the basics of balance and grappling goes a long way IMO.

Just for the record, that is a good part of what taijiquan is about, but taiji was a WAY STEEP and long learning curve.

Another quick to fight art is Xingyiquan. Fewer moves, lots of practice and sweat. They also teach push-hands in xingyi (like in taiji) which is a good way to find openings and balance points in an opponent without coming back bruise-boy. Ive thought about quitting taiji and going xingyi many times because of its famously low learning curve. In the end I just practice xingyi basics. I was lucky to learn the taiji I did. It would be stupid to throw it away. Also finding a good CMA teacher is pretty tough. Heres a tip. If the CMA teacher DOESNT practice push hands...walk. IMO its that important. Its the training that leads you up to (someday) open sparring.

Good luck with whatever you choose. Stay sharp during your search. At some point you have to trust someone with your cash and time... but dont just jump in with some guy with lots of trophies, and contest awards. They mean little. Honestly. Look for a teacher thatll answer your questions thoroughly without hyping himself, or tearing down others on the process.

[minbo]

How fast do you want to have a functional edge in fights and how much time/effort can you put into learning?

If you want to have an edge and very soon, as was raised in poisenedrice's weightlifting routine, straight boxing is a good way to go. Aside from that, I think that it mainly would be constrained by what GOOD teachers you can find in your area. As Krav Maga is fairly niche still might be hard to find a good school, the same would go for Sambo.

Personally, I'm with Kuro in suggesting Jujitsu (slight difference vs Judo) or Brazilian Jujitsu. A lot of practicioners so you should probably be able to go to a few schools to find a teacher that is good and that you like.

Kickboxing works well for street fighting, but depending on style is usually taught with a focus for sparring which means, no un-sportsman like conduct - hits/kicks in the groin, etc. vs actual street combat. I think that Muay Thai is better in that regard vs US style kickboxing, but I'm no expert.

[Pat the Great]

brazilian jiu jitsu tends to be easier on the body and more directly applicable, with its emphasis on submissions, than judo. they're both good options, though. also, jiu jitsu starts you sparring immediately, which makes it leaps and bounds more practical.

[Vahz]

Any suggestions on what to look for in a good school?

[Pat the Great]

head to the grappling technique forum on sherdog.com and ask around there for a gym in your area. people tend to know areas reasonably well there.

[Vahz]

Thanks for the tip.

[Kuroyama]

It depends on what youre looking for in a school. Ive seen enough karate-gi wearing kung fu schools online to know that just because a guy claims to be knowledgeable doesnt make it so. (not a lot of the more traditional Chinese martial arts schools train using Japanese MA clothing... ;))

Figure out what you want. Do the homework on it, then go looking for something that fits that description. When I first started taijiquan I got hooked up with a school that teaches wushu/contemporary routines. If thats what you want, theres nothing wrong with that at all.

But its not martial arts.

I was lucky to later find a school that taught martial arts.

Stay away from guys named "Chad Smith" teaching "Teh secret art of ninjitsu". Without knowing what direction you want to go in its hard to give better advice than that.

[Vahz]

I was looking for a JJ dojo in north jersey but can't seem to find one that isn't miles away but I did manage to find a Krav Maga dojo about 4 towns away so I'm stuck on that for now.

http://www.contactcombat.com/

[AZN MAN]

Whichever style you choose, stick with it for about a year's time. IMO, this short period will give you a basic working knowledge about the particular art and open up a lot of possibilities to other styles that you can't grasp now.

Since you want to learn applications quickly, my suggestion is to stay away from Tae Kwon Do since it's taught as an Olympic Sport with too many rules; this limits its effectiveness with beginning students.

I also would caution against any of the 3 Chinese Internal Martial Arts of Ba Gua, Tai Ji, and XingYi due to the high learning curve and the cultivation of internal power.

I don't know what's available in Northern NJ. I started out with Karate, but I quickly soured on it due to the commercialism. Since then, all my teachers accepted me by invitation only - no belts, uniforms, tests, etc. I was taught either 1 on 1, or in small groups with students of similar skill/experience level.

[Kuroyama]

Azn Man...

Have you studied Xingyiquan before? Ill admit that the advanced levels take time to get to. Also without a doubt Taiji and Bagua have ultra steep learning curves...

But Xingyi is famous for its ease of entry, as well as the ability to use it in fighting quickly and effectively. As I understand it, it was taught to Chinese troops for battlefield combat. If it took a long time to become effective for fighting, I doubt the military would have used it for conscripts.

Also... talk of internal power...manifestations of qi... personally I think that is part of the commercialization of Chinese martial arts. I do not doubt that there are very small movements in CMA... but after 5 years of taijiquan study I have yet to witness a demonstration of anything that cant be explained physiologically.

[AZN MAN]

I openly questioned myself as to whether I should post in a Martial Arts thread, and I question myself now for responding; nevertheless ...

Although I personally don't practice much anymore, I look back on a few experiences where I witnessed Xingyi instructors in the U.S. teaching beginning students and their techniques were a mess. What bothered me as well as family members and friends is that the instructors didn't offer much assistance to the students in easing their transition toward better technique. We felt that these students would get clobbered in real life situations as the techniques we witnessed wouldn't be as effective as we thought they could have been. This opinion is based only on my own experience, and it's why I wrote what I did in my previous post. While I'm aware that it smacks of generalization and possible degradation of a fellow practitioner, it's not my intention to offend anyone. Hence my reluctance to write about this out of respect to those practitioners and students.

In my life, I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to meet and/or train with some very notable instructors and martial artists from China, HK, and Taiwan. I've personally witnessed the cultivation and power of internal qi, and it's effectiveness not only in martial application, but also in medical application. I've also been the recipient of internal power strikes (Or I should say touch), and I'm not referring to the mythical dim mak. My brother received accupuncture without needles from a high level ba gua practitioner; it was performed solely with qi. Whether you choose to believe this or not is entirely up to you, I won't attempt to change anyone's mind nor convince anyone that qi exists based off this post.

I will now discontinue discussions on internal martial arts not because of feedback from other members here, but out of respect to those who taught me. I remain humble in their presence and in their memories.

[Kuroyama]

Azn
In reviewing my previous post it may have been my questioning your assesment of Xingyi that offended. If it was, I apologize. It was not my intention to be hostile, or challenging. It was an honest question based on my experience with Xingyi, (vs taijiquan and minimal choi li fut) and what I have read about Xingyi. Without taking into account that bad teachers can produce bad results, I understand the learning curve into Xingyi to be low... Since my primary study is Chen taijiquan my perspective may be skewed. In fact the reason I ever became interested in Xingyi in the first place was from frustration with taiji. In the end I decided to stick with taiji based on what I had been taught and how much effort went into teaching me. Still, if I were to recommend CIMA to someone, it would be xingyi (assuming they could find good instruction).

While some of my Japanese friends have taken karate, I have found that bodies tend to get damaged more from training karate than they do by fighting opponents. I took taiji because I couldnt afford to pay for aikido lessons for myself and my wife at the local dojo in San Diego where Japanese was spoken ($500/month) I didnt see the logic in studying JMA if I couldnt use/practice my Japanese. I started learning taiji at a wushu school. I would later learn that contemporary wushu is not a martial art. After changing schools I would also learn that there is much much more to taijiquan than beautiful movements/postures. As such there was little hope of me becoming an instructor after 1-2 years of study. ;) What I was lucky to learn is that there was much much more to taijiquan than I had imagined. That my studies would/could go on for years and I would still be learning.

Unfortunately for me there isnt much quality taiji instruction available here in Miyazaki. The one group I bumped into in a local park has been doing contemporary Yang stuff (24 step/32 sword step). I met one other guy that practices Mantis forms. He went to college in China, studied MA there and would find a Chinese wife. He has offered to teach me, but Im pretty set on Taiji/Xingyi. As such, I practice alone. I occasionally have someone from work practice with me, but I havent had anyone really stick with it. the weather here gets unpleasant quickly and people have no tolerance for it. (rain, cold, humid heat...)

I can understand how you may have been hesitant to discuss martial arts. Discussing MA can quickly become sour when tempers flare. Some people seem to hold MA in higher regard than religion. Simple disagreements or misunderstandings can become nasty quickly. I hope that hasnt happened here. Even on MA forums it can be difficult to find someone to converse with.