Is anyone here studying martial arts? (1 Viewer)

[Alex Prosak]

Henry,

Even the J Lo may have brought some attention to Krav Maga, don't think it still isn't a good fighting technique. It reminds me a lot of Hapkido in that it is intended to take an attacker down very quickly and with as much pain as possible. The problem is finding a school. Very few people are familiar with the style and the schools are few and far between.

 

[JoshF]

Ryan: What happened to the UFC ninja? I must know!

Regarding Krav Maga, it can be very effective. However, it isn't as much of a physical workout as, say karate or ju-jitsu. Depends on what you're looking for.

 

[Zen Butler]

The UFC used to have the pure fighters in the earlier matches.

There was one Kenpo fighter, who went quite far. The blonde-guy, he ended up loosing a long fight with a Gracie I believe, Does anyone remember this fight? He was one of the few "standing" styles that did well.

 

[Stacy Huff]

Zen,
The Kenpo fighter was Keith Hackney. In his first UFC appearance he beat Emmanuel Yarborough with strikes, mostly to the face as I recall, but ended up breaking his hand in the process and couldn't continue.
In the next UFC (UFC 4) he fought Jo Son, Kimo's trainer, and beat him with a choke. If you remember that fight, Jo Son took Hackney down and I think had him in a headlock or something. With one hand Hackney threw some punches into Jo Son's groin (the illegal speed bag), and with the other hand he reached up and squeezed Jo Son's throat.
He fought Royce later in that UFC and got beat with an armlock. Then he came back and fought in the Ultimate Ultimate and got beat with a rear naked choke by Marco Ruas.
Here's a good website to track all these fighter in Pride and the UFC.
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/d...m?fighterid=38

 

[Stacy Huff]

I looked for the ninja fighter on that website and found Scott Morris, who fought in the second UFC. He won his first fight by submission, then got knocked out in 30 seconds by Patrick Smith.

 

[PatB]

From reading these posts it seems that there's some feeling that Muy Thai and Wing Tsun are pretty valid forms (this isn't to take anything away from the others I'm just going by what I've read) but which one is the best for street fighting (self defence) as opposed to sport? I know that Bruce Lee studied Wing Tsun so that helps, just wondering if anyone out there has studied one or both and can give me their opinions on each specific one?

 

[JoshF]

PatB: If you're talking about pure self-defense, Krav Maga would be great. Any martial art is going to teach you how to defend yourself, however, as long as you stick with it. Both Muy Thai and Wing Tsun will teach you that.

Bruce Lee's school of martial arts is called Jeet Kun Do, which you may already know.

If you're looking to get into it, choose the one that you like, and stick with it. Nothing is going to teach you how to kick butt on the street in only a few months regardless of what the school claims, and if they do claim that, stay away as they will hit you with so many fees that you'll be broke before you get a green belt.

Try the free introductory classes. See how you like it. See if the black belts and advanced students are nice and helpful. See if the class is too huge that you wouldn't get any one-on-one instruction. See if they require you to pay for an entire year ahead of time. Ask about their grading fees and see how often they are. Ask about annual membership fees. Look for the hidden costs, and avoid the McDojo.

 

[Henry Carmona]

Alex,

There is an instructer here in SA, and from what i learned over the phone, he was taught by someone who came over from Israel.

What i dont know is how long he has been training or teaching this technique which is the mian important thing im looking for.

I may visit and get more info.

I wasnt aware that Krav Maga did not have the training as other martial arts. I guess i will find out when i visit.

As I said, I have trained in Kuk Sool Won, and can always incorporate that into my training if i decide to enroll.

 

[Alex Prosak]

PatB,

If you're interested in a martial art that is strictly for self defense, I recommend checking out Hapkido as well. It should be a lot easier to find a good Hapkido school than Krav Maga. Hapkido involves using pressure points, joint locks, and joint breaks. There is some kicking and punching but not near as much as most other martial arts. A good friend of mine has been taking it for a couple of years and just got his red belt. If he were ever to ask you to pull his finger...don't.

Henry,

It is important that the Krav Maga instructor has a good amount of experience. If he doesn't, you might want to consider Hapkido as well. Once I get my black belt I intend on doing some cross training with Hapkido.

 

[PatB]

Thanks Josh, I was seriously considering Krav Maga but it has to be one of the hardest types of martial art to find instructors for. Thanks for all of you posting specifically about the forms you've trained in and your impressions. Most informative and interesting.

And as an additional point, Bruce Lee trained early on in Wing Tsun and then incorporated some of it into JKD, but he used some of the fundamentals from there too.

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Krav Magev was designed in the sixties, as I recall, and it's main goals were to be quick to learn, easy to teach to large groups, and efficient to disable somebody.

 

[JoshF]

Pat:

No problem, and you're absolutely right about Bruce Lee. I figured you already knew that, but wanted to bring up JKD in case you wanted to learn his style more directly.

I'm not positive that Krav Maga doesn't have as strenuous a workout as other martial arts. In fact, since I only study my martial art, I can't really speak about any other workouts. What I do know is a little about Krav Maga, and because it was designed to be taught in as little time as possible, I'm of the understanding that they don't waste too much time with conditioning.

Speaking of which, what are your martial arts classes' workout/warmup routines like? In my class (Goju Ryu Karate), we start with some stretching, calisthenics, then sanchin breathing exercises, then some strength training including pushups, situps, and all sorts of other evil things that get you pouring with sweat. We then do some strike exercises (shutos with kiai, etc.). This lasts about the first 30-40 minutes of class. Then we do "end of room" exercises which include technique drills. THEN we finally work on our katas, bunkais, or whatever we're working on at our respective levels.

 

[Calvin_Su]

Full contact sparring is ideal for self defense. I can't say there are any styles that don't do full contact sparring because that would be politically incorrect, but there are some styles that are known for not having full contact sparring. Mostly the traditional styles such as TKD, Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, etc. When I say full contact I mean full contact as in boxing.

I also recommend you watch some UFCs, Prides, or other nhb events. Watch different events with different rules and observe. You will see that as the rules change the styles that dominate do not. Each NHB show has different rules, but the same styles tend to dominate in every show.

I recommend you pick one of these:

Gracie/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Shooto

collegiate wrestling

and then cross train in one of the following:

Muay Thai

Boxing

Don't take my word for it though. Go watch some NHB events and observe for yourself. You should watch from the beginning, UFC 1, to the more modern ones. That way you will see how NHB has evolved.

 

[Calvin_Su]

Boxing - No other style teaches punching speed and power as well as boxing does. And no other style teaches you to take a hit the way boxing does. Many people who are not use to being hit just freeze when they do get punched. In boxing, as you train you learn to take hits better. Boxers feel more "at home" in a streetfight because they have so much experience in trading punches.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - If you have seen the early UFCs, you know who Royce Gracie is. At 176 lbs, he dominated UFC 1, 2, and 4. All his opponents were much larger than him. He defeated a 265 lb world class wrestler who outweighed him by anywhere from 80-90 lbs. That is nothing short of amazing. BJJ is so effective because most fights go to the ground. Some may disagree but most people who have seen a lot of brawls will tell you its true. After only a few months of training, you will be amazed at how easily and quickly you can finish a bigger guy with no jiujitsu training. when I wrestle people with not BJJ experience, it is a guaranteed victory for me. It usually ends in a matter of seconds. Plus, BJJ is heaps of fun to learn. Out of all MA, this is the one style I know I will train in for a lifetime.

Muay Thai - This style has some of the toughest conditioning around, and it shows in the fighters. The kicks of Muay Thai are the deadliest around. One leg kick will have you screaming in pain. These guys condition their shins so that they feel like baseball bats striking you. This style uses the whole human body as a weapon, and deals with all ranges of fighting except ground grappling. It has elbows, knees, and of course punches and kicks. It also has great techniques for the clinch.

All 3 styles above are easy to learn, and get you fighting practically in a short amount of time.

 

[Calvin_Su]

For more info about MA, visit these sites:
www.mma.tv
www.sherdog.com
www.adcombat.com
www.defend.net

 

[Mark Schermerhorn]

Ryan Peter: I sent you an email but in case you don't get it...where do you study around here? I looked into it a bit last year but didn't end up following through on it.

 

[Calvin_Su]

Bruce Lee was very critical of Karate and Kung Fu. In a magazine interview, he said that kung fu was useless for real combat. This is why some Kung Fu practicioners don't like Bruce. Just go to www.kungfuonline.com and ask what they think about Bruce Lee.
Also, Bruce trained extensively in grappling with Gene LaBelle. Many people don't know this because they only know Bruce as a movie star.

 

[PatB]

So if Kung Fu is so useless in "real combat" why do the FBI and FBI HRT train in Wing Tsun. Seems to me that these guys would know something about "real combat". No?

 

[Calvin_Su]

So if Kung Fu is so useless in "real combat" why do the FBI and FBI HRT train in Wing Tsun. Seems to me that these guys would know something about "real combat". No?

I rarely hear about FBI or any other law enforcement training in Kung Fu. Could you give more details about these FBI training in Wing Tsun?

I'd say practically all cops train in boxing and sometimes some form of grappling, like judo. But more recently they have been training in Brazilian Jiu-JItsu for their grappling, because it specializes in the most practical part of judo, groundfighting.

Speaking of Law enforcement, the LAPD says that 95% of real fights go to the ground. Thats where Rorion Gracie got that statistic, from the LAPD. Seems to me that the LAPD would know something about real combat, no?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Pat, the FBI only trains part of Kung Fu

Bruce was right in that traditional martial arts are very inflexible in a lot of ways. Jeet Kun Do was his attempt to bridge the locked in blocking and striking movements with something with more flow and unpredictability

Basically in karate for example, punch A is usually followed by punch B which is usually followed by either kick or throw C

Jeet Kun Do has much more of a variable, and practioners learn how to flow and move more than learn positions