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Martial Arts
Avicus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hi guys,
I have got a bit of spare time now that I am living with my parents again so I have decided to start doing a martial art. I am not sure what I wish to do though.
I am looking at doing a traditional Japanese art but there are so many with so many different styles within schools.
I am looking at being in this for the long haul so I want something that is practical but if I ever wanted to I could compete.
Also what is the difference between -do and jutsu. Which one do I want to do?
I have got a bit of spare time now that I am living with my parents again so I have decided to start doing a martial art. I am not sure what I wish to do though.
I am looking at doing a traditional Japanese art but there are so many with so many different styles within schools.
I am looking at being in this for the long haul so I want something that is practical but if I ever wanted to I could compete.
Also what is the difference between -do and jutsu. Which one do I want to do?
Avicus on
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When you say compete do you mean like, something that will have you doing something close to real fighting (like, MMA-esque), or something that is more formalized?
What do you mean by something that is "practical?"
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I am looking for a tradition formal Japanese martial art but I am not sure what style and then what ryu within the style.
oh, you want traditional Japanese. well, they aren't too practical.
I am no martial artist, but the general sentiment I hear seems to be that the answer to that one is 'none'.
My somewhat uninformed guess would be that jujutsu would be your best bet, but it might be hard to find a truly traditional school, given how much modern blending has taken place with other arts. Ninjutsu is also supposed to be pretty awesome (have a good friend who is pretty far into it), but finding a legit school is nigh impossible in the continental U.S.
edit: many of the "traditional for-use-in-war" arts also incorporate weapons fairly heavily, which may or may not be what you want
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
At the same time, it's entirely possible to take up what is considered a battle ready martial art, krav maga, muay thai, and find out your teacher is a complete puss, and you aren't learning anything practical.
Most of the "traditional" arts that you are talking about, like judo, karate, aikido, etc. are all around 100-120 years old, and date from after Meiji restoration. The great majority of them have been popularized because they aren't part of the koryu tradition, and as such are generally used in a sporting context (kendo, judo, etc) or used for self betterment/conditioning (aikido).
There's nothing wrong with these, at all. They can be used for self defense, absolutely - perhaps not in the MMA ring, but if some guy tries to mug you? Unless he's a master in defendo or something, any of the modern Japanese martial arts will be able to help you out.
If you are interested in simply fucking people up, then you are probably going to have to look at something like Krav Maga, or Defendo, or any of the myriad of MMA combinations (BJJ + Kickboxing, for instance). But I don't think that is completely necessary.
do means 'way' and as such will be more of a lifestyle thing, like aikido, jutsu means 'skill.'
My advice to you is to find the best martial artist you can locally and train with them, regardless of style. You don't want to learn bad habits from a mediocre instructor, trust me. Your time would be better spent just working out.
If you want to compete you need to find one of the sporting martial arts, there will probably be some clubs at your local college.
Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Not regular Jiu Jitsu. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
I have a black belt in Karate and I haven't actually practiced in years. I have however gone on to do a lot of other different physical performance styles. Outside of learning how to defend yourself the most helpful thing I've learned is kinesthetics. The better understanding you have of how your body moves and how to control it, the easier everything else is going to be. I've even cross trained in completely different styles fairly successfully because of this.
It's definitely more about the instructor than the style. My current teacher is awesome. He has Tea Kwan Do as a base but he also teaches MMA (and is good friends with a lot of the local "bush league" here in Northern Cali) and works in some capacity with one of the Olympic teams.
Don't get it in your head that one style is somehow better than another.
In truth, the 'practical' aspect of any martial art depends who you fight, what they are capable of, and your own abilities. Most of them will spend a lot of time reinforcing that not fighting is always preferable, avoidence is best. Take that to heart. Else the guy you decide to take on might turn out to have been trained rather well in some form and beat the crap out of you.
I've given answers to this question at length before. so I'll just link them.
What you're probably looking for is Judo.
a martial art should either teach you a good mixture of the three basic ranges - standing (boxing) clinching (hugging) and ground (wrestling) OR teach you to be a very good specialist in one.
There should be real, intense practice, routinely. This means whatever the school teaches, you do it briskly, with hard contact, until you're tired. This is VERY important for knowing what you can and can't do with what you're learning. This is super important - probably the most important thing.
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