Most practical martial art?
 

(Mods: I don't have a clue where I should put this. >_>)

Anyways, when I finally move back to England, I want to take up a martial art. The thing is, I don't have a clue which one to take.

I want to take a weapons *and* non weapons based martial art, but I find Karate boring, Judo I've done, and I've heard with Tae Kwon Do you leave your crotch wide open with the kicks.

I guess what I'm asking for is what is the most practical martial art? Like one which I could practice and keep fit with, but also it would come in useful if I was going to fight someone and not flailing about doing Wushu in their face while they stab me and steal my wallet.

I've just come across the Keysi Method of Fighting, which seems close to what I'm after, but anyone have any other suggestions?

Tae Kwon Do isn't very practical or I should say it is very hard to find a good school because most are olympic based plus some of the kicks are flashy. I would go with kick boxing or boxing.

Krav Maga. Wiki it. It's of middle eastern origin and every time I hear about it, it's referred to as being brutal.

Krav Maga IS fucking brutal. Most of it's moves are fatal, and the ones that aren't result in broken bones and dislocated joints. Learn it, know it, and hope you'll never, EVER have to use it.

I've heard some very good things about Jeet Kune Do. Look it up.

I think Muay thai would suit your needs. It focuses on conditioning, and practical kick boxing. It would be good to know, and keep you in shape.

Savate

It's a french martial art, developed in the 1800's and is an effective means of self-defense in reality-given situations. If compared to other martial arts, this I can say is very practical if we talk about street self-defense.

Bas Rutten teaches a pretty practical style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3K-mrlYG7Y

while it's not an official martial art, nothin ever wrong with good ol street fighting, I find most times that can pull your ass out of a jam and quickly

I've studied Okinano (forgotten how to spell) Karate. Its mostly defensive and protection, but not practical. Black Belt
Studied Tae Kwon Do. To me, it is very aggressive with all the kick, but very defenseless for the Crotch. Then again, all the movements with the kicks prevents low-blows.
However for common practice, I mix those two styles to get by.
There is another style called Aikido. Aikido (合氣道:あいきどう, aikidō?) is a gendai budō, a modern Japanese martial art, developed by Morihei Ueshiba. The art consists of striking, body throw and joint locking techniques and is known for its fluidity and blending with an attacker, rather than meeting force with force. - Wikipedia

I had a friend who studied that for about a year, and gotten himself out of a knifing incident. Plus it involves flipping people and disarming. So my guess, thats your best bet for practice.

I second AG09 with Aikido. I don't know how much it will do for you exercise wise, but it's basically taking your opponent's force and using it against them. A tiny person can win against a giant without breaking a sweat, so I'd say that's pretty practical.

By practical do you mean studying martial arts for defensive measures to ward off the neighbourhood thugs that chase you around, kind of practical? Because if so I'm at a loss as to how something like Judo, and well everything else mentioned, can be called a practical art. You're not going to want to roll around on the grass with some dude trying to shank you. If you're going to study anything I would simply suggest some form of chinese boxing. No flips. No upside down spinning heel kicks. No rolling in the mud. Just something with a heavy emphasis on striking with the fist, palm, or elbow.

Unfortunately, there's no fit-all answer. Depends on the places you can get to, and your own preferences, style, the length of time you have to study, your physical nature, etc.

Once you move, do a thorough phonebook/net search of places near you. Find a dedicated martial arts forum, post the list and ask for advice based on the styles you can reasonably get to. Then, visit a few places that sound interesting and post your thoughts after going once or twice.

Don't listen to these people, Krav Maga is what you want. It's taught to the Israeli army for a reason (I think it's the Israeli army at least). I think they have also started to teach it to law enforcement officers in the USA.

I agree with the first point, the second one I can confirm as being true, and the third point sounds right.
I wish I had taken Krav Maga when I had the chance. Now I don't have anything, except for a (very) few random moves taught to me from some friends. Basically some from juditsu, karate, and street fighting.

first chance I get though, Krav Maga is way up there on my list of things to learn

I third Aikido. I learned a style of it years ago from a great master and it seemed to work, though I didn't get into any fights it did put an emphasis on disarming the attacker quickly rather than drawing it out into a fist fight. Plus I learned some weapon combat, mainly with the jo, a quarter staff, and very little with the katana, the wooden practice version I don't remember the name of it. Once I get a job and everything settled a bit, I'd love to get back into it, it's been far too long.

The most practical method of self-defense is keeping yourself out of trouble. If that's going to be difficult, since you're going to be living in England and there aren't any guns to be worrying about, you can do what all of my friends that live in DC do, run. It's always worked for them whenever someone wanted to mug them (they are pretty fast though).

If you're really are dead set on learning a martial art, my advice would be Krav Maga as mentioned above. The Israelis live in one of the most hostile places in the world today and most of their techniques for hurting people work. You could also try out any other run of the mill self-defense class since these will probably be very similar to a civilian Krav Maga class (they're not going to teach you killing techniques unless you're in the army). :)

Krav Maga or Kali, really. Kali is great because you start with a weapon and only after you advance do you learn the open-hand stuff which is about as brutal as you can get.

Both arts are about making your opponent submit in the fews blows possible.

(jeez like.....three posts appeared when I posted this @_@)

Hoohhhh-kay then....I shall have a look at Krav Maga (since it looks pretty useful), also Wing Chun and that Keysi Fighting Method also seem very interesting still. I shall have a look at the others like that (something) Karate and Aikido and stuff.

IDK, it seems I had a very different Tae Kwon Do experience than most people. It's possible my instructor slightly altered how he taught Tae Kwon Do, since he taught I believe 3 other styles. Anyway it always seemed to be fairly practical, if you were going one on one. Versus more than one person, you'd be in a spot of trouble. I did have to fight 2 people at once during my black belt test, and it wasn't easy. It basically involves rotating around so that you always just have to fight one of them at a time. Good tactics I guess, but that isn't exactly practical in all situations. That's really the only flaw I saw in Tae Kwon Do. Can't be (easily) adapted for fighting more than one foe.

I second this, not only is it intense (which makes for a good work out) but it is alot easier to pick up on (seriously after a month of classes you will gain a TON of confidence in yourself) and is really fun :) I've tried several forms of martial arts and IMO this is the place to start. As for weapon based martial arts perhaps Kendo would be to your liking, I want to take Kendo classes but the closest place that teaches it is like 3 hours from me :(

I am personally going to shoot down Aikido, it is complicated and from what I hear it takes a years worth of training before it really starts to pay off. Kali (more commonly referred to as Eskrima) sounds interesting and could be worth looking into (especially if Kendo doesnt sound like your thing).

One warning about Kickboxing, it may be hard to find a good Sensei... alot of Sensei's are training people for cage fighting and generally train you to be a bad ass effectivly. I have yet to find a good humble Kickboxing Sensei so I've strayed away from it :-/ Martial Arts is not about attitude, it's about discipline and improving yourself IMO.

I recommend these two:
- muay thai for kicking
- judo for grappling
Both are very practical. In my country many people train judo,especially those security guards. You said that you had finished judo, but you can expert it
And remember what ORLY said. It is really the best option :)
Salute..

Well, in a street fight you need to know how to box to an extent. I imagine kickboxing would only make you more efficient since most people don't even have defenses lined up in their mind when it comes to reacting to a fucking kick to the legs. But fights, a lot of times, tend to go to he ground and you need to know your shit there too. Any sort of grappling would help. And don't worry about your fight turning into some goofy UFC LETS LIE ON TOP OF EACHOTHER FOR FIVE MINUTES because most people can't wrestler their way out of shit.

This Krav Maga sounds interesting. And isn't Aikido what that goof Steven Seagal does? Someone mentioned Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's technique, and it's great in the sense that it teaches you to be open and ready for any/to do anything in any sort of fight scenario. If you let form and set in stone guidelines/technique dictate your style, you become predictable to anyone that knows a damn thing about what they're doing.

I see some of you people have mentioned Aikido. I tried Aikido for a year or so and I can honestly say that I didn't like it much. Sure, it's interesting, and I'm sure it's useful if you get REALLY good at it, but as a form of exercise to keep you in shape, it's a mess. I felt like Aikido was more a form of dance than a martial art. Needless to say I wasn't impressed.

I can, however, recommend good old traditional boxing. I've tried it for a while now and I love it. Great exercise(probably the best, only on par with kick boxing and such) which gives you a great body frame and really good condition. It's also very practical, since you'll learn where, and how, to punch for maximum damage as well as how to defend your own weak spots. Asian martial arts tend to go for the "avoid getting hit and you won't get hurt" principle, but real life situations aren't always that simple. If you get hit you'd better know how to take it or you'll be in big trouble.

I've never practiced Krav Maga but from what I've read and been told of it sounds very, very similar to (if not the same as) the military combatives I've been taught, which are really the only way go when someone's trying to fuck you up. Scooping out eyeballs and rupturing testicles, wonderful stuff. If you're looking to get into a barfight to teach some fucker a lesson for lookin' funny at your girl then good old fashioned boxing will work fine since you probably don't have to worry about drunken flashy kicks or takedowns (unless you're in japan?). I practice shotokan karate, it's not optimized like Krav Maga for use on the battlefield but it's well-balanced, and if you're good enough in anything you don't need to worry about getting beat up since most people can't fight for shit anyway.

Most of my friends do Wing Chun (a chinese martial art), but one of my friends doesn't find it very practical in terms of fighting ability so he does submission wrestling, boxing and muay thai.

Alot of Kickboxing classes teach some grappeling as well to prepare people for stuff like the UFC. Honestly though just a couple classes on grappeling (and the occasional refresher course) will put you leagues ahead of anyone who isnt trained.

Kali/Eskrima, Krav Maga, Silat - these types. Well, while others may want to flash a kick or two or do a fancy elbow strike when there's time, the arts I mentioned usually skips the flashy types and just goes in for the kill. Grab arm, break joint, end the attack-type.

Just wondering if Brazilian Jiujitsu (or only Jiujitsu) also has the same concept.

I know this is an old thread that I actually just saw, I thought I would chime in with a MA that I was looking into myself (I took it for a couple of months before I had to move...) after being pointed towards it from a couple of friends of mine, which is Hapkedo.

Taken from a style overview page from the International Academy of Martial Arts

Hapkido combines joint locks, pressure points, throws, kicks, and strikes for practical self-defense. More soft than hard and more internal than external, but elements of each are included. Emphasizes circular motion, non-resistive movements, and control of the opponent.

Although Hapkido contains both outfighting and infighting techniques, the goal in most situations is to get inside for a close-in strike, lock, or throw. When striking, deriving power from hip rotation is strongly emphasized.

Training varies with organization and instructor. As a general rule, beginners concentrate on basic strikes and kicks, along with a few joint locks and throws. Some of the striking and kicking practice is form-like, that is, with no partner, however, most is done with a partner who is holding heavy pads that the student strikes and kicks full power.

Advanced students add a few more strikes and kicks as well as many more throws, locks, and pressure points. There is also some weapons training for advanced students - primarily belt, kubatan, cane, and short staff.

Some schools do forms, some do not. Some do sparring and some do not, although at the advanced levels, most schools do at least some sparring. Many Hapkido techniques are unsuitable for use in sparring, as their use would result in injury, even when protective gear is used. Thus, sparring typically uses only a limited subset of techinques.

I really enjoyed the physical aspect of this art. It was a quick-and-to-the-point style designed to end a fight quickly once one began. It teaches everything from striking, grappling, joint locks, pressure points, weapons, to reacting to the said moves properly as well. I will say however that being tall in my class was a disadvantage as it works a lot with using the center of gravity. You can overcome it (and have advantages in other areas such as striking), but it is hard. I would definately recommend this form to others.

How bout Sambo and Muay Thai. If they're good enough for Fedor Emelianenko, it should be good enough to suit your needs as an athelete.

If you're worried about getting in fights in England, you gotta remember that the only fights you're gonna get into are with huge groups of chavs or a couple of drunk fucks outside a pub.

If you're set on by a group of chavs, no martial art is gonna save you from a kicking. They won't attack you unless there's about 15 of them and at least half will probably be tooled up. Just run away, take up track running or something.

If you're involved in a punch up outside a pub, chances are the other guy will be too drunk to actually hurt you and if the cops turn up and see you martial artsing someone, they'll never believe you didn't start it and you'll get charged with assault or abh, rather than affray or drunk and disorderly.

If you want to learn a martial art for discipline or fitness, just pick whatever looks fun. Don't ever pick one to actually use on the streets though, that's just gonna land you in hospital or prison. If you're moving somewhere so incredibly dangerous you need martial arts skills just to wander the streets ('Sup Salford?) then just buy a fuck off great big knife and scare people of with it.

This is probably some of the best advice you can get. It'll also work in your favor if you need to run away from the polies as well.
lolies. You need to be able to run here too.

LMAO, Salford isn't that bad Shin, although the two weeks I lived there I was almost pissing myself whenever I had to walk home at night.

For Krav Maga I suspect the fatal/kill moves are reserved for military style personnel and a more self defence orientated programme is taught to civilians.

Of course, in a really dangerous situation or outnumbered, running would be the way to go -there's no sense in trying to be an action hero and getting seriously injured.

Its nice to see all these martial arts people around. Me I'm from the animal style kung fu tradition. I had a taste of wrestling & karate but my opinion is find something that builds a character that avoids fighting period.

The experience of practicing violent encounters is valuable but the important part is not the moves, its keeping yourself under control.
Frankly knowing anything and I mean like one good move is better than nothing at all but your mind needs the conditioning to make the situation work for all that are involved.
I've been in many situations where my awareness, cool head and confidence did more than the hardest punch.
I dont know of a school that teaches the good sense of being aware of who and where you are, where you are going and where you should be but if there is one that can teach such an art that defeats conflict before it happens, find it first.

Kapoera!!!!! If you can windmill, hit someone and keep momentum than damn you are freaking amazing. But really i'd recommend tae kwon do; nobody expects a guy to kick. I wouldn't recommend kung-fu just because it is more body training than fighting. That or jeet kun do if you don't mind touching another man's sack in the most painful or ways.

Tae Kwon Do has some surprisingly good defense techniques, or at least the way I was taught it. From what I've heard of it, I'd expect to learn far more offensive moves. I guess though they do teach you to block in ways that injure the other guy, hopefully. It was fairly balanced though, with just a few shortcomings. It's a terrible technique to use versus more than one foe, because there aren't really any guaranteed incapacitating moves, you just have to hope you hit/kick hard enough in the right spots to take down one guy each time you attack.

It's fun, and excellent for exercise, and for the most part practical. There are better forms for combat, I won't argue that, but I was definitely satisfied with what I learned. I got to 1st degree/3rd level black before I stopped.

Yup; totally agree with you. It really just teaches you how to spar, but i think that for self defense that's probrably more than what most crooks can handle. That or school fights, most people just talk smack until you call them out.

Dude, I lived there for three years when I was at uni, my mate lived on officially the most dangerous street in the country (Langworthy Road FYI). It certainly fucking is that bad...

You've never been in a fight, have you?

It's a hard decision really, personally ninjitsu and wing chun have been the most usefull/practical to me. This is mainly because neither use big movements or need a lot of space to utilise. From the instances I've had to use them (I think i have a big neon sign above me that says "mug me please!") being able to use close up techniques has saved my life, not to mention my phone and wallet many times :) I've found that I do not need to carry a knife or baton like my friends do, instead I can use a few key punches to disable an attacker.
Ninjitsu taught me restraint, the other martial arts that I studied did the same but not to the same extent. Granted this depends on the dojo in which you studied in, my ninjitsu teacher was ridiculously strict so I knew what to hold back.
That's the most practical thing you can be taught in my opinion, if you don't hold back you can get yourself in allot of trouble.

The balance and footwork learned in ninjitsu is fucking amazing. I was seeing a variety of martial artists trying to do their art while balancing on some stumps of various lengths and only the ninjitsu practitioner could do it fucking cat like.
EXTREMELY TRUE. Check out this video. It has tons of examples of people that lose their fucking mind while fighting. But check out the fight at 2:49. Guy defending his girlfriend very well against two people. Kept his cool. Not sure if he's a boxer or just a naturally intelligent fighter. I'd be so ashamed of myself if I got my ass kicked this way, worse yet if I had a friend "helping" me.

YouTube Video

Judo for me
 

I always thought martial arts are specially for self defense and that's what I found on Judo. Maybe karate is too aggressive and I don't knwo very much of others like 'Jujitsu' (maybe it's mispelled, sorry). or 'Taekwondo'.

Well, defensively speaking thats sound. But look at the problems Obi Wan had using Soresu, a purely defensive lightsaber style.

¬.¬

Wushu actually isn't bad at all in terms of physical conditioning. The people I know who practice it are pretty cut. It also gives a really good sense of balance. In a fighting situation however, I don't think you'd want to try using it at all. Same pretty much goes for TKD.

I'd say kickboxing is a good one. I'd throw in kickboxing because even if they guy has a granite chin, a few hard leg kicks can make him go down... unless he's been training or something.

I find boxing a little limited in terms of range, but it's conditioning aspect is the best of all martial arts in my opinion.

Muay thai is really effective, but I don't know if bone strengthening techniques have improved. I hear people who train seriously in MT can't walk after 40 because of really weak bones. If you can get past that, the elbows and knees are lethal.

I like the Genki Sudo style... which is like breakdancing/popping and throwing spinning backfists, then somehow getting a flying triangle.