Martial arts
 

One of my lifetime goals is to master a martial arts. I've done tae kwon do for a year when I was a kid, and didn't absorb much. At this point in my life though, I'm a lot more physically active and interested in it. It's just nearly impossible to devote myself to one now since I'm busy with school and all that shit.

Anyone here interested in martial arts? There are some pretty incredible stuff out there on youtube. Very cool, very inspiring.

I'm interested theoretically, but I'm not really active enough to just jump into a martial art, exactly. Still, if I were to go into a martial art, I'd probably consider aikido. It seems interesting to me to be purely defensive, and considering I'll probably never use it other than for self-defense anyway (i.e. I don't plan on fighting for pleasure, and I'd use a gun in a war) it seems the most practical, too.

For the record: you'll only get "busier", so you might as well just sign up now.

I don't think it's possible to master a martial art in a lifetime. If you're going to devote your life to martial arts, you'll end up doing so to make the most of the time you have, but you'll never master any of the disciplines. If you were to master a martial art, it would simply lose its meaning. That's just my personal thought on the subject, I'm sure there are people who would disagree.

I think martial arts is absolutely amazing. I'd go so far as to say that if it weren't for some of the disciplines that I've been a student of so far, I would've turned out alot worse in life. Without a doubt, I feel it is the best way to exercise, develop, grow stronger and if you're lucky - also get to know some really awesome people. Some of my closest and best friends are people I've met in the dojo.

Hah, yeah I understand that I'll only get busier. It sucks.

You can't exactly master ANYTHING. But what I meant was, just get a black belt in something. Since I unfortunately don't have the time/energy/etc to devote my entire life to martial arts, getting a black belt would be very satisfying.

I love it for all of the reasons Killy mentioned. The discipline, developing your mind and body. All that stuff. I love it.

Killy, what do you study?

Again, I'm going to sound like a smartass, but that's really not my intention. I just feel that this is something important that needs to be stressed, or else you'll be cheating yourself. In traditional martial arts - where coloured belts apply - the meaning that the black belt conveys is that you've reached a point in your training where you're ready to start learning. It's not a point you reach and say "ok, I'm done.", it's a whole new beginning. Everything up to that point is just basics, the things you need to know in order to start learning.

I've been a student of ju-jutsu since the age of 10. This has been my primary discipline - and still is. I've been doing some BJJ and Muay Thai along with that, but right now I'm mostly into MMA which feels most comfortable, since it's quite similar to what I'm used to.

I did tae kwon do back when I was younger for a number of years, but had to stop after my instructor had a mild mental breakdown. His wife divorced him, took his three kids, and two of his best buddies died all within a week. :( It was a shame since I had become a black belt about a year before and had really started enjoying it then. I wanted to get back into it once I got to college but never found a group I felt comfortable in. I'm hoping I'll find something while I'm at grad school to do.

Any suggestions for an art that I should look into? I'm not really looking for self-defense, but more of something that's a bit of exercise but not overly intense and would be good for helping me destress a bit after a day's work.

Yeah, I took Tae Kwon Do when I was younger also, it's not like I was bad in it or anything, but me and my brother had to stop because the fucking black belt cost $5k each of us. <_<

But like Reaver said, I might go back into it just for exercise purposes also...

I took hapkido (a Korean martial art with several styles) for a few years, passing the test for my black belt but quitting just before I entered high school for the same reason as Chaotic: it got ridiculously expensive for my brother and me. I wanted to get back into it and eventually did (sort of), joining this gymnastics troupe one year in college. This troupe did various performances, including a martial arts one. With a friend, I joined his XMA sessions at the time too, and those were fun. I also wanted to join the Wushu club, but I couldn't commit the time for it. Plus they didn't use my weapon of choice: nunchaku. I later couldn't commit time for the troupe and martial arts again and had to quit.

Now I'm trying to get back into my friend's XMA sessions one of these weekends, but I'd be lacking the "abilities" I had before. I still got mad ups though. Also, one day I want to visit my old studio. It would have been 10 years since I was later there. =p

I studied Northern Shaolin Kung Fu for a while, but I stopped when I graduated from my university.

Now I'm thinking of practicing something softer. Ba Gua sounds like fun, but since my girlfriend used to study Aikido, that's something I might consider too.

I've always wanted to get into martial arts. But as time went by I kind of lost interest in it and thought it's just one of those childhood dreams you need to let go and accept that will never happen (same goes with my dream of being an astronaut). As a kid my parent's didn't have the money to send me or any of my other siblings to martial arts school. So we just watched CHUCK-FU movies and admired the awesomeness that is Chuck Norris.

But if I ever got the chance to study any martial art, it'd be very cool to be a ninja.

A friend told me about this ninja school that held its graduation exam in a golf course at night. The ninjitsu students would slip into the golf course. And then, the guards would be let into the course and the students that evaded them throughout the night would be allowed to graduate.

I'm not sure how true this story is, but :tpg: :tpg:

I'm into the martial arts. I love the stress on dicepline that any art places on a person. I started out in kung-fu then got into karate but I found that that I lean tward spiritual matters which I feel is neglected in classes today.

Typically I think the focus is too heavy on the body and remembering technique but a persons most vunerable and vital point of their soul isn't taken into account. Probably because of the varied methods and inconsistant methods of measuring improvement.

I lean the other way and focus on reading and applying biblical concepts as a martial art. I have found that it can be practiced every waking hour of the day with outcomes surpassing physical fighting. It requires taxing exercise and flexibility of the mind & heart but it pays off.

I'm trying to figure out what style to choose when I do begin. I understand that when you become a black belt, all you know are all of the kicks and forms and means of fighting someone but it's only after you reach that point that you can apply it into actual fighting.

I'm still a little unsure of how much I'm willing to devote myself to something. Krav Maga seems the most practical and efficient, since devotion to that will yield me the most practical results in the least amount of time. But I'm also interested in the spiritual aspect and all of that, but its drawback is just that it requires too much time and effort which I don't think I can give to it.

I was in Tae Kwon Do for a year, and I just now remembered how expensive it was. It was like $200 to advance from a white belt to yellow belt. It's ridiculous and disgustingly capitalist. I don't want something that costs that much.

Muay thai is very interesting, but seems too savage. I don't want to put that much pressure on my joints either.

At college I'm a member of the BJJ club, though I haven't gone as often as I should. It's a great opportunity to learn ground fighting and grappling [as most fights often end up on the ground] and since it's free, it's definitely something I will focus on the upcoming years] but I also want to learn another form.

What's a good martial arts to learn, if you could choose one?

I'm not sure if I understand what you mean, correct me if I misunderstood what you just said - earning your black belt in a traditional style which doesn't include any kind of sparring, and then partaking in your first real fight makes you no more experienced than a white belt getting in trouble for the first time. There are indeed styles that do not cover any sparring whatsoever, so don't get fooled. Basically, you need to go up against real opponents - not necessarily by picking a fight out on the streets, don't get me wrong - but simply by visiting another club for a week or two and doing some full-contact sparring with a completely unknown person. Just the fact that you're fighting someone unknown makes it so much harder to match him. Maybe you get nervous, maybe you don't. Bottom line is - you won't know what to expect and you won't know how aggressive he is, but most importantly - you won't know how you react until you fight him.

As far as Tae Kwon Do is concerned - I haven't really tried it, so I can't say much, but from what I gather, it's an effective form if you're looking for technique in kicking and possibly punching, though there seems to be a lack of the latter in some styles. Other than that, I wouldn't spend much time doing it - there's no clinching, no grappling, no wrestling, no throwing etc. It's not as dynamic as some of the more popular arts, but it does have its own unique form and I can appreciate it for that. And as some of you have already pointed out - it's way too expensive - especially in relation to how much you actually learn from all of it.

Personally, I believe a good martial art is an art that makes you feel good and better about yourself. It suits your needs and your everyday goals in life. Like everything else, you need to balance it with the rest of your life. I've seen too many people walk away from the dojo, either because they don't have time (a legitimate reason) or because "they're not interested", whatever that means. Whether or not that stems from an actual lack of interest, or simply because they're unable to progress in their training, I don't really know. Needless to say, if it's the latter - you need to work things out with yourself, but don't turn your back on something great.

For a time, I was active in a local Jinenkan school, until financial troubles forced me to quit. I'd like to join again some time, I really liked the kind of style they taught, and the teacher and other students were friendly and dedicated.

Not sure if it's just the place I went to or not, but we did a fair amount of throws, grappling, and submission moves in addition to the normal kick punch it's all in the mind. I actually wound up hurting a few people by accident because a few of my joints are freakishly flexible and I didn't know most people couldn't bend that far. ;_;

You must be doing something very wrong if you're putting too much pressure on your joints while doing muay thai kickboxing. I'd would worry more about puking from all the conditioning drills you'd go through from each class if you're not staying in shape. Ahhhhh, those were the days. :D

That's unlike anything I've seen here, what was the name of the style/school?

I studied martial arts for self-defense back in...fourth grade, I think? It was quite some time ago, regardless.

I would like to study martial arts again, though. I think that more self-discipline is always a good thing to have; plus it would give me another option of exercise instead of running, sit-ups, and DDR. =)

I just figured it wouldn't be healthy in the long run when you use your joints to hit things. Especially when your cartilage wears out and all that. Correct me if I'm wrong, of course.

Killy, what I meant was. Once you're a black belt, you basically know all of the moves that they taught you. But you don't know how to apply them yet. It's once you become a black belt that you are actually taught whatever art you are studying.

I'm still looking into an art that I am willing to learn [whenever that time comes.] Admittedly, muay thai seems the most dynamic and interesting to me. But I don't know that much about what it encompasses. I think it's best to learn something like that [impact attacks, and basic standing self-defense [or offense] and something that will teach you how to fight on the ground like BJJ or wrestling.

The only thing I can see that would wear out would be your hands, but then you're wearing handwraps and gloves which saves your hands and joints. Other than that you're hitting with the hardest parts of your body like your shin, the ball of your foot, your knees and your elbows which I think lasts a lot longer than doing say BJJ which is much harder on your joints from all the submissions you take. But yeah whatever.

It was just a local Tae Kwon Do place, not one of the larger chains or anything. I think the instructor had done a few other forms of martial arts, so he might have just thrown in other material he thought would be useful or whatever.

I should also note that when we did sparring it wasn't olympic style where you get points at such (though we did do it occasionally), it was more like actual sparring and trying to knock the other guy on his ass. I actually got pretty good at it since I was really tall for my age when I joined, and the only other person in the class was a black belt (instructor's oldest daughter), so through my years of training I was always sparring against people ranked considerably higher than me. By the time most of the other kids my rank had gotten closer to my size I was way better than them and had to spar against the black belts anyway. :(

Personally I'd recommend something like Boxing or Jujutsu if you are looking for conditioning or self defense. Muay Thai and Krav Maga are also useful to learn. Just keep in mind that there really isn't a be all end all martial art out there (at least not that I have found).

Proper conditioning will actually make your joints stronger.

Overall I get the sense that you haven't really decided why you would even be studying a fighting style. Figure that out and your choices will get a lot smaller.

Its nice to see that many take martial arts seriously and can offer their two cents on it. Definitely some good information in there.

Though the years, I've taken a fair amount of pleasure in the martial arts. I've trained in Ken-jit-su and Shotokan at various times, though have had to drop them recently.

Choose something that will make you a better person. When you choose a style you invest in a system of thought.

Ultimately you must consider if the path you choose is for virtue or for vice.
Will the art you choose make you a more compassionate, respectful person?
Will it benefit your self perception & what others think of you?

My art handles both of these issues and more. Its free and its the most useful. Consider every day the attacks we endure on the very nature of who we are. The thrusts of slander, mocking, intimidation, trickery, hate, neglect... what school teaches how to defend yourself from these kinds of blows?
Proverbs 18:14
A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?