Which martial arts lesson should I choose?

Question

I'm trying to decide which martial arts lesson I should take. Aikido, Tae Kwon Do or Shaolin? One that will be very useful for a police officer is prefered.

Answer 1

All are useful. I have friends in TKD who are cops & it has worked for them. I don't know enough about police work to comment beyond this.

Answer 2

Karate is a martial art. Martial art is a general term defining most combative training systems that have come from the far east. Karate is a great martial art unless you train with some random idiot who has never been to Okinawa or Japan and has no clue what they are doing. The average cost in the US will range from $50 to $200 a month. Make sure you pick a legitimate dojo that teaches a real art. Sometimes price is a terrible factor because there are great instructors out there that charge $75 a month and some crappy ones that charge $50 a month...and vice a versa. Good luck and don't rule Karate until you have tried a REAL Karate school.

Answer 3

Aikido would be the most favorable choice of the three you've listed here; since it favors more joint locks and pain compliance techniques and non aggressive approach to ending a conflict.

since you're in Law enforcement and you may often come against some unruly people, Aikido will help you subdue them without injuring them, or having a possible lawsuit brought against you if things get out of hand, because you'll be ready with something that can bring the individual into compliance without too much trouble.

I have to agree with Sifu Shaun with his listing of the disciplines here, Aikido first because of it's non aggressive approach to end a conflict, Shaolin because of it's defensive fighting tactics, and Tae Kwon Do as a more offensive fighting tactics.

Answer 4

Aikido will probably be your best bet as a police officer. It teaches you to subdue a person. Second best would be Shaolin, it will teach you to defend. Tae Kwon Do is much more offensive, so unless you're planning to be a bad cop, I'd put it as the last in the list.

Answer 5

Having taken eight years of martial arts and both TKD and Aikido I can say wholeheartedly that Aikido is the better of the two, probably the three. It is fast and defensive and can be used easily against multiple attackers. Most TKD schools are tournament-training jokes. Go for the aikido, it has many more restraining holds and hand to hand defense. TKD is mostly kicks.

My reccomendation would be Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu if you can. I know a lot of police and corrections officers that do it with me, and they have many of them used it and gotten home on some bad bad days.

Answer 6

I would investigate the style the military uses and ask other police officers if they can recommend something, obviously you'll probably have to learn something to restrain your attackers rather than seriously injure them, so I'd look into something that focuses more on holds & restraints Like BJJ, or even Krav Maga?? is used by some militarys too..
Aikido would take too long to become good at..
TKD wouldn't be effective, it's more of a sport than a defence art..
shaolin.. don't know anything about it to comment.. sorry

Answer 7

Krav Maga is the Martial Art that the police use. Look into it. if you really want to get into the force. In SWAT you will need to learn this. So if that is what you are looking for this Isralie (Not sure of the spelling) Martial Art has been taught in Police Academys for years. Effective and straight to the point. It is a brutal form of combat. Not for the quitter. You will need to train very hard to become successful, much like many other Arts.

Answer 8

If you're going to be a police officer, do anything that has grappling because PO will usually wrestle with their suspect rather than striking their suspect which can get them in a lot of trouble. I don't know where you live but here in California there is a big exam in the PO Academy on the topic about THE USE OF FORCE. So judo, wrestling, brazilian jiu-jitsu is probably your best bet when controlling your suspect instead of hitting him or her which would most likely get you fired if they find you using excessive force.

Hope this Helps.

Answer 9

The most practical in your situation is Tae Kwon Do especially not aikido cause its all throws, with little strikes, and it focuses more on your inner being.

Answer 10

I did Kung Fu for many years...so I would say Kung Fu...I did a variation of Shaolin called Hung gar it is actually Wu Shu but it's based on the same animal movements of Shaolin, it always differs depending on what exact region your Master comes from.

Anyhow, I really liked it, it is I think the most intense martial art, you learn to block a punch once and striking many times after. Our Master always says that we don't learn to defend ourselves, we learn to hurt our opponent/attacker, I know that if someone attacks me I will be able to poke his eye or break an arm...or whatever...
Sparing in class is another thing...because what we learn is very hurtfull...there is some sparing but it is very controlled...
Plus when you get more advance you can learn many martial arms...swords, sticks, knives...that is very interesting.
Good luck choosing!
ps: this is my school's site if you want to check it out: http://www.kungfumontreal.com/index.php

Answer 11

If these 3 are your only choices, Aikido would be the hands down winner. Effective and practical in police work. Lots of 'gentle' locks and controls of wrist locks and throws.