what is the best martial arts to learn?

Question

i am a 22year old male and i want to know what is the best karate or martial arts that a person my age and status. i am 5'11 and 180lbs. and best disipline

Answer 1

The answer here is simple: there isn't one

it's a personal choice of which discipline YOU want to study, only YOU can make the decision for yourself about which one is best for YOU and what you want to get out of studying Martial Arts for your personal benefit.

Because the fact is that when people ask "what's a good Martial Art for me to learn because I'm (insert age, height, weight, gender or whatever you want to plug in here)?" or “what’s the “best” Martial Art to learn” has 2 major problems:

1st: questions like these just beg for the majority of people here to start blurting out names of disciplines that are probably not even available in your area.

2nd: Just because they recommend a Martial Art that they may (or worse MAY NOT) have studied and it just happened to become THEIR favorite Martial Art because they’re interested in studying it or it worked for them doesn't mean that it's going to work for you or that you’ll find it just as interesting.

What many people fail to realize about Martial Arts is that there isn't a particular "brand" that is a "best fit".

There IS NOT a Martial Art that works for people with SPECIFIC body characteristics (height, weight, body type, gender, etc.) none of this really matters

What matters is that you feel comfortable in the classes (and like the classes) and feel comfortable that the instructor (and the instructor's TEACHING style and not the discipline itself) can properly teach you self defense without the "smoke and mirrors" .

First of all, what YOU need to do is research local schools by looking in the phone book or internet search engine to find out if there ARE any Martial Arts schools in your area.

Second, if you can find at least 3 schools that interest you, watch a few classes at each one and decide which one out of those 3 schools that interested you the most.

Third: find out if they have some trial classes (up to a weeks worth to help you make a decision, hopefully without being hassled to join or sign a contract to join the class), and if you find that you like the school, then enroll in the class.

You just need to find a Martial Arts School that will provide a safe, "family like" environment for you and that the instructor(s) are going to help you become the best Martial Artist that you can become.

The discipline you may wind up studying DOESN'T MATTER because there is NO discipline that is better than another, because they ALL have their strengths AND weaknesses

The instructor should also like to do it more for the teaching aspect rather than the "making money" which it is a business to make money after all; but it should not be the only reason for teaching the discipline.

The biggest problem you should worry about in finding a school is being aware of schools that're a "McDojo's" or "belt factory" type of school.

These schools usually do a lot of boasting; particularly about how soon their students make their 1st degree black belts. A prime example of this: having several "young black belts" that're usually 9 or 10 yr old kids, which should be a rare thing to see unless the child started learning the discipline when they were 4 yrs old, or promising that as a student you’ll be making your black belt in about a year’s time (the average should be between 4 to 5 years or better) which often means that they have a high student turnout rate. This is a Red Flag

They may also try to get you to commit to (by signing) a contract, usually one that's 6 months long or more or try to get you to pay down a large sum of money for that kind of time period. This is a BIG red flag

And don’t be fooled by these schools telling you about how many tournaments or competitions their students have entered and placed in or won a trophy, which is NOT a necessity in Martial Arts. Tournaments/competitions can be good to test your own skills at point sparring but again, it’s not necessary because they are the LEAST important aspect to concern yourself with in Martial Arts.

Long story short, these schools will basically "give" you your belt ranks every few months as long as you are paying the outrageous fees per month, and you won't really learn self defense.

Answer 2

I do Wing Chun kung fu. It's one of the original five systems that survived the burning of the Shaolin Temple in 1674 (the others being Tai Chi, Pa Qua, Hsing I, and Bak Mei) and one of only two styles on the planet that were developed by a woman (not including much more recent "styles", of which there are probably thousands). It was developed by a nun called Ng Mui and first taught to an orphan girl called Wind Chun. It is based on very direct movement with speed, skill and sophistication. It requires no strength, but structure, relaxation and sensitivity. Those who try to use force get whipped pretty quick!! Sounds good so far.... Thing is, it takes a long time to get good (at anything really). You can learn basic techniques in a self-defence course but it takes a lot longer to be able to pull them off in reality. As people have said, it depends what you're after. If you want to learn something that'll help you in quick self defence or for sport then one of the other styles mentioned would probably be better. If you're interested in getting seriously good over a period of years then perhaps Wing Chun. It's not a sport and there are no rules, it's about removing the person in front of you - anything that works is acceptable. It's a matter of learning what works, in reality. Someone mentioned the most important thing - its not the style, its the teacher. Doesn't matter how good a person is at their style - if they can't (or won't) communicate with the students then they're no good to anyone. It's a good idea to look around different places to see what classes would suit you, and don't be afraid to travel to a class that's worthwhile.

Answer 3

This really depends on what you want out of your training and what's available in your community. This certainly will help you to narrow down your choices. I've been training in martial arts for over 30 years and I've trained in many styles before settling on Wing Chun Kung Fu. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to the art by a world class martial artist Chris Chan from San Francisco/Hong Kong. It is the most practical self defense system that can be learned quickly and suitable for people of all sizes. However, if you want to become a UFC sports fighter you should go more with an MMA type of school or cross train in wrestling and boxing. If you can't find a decent school consider learning as much as you can from on-line sources such as wingchunclub.com ... also check out the many great books available on the market. It may be a good idea to start your own club once you understand the goal that lies ahead of you.

Answer 4

Ok seriously folks, learn to use the search function. This question has been answered at least a hundred times on this sight alone and a million times since the beginning of martial arts to begin with. There are a few dozen websites that come up if you just do a web search with that question. Really, I'm tired of answering this. there is no "best" martial art. There never has been and never will be one end all answer to this question. Search around locally, find out what your local options are, then do a web search on each of them and pick a few you think sound cool and check out those schools. The school is more important then the art, a good school in a crappy art beats a bad school in a great one.

Answer 5

Quickest to learn for Self Defense – Judo

In 6 weeks to 6 months you can learn to defend yourself. Highly recommended for females. The bigger your opponent is - the harder they fall. After two / three years of Karate you're still a danger to yourself, it’s not easy to fight with your feet.

Best for sports education – Judo and Tae Kwon Do

You are likely to find Judo and Tae Kwon Do offered in College and of course they are Olympic sports.

In general Korean Karate is 60/40 - feet / hands and Japanese Karate is 40/60 - feet / hands. A young man already taught boxing would find Japanese Karate easier to learn for this reason.

There are many soft styles of Martial Arts (i.e. Aikido) that are effective but by design take a very long time to master.

There is no “Best” style. The individual athlete is more important than the style.

What to avoid –
American created Martial Arts, often with a Kung Fu type name. Such as - Jim’s Kung Fu and Karate’. (There is authentic Kung Fu, but Americans often plagiarize the name).

Good Luck and Have Fun!

Answer 6

That is something that you'll have to decide on your own. What you can do is go to a few different dojos in your area and see if they offer trial classes for free. Take the trial course to get a feel for which ever martial art that dojo teaches, and after you're done with that, then decide which one suits you best.

Answer 7

Shaolin gongfu. It will teach you empty-hand, weapons, animal style fighting, and emphasizes self defense. Be careful which school you choose, however. There are far too many that claim to teach Shaolin but instead teach long fist (which is useless in a real fight).

The glaring difference between Shaolin and Karate is that Karate is a hard style that places a great deal of emphasis on straight-lined movements and physical strength. Shaolin is a fluid, circular style that offers more options and focuses more on qi and less on strength.

Answer 8

Do not seek a good style, seek a good school.
The quality and frequency of your training will outweigh the style any day of the week.

Tips:
Never sign a contract
Never pay for rank testing.
Find a clean friendly environment as you will be spending many hours there training.

Answer 9

my friend i believe that the best martial art you should take is teakwondo or Pressure Point Jujitsu. if you like to kick u should take taekwondo. your hight is good for teakwondo and also u is light.teakwondo is alot of kicking and only 20% of punching. if you like ground fighting u should take Pressure Point Jujitsu. jujitsu is a ground martial art. that u get your oppent on the ground and choke him out.

Answer 10

Jeet Kun Do my friend because the style is a non stop flowing style that teaches you to use your unique physical attributes to defeat an opponent. For example im a 6'7" baseball player. My personal trainer instructed me in JKD to use my long legs, superior reach and arm speed to defeat my opponent. Im sure that someone can use JKD to maximise you physical attributes.