Help picking a martial art?

Question

I cant decide which one i would be good at. I'm 5'5'' and aroun 175, can anyone help plz.

Answer 1

I suggest finding a good school rather than a good style. You are limited by what is in your travel range. Visit them all and make a choice.
Try free classes.
Never sign a contract
Never pay for rank testing
Make sure they kumite and practice application of techniques, ask to see some before joining
Ask the teacher for their linage no matter what art the teach
Pick a clean friendly school as you will be there often
Have fun.

Remember the quality and frequency of your training will out weigh they style.

Answer 2

There are 2 broad catagories of martial arts:

Striking: Tae Kwon Do. Karate, Shaolin boxing
Good: Can handle multiple attackers, can engage at long range, enables you to be pro active when necessary.
Not so good: Ground, hard to control an attacker without inflicting serious injury.

Grappling: Hapkido, Judo, etc.
Good: effective in close, good on the ground, can control an attacker without inflicting serious injury.
Not so Good: Not good at long range, you must wait for the attacker to make the 1st move. Not effective against multiple attackers.

Within these broad catagories there are of course wide variations, even within a given art, there are big differences. I think that it is always best to choose a traditional rather than "modern" or "sport" school. I also recommend against those styles that are only about fighting. A true Martial Art includes such values as discipline, respect & trust. A good instructor not only makes sure his students know how to fight but when & when not to fight.

Answer 3

It depends on what you're interested in. Myself, I would pick Kung Pow ( a form of Kung Fu, known in english as Chinese Boxing ). I find that I feel more myself when I study hand to hand combat over grappling, and I just find it more fun too:P. eitherway tho, grappling is better for fighting one person, where as kung pow would work better for alot of people. It all depends on what you're interested in though, i mean if you're searching for a philosophical art, then it would most likely be found in an art like kung fu. But if you're looking for a workout and a sport more so, than I would pick a grappling. Jujitsu (traditional) though is both striking and grappling, throwing, and all that jazz. so if you wanna pick 1 martial art either striking or grappling and cant decide, traditional jiujitsu all the way!

Answer 4

You are stout, learn judo since you are nice sized you have a definate advantage, oh and judo is ranked highly in the martial arts world, good self defense.
i dissagree with yupunchagee jujitsu is the unarmed style of the samarai , which means it had to be good for multiple attackers a good example, WAR.

Answer 5

Ju Jitsu
Its not used in tournaments, just for self defense
Its a truly nasty martial art
Use it, and you'll win

Answer 6

Sounds like you have a very good frame for Judo, which is similiar to Jiujitsu. Judo is mostly throws, sweeps and ground grappling, and your low center of gravity and stockiness should give you an edge.

Answer 7

Get into gymnastics, and you will be able to master the insanest of martial arts.

I tried kung fu, it was very hard, but when demonstrated, it was amazing.

Answer 8

I'm not sure necessarily which one you would be the best at. So I will just recomend you to taekwondo. It's teaches you respect, and self-respect. It teaches you self defense too. There is ITF and WTF. One is leaning more towards sparring, and one is more towards forms. The one I've been attending (i've been doing TKD for a total of 5 1/2 years now) is a mix of both

Answer 9

Taekwondo is focused primarily on the legs. Karate helps with fitness and mastering your mind. Judo is good if you are short because it teaches you to defend against taller opponents.

Answer 10

Learn Ju Jitsu. Better to learn a defensive posture first..then carry on with more offensive later, imo