Recommend a martial arts?

Question

Basically I'm hoping to do some aid work in some under-developed countries and I'd feel much better knowing I could defuse a situation (however's necessary!) so want to learn a martial art... Any recommendations? And (less straightforward) how long to master the basics? I'm am fairly fit 24year old.

Answer 1

actually the best thing to defuse a situation is to use your most powerfull weapon nl. Your brain. I can explain various martial arts to you each with their pro's and cons but to really be able to apply techniques effeciently will take you a few years study. I think a few good pointers will help you a lot more than knowing how to fight. Besides who ever heard of defusing a situation through a fight. Specially in a situation where you are likely to be outnumbered and/or face armed assailents.
A keep a good posture: seems rather trivial but a good straight posture reveals confidence, an opponent is less likely to pick a "strong" target.
B remain calm. Nothing confuses an opponent more than a calm adversary
C check your surroundings. See if you can find a weapon at hand. If you can take an advantageous position, if there's obstructions for the opponent or you can use e.g. push him onto a table, trip him over a chair,...
D Find a way out. Even an experienced martial artist knows this truth. The safest way in a fight is the way out. If you can run, run.
Specially with armed assailents. don't try to be a hero against a weapon. Tests have proved that only 2/10 martial artists are able to execute an efficient defense against a weapon. So your chances are probably even smaller.
Last but not least.
Avoid disturbances and fights as they were the plague

Answer 2

Your biggest problem here is time. When do you plan on going to do this aid work? Because Martial arts takes years to learn, and you STILL won't learn EVERYTHING about Martial Arts. It's a continuous learning experience.

Because Martial Arts is a lifelong journey; You can't just learn something in a few weeks time, because it takes several years to become decently proficient in ANY discipline, especially the traditional or classic disciplines.

The simplest Martial Art to learn anything would be Muay Thai because it has no technicalities to it. it's just bare bones no frills fighting, but it still takes several months for you to get used to using and coordinating your body's movement

it takes several months alone to get the basic movements down to where you can memorize them and utilize them properly to defend yourself.

There isn't A Martial Art that is a "best" fit for "certain" people with certain body characteristics (height, weight, body type, age, gender, etc) so all you really need to do is research the local Martial Arts schools to find a Martial Art that will suit YOU best to achieve YOUR personal goals.

And no one here can tell you which disicpline is going to suit you best.

Check your local phone book or internet search engines for local schools in your area and pick at least 3 schools that look interesting to you. Then go watch a few of the classes to see which one you find the most interesting and then take a few trial classes to see if you like the discipline; if you do, then enroll in the class.

but you need to find a place that will teach you Martial arts without having to sign a lengthy contract, especially if your going off to do the aid work soon.

The problem is, you can't just go to a few classes (or even a couple of weeks of classes) and expect to be able to defend yourself in the chance that you get attacked, and be able to walk away from the confrontation. even though you may study Martial Arts, it doesn't mean that you're going to walk away from any confrontation unscathed or without injury, but it'll prepare you far better than not knowing anything at all.

Answer 3

I recomend you start doing Hapkido, its a very basic martial art, ive been doing it for just over a year now and im nearly a black belt, but that is just in the club im in with us moving from solid belts to tags. If you get a chance to try and join Dukmoo if there is 1 of those clubs in your local area with it being really good and i used to be in it until the head of the UK division got to money greedy so i left and joined a new one...

Answer 4

If you studied a Martial Art for three years you may be able to defend yourself with it, but most likely you would still get yourself beat unless you are already a good fighter. I takes about a solid three years to get proficient in any Martial Art.

Study hard, sleep well, the natives will most likely kill you in the morning.

Answer 5

Martial arts questions like this are always a bit tricky- everyone has their own favourite style and they tend to push this strongly, so this is a list of suggestions, rather than a single definitive answer.

Bear in mind that what is right for other people may not always be right for you. As an earlier poster said, try several things (many classes have a 1st-lesson-free policy) and find something you like and which you feel will work to your strengths.

Sorry for the reality check but anyone who recommended Tae Kwon Do or Karate should watch a real fight (or MMA contest) and see how useless the most common maneuvers are. Or look at how weak the usual structures are against a skilled kickboxer...

I did a couple of years of Tae Kwon Do and apart from evasive skills I don't feel it benefited me greatly. Punches don't take advantage of body mechanics in the way boxing styles tend to, and high kicks are impractical because:

a) they are too visibly telegraphed
b) they leave you too vulnerable to counterattack (esp. against multiple attackers)
c) on an uneven or wet surface (e.g. unmade roads or any UK street) there's a good chance of losing your balance if they are performed with any power.


For the last 4 years I have been training in Inosanto Jeet Kune Do and I would recommend it as a good engine to learn how to fight, particularly bearing in mind that in "under-developed countries" you're more likely to find people who think nothing of using a blade. Most objective viewpoints consider Filipino martial arts (Kali/Eskrima/ Doce Pares/Arnes) to be among the world's best with/ against a blade. Due to the Filipino heritage of Guro Dan Inosanto, these arts have been grafted to the JKD syllabus, to which they constitute a worthy addition.

I also like Pencak Silat (sometimes spelt Pentjak Silat) which is the Indonesian family of arts, often involving low ground stances, an adaptation to fighting in terrain where stand-up fights were impossible and tends to focus on incapacitating your opponent ASAP.

I've not really done enough BJJ to give a definitive answer, but many people think of it as the "ultimate" art- indeed it has produced a lot of UFC champions and contains adaptations from classical Japanese Jitsu which make it more suited for modern use. But please bear in mind that for all its claims of being "as real as it gets" UFC is still a sport in which competitors have an uninterrupted one-on-one fight with rules.

A caveat: these styles (indeed most styles) all take a while to get even reasonably good at and I have a feeling you don't have a few years before your aid work, so you'll want something you can learn quickly... Many people sing the praises of RBSD (Reality Based Self Defence) in teaching people how to defend themselves fast, whilst Krav Maga is also supposed to be very easy to learn and concentrates on "real-world" applications- it is the martial art used by Shin Bet and Mossad (Israel's internal and external security forces respectively) in which weapon defence is taught very early on, and as such is often first choice for aeroplane crew or others who may face armed assailants.

Answer 6

The thing about an Art is that it take tens of thousands of repetitions to become "reflex" or instinctive.
An athlete can learn the moves in little time but, IF you have to think about it, it is usually too late.....
There are defense courses that are designed more with you in mind. They teach a few moves and concentrate on these. Most artist, while proficient in many moves, utilize only a few in combat.
A few done well is better than many done poorly or worse too late.

Answer 7

I have knowledge of 2 martial arts Karate and JuJitsu. There a lot of fun as well as keeping you fit but I would recommend JuJitsu. However Karate is quicker to pick up. you could pick up the basics in a couple of months.

Answer 8

Krav Maga shortest time to learn and most effective if it is pure self defence that you want, if its confidence you want quickly try NLP. Martial arts take vast amounts of time 'true'

Answer 9

I would recommend Jujitsu. you could learn the basic locks and falls in about 3 months if you trained twice a week. Good luck on whatever you decide on just remember one thing always be aware of whats going on if you can read the situation most times you will avoid any trouble.

Answer 10

- Kempo Judo Jujitsu -
go to www.karateyoga.com
and learn about the style. if you have any questions just give him a buzz.

the stuff isn't in Japanese or Korean or anything its in English and words easy to understand what your doing such as cresent and reverse cresent. basics take about 3-6 months depending on the person and training time of course and Effort!. black belt is about 3-3 1/2 years(but flys like that.... snap!) . 1 more year to go for me. and its totally worth it!

hope this helps & Good Luck!
i think its great you want to help other!