Recommend a martial art that is useful in a street brawl and can be learned by someone over 20.?

Question

I want to hear some ideas and suggestions for a martial art that is useful in real life situations.

For example, back when I was in school, we had a kid who was a brown belt in karate. He was so proud... One day this shorter, but very angry kid jumped on him, and totally beat him down. The karate man didnt even get one punch off. Attempted a scissor takedown but missed. The brawler won that fight outright. Just kept swinging away like crazy.

Also, I heared some martial arts require a person to be able to do a split, or be able to tumble - something that an adult would have trouble doing compared to a kid. Is there any martial arts that are better and easier for adults, yet remain useful on the street?

Sorry if I gave anyone the impression that I want to learn a martial art so that I can kick ***... That is not true at all, and I never said that.

I wanted a martial art that is useful in a street brawl so that I can defend myself, when the situation calls for it. Both my body and my spirit are pathetically weak, so I was looking for something that will improve me and will make me strong in "real life" not just on the mat.

Answer 1

True martial arts are not designed to produce street brawlers. In fact, a traditionalist will not take a student who says he wants to learn to kick *ss.

Now to answer your question: who knows what is the most "effective". Each Dojo/Dojang/Daguan, each instructor, and each student is different.

Now, I enjoy the fact that I am "safer" than the average fellow due to my training. There is one thing I DO know: no matter how skilled I am, there is always someone more skilled than I.

Another thing about the Arts is it takes time for the skills to sink in.

Answer 2

ok ok... george dillmen stole tika oyatas art.... dont mess with dki.... 2 become spritually and physically strong id go with kung fu or taichi cas they are soft.. .but more external .. and have a broader curriculum than like aikido or juijitsu..but honestly any art can do the job as long as u train realisticlyenough... long enought.. often enough.. and praticlly.. and have a good instructer.... but just brutal beat em up... i would go 4 muay thai or kajukembo or krav maga.. or bushidokan..... 4 more calm internal stuff... aikido(energy harmony way) juijitsu (gentle technique)judo (gentle way)... taichi chuan (the martial arts side of taichi/qigong... means grand ultimate fist) kung fu is iguess is a soft style... but its also hard i think... i guess its more in the middle... yes some art require u 2 learn breakfalls or tumbles... i dont see the splits being at all pratical tho... and the brown belt kid prabably came from a "mcdojo" and didint train right look up "bullshido" 2 again aslong as u train right ur good.... now u just gatta find a school thats trains right.... heres a hint... know where 2 attack... know a good number of targets and get a workin knowledge of body mechanics... pressure points... and just places u dont wanna get hit(or where u do wanna hit)... and if u do get attacked.. dont feel bad bout "breakin the rules" or "fighting dirty" no such thing.... an make sure u can do a technique for real before u depend on it 2 save u or your kids or w/e look around at all the schools around u and pick the best (not always the one with the most) and if u see 7 year olds runninround with black belts... and they dont act like zen masters....... just dont come back eh? ask how long ittil take u 2 get a black belt... then ppl will say stuff like " i can get u there in two years" unless u pratice 24/7 u shouldint get a black belt in 2 years.. i think... and if they have u sign a contract (not a medical waver or 1 of those things that says u cant sue us 4 u being stupid) that says u must stay so many months or sumthin... dont sign it... go find a diffrent place... oh yea and dont every try a jumping flying spining back heel kick or ne crap like that in a fight... they just sweepur foot and ull hit the ground..

Answer 3

The main thing to remember is that all too often martial arts schools ignore the practical application of the techniques. It doesn't matter how many techniques a person learns, or what color belt they have; if they wern't shown how to use what they know, the don't really know anything.

As for styles that fit what you are looking for there are a few. Top of the list is the Hakuno-Kai system although finding anyone that teaches that style is difficult. Aikido is also good for street defense, especially as most Aikido schools still teach for practical usage. Hwa Rang do is a Korean style and is, likewise, still taught for practical usage. As for the rest, it is, again, a matter of finding a school that stresses practical, combat application over simple aesthetics and flash. Stay away from any place that teaches Extreme Martial Arts as that is taught mostly for competition forms and includes high impact Gymnastics thecniques that look really cool but arent much good because the combat applications of those moves are not taught. That really is the hard part, finding a school that retains its traditional roots enough to teach the combat applicaion and haven't been polluted by ridiculous "peaceful" ideas.

Answer 4

Check out the different styles that the UFC fighters use. They basically street fight for a living.
Brazilian Jiu-JitsuIn the mid-1920's, Carlos Gracie opened the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He taught the skills he learned from Japanese Judo master Esai Maeda. The skills were later modified to use less strength and to be more effective against larger opponents. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu's reputation spread due to the success of its practitioners in no holds barred contests.

Jiu JutsuAncient Japanese martial art that encompasses throwing, joint locks, striking, and weapons training.

KickboxingSportive martial art combining boxing punches and martial arts kicks. Many different styles with different rules exist such as Muay Thai, Full Contact Karate, and Asian Rules Fighting.

You might even try a boxing class.

If you get into a fight on the street it is very hard to fight the way you have traine and win. You have to be able to adapt. The best defense is just walking away...

Answer 5

Martial arts is a very broad range of fighting styles and techniques. Most combine science with discipline. The idea is to train such that you act instead of thinking. If you take time to think, you've already been hit several times. The key is training and repetition. Here's where the discipline comes in. Even though you aren't thinking, you still have to be able to determine an appropriate response. You have to train to know when to take a hit and when to block. You don't want to over-react and hurt a kid or someone.
The last part of discipline is seeing things through to the end. Like Rocky said in the latest film, "It's not how hard you can hit; it's how hard you can get hit and keep on going." Keeping up the fight takes discipline. Even if you are losing, if you can outlast the other guy, then you win.

Answer 6

For anyone that has graduated high school i would suggest looking at the nearest Community College Campus and see if they offer Self Defense Classes. I find this the easiest and cheapest way to learn Self Defense. The school here offers Kick Boxing. Which is described as a Cardio physical educational class, but actual class teaches kicks, blocks, punches, and basic fundamentals. They also do sparring so that you can apply what you have learned.

Martial Art Belts have no meaning in historical aspect. They are intended to give the person a sense of accomplishment.

Doing the Splits is also not required in Martial Arts. Being able to do the splits is a sign of your ability. for someone to do the splits means that they have dedicated themselves to acquiring it.

I started wushu at the age of 22 and been doing it for a few months. Its not for self defense, but the aestetics of it is wonderful.

Answer 7

I started Tae Kwon Do at age 44 so I don't want to hear about how 20 is too old for something. I can't do a split either.

Karate is a good art, evidently that kid was not such a good artist. Anybody who gets ambushed is at a big disadvantage even if has has far superior fighting skills.

What really matters is to find a good instructor & work hard.

Answer 8

20 you poor old man how do manage to get out of bed in the morning,does the nurse at the retirement home help you?hahahaa just messin' with ya' mate.
i think what you need to do is forget this age stuff for a start.the next thing is decide what you want to put in and how much you want to get out?and you also have the wrong idea about karate.a 9 or 10 year old kid in any style is no indication of anything in any style.
i suggest a good stand up style and cross train.i love my muay thai but to be honest it's not a good style for defence.it's good if you want to win an out and out fight.it's because your tougher that you'll win a lot of the times,not the technique.
karate,freestyle karate would be my suggestion and crosstrain further down the track.and yes i am biased before anyone points it out.but mine is an informed opinion as i have done many styles,including stand up,ground an grappling.i was also an amuteur boxer in my younger days.and i was much better at that than spelling or grammar,luckily enough.
i also agree with what kveldulf(sorry mate didn't take enough notice)says excepy the first ma he mentioned.
WHEN ARE YOU CHILDREN WITH THE THUMBS DOWN GOING TO GROW UP?

Answer 9

Look man, I'm 30 yrs old and I study Hapkido (and there are more people older than me that're studying Hapkido, some well into their 50's and doing well in it), which does require you to take hard landings or tumbling; but if done properly (and you will learn how if you take up studying Aikido or Hapkido) you will land uninjured.

there aren't any TRUE Martial Arts that REQUIRE students to do splits, but the ability to be flexible comes in handy. So where ever you heard that Martial Arts REQUIRE students to be able to do a split (which to me sounds like the person that told you this was full of BS), then you'd have to show me because I've never heard of ANY Martial Art requiring that in their criteria.

The guy you're talking about prob'ly was bragging about his prowess in Martial Arts, and was prob'ly part of a "McDojo"s type of school that "gave" him his belt ranks and never taught him the practical uses of his Martial Art.

Any Martial Art can teach you how to defend yourself in a street brawl, It's not the discipline itself that is the problem, but the individual that uses what they've learned and how well they use what they've learned.

I've seen several Martial Artists use what they've learned successfully, and I've seen my share of Martial Artists having their a**es handed to them by the better fighter of the day simply because they didn't know how to use what they've learned properly.

Martial Arts are for defense only; Not just for starting fights, but for doing as much damage as possible and getting away as safely as possible from an encounter. And there's not one better than another, because they all have their strengths and weaknesses since they all have similar principles.

Studying Martial Arts is a personal choice, only the individual can make that decision for themselves from what disciplines are available to them where they live within a 15 mile radius.

Researching local schools from the phone book or their websites on the internet search engines is the best way to figure out which discipline you're going to want to study, pick three schools that interest you most, and then watch some of the classes from each school and then pick the one you found the most interesting and see if they have some trial classes; if you like the class, enroll in it.

because just by the nature of asking "what's the "best" Martial Art to learn?" just begs people to start tossing out names of disciplines that may not even be available to you in your area; and, just because THEY liked the Martial Art doesn't mean that you will too.

No one here (not even me) can tell you which discipline is going to suit YOU best, Nor is any one here an expert at EVERY Martial Art to tell you which one is "best" or "better" than any other.

To be a proficient fighter, you have to be well rounded in both sides of the fight. the Standing Game side where punching (and even kicking may be involved), and then the Ground Game side, where you'll be comfortable fighting someone on the ground using joint locks and manipulation to your advantage.

Answer 10

No No No, to much sport Karate. Go to www.dillman.com and look up one of his affilliated schools. They will realistically teach you how to handle a brawl whether you are 10, 20 or 70. I have been in martial arts for 30+ years and he changed the way I do karate forever.
I hope this helps
ps, I hate the splits.