Self Defense?

Question

There's been a lot of fights going on at my school, almost everyday. I was thinking if I just stayed out of peoples way and avoided the bad groups, I would be fine. But just the other day a kid was jumped for no reason, they just took his cash and ran. So now I want to learn how to defend myself, but I don't want to take those classes with the different belt colors and the white uniforms, I hate wearing those. Besides, you can't use that kind of fighting on the streets, karate has rules, real fighting doesn't. I need to learn how to break a guys nose, kick a knife out of a guys hand, cause serious damage in order to give me time to get away. Are there any classes that teach that stuff? Is there a name for it? Because whenever I type "self defense" in yahoo yellow pages I always get karate locations.

Answer 1

ok it really sucks that happens at your school, but freestyle karate would be your best bet been doing it for almost 4 years now (since i was 11) i know how to breake a guys nose, i know how to kick i knife out of someones hand, i know how to cause serious damage to get away. i know out in the street the rules are out the window, but no matter if you learn karate, self defense or "streetfighting" as its called, when your out there in the situation, instincts take over unless you have trained your style regularly over such a period of time that they are almost etched to your brain. avoid the situation and remember one of the main things to do is get away, its not cowardly, its common sense, you can learn to protect yourself but not become invincible. good luck and stay safe!

Answer 2

The majority of martial arts use Gi's or those white uniforms as you call them. Some use blue or red ones too if that helps you more...
Bottom line you will not learn anything in a matter of weeks that you don't all ready know. In fact the worst thing you could do would be to go take a few lessons and think you can "kick a knofe out of a guys hand". And if you get jumped without warning by 2, 3 or 4 guys at once you're only gonna get hur worse if you try to fight back. Just stick to your game plan and avoid it. Be aware of your suroundings don't walk through the school yard alone. If it's one guy then you stand a chance but I wouldn't fight if you don't have to.
I have over 13 years of Judo training and 5 of wrestling. Plus I played Rugby and football for 4 years. I am tough and can fight and defend myself but I guarentee you 3-4 guys come up and grab me and ask for my wallet and they have a knife to me.
Buddy it's only money and maybe my watch. In your case what $20 tops and your student ID.
I'm not saying you can't defend your self. I'm just trying to help you out so you don't get hurt.
And if you are already judging styles based on the uniform and rank system. Then maybe you should forget about Martial arts and go to your local Boxing club...

Answer 3

Well the small frame autos you mentioned would be much easier to carry/conceal, and all calibers mentioned would easily do the job in a self defense situation. Plus you have a much higher magazine capacity with the autos (15-20 depending on make/caliber) as opposed to your 6 shot revolvers. In addition, a .40 Glock will have less recoil than a .44 mag shooting full loads, which puts you back on target much quicker for a second shot. Keep in mind though, double-stack .45s such as those produced by Glock have an extremely wide grip, which may be uncomfortable if you have small hands. BUT if you are confident and comfortable using your revolvers, then use one of those. At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal preference and you should use what ever works best for YOU

Answer 4

Don't get a video or book on self-defense; most of them are ripoffs intended only to generate money. You may be able to find a self-defense seminar sponsored by a local police department, community center, or fitness center. Some martial arts schools offer seminars that use elements of their particular martial art but focus on the basics of self-defense and the mentality of not being a victim.

However, you will find that most self-defense is taught in martial arts schools, and for good reason. You can easily end up severely injuring people or even killing them if you misapply even rudimentary aspects of self-defense. A good teacher of the martial arts can teach you to effectively defend yourself and to learn control over your own body, the better to control your opponent(s). You will also understand how to respond to different types of attacks with appropriate force (for instance, using a kick as a defense against a knife may not be realistic), understand the legal implications of using those amounts of force, and get an in-depth understanding the physics behind self-defense. For a long-term grounding in self-defense, a martial arts environment might be more beneficial to you.

You did say that you don't want to wear a uniform and are not interested in all the frippery that MA sometimes has--belt tests, tournaments, etc. However, certain martial arts are definitely more effective in teaching self-defense than others, and these types don't emphasize uniforms and such. Your instincts about those "karate locations" are no doubt correct; I suspect these schools probably teach sport Taekwondo, which is useless when it comes to street fighting. I recommend you look up Krav Maga (the Israeli Defense Force's highly effective self-defense art) or Jeet Kune Do (Bruce Lee's adaptive combat system). Also try traditional jujitsu; yes, you will have to deal with the uniforms and bowing, but their techniques are topnotch and very helpful if you get thrown to the ground...or want to throw someone else. :-)

Answer 5

A good well rounded style would be freestyle Karate.You will learn stand up,ground,grappling and weapons.What a lot of people don't understand is that freestyle Karate is about practical street defence not who can kick the highest or punch a pad the hardest.It's definitely not a sport martial art like TKD or BJJ.The motto of my style is the best of everything in progression.Basically that means we don't care where the technique comes from we improve it and integrate it into our style while still maintaining tradition as do most freestyle Karate's.
The hardest thing is finding a good experienced instructor.I would recommend Bushi Kai or Zen Do Kai, but if your not in Australia or New Zealand you may have some difficulty finding some one who teaches these styles.These styles also usually have separate classes available to everyone in Muay Thai and BJJ/Submission/Shoot wrestling.If you can't find one of these i would suggest Kempo or Enshin or another freestyle Karate.

Answer 6

Well if you wanna learn to fight quick , which it sounds like you do, you dont have time for complicated styles like kung fu . If you train in some jujitsu (brazilians a good one) you can learn how to fight well in submissions but they really dont have much in the way of stuff to do while your standing. Mainly in jujitsu when your oponents standing you try to get them on the floor thats more your goal than to hurt them. You could try muy thai. Good style. Brutal conditioning but good style. If you could find a good mma class that would be useful. Karate is a good style you can learn quickly. I dont know if you know anywhere they teach military martial arts but i would assume military martial arts are good because the goal of military martial arts are to teach you some decent techniques in a short amount of time.

But remember wherever you go CHECK OUT THE INSTRUCTOR. Make sure the place isnt about the money as that means its less likely to be about the fighting. All arts have their share of frauds so dont just trust anyone make sure they know what they are doing. The style you should be most careful about this with is taekwondo (sorry taekwondo ppl but your art his a very large share of frauds in it)

Answer 7

If you wanna learn all that stuff then you'll have to take some martial art classes... Boxing, Karate, Kung Fu, Taekwondo are all great for handling attackers but suck really bad when you're on the ground. If it's one on one then use a grappling and submission style such as Jujitsu.

Answer 8

type in Muay Thai into your yellow pages.

no white gi, but serious training and realistic outcome. you learn the effective use of elbows which is up close and within range of punches and knees.

try your local yellow pages, look under martial arts, and then find the Muay Thai. not kickboxing, unless it has Muay Thai in front of it.

Answer 9

lol i don't fight often rarely but i know how IL give u a few tips.
1.karate is a great thing!don't under estimate it! i know ppl who it has saved there lives several times!
2.to disable your opponent there are a few tricks one is to use the area between your thumb and index finger in a L shape to thrust towards there throat nail them right and they cant breath for a few secs.or carry a sharp pencil or 2 they work great for stabbing into sides to shock your opponent.side kicks can throw your opponent back a few steps to show you are serious.and stick with your friends they can help a lot.
3.don't carry knifes guns or any illegal item to school it might help but youl be sorry later!
4.upper cuts and swings to the left and right when executed right help ah i g2g bye!

Answer 10

You will be best off joining a traditional school. You will learn not only how to fight, but how to avoid fights. Have you ever worn Martial Arts uniforms? If not, how do you know that you won't like it. It will be the best thing you can do for yourself.