If you could learn 1 martial art, what would it be and why?

Question

i don't know which to take up

Answer 1

Well, let's see. You asked about being a plumber; You asked about being a porn star; Now you're asking about being a Martial Artist.

Don't waste a dedicated Martial Art instructor's valuable time. Studying the Martial Arts requires COMMITMENT and judging by some of your previous questions, you're not ready to do that.

Answer 2

No Holds Barred, and yeah to me NHB is a martial art in its self, even though technically its a mixed martial art, it doesnt matter. An NHB fighter can take on anyone, anywhere, and even if he doesnt win, the guy(s) he fought will definatly know they were in a fight. Now a days I dont think anyone should do one particular martial art, just because its pointless in a real life situation. Ive had sparring time with people who were good at BJJ, Karate, Kempo and Judo.

I was able to make these guys understand to never underestimate anyone. I personally have about 2 weeks of BJJ training, wouldve been more but my job got in the way, then I had an incident with one of my training partners and I no longer wished to train there. Other than that 2 weeks, I am self taught in NHB, and still learning, no where near complete. But the point is that I was able to take on these various martial arts and win.

The closest one that I almost lost to was the BJJ guy, just because my takedown defense wasnt as strong as it is now, but I was still able to hang in there and pull out of the submission attempts he put me in. And yeah they hurt very badly.

Now if you are doing this to compete in only one particular art, I would go with BJJ, there are more comps for that then there is any other art. Except for karate, and that will never change, but Karate sucks and is pointless.

Answer 3

Ideally one should start by learning a hard martial art and then follow it with a soft one like tai chi.
However you could learn a martial art containing hard and soft principles such as Chen Style Tai Chi which is highly regarded.
Jeet t kune Do developed by Bruce Lee from Wing Chung is also a very good practical choice for someone who wants one and that be it.

Piero

Answer 4

Any of the 5 bigger Karate styles.

Shotokan - high membership, very popular and widespread
Goju - balanced theory, good conditioning/drills
Shito - a zillion katas, takes longer to learn (my style)
Kyokushin = How To Kick 4 Peoples' Arses At Once
Wado - a bit more defensive than other styles

However, as a martial hobbyist, it would be just as good to take one of the non-traditional karates out there.
The quality of your training will depend on the individual instructor.

Answer 5

First off you need to look at what your goals are. Are you looking to learn to fight unarmed or do weapons interest you?
Are you interested in a particular pro or amateur career or competitions?

Secondly you need to find a good teacher. Regardless of what style you WANT to learn, you aren't learning anything effective if what you are taught isn't any good. Even if there were a "best" or better style, if it is taught poorly, then it is not going to be any good to you.
You want a school that trains with progressive resistance eventually working up to full resistance in a realistic situation, meaning that your partner deosn't just "let you get it" and resists your attacks with the same resistance he would in a real fight (eventually, thats why i said "progressive").

If you don't know what to look for in a good martial arts school then I suggest you begin with a sportative style like boxing, muai thai, judo, etc. to give you an idea and background.

Personally, if I could learn one art that I don't already train in or have trained in now I would like to learn how to use a flail.

Answer 6

I have already chosen Wing Chun Kung Fu.

I took Wing Chun due to the fact that I found the systems theory and techniques, straight forward, to the point, and very effective.

I also enjoy studying about Chinese culture and the History of Chinese Martial Arts.

I am a Black Sash Graduate, and Certified Instructor in Wing Chun Kuen.

lr

http://www.wingchunassoc.com
http://www.pacificwingchunassociation.com

Answer 7

it all depends on what you want, real fighting or showy techniques. For real fighting i recommend JKD (jeet kune do) or a form of Goju. these both deliver great real fighting advantages. However to get the best of JKD you have to head down to Cailfornia.for Goju, either Kentucky or Chicago. Flashy styles include kung fu and tae kwon do and some Japanese styles. There are more but these are most notable. P.S. caporia is also a very good flash martial art. For me, i like to stick with JKD or Goju.

Answer 8

I agree with Bluto. I believe he is just cutting and pasting his answers now because this question gets asked at least once a day.

To echo what he said, if you can only learn one martial art, make sure that it is from a quality instructor. A well trained Tae Kwon Do fighter will beat a poorly trained Jujitsu fighter.

Answer 9

The one I plan on learning this summer!!

Pekiti Tirsia Kali, its very lethal and dirty fighting, its not even really a Martial art its more of a fighting art thats used for combat primarily.

Here's some good videos on Pekiti Tirsia:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=CXfZ9C9vJso
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G6J0HH0jZ1c&NR

Master Rommel Tortal is in both of those videos, that guys tough as nails.

Answer 10

there is a martial art form, I believe it is Aikido, it teaches how to use the flow of a motion to your advantage. For example when a strike is thrown at you, you would use the momentum of the stike to counterstrike and leed the attacker off balance.