What martial art to start off with?

Question

I am looking to begin taking a martial arts class

Where should I start?
Karate?
Judo?
Jiu Jitsu?
Something else?

Im thinking karate, because thats where most people seem to start?

What do you guys and gals think?

Answer 1

i would say judo or taekwondo

Answer 2

Those are all good. It depends on what you want to with it and what interests you. Judo and Jiu Jitsu are grappling forms and Karate encompasses a huge amount of upright combative styles. I'm biased towards Kajukenbo because I trained in it most recently, but I've also done, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, and Arnis.

Answer 3

Any of those can work well really. It depends on you, what you wish to do with your art, and where you want to start.
I loved that each style you picked has a different fighting range that is used more often.
Karate is a straightforward striking style
Judo is a throwing style, that while it comes with some techniques, the sparring is throwing and some entry-level grappling (Like armbars for example).
Jujutsu is a decent all arounder. You would cover striking, throwing, and grappling. The biggest emphasis on Japanese styles of Jujutsu in most cases is a middle ground of both close range striking/throwing, and ground grappling.
BJJ would start your groundfighting off very well, but there's little to no striking.
The choice is yours. I personally think you'd have to ask yourself what range (Kicking range, punching/hand strike range, throwing, and ground grappling are the four choices) is most applicable for you. If you can't decide, you should probably strive for some combination. If you do know: Train that range well, and train the others so you can be prepared to fight against them.
Good luck.

Answer 4

Yeah, I have taken Tae Kwan Do as well for 6 months and it seems to really cover a lot of the basics extremely well. It consists of a good base in both striking (punches and especially kicks) and wrestling moves (Jiu Jitsu). Tae Kwan Do works especially on kicks, but is very good at covering just about everything. If you have a good teacher, it is also quite simple to learn and a lot of fun. Good luck with your choice.

Answer 5

start where you're most comfortable and interested. use yahoo local or yellow pages to find schools near you and look around. try to get some trial classes or something and see if the teacher/school/lessons fit you. any authentic ma is a good start. also try to get suggestions from friends or family.

Answer 6

Suggestions:

for striking: muay thai, boxing, sanshou, kickboxing, shidokan and kyokushin karate

for grappling: ju-jitsu, judo, wrestling, sambo

good luck!

Answer 7

hi im a kungfu fughter i used 2 b a TaeKwondo fighter i learnd how to fight but when i enterd the kungfu i flt that im starting to have a stronger body a fighter body ps(i hade a black bealt in TaeKwondo and i was defeted by a white bealt in kung fu)
so go to kungfu its the best

Answer 8

Start with jiu jitsu, then move on to boxing.

Answer 9

first of all there are two kinds of TKD
http://youtube.com/watch?v=jvjvugJ2rFM
and
http://youtube.com/watch?v=vgarEY-6jDU
if you can learn the first one then that is great.
if you find the second one then go away. they are in it for the money.
and also it's Tae KwOn do as in i won something but with a kuh infront

Answer 10

Try TaeKwondo. I just started a week ago monday. And I love it.
I am already 1 stripe a head of where i should be doing. I am getting my 2nd stripe on my belt.

So try TKD