Martial Arts?

Question

In your opinion, what is the most practical style of martial arts for real life situations?

Answer 1

In this day and age, dedication is shown by the amount of money you pay. Many martial arts schools, especially traditional ones, want people to stay as long as possible to be able to learn as much as they can. This is why some martial arts may cost more than others. Money is something that should be looked at but its not the most important.

Find a martial arts that will help you reach your goals. If you want to get back in shape, find a school that has a curriculum with continuous activity. If your looking for confidence and respect, find a school that demonstrates that. If the instructor you meet does not seem to be confident himself, it is doubtful that he/she can pass that characteristic on.

There are many different styles of martial arts. If you are looking for a specific martial art because you heard of it somewhere, keep researching. There may be other styles you may have never heard of that may be better for you. Ive had many people wanting to learn Karate but they have no idea what Karate is. They just say the movie Karate Kid. Or people wanting to learn Kung Fu cause they saw the TV show.

Also, martial arts schools are private. You may not be allowed to just sit and watch class. Try to make an appointment with the martial arts school you are looking for before you show up unexpected. Remember that instructors need to keep their students safe from strangers that may be looking for trouble. Also, lobby and waiting areas may be reserved for parents and guests. When entering a martial arts school, think of it as entering someone's home. If there is someone behind the counter, try to introduce yourself and ask how the enrollment process works and ask to sit and watch.

If you are looking for real life self defense and you have never been in a real fight, then ask someone that has. Ask them what happend. In most cases, people will go to the ground and in most cases, there is more than one person that is fighting. Also remember that when it comes to life and death, there are no rules. Look for a martial arts that teaches how do deal with multiple people. When there is more than one person, the ground is the last place you want to be.

One thing is for sure, there is no best martial art. There is only the hardest worker. Remeber that styles dont fight, people do, and whichever person works harder usually is the better fighter. Dont base the martial arts you want to learn off of what you heard or saw. Base it off of your own judgement and research.

Answer 2

Classical Okinawan Martial Arts; Fujian/Hakka Kuen.

Answer 3

I don't think any single martial art is totally perfect for real life. They all have their different strengths and weaknesses. I believe you need to have a mix, but not in the way MMA-ists do. They have to be applicable.
Here's just an overview on a few.

aikido - long range, powerful, but a big learning curve, little focus on striking due to aikido students initially being trained martial artists already, employs powerful throws and joint locks.

muay chaiya - a regional form of thai boxing and a predecessor to sport muay thai. Very effective in empty handed fighting or with weapons and at all ranges. Is mainly striking with some limited joint locks and takedowns. Basically the thai version of jujutsu, but not available outside of Thailand.

Wingchun - a very scientific style of kung fu, works at mid and close range, employs fast striking and trapping to neutralize an opponent.

judo - is a sport, works well against unarmed attackers but if the opponent has a weapon, epecially a knife, judoka are in trouble.

brazilian jiujitsu - derrivative of judo, see above

krav maga - the deadly mixed martial art developed by the israli army around ww2, employs mainly strikes, mid to close range, I don't like it because I think it is a bad idea to remove piece from various martial arts to make one as you lose the learning from the systems that make those pieces effective such as their timing and body movement.

jujutsu - very effective depending on the style, mainly mid/close range. Employs joint locks/breaks/takedowns/throws/striking. Meant to cripple or kill an opponent quickly. There are nowadays however many sport styles of jutjutsu you must watch out for. Depending on the stlye there will be somethign they fail to incorporate or are weak in. None of the styles are perfect.

Basically ignore the sport martial arts alltogether and find whatever system you like best.

Answer 4

In my opinion in doing martial arts for 8 years (since I was 8) I think Kajukeno is probably the most practical art. Kajukenbo was founded in Hawaii in the Palama settlement in the 60's as a way for the Hawaiin's to defend against larger white people. The basis for Kajukenbo is Karate (Ka), Judo/Jujitsu (Ju), Kenpo (Ken), and both Chinese and Westernized Boxing (Bo). This art was created on the violent streets of Hawaii and California and is now a refined fighting style commonly referred to as the first MMA (Mean Martial Art). One story to back up Kajukenbos practicality is that Sijo Emperado (The recognized founder) would send his students to bars and test the techniques of Kajukenbo on big drunk navy men.

Answer 5

Probably military hand-to-hand combat systems such as MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) and Army Combatives.

Answer 6

It all comes down to personal choice, and accessibility. Anyone who takes any style seriously will be able to learn enough self-defense to protect from most (if not all) threats. And a well-trained student from any style has as good a chance of winning against a trained opponent as a student from any other style. There's no silver bullet of walking into a dojo and being a badass a week later. A crappy Krav Maga student is not less capable than a crappy Aikido student, and a good student is no more capable than a good student of another style.

Answer 7

Either of these

Krav Maga

Jeet Kune Do Concepts

Combat Hapkido

Answer 8

I take traditional Karate, Hapkido, Kick boxing and MMA.
In my opinion, I feel mixed martial arts and Hapkido is the most practical for real life situations.

Answer 9

I would like to name something, but i think in reality situation there s no better or worse martial art. It all depends on you preparedeness. If are going to be flipping out, loosing your head, become unbalanced and overly violent. no martial art will be good enough.

Answer 10

Krav Maga, Systema, Karate, Jujitsu, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai, etc.
Anybody can criticize all they want, but I actually used all these in real life situations. Karate, boxing, and Muay Thai, works for fighting against multiple opponents, and Jujitsu and Judo works best on one on one combat.