|
On August 04 2010 11:59 sLiniss wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2010 13:39 LosingID8 wrote: taekwondo is a good one for getting into good shape and low risk of injury. i would say taekwondo is probably your best bet if you don't want any wrist injuries, seeing as tkd is about 80% legs/feet and only 20% arms/hands. i did it for about 7 years so i feel like i am somewhat knowledgeable about it. feel free to ask me more questions specifically regarding tkd if you're interested. If you're into just working out, I'd say cardio kick boxing or something along those lines.
Your advice would be a lot more helpful if you read the OP : (
|
I think it's more important to find the local instructor/teaching style that seems to suit your needs rather than focus on the martial art's name brand itself. Most martial art instructors allow you to try or observe a lesson (and if they don't, beware!), so try a couple out and don't rush it.
A couple of pointers when looking where to start:
-Find out who's teaching the beginners. Make sure you're comfortable with the guy leading your class. In most of the judo/BJJ places I've been they have higher ranking students teaching, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Also some head instructors can be stuffy. -Less students per instructor tends to be better. Don't get lost in a crowd. Group instruction is standard, don't spend more for individual lessons. -Don't get over charged. You might reasonably expect to pay 100-180 dollars per month for quality instruction. However, be aware and ask about other expenses such as belt tests, sparring or other equipment, special sessions, etc. If they have a promotion system, ask how long it takes on average to get promoted between ranks. It's not always the case, but generally if you see kids with dark belts, they're probably accelerating them through quickly to get money for belt tests. -Beware of hokey claims. I see that you're thinking you want mental fortitude out of practicing martial arts, but that kind of fortitude is really only developed after years of training. Be realistic and make sure the instructor is as well. -Have fun and make sure the people at the studio look like they are too!
|
|
CA10824 Posts
ITF is completely different from WTF. i agree that injuries are much more common in ITF.
|
WTF TDK is much much more sporting. ITF is more practical, for as practical as TKD can be.
I'd recommend akido also. I know its not very very super practical, but it's better then nothing and there are very, very few if any injuries. The only thing it is primarily a standing locks/throws art.
|
Just came back from my first Wing Chun class and had a great deal of fun. All the teachers had good method in teaching and it was a good environment that had little focus on sparring.
Thanks for the help guys I'm really looking forward as to what will come of this.
|
WC is useful situationally. Be careful of application in real life. It only works after you have stresstested it and understand that a lot of what they teach does not work until it's become second nature // habit // instinctual reaction. It requires overriding natural reflex.
OTOH, it fits the bill of what you need perfectly, and does give a good base to proceed from in real life situations. WC in general does not do much sparring, and more drills to try to ingrain what they teach into you, but before you take it to streets, I would suggest atleast some sparring just to know how things might go.
And not necessarily sparring against other WC players, but other arts as well. I find that WC is very effective against WC, but pure WC is not as effective vs other arts without modification.
|
On August 05 2010 12:49 dogabutila wrote: WC is useful situationally. Be careful of application in real life. It only works after you have stresstested it and understand that a lot of what they teach does not work until it's become second nature // habit // instinctual reaction. It requires overriding natural reflex.
OTOH, it fits the bill of what you need perfectly, and does give a good base to proceed from in real life situations. WC in general does not do much sparring, and more drills to try to ingrain what they teach into you, but before you take it to streets, I would suggest atleast some sparring just to know how things might go.
And not necessarily sparring against other WC players, but other arts as well. I find that WC is very effective against WC, but pure WC is not as effective vs other arts without modification.
Sounds like almost all of these things would be true for pretty much any martial art that isn't designed as a street fighting tool. In that same respect, from what I gathered much of WC is about throat strikes or other incapacitating things, which does not make it spar friendly.
Either way, real life scenarios aren't really what I care about, though the tightness of this style seems to be pretty useful. I mean, learning any martial art is going to put you in a better position than just screaming and clawing at an attacker (unless you are trying to be a headstrong hero, or something)
|
I do muay thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu, 10thplanet jj, CSW.
I throughly enjoy grappling more than striking, maybe try a grappling art?
|
On August 05 2010 14:10 PanN wrote: I do muay thai, Brazilian jiu jitsu, 10thplanet jj, CSW.
I throughly enjoy grappling more than striking, maybe try a grappling art?
"I'm not terribly interested in holds or grabs or throws."
right from the op
come onnnnn
also WC is a pretty sweet choice i should add, i thoroughly enjoyed my experience with it when i learned some
|
|
Really glad that you ended up trying WC, and even happier that you like it
|
It's truer then not for most TMA, because most TMA does not actually hold the whole curriculum from back when the art was developed.
Some arts like TKD(wtf) actually bill themselves are more for sport. While others such as aikido are useful situationally.
Martial arts that hold more true to their base or history tend to be better for self defense / street fighting, as are newer developed arts (as long as the guy inventing it isn't full of bs) FMA, kickboxing, are pretty good for street fighting.
WC tends to hold true to the basic principals, and could be good for self defense, however for it to be useful one has to understand the principals behind the art, and how they trained it in the past. Then it can be useful for the situations it was designed for. IE, jujutsu was developed for people in armor in combat. Strikes are not effective against somebody in armor obviously, so the art comprises joint locks, holds and throws. It's effective for what it is, but it isn't going to work as well now as then, because somebody could just punch you in the face while you are trying to grapple up.
The problem with learning many TMA's now is that they become noted for being good or popular or what-have-you for a specific thing. In TKD it would be kicking, and now many modern studios teach you kicking, and very little in hand forms. Yet TKD originally did contain hand forms, etc. WC was noted for trap distance fighting, and many WC instructors heavily emphasize trap distance fighting, yet original WC also comprised all ranges of combat (much moreso then they do now) as well as groundfighting.
If one wanted to be completely adept at self defense, i would recommend a blend of martial arts, but NOT MMA classes. Boxing or kick boxing, paired with WC. catch, or freestyle wrestling for positional control on the ground, enough JJ to know non-lethal subs and how to escape from them. MT / or greco / judo for the clinches.
The catch is, this is all what MMA classes teach. So why would I recommend against MMA classes? Because any time an art becomes constrained by sporting rules, or uses rules to protect the artist from certain situations, then that becomes dangerous. IE, strikes the the back of the head, stomps, neck cranks, throat strikes, etc. fishhooking, eye gouging, etc.
Why do I recommend boxing or kickboxing even though those are obviously sports? Best striking arts around, and the rules that make it ineffective in real life are covered by the other skillsets that you have. Pure boxers that get grappled up have no idea what to do. You would.
You have to blend all of the knowledge together, without being constrained by rules. MMA would be good if it had no rules, but then it wouldn't be a good sport.
|
On August 04 2010 15:08 Inori wrote:Show nested quote +On August 03 2010 13:39 LosingID8 wrote: taekwondo is a good one for getting into good shape and low risk of injury. i would say taekwondo is probably your best bet if you don't want any wrist injuries, seeing as tkd is about 80% legs/feet and only 20% arms/hands. i did it for about 7 years so i feel like i am somewhat knowledgeable about it. feel free to ask me more questions specifically regarding tkd if you're interested. Maybe I've been doing some wrong TKD, but I have injuries all over my body. Broken hands/legs, noses - that's all the norm in TKD I train and participate in. Also due to a lot of power in TKD kicks there's a high risk of serious injuries. A 2 degree black belt I knew missed 1 hit into solar system and got his whole chest broken. Although that's ITF, maybe WTF is different seeing as it's more of a sport than martial arts. That said, I <3 TKD and think it's the best out there.
I'm sorry but your gym sounds like complete shit. Youre in a gym where broken hands/legs/noses are in the norm? Do you guys seriously expect to get better getting blasted and losing weeks if not months of time training due to injuries? You guys spar hard enough where 1 missed kick means a broken chest?
Ever heard of headgear? Gloves? Shinpads? Not sparring 100%?
|
My personal choice for you is capoeira. And let me say my reasons.
Well OP, as you're a musician, I don't think that capoeira would be bad for you, because there is so much music in capoeira.
As your wrists are important, i'd gladly say that capoeira doesn't hurt wrists at all and there is no wrist injuries in my group. But, it also strengthens a person's wrists. As you may know, capoeira mainly depends on kicks rather than punches and it helps you to get a better body coordination because of the fluidity and body movements called ginga.
3rd, you said you're looking for something light contact. Although people say that there is no contact in capoeira, it's actually light contact. At least in my group. You can freely throw light kicks in your opponent's face or body and it's not BM. Also you can throw the other person on the ground freely as well, it doesn't hurt wrists or arms, it's not BM either.
4th, different from all martial arts, capoeira gives you the opportunity to apply what you learn at practice in roda. In roda, everything is for real. It's not a practice. It's like fight club (of course no full contact, just light contact and no danger of serious injury) and you put all your effort in that place and use (or show) everything you learned in practice. Music is played by the battery, everybody that forms the roda sings the chorus parts together, only 2 people at a time are inside the roda for the fight (it's actually called jogo which means game in english, but believe me, it's not just an ordinary game), again light contact, no shoes, no socks, barefoot, but you're allowed to have a t-shirt in there .
5th, it doesn't require flexibility, you don't need to have a triangle-shaped body, you don't need to have a history with any kinds of sports, only thing you need is pure enthusiasm and energy (called axé in capoeira literature).
6th, capoeira teaches you cool things as well (all those flips, high kicks, striker kicks etc).
|
|
|
|