Our university is offering martial arts lessons for beginners, and I'd like to take a training course and enrichen my life. Now, they are offering a wide range of martial arts... See list below... and I'd like to ask if any of you have made experiences with any of those, what it did to you, and so on. I have never taken any lessons in martial arts or anything like it. I can run for an hour and I'm not entirely weak when it comes to lifting mid heavy weights; my coordiantion, however, is awful. I can't even do a "jumping jack" without confusing my arms and legs. My aim would [i:82f33c1468]not [/i:82f33c1468]be being able to defend myself from next semester on - that would be nice, but probably very unrealistic- but a better condition, some stress release, and a better coordiantion. They offer Aikido, Bha Gua Zhang, Capoeira, Judo, Ju Jutsu, Karate, Karate Wado, Kendo, Kickboxing, Shaolin Kempo, Taekwondo, and Ving Tsun Kung Fu.
Aikido is a wonderful martial art, based entirely on defence with no attacking whatsoever. You learn how to defend yourself by redirecting your attackers movements and disabling them. You also learn how to fall over without hurting yourself. You simply have to try this one at least one time in your life. Ju Jutsu is very like Aikido, but with elements of Karate mixed in; you learn all the break falls (falling over and rolling like a stuntperson) and how to redirect an attack the same as Aikido, but you also learn all the vulnerable points on a person's body where you can really hurt them just using a finger or a thumb. Great fun. Kung Fu simply rocks, like karate but with much more style and flexibility. It will improve your ballance and breathing, actually they all will, but Kung Fu especially with the ballance. Karate is a bit like a rigid version of Kung Fu; where Kung Fu attempts to whittle an oppenent down with finesse and style, Karate attempts to knock the opponent out as quickly as possible. Apart from Okinowan Karate, I'd say that it's very robot like and not very spirtual in ways that Aikido and Kung Fu are. My least favourite, but still interesting. I never tried the rest, would be tempted by Capoeira simply because I've never seen it before in real life; my favourite is Kung Fu (if you get the right teacher), but I also enjoyed Ju Jutsu a lot, and had a wonderful day swapping Ju Jutsu techniques with an Aikido guy.
I would suggest Capoeira. It is a war dance cooked up by the slaves in Brazil that masqueraded their martial art training with music. Music in your workout will help you with coordination. Kendo is japanese fencing. Unless you plan to carry a katana around, I don't think it will do much by way of defending yourself.
A stout stick can be used in place of the weapon used in Kendo. Only drawing and cutting arts woudl require an actual sword. I studied a Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Judo mix for a while and found it to be excellent. From the entire style however, I prefered the Hapkido techniques. Hapkido is just the Korean for of Aikido. So, I'd say go for Aikido. That's the art where teh wizened old people throw attacking brutes with their pinkies. ;-)
I did Judo between the ages of about 8 and 12. I stopped because my local Judo club closed down, and all the others were a bit too serious for my likes. Judo is very much a defensive Martial Art, it also teaches you to break your fall, and the majority of the rest of it is about using your opponents weight to throw them and then pin them to the floor. There are also arm locks and choke holds, but I never learnt them because I was too young.
The most important thing isn't which martial art is best, it's more important what you like, what fits you and how the trainer works. Judging karate from just the name is dangerous, as is judeging kung fu, because karate have at least 11 moderatly known styles, all different, and I think kung fu has 15. Aikido is cool, I've tried it a couple of times and it's all about moving your own body in a correct manner. form is very important. Kickboxing is for those who wants to learn how to fight fast but doesn't really put a lot of weight on how to do it. They don't have a lot of traditions and thingies that the other styles have. It's not one of my favorites. Capoera is pretty cool as show and general training but it sucks if you really want to use it. Tae kwon do is divided in two 'camps' oen that uses lots of protection while competeing and one who doesn't. A good style for those who prefer kicking to punching. Not a lot of blocks or anything used though. Wado is a type of karate, rather mediocre if I remember correctly. As mal said, karate is a more rigid form of Kung Fu, where they've essentially taken the fighting parts out and cultivated them. Kung fu is rather flashy and Ving Tsun is the second largest style. (again I think, I haven't seen any numbers newer than from 1997) Kendo is the Japanese art of using a sword, there's another thing called 'aido' which is the art of pulling the sword out of the scabbard. My advice is, go to the first meeting of everything that strikes your fancy. Listen to the instructors and if possible, stay and watch if they have a class for more advanced students. That way you can get an idea of how they train and if you like it. Just because a style or art has a certain 'form' or 'goal' doesn't mean that they all use the same way.
They offer Aikido, Bha Gua Zhang, Capoeira, Judo, Ju Jutsu, Karate, Karate Wado, Kendo, Kickboxing, Shaolin Kempo, Taekwondo, and Ving Tsun Kung Fu. Aikido- "Soft" style Japanese art created by combining tai chi chuan, bha gua, and some other "soft" Chinese styles. "Soft" means there is less of an emphasis on punches and kicks and more on redirecting attacks, using joint locks, undermining the opponents foundation (their legs), etc. Very cool style, you could study it for thirty years and not exhaust it. Steven Segal is a high ranked aikido instructor. (at least he used to be, not sure where he's at now) Bha gua- A "soft" style chinese art. Very minimalistic, mostly what you'll be doing for your first year is stepping in circles facing inward. Capoeira- Brazilian, takes a lot of Chinese and Korean kicks, but this is an extremely acrobatic art. Not for the uncoordinated. Judo- Grappling sport with emphasis on throwing the opponent. Jiujitsu- They're probably teaching brazilian jiujitsu, which is entirely geared towards grappling on the ground. Very technical, involves submission moves, arm bars, etc. Karate- Japanese style based on the teaching of a visiting shaolin monk combined with japanese sword work. Emphasises overwhelming force, like a sword, one hit is all you need. Kendo- The masks and chest guards and bamboo swords. Shinkendo is like the next step up and uses real swords. Kickboxing- Can mean a lot of things. Usually means a combination of western boxing for the upper body and kicks from Thai Boxing. Thai boxing itself is much more "hardcore" than most kickboxing places. Tae Kwon Do- Korean art emphasizing fancy kicking and very little punching. Most places emphasize point sparring, which means you separate as soon as one person hits the other, regardless of how hard, and the more complicated way you kick them the more points you get. Kung fu- can mean anything. Just translates as hard work, or literally as "time effort". China is a huge country with a long, long history. There are uncountable styles of kung fu, and every city or school has its own particular take on it. If you're not looking for self defense, you should go with whatever intrigues you. Being able to defend yourself isn't something that comes quickly, because as you're learning martial arts at first, you're more likely to freeze up in a confrontation trying to remember that thing you were taught to do, than you are to (as they say in the Karate Kid) Strike Hard! Strike Fast! No mercy sir! But all that to say, the one that would be the most accessible to you would be the kickboxing. Ask them about the class though. If it's tai bo, or aerobic kickboxing or anything like that, I would stay away from it.
If it's Wing Chun Kung Fu you might want to give it a try. It was create by a Buddhist nun way back when and was the basis for Bruce Lee fighting style. Basically, I think you should go for what ever one will make you look coolest!
Akido is, as mal said, the least aggressive. Rather than breaking someone's wrist for attacking you with imperfect balance, as you might do with Judo, you merely introduce a shift of ki into their arm which they may accept graciously. the result is, ultimately, the same. I quite enjoyed the stunt falls, but that was back in the days when my knees were usually torn up, and I got tired of bleeding through my track pants
Personnally, I'd go for Origami - that's the one where you fold your opponent into a paper model of a Chrysantheumum - and if that fails, you could still give him a nasty paper-cut!
If you want my advise don't do Judo. My dad took it when he was younger and to this day he still tells stories about it. Bad stories. Stories about how he and his brothers would practice their skill at home in their backyard: doing flips and apparently "breaking their fall." "Breaking their fall" seemed to land them in the hospital more often then not. Most of this shouldn't scare a normal person, because a normal person would actually listen to their instructors. Unlike my dad. But besides that, my dad said judo was boring because you don't really learn to fight. You just learn to defend yourself when someone tries to fight you or throw you down to the ground.
Er...that would be enough for me, actually. I mean, what did he want to learn? To all of you, thanks for the answers, which were very informative and partly funny. I'm probably going to give Aikido a try... Edit: grammar atrocities...
I took karate when I was 5. I can't really remember why I stoped. My cousin was the a semi-finalist at the California state-wide Tae kwon do Compotition, though.
It looks like you've made your decision, but for a next class, give the kung fu a try. As Rincewind pointed out, it looks like they are offering you wing chun. It's a very good defensive style and doesn't expect you to be super strong. It would also give you a good basis to move onto some of the others, such as tae kwon do.
Thanks, janible! I gave it some serious thought, and might give it a try once I found out wether the martial arts suit me.
