What is your Favorite Martial Art and Why?

Ah, a secret and forbidden KOREAN martial art that has nothing to do with Japanese arts whatsoever!

Before anyone raises a big flap ("unless you chanllenge first..."), I studied, worked and lived in ROK for several years. I am very well acquainted with martial arts history in ROK.

Skorzeny
 
Didn't we go over this before...

I thought we had all pretty much agreed that though heavily influenced by Japanese MA, some traditional Korean stuff did still continue to exist and become combined with JMA. For Example, Choi Hong Hi (either the founder of TKD or one of its many developers, depending on who you ask) admits that while at Tokyo U. he studied Shotokan, achieving at least a 2nd degree BB. According to his claims, TKD relies heavily on Shotokan. But he still will refer to TKD as a Korean Art because some of it's techniques do come from surviving Korean MA, supposedly many of the kicking techniques.

Matt
 
Matt Wallis:

I agree with you there. Alas, the Kuksoolwon website engages in the "secret Korean monk in the mountain" routine.

Skorzeny
 
Best Art?

pretty much anything full-contact and alive (striking or grappling) will teach you what you need to know.

MMA-style arts provide a good base because they are full-contact and Alive. If you know some boxing or Muay Thai/San Da/Savate/Shootboxing for striking, you will be ahead of the game in striking. If you know some judo, wrestling, sambo, Shooto, or BJJ in the ground department, you'll be doing well in grappling. If you train to combine the two elements, you'll be doing even better.

Full-contact ( at least part of the time ) against resisting opponents (Aliveness) should be your mantra.

There is a guy I know deep in the wilds of Northern Canada who actually trains Tai Chi Chuan full contact, and does pretty well in local MMA competitions. Of course, this is the Tai Chi Chuan that is a martial art, not the moving meditation stuff. However, this kind of stuff is more the exception that the rule.

after that, add weapons that you can realistically carry, and integrate them with your empty hand . Spar as realistically ( while still being reasonably safe) as you can with weapons or weapon substitutes.

once you do that, move on to scenario drills. there are a lot of people doing scenario stuff out there, and I honestly don't know a ton about it. Find someone good and work with it.

if you can find a place that integrates emptyhand, weapons, and guns, seek it out!
 
Secret monk on the mountain?

The KSW website is not the best, I agree.

I just said that I liked it, and that it covers a large range of material. There's always something new to learn, which keeps it interesting and fun, while at the same time avoiding burnout.

I've seen some very silly things at open tournaments, and I think that KSW is on the 'less silly' side, especially looking at what we actually do.

Gepzo
 
Any Japanese karate may do good for you. Japanese karate only splitted in many forms or kinds. There are those that only give more importance to hand to hand technique and few kickings. others also has so much emphasis on kicking. Either way will do good for you.

But, learned a martial arts that has a real basic blockings, punching, kicking and throwing as these basics will be helpful to you in the long term. Not the many techniques you learn in the process of learning the arts.

For me, I combine karate, and stick fighting (arnis) and a little kendo. But am old to kick and kick now, so prefer to use my cane as my arnis.:)
 
In Dallas, there's a guy named Bill Sosa who runs an Aikido dojo that I've heard great things about. In the early 90s he came to some Aikido seminars in Austin and was interesting. Sosa actually wrote a book called "The Secrets of Police Aikido : Controlling Tactics Used by Law Enforcement Professionals". My experience with Aikido was very similar to that of the other posters. It was fun and somewhat spiritual. The footwork, evasion, and balance skills I learned helped when I moved on to boxing. However, some of it is unrealistic for practical self-defense.

Another Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu choice in Dallas is Machado Jiu-Jitsu, I think it's on Midway just north of Central Expressway. That's the real deal for hardcore, athletic grappling.

For practical self-defense techniques that confront the reality of real street encounters, consider buying a video from Tony Blauer (www.tonyblauer.com). He's trained cops and SWAT teams in Dallas, Austin, and all over the country.
 
Lofland:

I have no knowledge of Bill Sosa except for that very book on police-related techniques. But from what I can see on it, he is one of a handful of Aikidoka in this country who understand the niche that Aikido can really grow on - weapons retention and draw prevention - which are somethings that police officers would be really interested in.

Alas, the rest of the Aikidoka are busy defending against overhead chops and worshipping the spirit of O-Sensei.

Skorzeny
 
Skorzeny,

I hear you. This thread is interesting, since several people on here had the same experience with Aikido that I did. I did it for two and a half years back in the mid-90s. You are exactly right about the kotegaeshi throw, which can be one of the more practical throws. When the uke (guy being thrown) is punching with the right hand, he has to take a big step forward with the right foot, so the nage (thrower) can use his momentum against him. Only a fool would punch like this. Some drunk guys in bars are fools, but I don't want to count on that for my self-defense. A person with some training will not lunge off-balance like that. The punching power comes more from rapid hip turn than forward motion.

The argument of the black belts is that, as you get better and better, you can do the throws against more realistic attacks. But to me, it seems as if the throws don't work unless you have absolutely perfect timing. Even after four or five years, the advanced students look pretty messy when they do drills such as randori (I think that was the name), where they had to defend against rapid attacks. Someone who's been boxing seriously for four or five years could beat them up.

In the end, I enjoyed Aikido. I like the philosophy of it, and I learned valuable lessons about balance, footwork, etc. I may take it up again some day. But I won't rely on Aikido alone for self-defense.
 
kote gaeshi is nice, shiho nage or any of the wrist throws are nice provided the limb and momentum are there.

my favorite is irimi nage because it defines the essence of irimi. After understanding the principle of harmony w/moving objects/energy or at least experiencing it in my case, one can easily insert any technique here to really lay into a hit. Insert elbow instead of arm and come across a little less tangentially (more perpindicular) and you have potential for great hit with little wind up as long as you remain centered and drive through.

Not trying to be esoteric, it's the only way I can explain it without a million examples. thoughts?

This kind of flow is awesome, great in bjj.
That's why I love Aikido and feel why I have a million more things to learn about it later on down the road.
 
Lofland:
Only a fool would punch like this.
Click to expand...
Clearly the traditionalists among Aikidoka haven't seen what is called a "jab."
Even after four or five years, the advanced students look pretty messy when they do drills such as randori (I think that was the name)...
Click to expand...
If you had Randori, I am assuming that you did Tomiki-style Aikido, which was very heavily influenced by Tomiki (a top student of Dr. Kano Jigoro, the Kodokan Judo founder, who was sent by Dr. Kano to learn Aikido from Ueshiba Morihei).

Aikido Randori is not really Randori. By nature, techniques used in Randori should be able to be done full force - that is not usually the case with Aikido techniques.

Krept:
kote gaeshi is nice, shiho nage or any of the wrist throws are nice provided the limb and momentum are there.

my favorite is irimi nage because it defines the essence of irimi.
Click to expand...
IMO, Kote Gaeshi as a defense against a punch is worse than useless. However, it makes a wonderful techniques if somone were to try to grab your sheathed weapon from the front. In such a case, there is no need to "intercept" the wrist (a hard enough thing to do on its own) - the wrist is already there for you. Also, instead of thinking of Kote Gaeshi as a throw, it really should be thought as either a wrist dislocation or controlling technique - to prevent your opponent from grabbing your weapon or his own (later).

Irimi Nage is a beautiful and refined technique. As in Judo, Atemi-Waza is the key to make the throwing techniques work. Sadly (again), most Aikikai-affiliated Aikidoka have given up on Atemi.

Skorzeny
 
Skorzeny, when I said randori I think I got the name wrong. I've been reading BJJ and judo forums lately. I studied Seidokan Aikido (www.seidokan.org) at the University of Texas Aikido Club. There's a nice chart showing the lineage at

http://www.stillpointaikido.com/AboutUs.htm

Bill Sosa studied under Kobayashi, the founder of Seidokan, although Sosa's dojo isn't listed in the main Seidokan site.

The traditionalist argument is that, as you progress over a few years, the attacks get more realistic, and you will learn to use Aikido against a jab, cross, hook, etc. I hope to go back to Aikido and learn those techniques some day. But for defending myself on the street, I think there are more practical options.

I think the police use kote gaeshi and other Aikido techniques more as a control either in controlling a suspect or weapon retention/disarming. My dojo taught it more as a defense against an attack, where the uke was giving you the limb and momentum to work with, as Krept mentioned. The fact is, though, if your real-world opponent is dumb enough to give you those, and you are psychologically prepared for the fight, there are 500 things you can do to pound the guy. The hard part is learning to spot the opponent telegraphing his move at the instant he really commits to it. That skill really comes from sparring, which is done in only a limited form in Aikido.

To get back to the original thread topic, practical self-defense styles such as Tony Blauer's are good because they help you to detect and defuse potential fights before you have to defend yourself. If those tactics fail and you come to blows, Blauer's techniques will work better in the "oh sh*t!!" moment of the initial attack, when you're still in a state of fear/disbelief, and your timing and dexterity are 20% of what they are in the calm confines of the dojo.

Hours of practice with irimi nage, kokyu nage, and other throws helped me to learn to sidestep in boxing. Beginner boxers do tend to lunge forward and put their weight into punches, so it's easier to make them over-extend and lose their balance. The principles of balance are the same in any martial art or boxing. It's actually fun to play with my boxing buddies (with their agreement), trying to mimic an Aikido type of move when wearing boxing gloves and headgear. Irimi nage is a good example. You can do a sort of kote gaeshi move if the guy tries to do a big haymaker which gets him off balance. Kokyu nage can work sometimes, since it doesn't require a wrist hold.
 
Anthony:

From your initial post it looks like you are interested in augmenting your ability to defend yourself thru the study of a martial art. You state that you're not interested in a "quick fix seminar". I would suggest that an appropriate short course would be a very sound investment. Most martial arts do not integrate with defensive gunhandling very well.

Several of the better training schools offer unarmed programs that dovetail with their armed training programs. Three that come to mind are:

Insights Training Center (www.insightstraining.com)

Options for Personal Security (www.optionsforpersonalsecurity.com)

Tactical Defense Institute (www.tdiohio.com)

Any of these weekend courses would give you an immense "legup" in defensive capability, Right Now, as opposed to the longterm commitment of martial arts. I'm not saying that studying martial arts is bad, far from it. I just think that having a "quick and dirty" response preprogrammed immediately is a good thing which can be built upon, modified, or even discarded after you've spent enough time with your chosen martial art to develop a sufficient skill level in that martial art.

Both Insights and OPS travel through Texas regularly.

I've got no issues with longterm study of the martial arts, but I beleive that a well-designed unarmed course, like those listed above, provide you with a higher level of usuable skill in a more compressed timeframe than you generally get from the martial arts.
 
UG?

yeah, I'm on the Underground. You go there often?

I'm spending more of my time looking at the QnA's on the UG and the OG than the UG these days.
 
Used to go around there, maybe once every couple of months ago. Been around since before there was an OG, got tired of enforcing the "gotta have a pic on the threads with 'hottie' in the title" rule and ended up here and on bladeforums.com

I'm actually surprised with the knowledge that some people have of mma both here and on bladeforums. Makes for good discussions with much less trolling
 
Krept, you're ignoring the OG at your own peril. Sure, The Firing Line and Bladeforums are great, but they just tell you about fighting the average dirtbag on the street. The OG, on the other hand, has a huge thread right now called "Zombie Battle Plan," with almost two hundred posts on the best tactics in case zombies ever start coming out of the ground en masse. This threat is sadly ignored on all other forums, as far as I can tell.
 
Vale Tudo (focused mainly on Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai)

While I do not have experience with any other MA, it is my impression that one becomes effective very rapidly. Many others that I train with feel the same, and many of them have experience in other MAs.

With 18 months of training, I have made short work of several Taekwondo black belts. Perhaps that is not saying much to those of you that are more seasoned, but I am more than happy with the skills that I have learned.

My $.02.
 
Well my favorite is Arnis de Mano or Escrima its also known in the states as the filipino fighting sticks, i hold the rank of lakamanim or its equivalent of sixth dan, its very formidable technique that even the us special forces have incorporated it in their training and has been a part of jeet kun do for quite some time. The advantage of arnis is the fact that you develop speed and since the sticks moves faster the arms and hand when your facing an unarmed opponent it easier to see his movement. And another thing arnis de mano techniques can be used without sticks.:D ive also studied aikido, judo, shorin ryu karate and kendo
 
Hello Everyone,

Just thought I'd give all of you an update.

Went to observe a Shotokan Karate class at a local activity center, but was turned off by all the kids in the class. When I was about to leave I saw someone in a different style of uniform. So I asked what their class was. It turns out it is a Modern Arnis class taught by a local guy who does it part time for enjoyment. He really loves the art and does not teach children. He only charges $20 a month so I figured I couldn't miss by at least observing a class. Wow! I was overwhelmed!

Wonderful art! Extremely combat oriented!

Well I've taken three sessions now and I'm hooked!

Any thoughts on Modern Arnis?

- Anthony
 
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