What Martial Art?

[Wanderer]

Just wandering if anyone else has done a martial art?
I think that martial arts make people a lot more likely to succeed because of the self discipline one gains. Me I do Jujitsu and have recently started Akido.
Anyone else?

[Dolazy]

I started Aikido a few months ago. It's very difficult in the beginning but I am starting to like it a lot. It's good for balance, for learning to 'go with the flow', learning not to use force etc...

All this gives me the impression that aikido is not really a martial art but really the teaching of a philosophy based on analogy with combat techniques.

Anyway I think it's perfect for those interested in personal development.

[Alvin]

Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu for the past 9 years, Wing Chun for 2 before that, and a bit of Tai Chi with Tai Chi sword inbetween.

There was more discipline with Wing Chun because of the emphasis on forms and repetitive drills, not to mention pain! But it was pure fun and I wouldn't give up the skills learnt with the sticky hands drills for anything.

With taijutsu, I've learnt more about flow, going with it and using it, and how to move with the body centred as much as possible, even while walking. The rolling bit's saved my ass a couple of times when I tripped and fell

[Josip]

I think that really depends how good club and good teacher you can find.

The differences between teachers are much larger than differences between skills.

I have black belt in karate (15 years of training), and off course I think it is great, but I learned a little Judo, Aikido and they are also great.

If you find right person to teach you, you will be fine with any traditional martial art.

[msd]

Tae-Kwondo for the last couple of years. I can't believe you forgot to list that

[elainevdw]

You also missed kung fu (I did Choy Li Fut), capoeria, and krav maga (haven't done the last two, but they sound fun!).

[escapee]

I used to do a very ancient/outdated/boring type of kungfu called Tai ju quan and Wu ju quan ( My grand grandfather was a run away shaolin monk and my grandfather was a pretty famous master who could poke a hole in the bottle and left a palm inprint on the wall ). It was like 10 years ago when i decided to give up the practice and fully focus on my tertiary education.

Right now i just jog or walk to keep in shape, no more kungfu for me The art and heritage is lost under new generation .

[uon]

Aikido is great for physical and spiritual training. I would agree with the earlier description of it being a philosophy in action. Actually with the right teacher you will learn that Aikido is designed to reach enlightenment. With absolute love we can solve any conflict.

[Guinevere]

I did Aikido for about four years. I only don't now because of schedule issues, and I miss it terribly!

[moltar]

I don't do anything yet, but I want to try Krav Maga (a self-defense and military hand to hand combat system developed in Israel).

An interesting fact:

Training may employ a speaker system blasting loud music, stroboscope and/or fog machine meant to train the student to ignore peripheral distractions and focus on causing as much damage as possible.

[Steve Pavlina]

I did Tae Kwon Do for a few years in the late 90s. I just recently began training in Shaolin Kempo (got my orange belt on Friday). TKD is very sporty, but I like Kempo because it's more self-defense oriented. Lots of defensive maneuvers against various attacks. Unlearning some of my old TKD habits is hard though.

[Wanderer]

@ msd: Sorry I forgot to list Taekwondo, its very similar to Tang Soo Doo though
@ elainevdw: their are hundreds of MAs and it would be impossible to list them all but you are correct, Kung Fu is a fairly big one to miss out
@ escapee: Your grandfather sounds very cool, what kind of things did you learn?
@ Akido people: I should hopefully be going for my yellow belt in Akido soon and am learning more about the background teaching side of it which is fascinating - philosophy rocks!
@ Steve himself: Congratulations on your orange belt, I know what you mean about unlearning habits, after four years in a side stance, when I had to point both feet forwards for an Iaido class (Japanese swordsmanship) I found it very difficult and that was just the footwork!

Good Luck with all your future MAs everyone!

[uon]

Wanderer for more on Aikido philosophy I'd recommend "Aikido and the Harmony of Nature" by Saotome Sensei. Its chock full of very cool drawings of humans being the bridge between heaven and earth. Sweet!

Also anything by George Leonard.

[KevinG]

Originally Posted by Wanderer

Just wandering if anyone else has done a martial art?
I think that martial arts make people a lot more likely to succeed because of the self discipline one gains. Me I do Jujitsu and have recently started Akido.
Anyone else?

I'm a 2nd Dan head Olympic Taekwondo instructor at a 500 member school. I have also studied BJJ, Kali, JKD, Wing Chun, and Aikido.

[GreatnessBlog]

I think Capoeira is about the coolest thing ever, but it's suited to people thinner than I! It's on my to-do-after-I-lose-the-weight list, though. Search youtube for some awesome clips of it though.

[JohnnyJimJams]

I currently study Hapkido. A Korean martial art, which is combination of Taekwondo(Kicks and punches) and Aikido(joint manipulation).

The one thing missing from my reportaire is ground fighting (grappling), and as that random statistic goes..... 75% of all fights end up on the ground.

Or was it 90%.

or... 45%

sigh.

[escapee]

75% of all fights end up on the ground

1 ON 1 YES , if you are facing bunch of thugs with baseball bat,chainsaw,knife and etc (which is likely to the case on the street full of vengence), you would most likely end up using the last method of Sun Ji art of war , escape !!... unless you have a hand that can break stuffs like wood or even stone with one hit like the legendary master Oyama Mas

To me, the best strategy of martial arts is to try the best of your ability to avoid a fight (ego) or never initiate a fight unless absolutely necessary (life is at stake). This applies to world affairs too.

[JohnnyJimJams]

Originally Posted by escapee

1 ON 1 YES , if you are facing bunch of thugs with baseball bat,chainsaw,knife and etc (which is likely to the case on the street full of vengence), you would most likely end up using the last method of Sun Ji art of war , escape !!... unless you have a hand that can break stuffs like wood or even stone with one hit like the legendary master Oyama Mas

To me, the best strategy of martial arts is to try the best of your ability to avoid a fight (ego) or never initiate a fight unless absolutely necessary (life is at stake). This applies to world affairs too.

Good point It's no good wrestling "bob" if "bill" if standing over you both with a golf club.

If I found myself on the ground wrestling a violent/stronger attacker, then I'd like to think that 10 years of training would be of some benefit. Realistically it would, but I'd really like to learn what to do(and not) if I was ever in that situation.

I also want to be the best instructor that I can be (when that happens), so I've decided to always be a student.

[fourthdan]

taekwondo - am a blue belt right now.... am also losing weight to get back and get through to black

[Mark Lapierre]

Judo for two years but stopped because I was only 9 and not really interested.

Karate for two years, stopped because I wasn't motivated enough to give up the time I needed for VCE (I didn't know any techniques or have any habits which helped improve productivity back then).

Kung Fu (Liang-I five animal style) for two years until my motivation hit a wall again.

Qi gung for 3 months. The focus was heavily on the energistic side of the practice which, for me at the time, was not what I was after. I wanted an activity that actually felt like exercise.

I'm doing yoga at the moment, have been for around 8-10 months. Out of all the activities I've done for exercise yoga is easily the most rewarding, motivating and energising so far. I'm glad it was included in the list even if I wouldn't consider it a martial art

[Gabriel.B]

Tai Chi's the way forward for me, love it XD

[rvgrinsven]

Tea-kwon-do here, although I am quitting this month, the schedule interferes too much with my basketball

[tobyhede]

I've been Boxing for about a year. I love it. The effect on my fitness is incredible, and the discipline has been really rewarding.

[King Of All Cosmos]

I'm just wondering, has anyone ever heard of Bagua? It's not a widespread martial art and isn't taught in many places (5 places in the US maybe?). I'm fortunate enough to live nearby one and my friend trains there. On a pure fighting theory level, he claims it to be the most complete of martial arts (meaning that if you master it, the best fighting style). The idea behind "most complete" is that it includes the most effective way to deal with any situation. It's purpose is to kill/defeat the opponent and therefore it excludes any unrelated development areas that many other martial arts use.

Interesting tidbit: When both asked how they would describe their martial art, the Tai Chi master answered "flowing and beautiful" while the Bagua master laughed a little and answered "vicious and hateful". He just was pointing out that martial arts isn't necessarily about looking good or dancing, it's about fighting skills.

It IS hard to prove that any martial art is the best and I'm not the one with the necessary knowledge to argue it. Still, on a technical level, the most humanely effective move in a given situation is the best move, right?