Any martial arts people in the house?

This might sound silly, but...

After carrying around a concealed weapon for a while (and being somewhat uncomfortable with it) I have decided that it is not for me. I do still worry about defending myself though, since Milwaukee is a dangerous city, and I have also been looking for a more interesting way to get some exercise than just doing some reps at the gym. I am a tall skinny guy with a strong upper body and long legs but a weak-ish core. Ergo, the thought of beginning training in some sort of martial art has crossed my mind. The goal would not be to become some sort of Chuck Norris badass (I have nothing to prove to anyone) as much as to get some exercise while learning a practical skill and art form.

Is this an unreasonable thought? Would it be more worthwhile to just take a self defense course and go to the gym? There are countless arts and variations out there it seems. Has anyone gone down this path themselves?

At the recommendation of some friends with kids close to my kids ages, we enrolled them in an Aikido dojo and have been very pleased with the experience. Aikido for kids emphasizes fitness, self-discipline and bully-proofing along with a defensive approach to martial arts. I think very highly of the Sensei, as he is well-qualified and great with kids. I think a big part of your success is going to hinge on finding a good fit, but I absolutely would encourage you to give it a try.

I've studied and been trained in a few different martial arts. I started with Jeet Kune Do, then "Western" Boxing which eventually led to joining an MMA fight club that had people from Muay Thai, Judo, Greco and Folkstyle Wrestling and no-gi Jiu Jitsu. We all fought each other. It was a great learning experience going toe-to-toe with all of those different styles.

I highly recommend Boxing. You're a young man, have an adventure! Turn it into a pursuit of self discovery.

What The_Jed said.

I studied American Karate, Jeet Kune Do, Kickboxing, Muay Thai (yeah they are different) and a dab of Judo.

I made sure thw instructors understood my purpose of joining . . . Fitness and self defense. I let them know I was not interested in belt tests of tourneys. When they started to push that stuff on me, I moved on.

Strangely, Sifu at the Muay Thai training camp understood this the most. It is straight to the point martial art, to focuses on toughing the body with utilizing quick close strikes. I absolutely loved it.

That Sifu was well versed in several styles and helped me focus on what I needed.

JK Lee Tae Kwon Do It's more than just learning how to defend yourself. It's also about learning how to avoid a fight. Master Chan Lee (JK's son) has been in situations that could have been a brawl, but has never thrown a punch, on the street - or bar, club, etc.

I studied in a self defense oriented martial arts school for several years. My sensei was ranked in several diverse arts, but taught primarily kempo (also occasionally referred to as kenpo). Here's the pluses: Its very good for core strength and flexibility. Although the second part may not mean much to your right now, in 10 years or so, it will. Its generally enjoyable and, if your instructor allows free form sparring, can be a bit of a rush.

Here's the minuses: Learning forms and Kata can be flat out boring. Truthfully, martial arts are, in my opinion, of limited use for personal defense, at least against attackers with superiority in numbers, those that are on drugs, or those who are armed (I.e. - most criminal attacks). Most of the training we did for armed/multiple attackers reminded me of the Chris Farley ninja skit on SNL. (For it to be effective it would require a certain level of "cooperation" from that attacker(s) that you are unlikely to get) Its probably better than having no plan or training, but vastly inferior to investing a like amount of time into training with your CPL.

Here's my "end analysis". Take martial arts, have a blast, learn something new, test yourself, maintain your health, learn to control your emotions and your mind in the face of an attacker or potential attacker, but don't assume you've added a whole lot to your personal safety. The best things you can do for personal safety are being aware of your community and immediate surroundings. That can eliminate 90% of the risk. For the 10% that remains, however, I'll take a CPL over a black belt any day and twice on Sunday.

BTW - FWIW, the above advice is based on almost 25 years in law enforcement (Assistant Prosecuting Attorney). Also understand, it is based on the premise that you were talking about life or death stuff when you mentioned "self defense". In anything less than a life or death situation, a CPL is a liability.

Sho-Nuff!

Ive worked out with several friends in different disciplines and the two I've seen as the most useful in conjunction with each other were combat sambo and krav maga. Combined they are pretty awesome.

I freakin love shonuff

though this may have been implied by the previous posts, learning a martial art, and the ability to control your emotions and observe your surroundings more efficiently, may make you far more comfortable carrying a Glock. this has been true for a few of my friends, most notably 'brian'. (well call him brian, anyways). he was in a similar situation as you. he had his concealed permit for AZ, but felt uncomfortable with it. especially when with his kids. he was always afraid that he was going to get in trouble with it or do something stupid or life changing. i credit a lot of that anxiety to his (and my) awful CCW instructor, but the damage was done. however, after about 6 weeks in some form of hand to hand combat training (i could not tell you the style), he was far more confident and capable as a human being, which led to more confidence in carrying his GenIV Glock 9mm.

-J0N

For me, learning a mix of boxing and Muay Thai has just given me the confidence to stand my ground in a confrontational situation. I am not longer uncomfortable and nervous the second someone looks like they might be aggressive. Living in a college town and bartending this happens fairly often. Krav Maga and Muay Thai or boxing would make a good mix IMO.

Just have fun! It's a great way to stay in shape!

You want to learn a martial art that is actually effective when it comes to self defense? Krav maga.

Leg kicks won't stop two crackheads with .38s, and half of Brazilian Ju-Jitsu goes out the window if your attacker isn't wearing a gi.

Me? I'll stick with my CHL.

For self defense on the street, this is the only type of training I would recommend. Street fighting Dojo

calteg wrote: half of Brazilian Ju-Jitsu goes out the window if your attacker isn't wearing a gi.

Exactly why every few months my instructor has us train t-shirt and hoodie chokes.
And why he always reminds us that top position means you can poke the other guy in the eye and run away if needed.

That being said, for self defense BJJ is less than ideal if your assailant has buddies.
but in that case, you're pretty screwed regardless of what you train.

Outside of self defense, BJJ is cool because it's a hell of a workout, emphasizes technique, and is low-impact in in the sense that people aren't punching or kicking you.
(3 stripe purple, been training on and off for the better part of a decade)

If you think you would enjoy it, do it. As someone pointed out earlier, the big key is finding a studio and instructor whose goals and philosophy jive with your own.

I studied many years of Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido (a Korean style much like a more practical Aikido), and Tai Chi. The Tae Kwon Do was totally impractical. The Tai Chi was a surprisingly good meta-art that helped me with my other martial arts and my dancing. The Hapkido was an excellent, practical style, and it was a great studio where I got to share the class with guys who instructed judo and jiu jitsu. The head instructor was really good about picking out stuff from different styles based on what was most effective for each situation. Dealt with stuff like why we should use an open-handed stance (as opposed to making fists) for psychology, legal purposes (less threatening), and practical/safety reasons (less likely to hurt yourself or break skin and transfer blood). Along with knife and gun disarms, the instructor also taught excellent technique for dealing with a mugger: remove wallet from pocket, throw on ground to the front/side of attacker, when they bend over to pick it up run like hell. We also did discuss dealing with multiple attackers, which was mostly moving around until they were stacked in a line, throw something at the front guy to slow him down, and run like hell.

As mentioned, the techniques are useful, but the more useful thing is the mindset, awareness, and confidence it instills. I have spotted and avoided multiple confrontations (one I watched someone else walk right into... who normally concealed carries). You don't need to make yourself capable of overcoming everything, just make yourself a difficult enough target to not be worth the trouble.

Much like driving a good handling car... you walk away whole from every fight you manage to avoid.

Spent 5 years learning Shotokan, a very traditional Karate. If going that route make sure the dojo is part of the JKA / JSKA. (Japan karate assoc. / Japan Shotokan Assoc.). It's more than strictly a defense if that make any sense, I've been asked if I've had training by people I've just met and I haven't stepped into the dojo in nearly 15 years. Guess it sticks with you somehow. Krav maga may be a faster route to 'combat' training.

I don't believe there is a "best" art on it's own. The best is the one YOU can use effectively. Try a few schools and go from there.

Follow Andy Lally on Twitter. He's all about martial arts. And street luge.

Beer Baron wrote: If you think you would enjoy it, do it. As someone pointed out earlier, the big key is finding a studio and instructor whose goals and philosophy jive with your own. I studied many years of Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido (a Korean style much like a more practical Aikido), and Tai Chi. The Tae Kwon Do was totally impractical. The Tai Chi was a surprisingly good meta-art that helped me with my other martial arts and my dancing. The Hapkido was an excellent, practical style, and it was a great studio where I got to share the class with guys who instructed judo and jiu jitsu. The head instructor was really good about picking out stuff from different styles based on what was most effective for each situation. Dealt with stuff like why we should use an open-handed stance (as opposed to making fists) for psychology, legal purposes (less threatening), and practical/safety reasons (less likely to hurt yourself or break skin and transfer blood). Along with knife and gun disarms, the instructor also taught excellent technique for dealing with a mugger: remove wallet from pocket, throw on ground to the front/side of attacker, when they bend over to pick it up run like hell. We also did discuss dealing with multiple attackers, which was mostly moving around until they were stacked in a line, throw something at the front guy to slow him down, and run like hell. As mentioned, the techniques are useful, but the more useful thing is the mindset, awareness, and confidence it instills. I have spotted and avoided multiple confrontations (one I watched someone else walk right into... who normally concealed carries). You don't need to make yourself capable of overcoming everything, just make yourself a difficult enough target to not be worth the trouble. Much like driving a good handling car... you walk away whole from every fight you manage to avoid.

Not to mention Tai Chi can be exceptionally difficult trying to do all the slow controlled movements.

ryanty22 wrote: Not to mention Tai Chi can be exceptionally difficult trying to do all the slow controlled movements.

Very challenging. You learn a lot of body awareness and control from it.

Contrary to popular perception, Tai Chi is not all slow and soft. Really, you are practicing to be absolutely smooth, relaxed, and controlled to be able to do every movement perfectly. If you do it full speed, you can send people flying or hit absurdly hard. I could hit a heavy bag harder than guys with an extra 50lbs on me. My Tai Chi instructor (a 140lbs Chinese guy) liked to do a demo where he would push the biggest guy in the class and launch him about 2 feet off the ground and 5 feet back.

Sorry, my art of choice- Kendo- is probably one of the least practical as far as real-life defensive arts go, but it's a lot of fun and is good exercise. Probably does help at least a modest bit though as far as situational awareness and speed, but you're unlikely to find yourself holding anything like a shinai when you get into trouble and your opponent is certain to not be following any of the ettiquete of Kendo combat (see: Snow Crash).

The school's Aikido club practices before us at the gym some days, and it always amuses me when they're practicing against an attacker with a sword...

Ex karate man here. I now teach Yang-style Tai-chi, and I'm learning Wing Chun. There was a lot of good things said in the thread, but I want to say two things.

First, understand that there is a lot of "martial arts" out there that are really combat sports. For example, I consider Karate more as a combat sports then a Martial art. Any technique that contains a lot of kicking, and linear mouvements, is usually more of a combat sport than a martial art, because while these mouvements are high impact, outside of a tightly regulated environement, they are high-risk mouvements that can easily expose you to injury.

With that said, never forget that there is the technique, but there is also the man. For example, while I consider Tai-Chi to be a vastly superior technique than western boxing, I wouldn't want to engage a professional heavy-weight boxer in combat. I am a middle-aged father of three, while he is a young athlete that spends his days training. My technique would give me an initial fighting chance, but the longer the fight would last, the smaller my chances would be.

That's to say, don't worry too much about the technique. Start by working on yourself.