Martial arts???

[Jonathan Doe]

I enjoyed Judo and Taekwondo.

[gianyveedub]

Sorry for the confusion with the term Military Muay Thai. It is Old Style Muay Thai with weapons involved. It was not designed for the ring and it not flashy, but it is effective. An example would be instead of kicking at the head where you leave a large part of your body exposed (ring style), you are striking lower (around mid thigh) for more power. You could also call it Old Style Muay Thai as some call it. Here is a good example:

http://youtu.be/ruZ7eeThQsk

This is from one of the senior members of Muay Thai Academy International in San Jose. If you guys like him, he has a youtube page that you can get lost in for hours. If you are interested in Old Style Muay Thai / Military Mauy Thai, PM me.

[code_blue]

There really isn't one better than the other. They all basically employ the same basic things: Defend and Attack. It depends on you're level of training and determination.

I recommend Hapkido. Carries Aikido style defensive but has traditional Judo style offensive. It's Korean soft style and highly effective. Upper ranking techniques employ advanced defensive maneuvers (sitting, knees, one arm, belt/rope, short stick/baton, cane, multi attackers using both arms, no arms, etc...).

There are 2 traditional Federations: Korea Hapkido Federation and Sin Moo Hapkido Federation. They both stem from Korea Hapkido Association which disbanded due to conflicting internal issues.

Sin Moo's founder is Ji Han-Jae, the guy from Bruce Lee's Game of Death. He is also my Master's, Master's, Master (lol) so my 5th although I am tied to Korea Hapkido Federation. My master's master stayed with the original KHA members when they created KHF. Ji Han-Jae had come to America already IIRC.

Juijutsu is basically old school Judo attached to the mainstream world. The Judo commonly known today is the sport version.

Taekwondo in combat form is effective, but it is a hard style for striking. Bruce Lee's kicks were derived from Taekwondo.

I've seen Krav Maga and it's military style. If you're out to kill, that would do it along with US Military styles.

[Notorious]

Taekwondo in combat form is effective, but it is a hard style for striking. Bruce Lee's kicks were derived from Taekwondo.

Not entirely. Bruce was also influenced heavily by the stylistic but accurate kicks from Savate. You can see the Savate influences when he kicks high with his back hand raised up. That is old school traditional Savate, not TKD.

[Librarian]

As a kareteka myself, I remind participants in this thread that posts that resolve to 'your art sucks, mine is the best' are off topic.

Discussions of why you like your art, what advantage you find it may give you - those are fine.

(So far, I like Samuelx's post best.)

[darcblue]

S.P.E.A.R

I've never been to a class but I like what I've seen on the videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RROfS6tznw

[crazyucbr]

Sorry for the confusion with the term Military Muay Thai. It is Old Style Muay Thai with weapons involved. It was not designed for the ring and it not flashy, but it is effective. An example would be instead of kicking at the head where you leave a large part of your body exposed (ring style), you are striking lower (around mid thigh) for more power. You could also call it Old Style Muay Thai as some call it. Here is a good example:

http://youtu.be/ruZ7eeThQsk

This is from one of the senior members of Muay Thai Academy International in San Jose. If you guys like him, he has a youtube page that you can get lost in for hours. If you are interested in Old Style Muay Thai / Military Mauy Thai, PM me.

Thanks for info... I will def look into it.

[zombiescanlearn]

Muay Thai and Kali.

[code_blue]

Not entirely. Bruce was also influenced heavily by the stylistic but accurate kicks from Savate. You can see the Savate influences when he kicks high with his back hand raised up. That is old school traditional Savate, not TKD.

shouldve been more clear. his side kick was derived from tkd. you can see various other styles in his techniques. he retained the win chung short kicks for close range.

Hands raised up can mean anything. Depends on what I'm doing. My stance consists of open rear hand raised and open front hand lowered for TKD. In HKD they're both open handed and guarding my face in a linear position. The KHF symbol is a hand making a "gun" symbol. This is due to gripping tighter with the 3 rear fingers and pointing in the direction we want the attacker to go, channeling ki if you will.



This is probably one of the better documentaries on HKD. They mention Ji Han-Jae in there too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S7g3xb44q4

honestly the best I'd recommend for op is to learn rexkwondo. if you've never heard of it, watch Napoleon Dynamite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzh9koy7b1E

[LCU1670]

When I was in the Army, the saying was if you got to hand to hand, you are already behind the curve as you lost control of the situation.

Since I retired from the Army, and I don't have the discipline to study martial arts, I simply take the Open Hand, edged weapons and Adv martial Arts at FS now and then. And stay aware so I don't get into a situation like that. If I was LEO or security, I would go to less than lethal- taser-pepper spray. Because, no matter how much YOU train MAYBE the other guy trained more, or is more motivated, or on drugs.

[code_blue]

Tony Jaa used a Hapkido Choreographer in the Ong Baak bone breaking scene. You can see a lot of the basic techniques there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BISJ77Z-1-8

As I've said before, all MA's will do the same/similar things. You just need to decide what system you prefer and what tradition you want.

[mixicus]

I agree with the above thought that there is no ultimate style. I'll throw out some generic advice that will hopefully help.

Don't (necessarily) pick a style first. Pick an instructor/school by observing/trying a few classes. Given your 'self defense' interests look for classes that use focus mits, pads, kicking shields, heavy bags and sparring/rolling as a significant part of the training. You can find good instructors in 'weak' styles that will benefit you more than a lousy instructor in a 'great' style. Find a place that seems to meet your objective and you like.

Another consideration: convenience of times and location of the gym. The easier it is for you to get there consistently, the more likely you will go train every week. That repetition is why you will develop skills. Even though a place like the Inosanto Academy maybe be outstanding if you aren't willing to haul yourself 100 miles each way twice a week, it probably won't pay off.

Unless you are going to hit a MMA gym, it will be difficult to find a top notch striking AND ground game in the same place/style. MMA places tend to have a competition mind set as opposed to defensive.

Have your BS detector switched ON. Too much mysticism or 'lethal' techniques should be a major warning sign.

Styles that tend to show up consistently to answer questions like yours have been:

Striking: Boxing, Muay Thai, JKD (can have a bit of everything)

Grappling: BJJ, Judo/Sambo, CSW (Erik Paulson's blend)

Combatives: Krav Maga, Systema,

Filipino/Indonesian MA: Silat, Kali/Escrima/Arnis

Remember a 'sport' style (i.e. boxing or BJJ) will need to be adapted to a defensive mindset.

Been a while since I been in SD but I recall some good options in the north county area. Some may fit your needs better. James Williams (Systema) is in Encintias. A long established Krav Maga group teaches out of the Jewish Community Center in the La Jolla area. For BJJ, there's a Gracie Barra in Carlsbad. Roy Harris use to have a JKD academy in SD proper (kali,silat, bjj were also taught).

[Stormtrooper]

FIST KOON DO.

[Notorious]

Glock-Fu.

Wait... Librarian, you didn't like my post #11? I'm so sad... but yeah, I will gladly concede to Samuel since that is his assignment and expertise, DT, so losing to him is nothing to be ashamed of.

Also, going back to way before any discussions of style of techniques, have you ever been in a real fight? Have you seen real fights? Have you watched people fight who had no training or had a lot of training? Did you realize that in a real fight, not in a sparring situation, a lot can be decided in split seconds with one strike and be done?

It's not like a sport match or movies, where it goes on and on and on and on. You swing and maybe get lucky, and the other guy stumbles and you pounce and it's over in 30 seconds tops, while the **** talking and pushing and puffing chests and posturing can take hours.

What I am saying is that realize the reality of a street fight and lethal encounters is nothing like what you will have to do when it comes down to it. The stuff you learn, whatever it may be, gives you some knowledge and edge, but will not give you the win. It's just like a gunfight, you can be the best in the world, the other guy just needs one lucky shot.

[Green Ice Dragon]

Keep in mind that utilizing striking skills can look really bad. If you're non-LE you WILL go to jail unless there was clearly a provable threat to your life. If you are LE and you get caught on video it will look bad. Not saying it's illegal in that case but it just looks bad. But the ones that most consider effective is Boxing and Muay Thai.

Grappling skills are generally favored. Judo and wrestling (Greco-Roman) are your best and least expensive bet. BJJ and similar arts doesn't mean you lay on your back and act like a venus-flytrap as some have implied; but there may be times when YOU get taken down and you're going to have to know what to do.

There are a couple of things to remember when choosing "style". Thanks to the boom in MMA styles like BJJ and Muay Thai have skyrocketed in price. Also, some places claim to teach a style like "Muay Thai" but do that by name only and are likely teaching some slap-toe-style.

On the topic of price: contracts aren't necessarily a bad thing because, depending on where you live, there may be a high overhead and people need to pay the bills. Sorry, but no one is working for free. If you can find a place without contracts then great!

Overall, you'll be fine with just Judo or Greco-Roman wrestling.