[Grass hopper]

The purpose of this thread will be to help anybody looking to get into training a martial art, more specifically to help them choose what is right for them. Please post a martial art you train in, why it is good and why it is bad. And please, let's try our best to keep from getting into heated debates, as for the most part, every martial art and fighting system has something to offer and something to improve on.

 

[Grass hopper]

Karate

A traditional martial art that originates in Okinawa, drawing its lineage from older okinawan martial arts (té) and Chinese Kung fu. It has evolved over the years to include everything from punching, to kicking, to throws and grappling. It focuses mainly on stand up fighting, and in most styles going to the ground is extremely discouraged. It emphasizes powerful strikes, strong stances, balance, and joint breaking techniques (in karate, joint manipulation is always about breaking a joint, not getting a submission.). The attitude of traditional okinawan karate could be summed up with the phrase "end it quick"

Pros-

Very strong and explosive strikes

Includes all forms of striking, not just hands and feet

Many takedowns

Made for self defense, not sport.


Cons-

Not great to use in sports, as many core techniques in karate are generally against the rules in and sports match.

Takes a longer time to learn than many systems, a black belt will take about five years, sometimes more.

Not much ground fighting, so if that's what you like karate may not be for you.

 

[joe_schmoe]

Our school teaches Traditional Tae Kwon Do, however our instructor also includes, grappling (no holds barred American Catch wrestling, weapons, which includes: sticks (Eskrima), bow, pistol defense and long gun defense.

The Tae Kwon Do includes, strikes, kicks, chokes, and joint locks. It is a well rounded school and covers what I believe are all of the possible areas for self defense.

To attain a Black belt it takes between 5 and 6 years for the first attempt, as not all are guaranteed to obtain their black belt after the test.

 

[Grass hopper]

Our school teaches Traditional Tae Kwon Do, however our instructor also includes, grappling (no holds barred American Catch wrestling, weapons, which includes: sticks (Eskrima), bow, pistol defense and long gun defense.

The Tae Kwon Do includes, strikes, kicks, chokes, and joint locks. It is a well rounded school and covers what I believe are all of the possible areas for self defense.

To attain a Black belt it takes between 5 and 6 years for the first attempt, as not all are guaranteed to obtain their black belt after the test.

Tanks for the post

 

[MMA]

I spent many years in the discipline of ****o Ryu, which is an okinawan style of karate. I agree with grasshopper in that it teaches very explosive strikes and incredible focus and concentration. It is very practical and not flashy. Very to the point. The cons are very little ground work or submissions. Later on I gravitated to mma, but my base and heart still lies in ****o Ryu.

 

[MMA]

LOL! My style got censored! I'll try this. It's called sh!to Ryu lol

 

[Grass hopper]

LOL! My style got censored! I'll try this. It's called sh!to Ryu lol

Oo, a fellow traditional karateka, my style is shorin ryu shidokan, similar to sh!to ryu.

 

[dontbuypotteryfromme]

Fine I will do the MMA section.

MMA is a full contact sport involving striking, grappling and groundwork. It combines elements of many martial arts that have been put together by legends in there respective fields.

There are no official rank systems some clubs may have internal ranks.

There are many different sorts of MMA other than just what people see on the UFC. Including limited rules for beginners and even tag team matches.

Pros.
A good balance of striking grappling and groundwork.

A competitive sport. One that can earn you money. Travel the world and meet different people.

A viable self defence method.


Cons.

It is hard. You do not get things handed to you.

No weapons. No de escalation. situational awarness and other things that are essential for self defence.

MMA teaches you the basic mechanics of fighting well. There is no illusion that there is a short cut to winning fights. Everything applied is resisted. Losing and failing is a real option during training.

My advice. Find a club with reputable fighters. Your instructor should spar and should be encouraging you to beat and test him.

 

[Grass hopper]

Fine I will do the MMA section.

MMA is a full contact sport involving striking, grappling and groundwork. It combines elements of many martial arts that have been put together by legends in there respective fields.

There are no official rank systems some clubs may have internal ranks.

There are many different sorts of MMA other than just what people see on the UFC. Including limited rules for beginners and even tag team matches.

Pros.
A good balance of striking grappling and groundwork.

A competitive sport. One that can earn you money. Travel the world and meet different people.

A viable self defence method.


Cons.

It is hard. You do not get things handed to you.

No weapons. No de escalation. situational awarness and other things that are essential for self defence.

MMA teaches you the basic mechanics of fighting well. There is no illusion that there is a short cut to winning fights. Everything applied is resisted. Losing and failing is a real option during training.

My advice. Find a club with reputable fighters. Your instructor should spar and should be encouraging you to beat and test him.

kevin james training with Randy Couture - YouTube

Do you have any advice on how to tell a good mma gym from a bad one?

 

[Slim69]

Am I missing something in these threads? Isn't MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) a combination and training in multiple disciplines.

When I think of MMA it is not a combined thought involving the UFC, Strike Force, etc. I see those as sporting events using MMA and not isolating just one art as say a karate tournament would be.

Am I wrong in my thinking?

 

[Grass hopper]

Am I missing something in these threads? Isn't MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) a combination and training in multiple disciplines.

When I think of MMA it is not a combined thought involving the UFC, Strike Force, etc. I see those as sporting events using MMA and not isolating just one art as say a karate tournament would be.

Am I wrong in my thinking?

That depends on who you ask, but the answer is yes and no. Mma as it was intended would be someone taking bits and pieces from all sorts of different martial arts, and applying what works for them. This takes a really long time and a lot of discipline, but it makes for a fantastic fighter.

But then there's mma that a lot of less reputable places teach. It's basically a quick and dirty combination of kickboxing and jujitsu. I personally think that it's a shame these places use the name mma and muck it up. And they also tend to put out very cocky students.

So as with any martial art there are good schools and bad ones, and multiple approaches to learning it, but most people don't go the route of learning several arts and combining them. They train with somebody else who has.

 

[Slim69]

That depends on who you ask, but the answer is yes and no. Mma as it was intended would be someone taking bits and pieces from all sorts of different martial arts, and applying what works for them. This takes a really long time and a lot of discipline, but it makes for a fantastic fighter.

But then there's mma that a lot of less reputable places teach. It's basically a quick and dirty combination of kickboxing and jujitsu. I personally think that it's a shame these places use the name mma and muck it up. And they also tend to put out very cocky students.

So as with any martial art there are good schools and bad ones, and multiple approaches to learning it, but most people don't go the route of learning several arts and combining them. They train with somebody else who has.

Thanks for your input. I have been looking to get into some classes but have limited access in my area. The people I have talked too sound like the guy in the vid posted in the other thread about mma. They just talk crap about the other disciplines as being inferior and why theirs is the best. That's just a big turn off to me.

I have no plans in getting into the UFC but would like to study to be well rounded in what I know for hand to hand. I don't need a belt, I just want to learn more for personal defense.

Looking forward to seeing more in this thread.

 

[Grass hopper]

Thanks for your input. I have been looking to get into some classes but have limited access in my area. The people I have talked too sound like the guy in the vid posted in the other thread about mma. They just talk crap about the other disciplines as being inferior and why theirs is the best. That's just a big turn off to me.

I have no plans in getting into the UFC but would like to study to be well rounded in what I know for hand to hand. I don't need a belt, I just want to learn more for personal defense.

Looking forward to seeing more in this thread.

If I may make a suggestion (this may sound odd, but bare with me), have you tried looking in your local community centers? These tend to have good programs as they aren't out for money. You probably won't get hardcore training but you will learn a lot provided there is a good instructor. Best of luck

 

[dontbuypotteryfromme]

Am I missing something in these threads? Isn't MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) a combination and training in multiple disciplines.

When I think of MMA it is not a combined thought involving the UFC, Strike Force, etc. I see those as sporting events using MMA and not isolating just one art as say a karate tournament would be.

Am I wrong in my thinking?

Big debate on that. Is MMA a rule set or a style?

I fall on the style camp basicly because there are MMA gyms and MMA programs now.

You can go to a gym and do MMA from a MMA instuctor.

You could say it is a rule set and have argument for that as well though. For example you might get a BJJer on the board who competes in MMA.

 

[dontbuypotteryfromme]

Do you have any advice on how to tell a good mma gym from a bad one?

Mostly they have fighters who win fights. That is the acid test.

Otherwise you want to look out for the standard Mc dojo red flags.


http://mcdojo-faq.tripod.com/

 

[dontbuypotteryfromme]

If I may make a suggestion (this may sound odd, but bare with me), have you tried looking in your local community centers? These tend to have good programs as they aren't out for money. You probably won't get hardcore training but you will learn a lot provided there is a good instructor. Best of luck

In America judo or wrestling. Both are very solid martial arts. And cheap as beans usually.

 

[BlasphemousBill]

Keep in mind that the common form of MMA that we see today is much different than it was in the past. The first UFC's had very few rules, and pitted individual styles and fighters against other styles. MMA quickly got a bad name as a "blood sport" due to the lack of rules, rounds, or time limits. This developed at least partially from the old Gracie practice of challenging anyone to come and test their skills in a no-rules environment, similar to a streetfight (which was the foundation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu).

In order to spread the sport and be allowed to conduct events in states around the USA, MMA (often in the form of the UFC) adopted time limits, rounds, and tightened up rules. MMA became more of a sport and less a test of individual styles as fighters who lacked a ground or stand up game quickly found themselves losing fights.

Because MMA is so popular today, a lot of gyms have sprung up to teach people how the win in the sport, not on the street. In the recent past, a lot of fighters began with a strong base in one martial art (like boxing) and then cross trained in other disciplines to make themselves more complete fighters. Now it's becoming more common to see MMA gyms that teach elements of many different styles. A good martial arts gym will teach self defense, along with competition techniques. But this is market driven. The market pushes MMA as a sport.

 

[cuchillo negro]

One thing everyone has to remember is any clown can open up a MMA school. There are no federations or associations for MMA schools. Trust me I have seen clowns open up MMA schools and also seen traditional martial arts schools advertise as MMA schools too just to draw in students to make an extra buck.

I advertise my school as a MMA school but that is for advertisement purposes only. I really don't like MMA. I am old school and I started training in BJJ way before there was any MMA. We used to call it Vale-Tudo training back in the days and that is what I still go by within the my academy. My first priority is teach my guys to fight for the streets first and foremost. I do have a few guys that tried to MMA fights but the rest of my students just train for self protection and to have fun.

I am currently a 2nd degree black belt in BJJ but I actually started in boxing when I was a kid because we could not afford karate. I then got into kickboxing and then went into Muay Thai. I thought Muay Thai was the **** until the first UFC came out and that changed my prospective. I then located a guy that was teaching Shoot Wrestling and who trained with Eric Paulson. I then found a legit BJJ school and the rest is history.

So I think I am qualified to teach MMA but like I said you really have to watch out when someone advertises as a MMA school.

 

[oqur58]

Thx. The red flags you posted are very helpful.

 

[justincasesfo]

So I think I am qualified to teach MMA but like I said you really have to watch out when someone advertises as a MMA school.

That is so true at my camp we have many good MMA fighters but we are not an MMA school per say. WE have a no gi instructor from Cesar. We have a BJJ instructor who is a black belt under Saulo. We have a MT champion out of fairtex. etc. MMA a sport is so new that The the ones who are really good at it now had to come up under different disciplines because there were no "mma" teachers at the time. You'll never see an MMA champion right now with an "mma" teacher. they will have a boxing coach, a wrestling coach, a head trainer, a muay thai coach etc. Like you said with your experience you can teach MMA but you had to put in many years at different disciplines to be able to do that. and I'm sure when your students are preparing for a fight you make sure they have help besides just yourself like any good coach does