Martial arts styles... what's what.

[R.Lewis]

your origional message is incorrect regarding jiujitsu. Jiujitsu is not a ground fighting martial art. It was developed by samurai in Japan as a combat oriented art.

the Samurai did not invent Jujitsu. Samurai across Japan would have trained in all different styles of open hand fighting (depending on there location), but the martial arts would have been developed long long before Samurai were around (late 700‘sAD). A martial arts style creates a fighter, not the other way round. It was developed on the battle field and designed to fight against large numbers. Where as BJJ was developed on “the street”. The BJJ was designed to fight mainly 1 on 1 against opponents with small weapons and no armour, which is why BJJ is “arguably” more effective as a modern day martial art.

I appreciate what you are trying to accomplish with the thread, but please get your facts straight if you are going to try and submit an informative article. Yes, I realize you said you were a Karate player, but a little research would do you just as good as everyone else. Answers.com has info on all the arts as well as links. Just FYI.

Same goes for you. Just FYI

 

[Johnny]

You missed the point completely and have gone into an argument over semantics. Martial arts do not develop themselves. The gracies came up with brazilian jiujitsu as a variation taught to them by Mitsuyo Maeda; who was a judo expert. Just like the samurai developed jiujitsu as a form of weaponless combat derived from other arts (of course). But the art was still developed by the warrior class at the time, not 700ad. The true origin of the martial arts is a never ending debate.

My point earlier (with all due respect mr.moderator) was not the origin of BJJ, but rather the fact that Japanese jiujitsu and Brazilian jiujitsu are 2 different styles. Bigger picture.

 

[Tanizaki]

If the name ends in ryu, its karate.

This is not quite accurate. Ryu (流) simply means "style". In Japan, we use "ryu" for "schools" within martial arts such as karate, aikido, kendo, and so on. "Ryu" is not limited to martial arts, though. For example, I could refer to my style of making katsudon as "Tanizaki-ryu katsudon".

EDIT: Also, a number of posts say "jiujitsu". That is not a Japanese fighting art. It is "jujutsu" (柔術).

 

[flyinfree]

This should not be a sticky post.

the opening descriptions on this thread are from a perspective, they are not a simple overview, and this potentially jaded perception has influenced the accuracy -

as an example

Tae means- hand
Kwon means- foot
Do means- Art

it is a hand foot art. the hand (first word-emphasized) is used as a block for defense and the foot is a secondary strike. TaeKwonDo is primarily a "counter attack martial art." Spiritually we believe the force exerted is blocked or redirected, and internalized, magnified, and released back out to our opponent,,, keeeyah!

you are not in balance on your presentation here.

p.s. the Olympic TKD sparring activity is Shihap Kyeorugi. And it is there because Korea has TKD as a national sport, and when they "Korea" not TKD was invited into the olympics, their national sport was TKD.

the sport was not glorified, it was recognized as a result of another forward step in global peace--- now if we could just make a few more steps.....

TKD is a series of hand, foot, art elemental forms, utilized in the art of "Self
Defense"

that is all from my lil perspective on this overall subject line.

FF

 

[chrisgillette]

Just 1 more Confusing post

Ju-Jitsu (or Jiu-Jitsu) is an extremely complex martial art. It involves striking techniques and most of the Japanese martial arts are direct descendants from Ju-jitsu. It is one of the oldest martial arts today, going back over 2000 years.

As for what Ju-Jitsu means, it means the "gentle (or flexible) art." This defines the art because people of all walks of life can adapt their self-defense tactics to fit their physiology. Short people can take on people much larger and just because someone is on the ground and they are on top of their opponent doesn't mean they are going to come out the victor.

 

[tribal1]

Tae Kwon Do

Tae Kwon Do is a Korean martial art that focuses on kicking. High energy, high altitude kicks can dominate this art, although not necessarily all the time. If you see a martial artist kicking for someones head, theres a good chance they are a practicioner of Tae Kwon Do. Taw Kwon Do has been glorified as a sport art, especially since it is a summer olympic event. Take caution when choosing a school for TKD if you want to learn to defend yourself.

That is inaccurate. What is hosinsul? You are not entitled to write off other martial arts because you practice karate. I'm sure the separate schools of karate will all claim theirs to be the best. As one purporting to be an expert, publish facts rather than fiction or myths.

 

[msid17]

well there are so many styles other than these you can find them in chinese old movies the only style i tried so hard to learn was drunken boxing but after 6 months a wasn't even close a bit so i left it.......

 

[Jason Salamone]

Picking a style of martial art has to do with your personality.
I feel the nature of certain styles are a better fit for specific personalities.

How well you click with your instructor (sensei, sifu) is a huge factor in how well .
If your instructor is a good teacher and his/her personality gels with yours, then you will exceed expectations quicker than had originally thought.

Keep in mind that the best martial artists typically aren't the best teachers, because they spent so much time focusing on getting so good at it themselves, that they didn't give themselves an equal amount of time learning how to teach it to others.
Of course there are exceptions to that rule, like Bruce Lee.

It's good to explore. Visit dojos and try different styles. A lot fo them have free trial classes, or low intro fees.
Have a conversation with the instructors, tell them what you want out of it, and ask questions.

I studied martial arts for several years throughout high school and college, and dabbled in many different styles. I definitely miss it, and maybe one day I'll get back into it. You'll notice though, that even after being away from it for a long time, you'll never completely lose all the skills that you learned. The reactionary movements, whether defensive or offensive, can become instinctive as long as you have or had a great teacher.

Jason Salamone

 

[Dallen]

When someone say they're going to karate chop you, is that worst than a judo chop? Or a is a judo chop worst?

Also, try judo! I liked it when I tried it. I don't think defensively speaking, any form of martial arts is better than another. A good idea is to go for the eyes and make get the heck out of the way.

 

[Jason Salamone]

Also, try judo! I liked it when I tried it. I don't think defensively speaking, any form of martial arts is better than another. A good idea is to go for the eyes and make get the heck out of the way.

Judo is very challenging! I dabbled in Judo for a little while, because I did a little wrestling back in the day and it has similarities. I only dabbled in Judo for less than a year though. Most of my martial arts background comes Kung Fu (Hung-Gar and Toy-gar) and Aikido, which are more "street practical" arts. I do think it's good idea to expose yourself to competitive sport based martial arts too, so on and off I would take boxing lessons, wrestle, and judo. They not only helped me with my endurance, stamina, and overall fitness level, but made me more a much more versatile martial artist too.

I also studied a little Tai Chi, and Eskrima (double stick fighting) too. Fun stuff! Speaking a Eskrima, I think it's good to know a little weaponry too. My Uncle used to take me to the shooting range when I was a kid. We used to shoot little clay birds off of tires that were place a good distance away with a rifle and hand gun. My uncle is an extremely amazing bow hunter as well, so he used to teach me how to target shoot with a bow and arrow, which I really enjoyed the most, even more so than target shooting with a gun. I got really good at shooting a bow and arrow. At one time when I was a kid, I went to a summer camp, and they had a target shooting competition, and thanks to my uncle, I won it.

There are some martial arts styles that are for the streets, and there are others that are just purely for competition. Like the stuff you see in movies like Bloodsport or Karate Kid, are so limited. Any of that stuff in those movies are almost completely useless on the streets. I personally like the more street practical arts...the ones that are more lethal when it comes to techniques, but at the same time they are more natural and are about spiritualism, and self-control. I rather learn those than an art that only teaches me how to win points or rounds in a competitive sport-like environment.

That being said, as long as you have a great teacher, you will get nothing but postitive results and experience out of either.
It's about whatever you enjoy, fits your personality the best, and finding a great teacher.

I benefitted the most out of Kung-Fu when it came to physical fitness, and it was a very lethal art. Every blow, strike, technique, and even the blocks that you learn or made to really hurt and have the capabilty of killing somebody in one motion/strike. The focus was almost always on life or death situations. My instructor used to say that breaking blocks is all well and good, but if you know how to block, parry, or simple move from a strike, then the attacker who know how to break 100 cement blocks is useless. It's all about PRESENCE OF MIND. Any person can be taken out on any giving point in time, because we all can't have 100% presence of mind 24/7. You can have 10 black belts in 10 different martial arts. If you are walking down the steet and your mind is mostly on things like your girlfriend breaking up with you or what shopping I need to get done for the day, then at that point in time, any Joe Schmoo (regarldess of how much he/she knows and how big or small that person is) can take your ass out.

I probably liked the best and will always be more fascinated with Aikido though. The focus is also on life or death situations, but it's probably the best art that teaches you that even when somebody is trying to kill you and has the means to do it, you still can take control of the situation and prevent it from happening without killing or harming that person. It was all about learning how to neutralize rather than harm in any situation whether it was life or death or not. Plus, Aikido I think is the best art to learn how to defend yourself against multiple attackers called Randori.

Jason Salamone

 

[AlienSnail]

I agree with many of the comments here that all martial arts are of benefits, depending upon what you are looking to acheive.

I also agree with comments about the Tae Kwon Do, that the original description is misleading.

Tae Kwon Do does vary, sometimes widely I will say, from school to school and from organisation to organisation.

My particular organisation, which links several several clubs, teach tae kwon do with defensive and offensive kicks and hand strikes in pretty equal measures. It is not true that hand techniques are used only for defence and that tae kwondo is all about kicks and nothing else. Perhaps this is so in some organisations but there are many that do not practise it that way.

we also incorporate grapples, releasing from holds, take-downs, holds, it's a very rounded artform (or at least it CAN be depending upon where you go).

I would say that if you come across a school that teaches kicks, kicks, kicks and more kicks, just ask if it's the right school for you, and if you will get what you are looking for from it.

To earn my black-belt which is coming up soon I will need to demonstrate a good degree of hand-strikes and defensive hand moves as well as kicks, there are dozens of these moves and techniques. Also I will need to demostrate putting people into over-powering holds that would not cause injury, quick take downs, some which would cause injury, some which would not, release from holds and grabs, and other things, including general fitness, stable and strong stances etc etc. We practise what works, and have incorporated essences of other martial arts, as anything useful and effective can be incorporated into a great package. It works well. I think many martial arts have been developed from others, and have taken ideas from several others.

The problem is that there are organisations, some of which are very large, that have changed things around over several years to add things that are not very effective and loose some great things that were. And indeed I have seen video clips of Tae Kwon Do fights/matches where I've thought "what on Earth was that? I hardly even recognise that as Tae Kwon Do!" I am fortunate enough to be involved with an organisation that focusses on what really works.

I am not trying to state that I'm practising the best art-form, what i am trying to say is that Tae Kwon Do has been slated quite a bit for being one-sided and having no street defence value. Where this may be true of some clubs this is NOT true of many. I regularly train with blackbelts as I am almost at that blackbelt first level, and I pity any poor misguided thug who attempts to tackle them!

I hope you are all enjoying your martial arts, and that you are acheiving your own goals in what you have chosen to do. I believe they all have merit, but I couldn't possibly judge any other art-form without ever having practised it for some time, so really I'm not judging it as more or less effective than other martial arts, just that some forms of Tae Kwon Do are alot more effective than others, and that it's a shame to discount the art just because some schools only concentrate on kicks.


Hope I have not caused any offence, just that it really does frustrate me to see organisations that only practise half the art form.

 

[maddie]

Most of my martial arts background comes Kung Fu (Hung-Gar and Toy-gar) and Aikido, which are more "street practical" arts.

I must admit, I do not see the street practicality of aikido, unless you are reffering to the being able to practice aikido on street level. Do not take me wrong, it is quite the lovely art and I enjoy every session. But unless you're off fighting an army of undead swordsmen, aikido is lesserly street practical and more "zen"-fighting. Well, my opinion at least.

Though fighting off an army of undead swordsmen is fun, especially during seminars.

 

[powerlifer]

i prefer stand up arts such as muay thai, boxing and MMA, usually with these styles your near guarenteed at least decent training.

so many of the traditional clubs dont train good enough, the sparring is non existant and the exercise principles are from the 60's. But i do enjoy traditional martial arts also and if you can find a traditional club that trains well then you've got the best of both worlds.

 

[Gungannalig]

Martial arts styles whats what

Hi guys,

As the title says, Im new to the forum and kind of new to martial arts.

I boxed a bit some years ago and Ive been taking Krav Maga lessons for a month or so, building on some lessons Ive had sporadically over the last two years.

Im keen to learn a traditional martial art and Im looking around at gyms at the moment.

I quite liked Fighting Fit Martial Arts in Manchester and also Impact Martial Arts in Eccles for their ninjutsu and jeet kune do classes respectively.

Basically its not just the self-defence Im looking for, Im looking to improve fitness generally and maybe even try out a little MMA on an amateur basis at almost 28 and being pretty much a blank canvas in respect of martial arts, I think fighting professionally would be out of my reach.

So, Id be grateful for any suggestions you may have, recommendations as to schools, disciplines and people to look out for.

Also, Ive been vegetarian for only a little over a year so any recommendations as to diet for martial arts training would be most welcome.

Im grateful in advance for your responses.