pitstop66

Kickboxing / Thai boxing utilises the leg's mainly, sure you have to keep your guard up and give a few hook's and jab's , but that shouldn't put to much strain on your arm.

It's fairly easy to pick up if you go to a good club or like me do it on Sundays and occasionally in the week.
It depends on your place, a yearly licence of £25 should be offered by any good club purely for your and their liability, sparring kit's are definitely necessary to avoid injury on your part.

When you go at someone with a round kick to the lower leg it's pretty easy to get the biggest of oaf's on their **** and make them look daft or easily break their leg if you have the power there.

You have to be fairly fit and flexible though, if not you soon will be, but it certainly prepare's you for the worst should it ever happen.

I felt a complete numptie the first time I did it, but now purely on the part of being able to defend myself or if needed use what Ive learnt then I dont know how I managed before.

p66

Luke

Boxing. Or Kravmaga

BL

Wing Chun

Basic art to learn
Very usefull in the streets
Doesnt require any breaking of bricks, wood etc.
(Bruce Lee did it )

That good ebough??

Ray_li

I'v always been a big fan of Bruce Lee so i went out and looked for a place that teaches JEET KUNE DO.
To put Jeet Kune Do (JKD) simply its a form of street fighting that teaches you to fight on your feet, floor and with weapons.
As for you arm, we dont tend to do many HARD blocks bcuz its bad for you. we parry or just dont get hit

Ray

Michael Robinson

Or you could try the most useful art in a normal situation which is ju-jitsu, you may have to work on the strenght of your arm, but in your usual fight situation, anyone who knows how to grapple and manipulate joints is easily going to have the advantage and as most fights go to the ground, you will have no problems there, infact you will find yourself wanting to take them to the ground. This is also helpful because you can apply pressure to there joints, causing pain and often completly stopping them and plus as you have no directly injured them, you are not going to be in court the next week unlike a kick boxer/thai boxer who would be useless on the floor, so all they can do it hurt from a far and when they have broken someones legs, they will be in court the week after on GBH charges. Go with the ju-jitsu mate !

basal_lobe

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Boxing is pretty good and your less likely to get your arm injured again than Thai Boxing.
I've been sparring on and off for a few years now and it increases your fitness and confidence. Also made a few good mates at the gym. Plus its a traditional English sport.

SiPie

Don't want to dampen your spirits mate but once a week ain't really enough. Especially if you are concerned with learning it for self defence purposes. This could be particularly dangerous as your confidence may increase (a little knowledge is a dangerous thing etc) but your ability won't take a massive hike upwards if you are only training that amount

Certainly it's better than doing nothing but you need to do a wee bit more than that.

All varying martial arts seem to have their strengths and weaknesses and you've just got to find one that suits you

Hope this helps and doesn't put you off...

Cheers
Si

Bajie

Higashi train in Ealing near the shopping center on Monday and I think Sundays too.
Monday from 8-9:30 go in and have a chat and get times for Sundays.

akshay67

Cheers guys...

I have pondered Ju-Jitsu, but there is a lack of leg use - right? I do know there was some flavor of ju-jitsu that used the legs too - can't remeber what it was.

Has anyone heard of Kateda? Any thoughts on that?

The only reason I can do it once a week is because I often work abroad during the weekdays - I may be able to squeeze a session in on sats in the beginning - so that's twice!

Also, a question to those how have martial arts experience...Have you had to use it in a street situation - and, if so, did it come to you naturally?

RB5320

The best thing would probably be to try a few and pick the one you enjoy most. Ju-Jitsu is widely regarded as the most useful in a street fight situation as said above. Most fights degenerate into a brawl on the floor and this is where Ju-Jitsu wins out. But, it is also one of the more complex martial arts and takes a long time to get proficient. On the other hand, some of the other martial arts can train you how to get in a powerful punch or kick, which may give you a few extra seconds to leg it! Taekwondo in particular has some fairly simple techniques to focus the power of punches and kicks, but as TKD focuses on power, it may not be suitable for you due to your arm. In that respect, maybe one of the forms of Kung Fu, which are generally more focused on speed, movement, deflection would be more suitable.
Whichever you choose, you should think about training minimum twice a week if you want to get any good at it.

Steve

Michael Robinson

i train in ju-jitsu and i have used it in a few situations, the best thing with any art is to stay calm and remember your training, then the fight seems to go the way you want it to and very easily, i have a few times had guys on the ground beggin for me to let them go after an arm lock, plus it embarresses the hell out of them !

akshay67

Do you have any links to Ju-Jitsu resources? I'll be looking for a place in West London...

mate todos os banqueiros

In my opinion taekwondo is the best kicking art with the most technichally developed kicks but training once a week you would never get anywhere with it. I think wing chun has the fastest time for developing skills for use in self defense situations but with any martial art it depends on how much emphasis the teacher puts on the self defence aspect of the art. If there is a UKWCKFA school near you I would suggest you train there as the teaching system bases every thing to self defense almost from the day you start.

Steve Williams

Akshay.... mail me, address in profile.

Let me know where in west london you are/are wanting to train.

LG John

I recently took up Kuk Sool which is a Korean Martial Art system. Without boring you to death with the history of it it was developed by drawing on something like 30 traditional Korean martial arts. Kuk Sa Nim (the grand master) started training at 5 and is now 70ish - its been his life and he still oversees every black-belt grading in the world

I'm 24 with a shoulder injury and thought I'd never be able to 'get into' martial arts. How wrong was I! The people I train with are friendly and helpful and I'm allowed to modify my training to protect my shoulder. Press-ups can be painful so I do sit-ups instead. I actually think Kuk Sool has helped the healing of it anyway

The reason I'm plugging it is because its a totally comprehensive system. Its not in its self a martial art - but is a system of 30 martial arts which, if you think about it, is better.

It involves kicking, punching, striking, grapling, pressure points, joint locks, manipulation, etc, etc. Those that are at black belt level usually fall into the 'don't mess with in a million years' category as they can beat you to death at range but even if the fight does end up on the ground they can grapple and manipulate their way out of it.

One of the most amusing stories was when our instructor got jumped outside a chippy by some neds. (fools!!) He saw no reason to beat them to a pulp so he side stepped the first punch (best block = don't be there) and hit him with a heel strike to the 'bladder meridian' This is a pressure/strike point on the calf muscle near the back of the knee. It also, if hit correctly and hard enough, puts the bladder muscle into spasm. The ned who actually p1ssed himself didn't fight on!!!

The best advice is to try a couple of local classes and stick with one the is friendly and feels right for you. I would stress that once a week probably isn't enough but 2 nights a week and a little training in your living room probably would be to change your fitness, body shape and abilities If you find the right class you'll probably want to go more than once a week anyway

SiPie

Well.....

I once wasted 24 guys all on my own ......

Then the feckin playstation game crashed

akshay67

Steve, YHM.

Esoteric Beast

I do Tae-kwon-do and I'm an old man at 41, got to get out all that pent up frustrations

CarpetCleaner

just buy yourself a 357 magnum and 6 rounds...some ****** starts waving their friggin hands around and poncing about just waste the ****er

job done

Brendan Hughes

DO NOT GO NEAR KATEDA. I dunno what it's like now, but it was run by a bunch of fraudsters when I saw it in NW London in the early 90s. Learn 26 standard moves and that's it. We met a guy who'd got his black belt in a year and another who was 7th dan after 7 years. They probably came free with breakfast cereal. We saw "feel no pain" demonstrations, clearly false, and nothing like "show no pain" which was what was actually happening. I have work to do today, don't get me started on Kateda.

People have replied but you haven't really said what you want. What is the best is what works for you. Firstly, I agree training once a week is not enough, must be twice. Secondly, are you short and fat (judo, aikido, wing chun) or are you tall and skinny (taekwondo, thai boxing)? Do you have a strong upper body (martial arts developed by those working in the paddy fields, wing chun again I believe) or strong legs (those developed in the mountains - TKD)? What sports have you done up to now, and where are your strengths? Do you want to learn striking (say, TKD), locks and throws (say, aikido), or close quarter grappling (say, judo)? Will you want to learn with weapons eventually (short/long stick) or not? Do you want to enter tournaments?

I can't advise, I only really know 2 (TKD and aikido) but the answers to these questions might help. And, to cancel out all what I've said above (), just go to a club which is convenient and has a good ambience and you seem to like the instructor and the training methods. It's no good learning the ultimate martial art from the non-ultimate instructor. Most martial arts are effective in their own way. Except, IMHO, kateda.

At the risk of getting flamed off the board, and I confess I've never been to a training session so perhaps I'm wrong, I would not really countenance British boxing, particularly in the longer term, as the idea of training where the majority of blows received are to the head does not sound very sensible. Sorry guys.

Brendan

LG John

If street defense is your only concern the boxing could be useful as you'll learn how to take a hit and how to punch and duck and weave effectively. However, if you pick a fight (or end up in one) with someone who does martial arts you could be in trouble. Most artial arts promote speed and manoverability. Therefore, when you chuck your big punch the martial arts guy steps back with a kick to the inside of the extended arm that will badly strain or brake it at the elbow. You'd maybe have the advantage if it was close quarters and he couldn't move about.

IMO this is why martial arts systems are so good because they teach you how to be effective in many situations. The problem is its so comprehensive that it takes years to get any good at it. If you take the example above, whilst I clearly know what to do, in reality I'd probably step back into a lampost, knock myself out and wind up with a 20 stone boxer jumping up and down on my head

mate todos os banqueiros

all the answers to all the questions in the world can be found if you start here

www.ukwingchun.com

Brendan Hughes

>>>Therefore, when you chuck your big punch the martial arts guy steps back with a kick to the inside of the extended arm that will badly strain or brake it at the elbow.



Kenny, have you ever tried doing this? Done only in films AFAIAC. Anyone who can kick a punch has ridiculously fast leg speeds using it against a jerk who either telegraphs his punch 10 mins beforehand or leaves it hanging around afterwards - ie a total beginner. Mr Expert's head should not be where the fist arrives, and should then kick the other guy in the kneecap.

There's the fancy moves to impress the girls, and there are the ones that actually function. Usually they are not the same.

SiPie

100% agree with Brendan

The most effective moves are hardly seen/visible or noticed and certainly don't look like a spectacular spinning back kick

Kenny

This cannot be quantified into an exact science like the mechanics of a Subaru Impreza and if you start saying to yourself "If he attcaks like this, then I'll punch his arm or whatever" you will end up very sore unless it is a telegraphed drunken swinging armed punch ......all the theory goes up in smoke until you have repeated movements 100,000 times until your muscle/brain programming is done and you react instictively. Until that point comes you are delaying the whole reaction process and sorely endangering yourself by thinking anything at all.......

IMHO

basal_lobe

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I like boxing as it toughens you up, maybe taking head shots isn't good for long term health but to be honest we rarely get hit full on in training. Most blows are glancing as you are trying to avoid them. It also means that when you are in a situation you won't panic or be shocked when someone gets a dig in first.

LG John

Forgive me brendon but my knowledge is very limited. I can only pass on what I've seen demonstraited and in sparing. My instructor spends A LOT of time training us (boring as it is) to read reactions. To say he knows what someone is going to before they do it is the understatement of the century. Most neds in the street (especially when drunk) would practically give you written warning of what they were going to do and when. I'm a total novice and don't mind admitting that. Depite the warning (in fist coming back fashion) I'd probably still get hit and go down like a sack of tatties. Not my instructor, and not some of the better black belt students

I agree with you its not possible to see a punch, react, move your big leg muscles and make the kick. It is possible to see that glimmer of the eye, nod of the head, twitch of the mouth or down right wink that says 'I'm going to ram my fist down your throat' In this scenario you do have time to react.

I'm not sure what level your at Brendon but some of the guys I've seen have won a fight/sparing match before it starts. Not because they are strong or faster or have better reactions. In fact, at 24 my reactions are probably sharper than my instructors 35ish. The critical difference is as soon as we step in the ring he controls everything I do without me even knowing it.

Hope that makes sense

akshay67

Brendan,

Interesting info on Kateda - do you have any more details? A friend of mine (female) is going to resume with Kateda - it does sound rather feminine after I found out about it.

As for what I want, well, thats the whole point of me posting this message! I'm trying to tap into the minds of experts here. Physically, I am 6ft, shade over 12stone, therefore fairly tall and slim. My strengths lye in my upper body, but I'm just a bit weary about my right arm due to the injury. I could not go through the trauma (no pun) of more broken bones!

Also, my primary reason of doing a martial art is not to pick fights. I want to do something more stimulating than going to the gym to keep fit, but also reap the benefits of increased confidence, sense of relaxation and being able to defend myself if in an unfortunate situation. To this end, boxing does not really appeal to me!

I totally agree that the instructor should be good and easy to get on with - I've seen in the films what bad instructors can do

LG John

Dang, I knew I wouldn't get my 'qualification of statement' in before Sipie got behind brendon. I know you too well mate Frankly if I was in a street sitation I'd walk away! But if had to fight I'd just chuck a sidekick to the knee. You can be the biggest, toughests bugger in the world but you won't fight with a shattered knee and you sure as hell won't expect it.

I know I've prattled on to Sipie in private a lot about kuk sool but that's to be expected with the excitement of anything new. What blows me away about it is not so much the Kuk Sool but rather our tutor. I'd heard the story's about him but he really is the ned come good. I've seen saturday classes where he's sat for most of the class (at a cost of £5 to me) and lectured on reading reactions, dealing with situations as opposed to having is follow predefined movements over and over. The point he (and in turn I) am making is that the battle is largely in the head. If you fight cleaver and read the sitution better you can overcome a far bigger, stronger, faster, more able fighter.

Michael Robinson

From the sounds of it mate you are built quite like me, i am 6" tall and 13St, with a large upeer body and to be honest that alone scaresmost people off, but the addition of knowing ju-jitsu is just funny, no one really stands a chance in a pub brawl 1 on 1, you will murder them, then only thing you have got to worry about it there mates, cause once on the ground, you may be able to dis-figure the guy on the ground, but it's his mate you got to watch for.

Brendan Hughes

My level: 7 yrs TKD, 2nd dan, 4 yrs teaching my own club. Kept trying to start learning aikido, never really managed (kept changing countries and languages: have so far learnt it in English, French and Russian, so hardly surprising I made little progress!)

Kenny, I know you're a beginner, firstly you told us, secondly you behave the way all beginners do: desperately eager to tell everyone about everything. Please do NOT take that as an insult, it's not meant to be, it's simply a fact for most young males starting a martial art for the first time. I still remember when one guy a few levels below me learned a flying side kick and then tried to use it on me in sparring (I think while his girlfriend was watching); I stepped sideways and punched him in the kidneys as he flew past helpless. I repeat: There's moves to impress and moves that work.

I spent time with my students, particularly on the self defence sections of the lesson (as opposed to tournament TKD) working out foolproof defences to common attacks, rather than fancy ones which risked going wrong. AFAIAC, any defence which you practice and you have to say to your attacking partner "no no, you've got the wrong leg in front" is crap. If it relies on stuff like that, or if you need to be a certain strength or weight, then forget about it at 2am when you're slightly pissed, it's dark, raining, the street is slippy, and you feel someone's hand on your shoulder. In my class, any move which might go wrong went out of the window. Even if they had been taught to me beforehand by one of the best instructors in the UK (5th dan, British team, yada yada), I disagreed with them. Keep them for displays and practising your techniques, fine, but don't kid anyone they are good for split-second decision time.

Glad your instructor spends ages teaching to read signs, ours didn't, pity as it's one of the most interesting aspects, and I couldn't pass the knowledge to my students.

Glad you enjoy learning - it's by far the most important thing.

Brendan