I need some advice on fighting

[backbreaker]

I'm seriously thinking of taking up a martial art just to try something new, and there is so much **** out there now it just messes you up. I took karate all though childhood but I don't consider that serious...

any recommendations? I'm not trying to win any awards or anything.. just learn some new skills and use it for cardio as well.

 

[MikeBrown30]

Boxing. Intense cardio, and it will help bring out your maximum power for your current weight.

 

[thedude4242]

everybody these days does some kind of mma. you know how people are. jus getting stronger, faster and better cardio.

 

[speakeasy]

I've taken Krav Maga for the last several years and think it's a great system for dealing with realistic situations in the steet. They train the Israeli military in Krav Maga as well as many police officers, air marshalls and other people that have to be quickly brought up to speed in realistic hand to hand combat.

 

[MeteorMash]

Karate is Good, you just need to know how to use it... The problem is most schools don't teach you that until you get to the black belt level. It's a slow process. Believe me. At the place I train mma at, the karate guy kicks much ass

but that's beside the point. Boxing is always good, but you would want the total package. That's why I would suggest Mixed Martial Arts.

 

[Alle_Gory]

If you want to get good at fighting people then practice fighting people. If you're looking for an art then practice an art. Even the best sh*t like krav maga and kung-fu won't prepare you for a real life situation. It's worse than nothing because it gives you a false sense of confidence.

Best solution to fighting is to avoid it. Next best solution is to make it as short and brutal for the other guy as possible. Hit him hard and fast before he realizes what's happening.

That's been my experience. Took tae kwon do, some boxing, and my teachers taught other sh*t as well like ground fighting, grappling. But still not close to the real thing.

Hope that helps.

 

[Inquisitus]

Since you did not mention self defense exclusively, I suggest you try out a school that has both the striking and grappling like most MMA schools. Most schools will let you try out classes to see which you like. I don't think you can go wrong as long as you try them out for a couple of classes.

Try to go to schools where the two are separate & "pure". By that i mean say like Fairtex in SF. One of the striking coach is a former Lumpinee stadium champ (gold standard for Muay Thai excellence) while the BJJ coach is a black belt. Each instructor is good in their respective field.

 

[Bible_Belt]

You're going to have a ton of choices, living in Southern California. Just try different gyms until you find what you like. When you have that many options, it is more about finding a group of people that you like to train with and trust not to get you hurt. With so many people training mma, a lot of them tend to be complete idiots...these are not people I trust to let practice bone-breaking moves on me. Some gyms will make you spar on your first night with the resident killer, thinking that they are impressing you by getting you beat up. There are a lot of morons into martial arts these days; the smarter you are, the faster you notice that. One good rule of thumb is that the more someone talks, the less skill they have.

 

[Julian]

Get swole and carry a gun. (legally)

 

[Dust 2 Dust]

What's your opinion of this fighting style? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDPQiHQL2wI

 

[Slickster]

I don't see anything positive coming out of fighting. Hard on the body and whacks to the head aren't doing you any favors either.

So many more positive things to be doing in life.

 

[speakeasy]

I don't see anything positive coming out of fighting. Hard on the body and whacks to the head aren't doing you any favors either.

So many more positive things to be doing in life.

Nobody is talking about going around and starting fights. We're talking about self-defense.

 

[MeteorMash]

I don't see anything positive coming out of fighting. Hard on the body and whacks to the head aren't doing you any favors either.

So many more positive things to be doing in life.

The same could be said about football, rugby, hockey, etc.

But the fact is that it puts you in great shape and makes you a hell of a lot stronger

 

[Outsider]

What's your opinion of this fighting style? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDPQiHQL2wI

LOL!

 

[FairShake]

Boxing. It's a great work-out, every single fight I've ever been in (a few) or seen (many more) involve the hands, and, most importantly, it's CHEAP. MMA is absurdly expensive.

Wrestling is good too. Talk to the local high school or college wrestling teams and see if they will let you work out with them. You will be a tackling dummy at first but you will learn something.

 

[BlakeW5]

Count me in as another boxing & wrestling vote.

You get your cardio with the boxing and you get a stupid strength from wrestling.

MMA is fine, if you plan on fighting in a cage. Then again it's the "hot" thing now. Like most fads there'll be plenty of fakes out there willing to take your money (just look at half the "pick-up artists" for proof) and it's gonna cost you an arm and a leg. Not to mention the abundance of tools who flock to that kind of stuff.

 

[Inquisitus]

Nobody is talking about going around and starting fights. We're talking about self-defense.

I thought he just wanted to try something new and exercise.

Boxing is probably the cheapest. Here in Vancouver, Canada, the cheapest legit kickboxing program is about $75/month while BJJ is usually well over $100.
Combining both will cost you 130 and above.

Boxing, on the other hand is like 50 a month and we have Tony Pep close by!

 

[Dust 2 Dust]

MMA and/or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu can be very expensive to train. I've seen some BJJ schools that want 150 a month to train which puts them out of the price range for a lot of people.

If you want to learn martial arts the first thing you need to realize is that 90% of schools in the US are mcdojo's that don't teach practical self defense. You'll need to do research on schools in your area to make sure you don't get ripped off and waste your time.

1. Avoid any school that doesn't offer full contact sparring. If they don't spar then they're basically black belts in shadow boxing.

2. Avoid schools that have small children with black belts. A mcdojo I went to once had a 5 year old black belt and full grown adults sparring with toddlers.

Here is a link with a lot of good info. that will help http://mcdojo-faq.tripod.com/

 

[Senor Juan]

If you want to learn how to actually defend yourself then do Krav Maga. Any respectable institute will also have free weights you can use, along with boxing, kettblebell and grappling classes.

 

[speakeasy]

Whatever you take, make sure you wear sports goggles. I am the only one in my entire school that wears them. We have all kinds of injuries at my school, all the time. I've been poked in the eye twice. After that, I decided to start wearing eye protection. When I've visited other schools, I see no one wearing eye protection either. It's unbelievable, because your eyes are so vulnerable and easy to permanently damage by dumb luck. Yet so easy to prevent with some sport goggles.