Which martial art should I go for?

tman

Hopefully you guys can offer a bit of advice here...

Moving to London in a couple of months, and once I get over there I'd like to take up some kind of martial art.
I'm looking for something more focussed on defence than offence. Would never dream of hitting somebody, but I want to know that I'd be able to react accordingly if someone took a swing at me... (which has never actually happened, it'd just be nice to know:p)

Any recommendations for someone with absolute no previous experience in this kind of thing?

Cheers

mark.leonard

tman wrote: »

Hopefully you guys can offer a bit of advice here...

Moving to London in a couple of months, and once I get over there I'd like to take up some kind of martial art.
I'm looking for something more focussed on defence than offence. Would never dream of hitting somebody, but I want to know that I'd be able to react accordingly if someone took a swing at me... (which has never actually happened, it'd just be nice to know:p)

Any recommendations for someone with absolute no previous experience in this kind of thing?

Cheers

Don't hang out with anyone who looks for trouble and stay out of dodgy areas don't be a D1ck, respect folk and you will be sound.

mark.leonard

Alternatively you could train with London Shootfighters, good MMA gym. You will find details on the web.

Dave Joyce

I want to know that I'd be able to react accordingly if someone took a swing at me... (which has never actually happened, it'd just be nice to know)

London is a different kettle of fish, and it should be easy to avoid the type of situations where someone just "takes a swing" at you. The amount of knife crime in London in particular is horrifying let alone the whole gang culture from a very young age. Random unprovoked attacks CAN be the norm over there, so concentrate on the advice about avoiding certain types of individuals/areas and get to know as much as you can about your area before your actual move.

tman

Seems to be a bit of misunderstanding here, I'm not just planning on doing this purely because I'm moving to London and expect to get into fights, I've wanted to take on some form of martial art for ages now but didn't really fancy whatever Galway has to offer.
Believe me, I've always avoided any kind of conflict and intend to live the rest of my life that way.

Just having a look at the classes available at London Shootfighters, not too sure if any those really match what I'm looking for (apart from maybe shoot box)

Baggio...

Hey,

One of Lee's instructors, Alban Baluu is running classes in London as far as I know. Sounds like it might be what youre looking for. I've trained with him a fair bit, and he's an awesome instructor, plus a very nice guy.

It's all self-protection material which is geared totally for the street.

Here's the main Urban combatives site - to give you an idea of what we do:

www.urbancombatives.com

If it sounds like you'd be into it, I'll get Alban's email addy from Lee and PM you.

Cheers,

Rob.

Caliden

tman wrote: »

Hopefully you guys can offer a bit of advice here...

Moving to London in a couple of months, and once I get over there I'd like to take up some kind of martial art.
I'm looking for something more focussed on defence than offence. Would never dream of hitting somebody, but I want to know that I'd be able to react accordingly if someone took a swing at me... (which has never actually happened, it'd just be nice to know:p)

Any recommendations for someone with absolute no previous experience in this kind of thing?

Cheers

You will want to change your opinion on hitting someone if you want to defend yourself.
Letting them get the first strike/making the first move isnt really an option

Nothingcompares

tman wrote: »

Seems to be a bit of misunderstanding here, I'm not just planning on doing this purely because I'm moving to London and expect to get into fights, I've wanted to take on some form of martial art for ages now but didn't really fancy whatever Galway has to offer.
Believe me, I've always avoided any kind of conflict and intend to live the rest of my life that way.

Just having a look at the classes available at London Shootfighters, not too sure if any those really match what I'm looking for (apart from maybe shoot box)

basically you'll find anything you want in london, every martial art is catered for over there. Personally, I always recommend things like Judo and BJJ because they're good for fitness and usually for meeting new people etc.

pyro940

You say you would never dream of hitting someone and you want something that concentrates on defence rather than offence.

Go take a look at an Aikido class. You might like what you see, then again you might not.

If you have a competitive side to your nature look for a dojo teaching Tomiki Aikido.

Stay safe, and good luck.

tallaght01

As always, I recommend Krav Maga :P

just google "krav maga London" and you're likely to find a club near where you live.

There's a krav maga wikipedia page if you want to read up on it.

Or go to http://www.krav-maga.com/

Martin25

I used to live and work in London and its relatively easy to get into trouble or mugged if you are not aware of the basics of self protection/ defence. There are lots of classes and some of them are better than others. If you want self defence then do something which emphasises that aspect of training rather than sports.

Roper

One of the lads is working in London at the moment and speaks very highly of Roger Gracie's academy over there. Roger is one of the world's top grapplers and runs a very successful gym.

pearsquasher

The Bujinkan in London

No reason why you can't start Bujinkan training in Ireland before you move... www.bujinkan.ie for your nearest club. The teacher you find here might have contacts in London too.

mark.leonard

tman wrote: »

Seems to be a bit of misunderstanding here, I'm not just planning on doing this purely because I'm moving to London and expect to get into fights, I've wanted to take on some form of martial art for ages now but didn't really fancy whatever Galway has to offer.

What exactly are you looking for? There is more than enough MA in Galway to fit most tastes.
My beginners classes are on Mondays and Thursdays at 7pm and you can drop down at any time.

ROC1977

tman wrote: »

Hopefully you guys can offer a bit of advice here...

Moving to London in a couple of months, and once I get over there I'd like to take up some kind of martial art.
I'm looking for something more focussed on defence than offence. Would never dream of hitting somebody, but I want to know that I'd be able to react accordingly if someone took a swing at me... (which has never actually happened, it'd just be nice to know:p)

Any recommendations for someone with absolute no previous experience in this kind of thing?

Cheers

Victor Kan Wing chun in soho. I trained there for years. He's a true wing chun grandmaster and its an excellent school.

TheWolf

I moved over to London a few months ago, and started wing chun as a complete beginner to martial arts. I'm two months in, and really enjoying it. The particular sifu I signed up with offers a months free trial, and is nice and central location - might be worth going for the month, and seeing if its for you.

G'luck mate

Linky: http://www.wingchunlondon.com/index.html