I want to start a martial art...

candlegrease

..but I have no idea which to choose. I keep hearing about karate ju-jitsu, akio, muay thai, etc. Which would be the most practical in terms of self defence and also interesting and enjoyable?

biko

It all depends on your background and what you want with it?
Purely self defence - MMA, Judo, BJJ
Interesting history - Aikido
Mix of both - Thai boxing from someone who's into the spiritual side, Kung Fu.

m2c (Aikido/swordsplay myself)

candlegrease

Magnus wrote: »

It all depends on your background and what you want with it?
Purely self defence - MMA, Judo, BJJ
Interesting history - Aikido
Mix of both - Thai boxing from someone who's into the spiritual side, Kung Fu.

m2c (Aikido/swordsplay myself)

I suppose primarily I want to be able to defend myself well, and if it has an interesting history or looks cool its a bonus. I suppose I could do regular boxing but its a bit boring, I want kicks etc. Is BJJ Brazilian Ju Jitsu?

Would thai boxing (muay thai?) be a good choice?

Edit: I want more striking than grappling, don't like grappling

muckwarrior

Muay Thai would be an excellent choice, but if you've got the chance the best thing to do would be to try out as many of them as you can. Personally I'd recommend MMA as you'd be able to practice both striking and grappling arts under the one roof.

FruitLover

There are far too many variables. Try everything you can, and see what you like.

candlegrease

FruitLover wrote: »

There are far too many variables. Try everything you can, and see what you like.

I don't have time to try everything

I appreciate your saying about the variables, though i'm just going to pick one and stick with it!

mr roper

what about wado ryu,it depends on the instructor on how interesting the class will be.

NilByMouth

youtube is your friend if you dont have time to go to classes in each discipline.Just look at vids and see what style appeals to you.

I train in muay thai amd love it,but its not for evberyone.You will be fit as a fiddle doing it and once you get sparring I found it brilliant.It is full contact so expect a few dead legs and a bloody nose if you give it a go.

Having said that what ever style you pick you will probaly finder someone on here who trains in that MA who can help you find a club near you

arybvtcw0eolkf

candlegrease wrote: »

I don't have time to try everything

Why?.

You don't have to "try" everything, but you really should look around and see whats available in your area, and don't rule anything out.

You don't like grappling - thats cool, but don't rule it out either.

My background is kickboxing, I always thought Judo as an old man's sport & not 'hard core' because there was no strikes. That was until I dropped into Portmarnock Judo club & the minute I walked through the door Judo 'clicked' with me and I've devoted myself almost 24/7 to it since.

And thats what happens with the majority of guys practicing a Martial Art, you'll find most of us have moved between two or three (or more) style's before finding the style that 'clicked' and which we've stuck at since.

Have you looked through the thread at the top of this page where guys are free to list the clubs, area & contact details?, maybe you'll find something there.

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is relatively new and is hugely enjoyable if your lucky enough to have a good club in your area, however if you get off on tradition & history (and I understand that completely) the MMA won't tick the boxes.

Judo is a grappling style, lots of tradition & history behind it without being too regimented or ceremonial. But there are no strikes in it, however speaking from experience (the kickboxing background) I'd rather get punched to the head than slammed to the floor, then possible choked out!.

Then you've all the various Karate styles, I've absolutely no experience so can't speak about them with any authority.

Seriously there's so many styles out there, some practical & other's full of BS - take the time to look around, it'll pay off in the long run.

mr roper

candlegrease wrote: »

..but I have no idea which to choose. I keep hearing about karate ju-jitsu, akio, muay thai, etc. Which would be the most practical in terms of self defence and also interesting and enjoyable?

what area you living in and find out what clubs near you.

FruitLover

candlegrease wrote: »

I don't have time to try everything

I appreciate your saying about the variables, though i'm just going to pick one and stick with it!

It'll only take an hour or two per MA/club (take a couple of classes in each place). But fair enough, if you're decided on striking, then I'd advise at very least trying a few different striking arts, and a few different clubs before you settle on one long-term. There can be big differences from art to art, club to club, and instructor to instructor.

candlegrease

Thanks for the help guys

I'm living in Limerick right now but will be moving to Cork in a week or so for college (UCC). However, I will be up and back to Limerick every couple of weekends.

Looking through the sticky I found siam warriors muay thai gym; I think I like the look of muay thai most. My course in colege would be pretty intense so I might only be able to go out once a week. I'm wondering would they be interested in giving a little help to a complete novice, like it looks like a pretty serious place considering ill prob be only able to make it out once a week.

arybvtcw0eolkf

candlegrease wrote: »

Looking through the sticky I found siam warriors muay thai gym; I think I like the look of muay thai most. My course in colege would be pretty intense so I might only be able to go out once a week. I'm wondering would they be interested in giving a little help to a complete novice, like it looks like a pretty serious place considering ill prob be only able to make it out once a week.

Right well here's the thing.

The majority of people will tell you that training once a week won't be enough, and mostly they're correct.

However I find that people who go with the view to training once per week will gradually, in time get the bug and will rearrange their studies around their training - Martial Arts (all forms) really is that addictive.

Btw, we've lots of guys here training and fighting competitively whilst still going through college - so the time is certainly there!.

Good luck.

.

104494431

candlegrease wrote: »

I suppose primarily I want to be able to defend myself well, and if it has an interesting history or looks cool its a bonus. I suppose I could do regular boxing but its a bit boring, I want kicks etc. Is BJJ Brazilian Ju Jitsu?

Would thai boxing (muay thai?) be a good choice?

Edit: I want more striking than grappling, don't like grappling

If you have no experience of doing a martial art then you dont know that you dont like grappling. I didn't like striking until I started boxing, now I love it. I'm not saying you'll ever like it, but I'd definitely wager that you'll start to love things you never liked or even considered before and maybe might even start to dislike things that you used to like before. I understand that the prospect of grappling might not excite you, but I have to say that as someone who had preconceptions when I started martial arts my opinion has changed quite drastically.

Hope you find one that you like

I do boxing and KFM myself. Great fun, would recommend both.

LowOdour

candlegrease wrote: »

I appreciate your saying about the variables, though i'm just going to pick one and stick with it!

And what if you dont like it? Your best bet is maybe to pick 2 martial arts with a fair amount of striking that you seem to want, a maybe try 1 different like BJJ/judo etc. You would be suprised what you takes your fancy.

I done MMA cus i got caught up in talk/hype of it and was determined to stick to it...before classes had even started. I liked it, but didnt love it so i didnt keep it up. We did alot of grappling which i found tough because of my large size. Doing taekwando now to see how i like it...so good so far.

candlegrease

104494431 wrote: »

If you have no experience of doing a martial art then you dont know that you dont like grappling. I didn't like striking until I started boxing, now I love it. I'm not saying you'll ever like it, but I'd definitely wager that you'll start to love things you never liked or even considered before and maybe might even start to dislike things that you used to like before. I understand that the prospect of grappling might not excite you, but I have to say that as someone who had preconceptions when I started martial arts my opinion has changed quite drastically.

Hope you find one that you like

I do boxing and KFM myself. Great fun, would recommend both.

Looked up KFM, pretty cool, where do you train?

Zen65

Candlegrease, if you're going to be in UCC then the smartest thing to do is to check out the martial arts clubs in the college...... far cheaper than looking anywhere else. You could watch them training and then decide, but remember that in the first term all of the clubs will be teaching "beginner" stuff, so don't expect anything like Hollywood fighting. Good Luck.

104494431

candlegrease wrote: »

Looked up KFM, pretty cool, where do you train?

I train KFM with the UCC club, we have the only qualified instructor in Ireland so UCC or Thurles is the only place to train KFM in Ireland at the moment. Why not give it a go, link here.

I started off just lifting weights and doing nothing but that, ignoring all sports, since then I've taken up soccer, basketball, KFM, boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and anything I can get my hands on. It's definitely better to do multiple disciplines/sports because you work out your body in very different ways. I have loads of time for that stuff so it's easy for me to say that. When you reach UCC just look at the clubs available for joining and sign up to the ones that interest you. If you join 5 and only end up liking one that's still cool

getz

candlegrease wrote: »

..but I have no idea which to choose. I keep hearing about karate ju-jitsu, akio, muay thai, etc. Which would be the most practical in terms of self defence and also interesting and enjoyable?

its not easy to just give a opinion as say do this or that style all have something to offer,do you just want to learn it for self-defence ?i have being doing martial arts for most of my 69 years[yes i still practice now and again]the thing is that the time of life when you my need it most is when you are young or very old,[like me]. most martial arts are for the young and fit when you get older you can no longer move around as fast and take the kicks and punches the same, never mind deliver them, the styles i have trained and graded in over the years are ,from 7years old judo, shotokan,shotokia,tai-chi, tia kick boxing,aikido,the only ones i find that are perfect for my age group to learn now are aikido,and the little understood tai-chee, first think why do you wish to learn and do you want to be able to use it all your life,