Some questions from a wannabe beginner

Rod Serling

Hey guys,

Been watching this forum for a while and this is my first post. Always wanted to take up some form of martial arts and am kicking myself for not starting when I was a kid. I'm 20 now and sick of wasting all my time in front of the computer or in the pub so I'm hoping it's not too late.

Basically I don't know what would be best for me. I want something that is viable in real life. I was mugged a few years ago which was a real blow to my confidence when out and about and while I'm not remotely confrontational and a very quiet person, I'd like something to feel like I could defend myself if I ever have to and to just build back up some confidence knowing I can.

I'm thinking kickboxing might be the best in terms of applying to real life, would that be right? I also have a cousin who trains in Krav Maga which seems very impressive. And I think BJJ and Judo look great too. Again, I'm a total beginner so if any of what I've listed if way out of my reach I'm sorry.

I'm in Dublin South and this is the nearest place to me if anyone knows of it

http://www.macho.ie/

Straight Blast Gym is also close enough, which I've seen praised here.

Thanks in advance!

Dermighty

Your best bet is to try all of the martial arts that interest you and see which one you like the best. There's heaps of advice to give to beginners, most of it will go in one ear and out the other. My advice would be to enjoy yourself while doing it, not worth doing if you don't. Also be patient, as it takes a while to get a grip of what's going on.

It'd be nice if the Macho website said what martial arts they teach, instead of just referring to training as martial arts.

Izanaki

As an Aikido teacher and (still) trainer, I can only tell you to be aware that gaining self confidence is a long process, a path to follow that involves a daily improvement of yourself under many aspects. Learn how to kick or punch somebody, how to break a bone in 3 movements, in my opinion, is not part of this process. Can be helpful, maybe, in some situations, but you could still find yourself scared. As Morihei Ueshiba used to say "the real victory is the victory over oneself".

I'd suggest you Martial Arts supported by a philosophy (i.e. Aikido, Judo, Karate, Kung Fu) and to keep practicing for all the time needed.

Again, this is just my opinion

Have a good life

Thepones

It is certainly not too late! I started Jiu Jitsu when i was 28 and have not looked back. I feel better than I ever have before and enjoying my day to day more. Things are always scarier when you look at them from the outside. I have met some of the nicest and down to earth people from training in MA, and I am sure this is the case in the majority of disciplines.

Have fun sir!

Dave 101

id check out sbg if i was you, plenty to choose from in one club and very beginner friendly, go to sbgireland.com and fill out contact form fir free trial class you wont regret it

Clive

OP, firstly don’t worry about being too old –twenty is still quite young to begin training!

If your interest is primarily in being able to handle yourself physically (although from experience the reason people start training is often very different from the reason they keep training), you need to ask yourself two questions

1. How useful is what they’re doing

2. How well is it trained

You’re lucky in that you have no experience, so you can use that most useful analytical tool that often gets lost in martial arts – common sense.

Let’s take two kickboxing clubs as an example. They might both have good training methods –they’re moving realistically, hitting pads, doing drills and sparring (i.e. not just marching up and down in straight lines). One however might be training for full contact bouts (which would be useful for you) and one might be training for semi-contact points bouts (which would be less useful for you).

Or two clubs that teach the same style including grappling and striking – if one has people performing techniques on a compliant partner for the bulk of the class and then a section at the end of queuing up to hit a pad a few times whereas the other has people practicing the technique, drilling it against different resistance levels, working on follow ups and counters, and then trying to incorporate it in to sparring for the more advanced students, it’s clear which is training more effectively.

Just like learning a language, rattling off verbs and vocabulary by rote for the bulk of your time won’t make you fluent, but learning some basics, using them with a partner, and finally trying to adjust them to fit a real conversation will give you a useable skill.

My advice is to try out a few local clubs with an open mind – even if they’re doing good stuff and training well, sometimes the timetable or the atmosphere just might not suit. Then again you may run into an art or club that just takes your fancy, and might change your reason for training completely (it could be fitness, tradition, camaraderie etc.)

If you want to take the plunge, I teach a beginners Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class in Straight Blast Gym on Monday, feel free to PM me

Mellor

Dermighty wrote: »

It'd be nice if the Macho website said what martial arts they teach, instead of just referring to training as martial arts.

From looking at the website i'd say its a kickboxing base with ground fighting "added in". Which would be far from ideal.
Obviously I'm making a big assumption here and dont want to offend anyone at macho so anyone in the know feel free to correct.

smacl

Clive wrote: »

Or two clubs that teach the same style including grappling and striking – if one has people performing techniques on a compliant partner for the bulk of the class and then a section at the end of queuing up to hit a pad a few times whereas the other has people practicing the technique, drilling it against different resistance levels, working on follow ups and counters, and then trying to incorporate it in to sparring for the more advanced students, it’s clear which is training more effectively.

Also training against resisting partners for many people is the point at which martial arts becomes really fun. Sparring in a friendly environment, against opponents that want to beat you but are trying to avoid injuring you, is IMHO the best bit of martial arts training. You need to go through the drills and the conditioning to get there, but if I had to do all that work without getting a chance to try it out, I'd feel a bit short changed.

thegreatiam

Clive wrote: »

If you want to take the plunge, I teach a beginners Brazilian Jiu Jitsu class in Straight Blast Gym on Monday, feel free to PM me

I took this class and it's great. Do that.

Also the thai boxing beginners is good fun. and all included in the membership. cant go wrong at that club, or their other branches

Peetrik

Another +1 for SBG if its close to you. Very good name, and you should get a good idea if you'd prefer to train stand up/striking or more grappling/ground type training.

Best of luck with it

Zen65

Rod Serling wrote: »

I'm in Dublin South and this is the nearest place to me if anyone knows of it

http://www.macho.ie/

Straight Blast Gym is also close enough, which I've seen praised here.

Thanks in advance!

Being close to you seems important to you then why not go along and watch a class to ensure that they are run in a manner that you'd be happy to train in?

Beatmadness

Most people here will recommend clubs that do 'sport' Martial Arts involving striking (like Boxing, Kyokushin, kick boxing or Muay Thai), grappling arts (like Judo, Wrestling or BJJ) or MMA which combines striking and grappling. The reason people recommend them is you train against fully resisting partners which means you'll quickly get fitter, stronger, more confident and get an idea of what you can realistically do if ever forced to use what you're learning against somebody trying to hurt you.

As a beginner the main thing you should remember is everyone else was one at some point - all the tough guys around you were too unfit, too old, too small, too young, too fat or too skinny at some point too. Any good club will be very welcoming to beginners but they also expect the majority of them will drop out at some point. Train as often as you can, put in honest effort, keep at it even after your realise there is no magic secret other than commitment and you'll quickly find yourself accepted. The self-belief and confidence will come from that rather than learning the secret ninja techniques of "if he swings a punch like this, I block like that then nut-punch him".

CIARAN_BOYLE

If you are 20 years old are you in college somewhere. There are a lot of good college martial arts clubs that are free or very cheap.

grappling all the way, BJJ/Judo?wrestling. You don't get hit in the face :-) and can train safely with a very high level of realism/resistance

Lex Luthor

never too late...I went back to TKD 4yrs ago at 38...after being away for more than 20yrs.
I've never been fitter and my kids are also involved. Best of luck with what you choose

La Haine

Same as yourself Lex - I'm 40 now and re-joind my old KB club there on Tuesday.
It's been 15 years since I was there last!
Heading up there again now this evening, though I can hardly walk today after Tuesdays session.