Self Defence - any recommendations?

segadreamcast

I'm a 15 year old looking to start a self defence course in about four weeks... does anyone have any recommendations as to what kind of self defence course to take and where?

I'd prefer if the course were in Dublin... more convenient for me .

paddyc

try the Thai boxing club in D1

paddy:cool:

Repli

I'd try taekwondo but it depends really, if you just wanna feel safer on the streets then do ninjitsu or something.
Taekwondo is more of a sport than self defence as there's a lot of sparring. If you join WTF taekwondo you will spar a LOT more than ITF which focuses more on patterns and theory.
Check out www.inta.ie it's right in the city centre (exchequer st) quite near templebar

Dr. Loon

I myself would recommend Jeet Kune Do, as it incorporates all the other martial arts. It was invented by Bruce Lee, he thought he'd make the ultimate martial art, by using all others, tae kwondo, Judo, aikido, karate etc...etc... Out of all I've tried it's the best.

Jaicster

I'll go with JKD too,
Jeet Kune Do-the literal translation is "way of the intercepting fist"
This is very much based around self Preservation so its great for self-defence - Its pretty Scum bag.
The one inch punch is from JKD and if your doing it right you should be able to put candles out from 1 inch away.

This is kinda how it works
1. Run away
2. If u can't run away disable attacker(s) then do step 1

I'm not sure if they teach it anywhere in Ireland but there are some good books/websites which teach it, its simple and easy to learn + u don't have to be fit or flexable but its encouraged.

Read on for more info and or bordom.

Jeet Kune Do is not really a new martial art or form
Jeet Kune Do is a fighting system, the first "FREE-FORM" fighting system ever be brought to competition combat.
JKD is refered to as a martial art because its the best way to describe it
It was created by Bruce Lee.
It is a simplistic system that allows the fighter to be creative in his own expressiont of JKD.

The best way to explain JKD is to think of JKD as like DNA,
Similar in all humans but not exactly the same from person to person. There are as many expressions of Jeet Kune Do as there are practicioners.

They all abide by the basic structure and guide lines set by Bruce Lee, but each adds his one individual twist to his form of Jeet Kune Do. For example there is no set way to kick but you are taught the different techniques of how to kick, as in how you would preform a speed/power kick as effectively as possible and when is the right time to use one.

You cannot put JKD in to a catagory like Tae Kwan Do for instance, you can say that they are feet fighters, Tae Kwan Do is an impressive martial art to watch but in a street fight your attacker will not use set kicks/punches or abide by certain rules.

This is why in open style events many people who practice JKD have beaten practicioners of other styles who would be regarded as 'better' martial artists yet they lost because they were unprepaired for the JKD fighter, why? because they can't prepair.
What is the Jeet Kune Do street fighter?...HE IS THE UNKNOWN.

Hope that helps u, for self defence try to say away from styles that use weapons as your not gona be carry'n a big sword around with you well not all the time anyway.

If you read this far and are still intrested i can e-mail u some text files that Give u an Intro to JKD and some basics, after that u really need to be shown how to do stuff.

logic1

Originally posted by Repli
I'd try taekwondo but it depends really, if you just wanna feel safer on the streets then do ninjitsu or something.

I don't think ninjitsu is reknowned for it's street fighting prowess. If you're training for self defence on the street do something with alot of grappling or do boxing.

I'd also disagree with the comment that you should not do an art that uses weapons, afterall an assilant might well be carrying a stick, bottle, knife, gun.

Taekwondo is more of a sport than self defence as there's a lot of sparring. If you join WTF taekwondo you will spar a LOT more than ITF which focuses more on patterns and theory.

Again this is not true. WTF claims to be full contact with certain regulations ITF is semi-contact. I trained ITF for a number of years, my brothers an instructor and a referee. We usually sparred at every training session. How much you spar is greatly dependant on your instructor.

One I'd personally like to try is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Ultimate fighting champions can't be wrong.

http://www.roycegracie.tv

.logic.

Samba

Jui Jitsu.

Although i doubt that you will find a serious club which will train you.

The club I learnt in teach you both Classical techniques (which would have been used by the Samarui) but also modern techniques which apply to everyday life.


I found it to be the most devastating and effiecient martial Art ive trained in out of Kung Fu Judo (a very toned down version of Jui-Jitsu) Tae Kwon Do, Karate and Kickboxing.


They just got their Webby up


http://www.jiu-jitsu-ireland.com/asp/


Ken Byrne is the man you want to talk to who teaches in the SandyCove Dojo

Samba

I'd also disagree with the comment that you should not do an art that uses weapons, afterall an assilant might well be carrying a stick, bottle, knife, gun.

Wholeheartidly Agree with logic, it is so useful to learn weapons, because you can apply their techniques to many objects which could be around you if somthing were to errupt.


The most vicuous of them all is about 4 inches in lenghty and 1/2 a cm in width, if you know pressure points and you carry out techiniques with this little baby OUCH is all i can say.

I used to dred being the puppet for demonstrations with it .

http://www.jiu-jitsu-ireland.com/images/gallery/Weapons/Finger-staff.jpg


Women used to keep them in their hair


People should really not be giving advice if they have not got a clue and cannot make a decent reccomendation.


Also keep your mind open to every martial Art, go visit dojos and watch classes, read up about the martial Art.

And see which one is best suited to you and your needs


Btw usually they do not train anyone under 18 and a license is required, if you show up to a class and show that your level headed and responsible, they do on occasion make exceptions.


Hope i was of help

Runfree

Ill put those links into the links page later on today

Ju-jitsu is good for ground fighting though as 90% of all fight do end up on the ground.

But you can do whatever self defense sport you wish to do. You have got to choose. these are only recommendations

flyz

If anyone has any recommendations for the cork areas I'd be grateful of them too

Jaicster

Point taken on the weapons,
i did say "try to stay away" tho
The only style i've done that used a weapon, used a bow staff mainly, as in a big stick. Its wasn't very practical and you couldn't really use what you learned in a street fight without a big stick and thats why i said what i said. (altho spining it looked cool)

JKD is diverse and as standard its not taken for granted that you you have a weapon, it does however train in dis-arming techniques, and you can be trained with weapons.
Being chased with a knife is one of the main drills for improving interception reaction-speed footwork ....

JKD has a few em Generations
basic hand to hand stand up fighting (Sport/Self Defence)
Street Fighting 3-course meal (Self Defence)
Ground Fighting (Self Defence)
Grappling (Self Defence)

There is a diference between the last two.
I'm sure theres more.
A wrestling style has been adapted from JKD it has a real long name i can't remember right now, but its mostly used in that Ultimate fighting thingy.

Dr. Loon

There used to be Jeet Kune Do classes in Bayside and in Killester (Dublin) but they finished up, which is why I stopped practising.
Must look into it again though, as I'm sure there's somewhere in the city centre that does it.

If you're intereseted in it, I'd strongly recommend buying Bruce Lee's Tao Jeet Kune Do. It's a great read, both for technique and also for the spiritual aspect of it. A compilation of notes and teachings. Changed the way I thought of martial arts completely.

Runfree

What would you want to use it for.

Is it just incase you get into a fight in the disco where you just defend yourself or mainly when some-one comes to you that you can lay into him straight away as a precation.

I must say Jiu- Jitsu(finally got the spelling right) is quite good.
It mainly centres on ground fighting as 95% of all fights end up on the ground. Also with Jiu-Jitsu you learn locks and throws when some-one comes up to you and grabs you by the arm or shirt and even if some-one throws a punch.

I picked up Jiu-Jitsu for this purpose.

Well get back to me for what purpose you want it as I might change my mind.

segadreamcast

Thanks for all your input - I appreciated it quite a bit indeed, as I'm sure anyone else reading in the future in a similar predicament may do.

Runfree: This would be a self-defence type thing really... and just to have the whole overall experience of doing some form of martial art.

Meanwhile, Dr. Loon, I'll try and pick up that book as soon as possible, perhaps tomorrow in town when I go to have another look at the spike...

Jiu-Jitsu sounds intruiging, but I think I would be better suited to the style of JKD by the descriptions provided here. Thanks again for all your wonderful suggestions though.

Repli

Originally posted by logic1

I don't think ninjitsu is reknowned for it's street fighting prowess.

Well i've talked to malevolence about it plenty of times and he told me they learn how to defend themselves in real life situations (e.g. being attacked by 3 ppl, or being attacked with a knife)

Again this is not true. WTF claims to be full contact with certain regulations ITF is semi-contact.

Erm I do ITF taekwondo at INTA Exchequer St, probably one of the best clubs in the country, and more often than not our classes are scheduled like this:

1-10 min: warming up
10-30 min: practicing moves
30-45 min: practicing patterns
45-60 min: sparring

Now once in a blue moon we would spar for the whole class, but that doesn't happen very often.
And I know some people who do WTF in the club near the ilac centre and they have told me that in most classes they spar from beginning to end, and don't practice patterns NEARLY as much as we do. After all, WTF specialises in olympic style taekwondo.

GoneShootin

when I used to train to Shotokon Karate (sp) we did warm up of AT LEAST 30 mins, then 2 hours of training after that. this is not a "penis comparison" troll btw

what im getting at above is what, if any, is a decent and effecient amount of time to spend warming up for any of the martial arts ?

Repli

Well there are 3 one hour classes a week so 30 mins warming up is a little too much.

nesthead

90% of all fight do end up on the ground

where did you get this figure? in competition yes, but out on the steet down on the ground is where you dont want to be.

1 hours training three times a week? 10 minute warm up? in my ninjitsu club we have 3 classes a week (1 optional) at two hours each (the optional one is sometimes longer and is far more intense training) the warm up in our place is half an hour, and is comprised of a lot of muscle building. (like goneshootin said this isnt intended to be a penis comparison, but it sounds very much like one )


Noel, you should do Jiu Jitsu, a few mates of mine do it and they learn really good technique within a few weeks. you wont learn as useful stuff in Ninjitsu that quickly. you have to do a lot body movement stuff (taijutsu -i think thats how its spelled) before the techniques become easy to you.

Repli

nesthead I was talking about taekwondo, if you read my post correctly you would see it was my friend who did ninjitsu.

Musashi

Just a couple of points lads.
WTF style TKD rules don't award points for punches to the head,so they tend to spar with their guards low looking to kick to the head instead,even from close range.Did u see the TKD in the last olympics? I've seen better fights in class where lads will go for it.Also, on the street or in a packed bar who has the room or the balance after a few to kick to the head cleanly?As has been stated earlier,sparring depends on the instructor.My first was very into the Korean terminology and patterns but style had al least a half hour at the end of class for sparring.My last instructor was into tournaments so a lot of sparring there,more so than my first club.Both also stressed the difference between our sports sparring and the original intent of TKD.It was and is a battlefield martial art.The self defense and real fighting we did was hard fast and nasty.I also teach and like to use some locks and throws for someone who can keep cool in a fight or dealing with a nuisance rather than a threat.I also like gross motor skills techniques which will be usable even when flooded with adrenaline.I also have learnt how to use a kobutan,Koppo and Yawara to add some weapons training.
There is no one style which will let u beat all comers.Find a style that suits you or a class u can get to.Then cross train in it's weaker ares.WTF TKD?,learn to box.Judo?,take some kickboxing or Muay Thai.And in my opinion,don't go to the ground!The figure of 90% of fights going to the ground has been discussed before and seems to come from US Police stats.,who are trained to take a perp. down and cuff him.Last place you want to be is lying on concrete and glass with four of his mates giving you the good news with the Doc's.
Finally, I think it was Dan Inosanto who said a knife equals ten years martial arts training.Anyone think gurriers don't carry Stanley knives or syringes?

Runfree

Originally posted by nesthead
where did you get this figure? in competition yes, but out on the steet down on the ground is where you dont want to be.

Well I got the figure of my 7th Dan instructor and also of a 2nd Dan Instructor.

This figure is 5% lower than another source which is http://www.ultimatejujitsu.com/techniques/brazilian.html

This is where I get my info from.

Samba

10 mins warming up!

Er, that cannot be right, we spent up to 40 mins just warming up some nights for what they had planned.

Repli

Originally posted by Samba
Er, that cannot be right, we spent up to 40 mins just warming up

Spending 40 minutes warming up for a 1 hour class would be a bit dumb imo.

GoneShootin

a one hour class is a bit dumb imo

logic1

Originally posted by Gone Shootin
a one hour class is a bit dumb imo

1 hour class is a joke. Sounds like too many members with plenty of money to be made. Ever martial art in Ireland has a danger of falling into the money trap. Small clubs with excellant instructors rarely survive due to too few members and undercharging.

Alot of times our instructor used have to cover the cost or renting the hall out of his own pocket. Eventually the club closed as the top men said it wasn't earning enough money and they got our instructor to take over another club in a different town.

The only clubs that survive have a **** load of members and turn into meat markets. One hour classes - get you in get your money and kick you out.

Gradings cost more cash, doboks cost more cash it all goes to the same people at the top.

Choose your club very carefully.

.logic.

Repli

Originally posted by logic1
1 hour class is a joke. Sounds like too many members with plenty of money to be made. Ever martial art in Ireland has a danger of falling into the money trap. Small clubs with excellant instructors rarely survive due to too few members and undercharging.

Alot of times our instructor used have to cover the cost or renting the hall out of his own pocket. Eventually the club closed as the top men said it wasn't earning enough money and they got our instructor to take over another club in a different town.

The only clubs that survive have a **** load of members and turn into meat markets. One hour classes - get you in get your money and kick you out.

Gradings cost more cash, doboks cost more cash it all goes to the same people at the top.

I presume you're referring to INTA ?

logic1

Originally posted by Repli
I presume you're referring to INTA ?

Presumption is the mother of all fuck ups.

.logic.

OLDYELLAR

Id highly recommend taekwon do , I did it for a couple o years , but you really need to have the time to put in the classes to get anything out of it , its fairly good for fitness too , so yup a good all rounder , an the place i did it in dedicated some nights to total self defence classes .... very good

royalbluedub

If you are looking at self protection then combatives is the way to go, try to become proficient at a number of arts, boxing, judo, taekwondo as they will all mould you into a complete fighter who can operate at different ranges, remember there are no rules on the street!

Dka e80

royalbluedub wrote: »

If you are looking at self protection then combatives is the way to go, try to become proficient at a number of arts, boxing, judo, taekwondo as they will all mould you into a complete fighter who can operate at different ranges, remember there are no rules on the street!

10 years man? He's prob black belt in bjj by now