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Go and have a look at all the clubs around where you live. Train once or watch a session. Then pick the one that has the best instructor, the more friendly students, and the one you had the most fun with. Style is second to whoever is teaching you, to whomever you train with, and to however much fun it is. All in equal measures.

A full blown martial art takes too long to master to help you for that specific situation. Also, in most traditional martial arts, the actual self-defense or "streetfight" part is small, if it exists at all. For example, the self-defense / streetfight classes in my Kung Fu school teach us the following options, to be considered in that order: avoid ...

Young male, not looking for anything specific, but I am a huge fan of MMA in general. You just answered your own question: try something that has already caught your interest. It's not at all hard to find a school in your area. Look some up and check them out.

a wrestler will say wrestling, a bjj player will say bjj, a muay thai fighter will say muay thai. But to be fair, they are all right. There isn't really 1 specific art that is better then the other for a base. i know, some people will argue with me for this, but if you look at the current state of mma, there are champions with a wide assortment of ...

This is going to be less about the specific martial art, and more about the instructor. The answers to this question are going to be relevant. Some of the big things to keep in mind when selecting a dojang for this sort of application: Do they emphasize operant conditioning? Does it train you to miss through light contact sparring? Probably not ideal. Do ...

Honestly, the best thing you can probably start with is not going to be a martial art at all. Instead, try the following: Strength Training One of the biggest culprits in back pain, knee pain, etc can actually be corrected by increasing the strength of the surrounding muscles. I had hip issues and years and years of martial arts did not fix my hip issues, ...

The most effective bouncers are skilled at talking to people, calming them down and avoiding a violent confrontation. For the minority of situations that require physical confrontation, learn solid striking (i.e. stand up), solid ground game (i.e. grappling) and escapes from common holds. I recommend learning "the fence", a self defense method taught by the ...

While bouncing I have used a single component of my skill set actively - clinch wrestling (or Greco-Roman if you will, but I only ever trained Freestyle). Every single altercation I handled by clinching, holding and talking to the trouble maker until they settled down. I kept other things in mind, and adjusted specifically how I did it to account for ...

Personally, I've had classes in both traditional and more modern forms, and I have to recommend Muay Thai. At least in my experience it fits your requirements: Base - Muay Thai is more or less where most modern MMA fighters start. And in that sense it's a bit more practical than (for instance) kung fu. Ease to get into - Again this fits the bill. Get ...

I'd say, none of the shows are by definition useful as a source for truth or any really usefu information. They are mostly an entertainment programs targeted at a specific audience of would-be martial arts enthusiasts. Do not get me wrong - martial arts shows are nice in the sense that hey give general overview of what's out there, but I would not refer to ...

You are probably correct about jiu-jitsu if you ever want to compete. Forrest Griffin makes a distinction between being a fighter and a martial artist in Got Fight. He seems to emphasize jiu-jitsu and grappling for success in being a professional MMA fighter. I've learned some karate, judo, boxing, hwa-rang-do, and most recently Aikido. I am most interested ...

There are various versions of the rubber jigsaw mats that are pretty good, I've trained on a number and have had them for home. They are not cheap cheap, but also not that expensive. But there are options, it gets more pricey the thicker you get them. Any thickness is pretty good for purely grappling. For throwing / takedowns then the thicker the ...

"Verbal Judo" would be a good start, knowing how to talk down someone and de-escalte a situation is very helpful. After that I would tend to look towards something like JJ/Akido for joint locks and take downs. Add some striking art such as boxing or Krav Maga. Watch some videos on YouTube of actual confrontations in a bar. See what happens, how things ...

Aikido, judo and karate are all complementary arts: One (karate) focus on strikes, the others on avoidance, control of the opponent, and using body physiognomy to control/throw. Judo works from grapples and Aikido from a distance. As such, they are all good additions to each other. Whatever art you chose to do, remember to "empty your cup" before ...

Aikido is not simply about locking and throwing, it also has striking (atemi waza). Aikido complements a lot of other arts; once you have practiced some of the Aikido techniques you will find it very beneficial to your karate blocks (uke), and you will find some of the same Aikido concepts buried within your karate bunkai.

I have a friend who is very near to taking his black belt in Karate and he started Aikido with me just under a year ago. So far he has found it to complement his Karate very well and often demonstrates how techniques can work together in his Karate lessons. In learning Aikido he has found it easier than me as he already has a base in some of the concepts ...

No art is the ultimate art. Any martial artist should strive to be well rounded. A good striking art, good ground skills, good conditioning, being able to control your technique and having a true martial arts dojo and great instructor so the martial art phylosophy part is not left out is what I recommend. Any part of the equation left out leaves a hole in ...

Tai Chi. Any kind. Possibly even any teacher should do. TaiChi is neat, because of the general focus on smoothness. The movements must be carefully orchestrated and done not only with the minimum effort possible, but also with efforts to relax. The only way to relax fully, over time, is going to include fixing the posture, going as far down as the bones ...

Doing Luta Livre helped my back and posture problems a lot. A lot of different muscles are used in both static and explosive manner. Luta Livre is -just like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu- a submission wrestling sport, although in Luta Livre no gi is worn. The athletes usually wear tight-fitting clothes like fight-shorts and rash-guards. Apart from that the two ...

Reducing stress, eliminating back pain, and improving fitness have little to do with martial arts styles. Instead, they have a lot to do with the physical culture that a given school adheres to. In terms of strength, if a tai chi school has newcomers master one-leg squats, stone lifting, barbells, or gymnastics alongside forms practice, that could help. If ...

A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it. -- Dune, Frank Herbert I do not know of any books that do this, but you are better off watching Youtube videos, like this one, which describes heaven and earth. You're better off looking for 'heaven six' first, though. The key ...

I'd like to answer this in two parts: first, I really like watching Burn Notice. Although it's about a burned spy, there's quite a bit of fighting and the voice-overs give you the why and strategies behind many of the choices that are being made which is very interesting. Second, I also think you'd really enjoy reading Meditations on Violence, A ...

I highly recommend BJJ or Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. I sit on an office chair all day and use to have lower back pain. I even have an inverted table. I train BJJ and muay thai. But, BJJ movements feel similar to Yoga. There is a lot of stretching, and isometric contractions of the muscles. Plus being in the gaurd, and being in someones gaurd you are ...

Relief from Work Stress? I would suggest you to learn free style. Keep learning moves that enhance your flexibility. Start with front kicks,side kicks, round house kicks and other good kicks that will get u ready for some art that suits you. Then you can decide which art you would want to learn. You could try aerobics or yoga for starters and then a few ...

I agree that if there are nice people at a gym, this will motivate you. But you must choose the art based on your personality, I'm sure MMA or BJJ will fit you, based on "I am a huge fan of MMA in general". If you have an idol in the MMA and dream to become like him I'm sure you will decide very quick. Hope this helps you.

depends what you are looking for. Martial arts tend to be quite a personal choice. I'd say go try both ( and make sure you do try both, and not start up with the first one you try ) Another choice which can be quite enjoyable for ex-karate is Kali / Escrima / Arnis. but basically, it's whatever you enjoy doing the most, so try different arts!

If you practiced Shotokan karate, or one of the very rigid forms, then Aikido provides a balance, with fluid moves and a focus on movement rather than the solid anchor that Shotokan uses, and it trains you in flexibility and the awareness of body, rather than the focused strength and power that karate often aims for. For those reasons I think it is an ...