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Consider learning a self defence system instead of a martial art
If getting good at defending yourself in a fairly short space of time is more important to you than long-term study of a particular martial system or philosophy, you may wish to consider a self-defense system instead of a martial art.
In an essay titled, "Are Martial Arts Self-Defense?", Marc ...
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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.
answered Feb 13 '12 at 17:24
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
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The flinch reaction is a nervous system reaction to a stimulus in order to protect a portion of the body inherently felt to be at risk. When your nervous system is repeatedly overridden (for example, when we repeatedly stretch past the point of basic resistance) the body relaxes and the signal to fire that reflex is no longer sent under that stimulus.
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NO!!!!!
Get out. Get out now. As in, do not train there even one more time.
There is always the chance of being injured in any martial art. That's true of any active sport, of course--but "combat sports" have an intention of everyone getting hit, kicked, etc. The requirement for safety is therefore paramount. You need to train safely if you are going to be ...
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Traditionally, in times of war you teach the right hand. In times of peace, you teach both hands. I train in a Chinese school, and Chinese schools typically favor ambidextrous training ... if you have the time.
In my case, I find myself freely using either hand in simple, day-to-day life tasks. This happens without thinking. I find that movements that show ...
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Wing chun doesn't have to be bad for this school to be bad for you. It sounds like you're not comfortable there. I think you should stop training with these people.
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"Harden up", "come on", "toughen up", "get it together", "just do it", and "let's go" can all be slotted into the same purpose. One could even reach for "osu".
I find the gist of the phrase comes more from elements other than word choice, such as volume, sharpness of tone, or accompanying the phrase with a loud clap.
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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 one 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 ...
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Nobody cares if a man likes the idea of women-only classes. They're not for you. They're for women.
With some historical perspective, poo-pooing the idea of women-only classes becomes even more ridiculous. In my lifetime, women were banned from many karate and judo dojo. To turn around so quickly and say that women must train with men, not on their own, ...
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Self-defense Scope
Self-defense has many elements unrelated to hand-to-hand combat. Everyone interested in self-defense should wear a seatbelt, avoid smoking and addictive drugs, stay fit (in particular, capable of running very fast), and cultivate a basic knowledge of general self-defense strategies like being assertive, de-escalation, and situational ...
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Define "adept."
You aren't going to find much in the way of scientific studies that are specific to martial arts in this regard. There are too many variables, and we encounter many of the same problems that the fitness community does.
To add a data point, however: With my group's Hapkido, we're taught to use both because it is a self defense martial art ...
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Sparring should emphatically not end in you being beaten bloody, no matter the sport. Sparring is a contact activity, and you should expect to take some knocks, but it is also an activity founded on control and trust. There's an important difference between toughening up and learning to take a hit and actually being harmed.
This is doubly important for ...
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"Clinch happens."
Without training, people who fight very frequently end up in a clinch or on the ground. (This is common for people who train in non-sparring, non-grappling arts, too.**) It's just a natural outcome for a fight, unless you're proficient in grappling.
In most cases, one cannot stop grappling without...drum roll...grappling.
Probabilities
...
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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.
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In my experience as a male trainer and trainee the key for a hard, educational or maybe painful training is trust between all parts of the training group.
Female fighters have told me that they were beaten up in training after they told their opponent to slow down. Afterwards they felt violently abused.
So in such a case the trainer has the responsibility ...
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Yes, but... (and it's a big "but")
Two things stimulate bone density:
Damage
Generally our biological systems are set up so that if something is damaged, cells lay down more, tougher material since clearly what we had before wasn't quite tough enough. In other tissues, this forms as scar tissue which can reduce your mobility, however bone just gives ...
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How you re-enter the school will depend on the school and instructor. Ask their advice, and be up-front about how much you've forgotten and your current level of fitness. Don't pretend you can walk into a school with a preconceived idea of what belt you'll be wearing and what level you should be training at: that is ultimately your instructor's decision. It'...
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In the fire service we have to train on conserving air in life safety situations. So we work on breathing control which lowers our heart rates as well.
One method Reilly-Emergency Breathing Technique (R-EBT):
While exhaling, “hum” your breath out in a slow, consistent manner.
The hum is low and usually cannot be heard over the low-air alarm. In
...
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In my experience there are a few reasons why someone loses that passion:
that person was never going to stick around anyway
they have a mistaken idea of the glamor and mysticism in martial arts
the teacher fails to keep the student inspired
the student requires a bit of a holiday
For #1, there is nothing you can do. Life is full of people like this who ...
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In my experience this is not a good way to learn, no matter how capable a teacher you are. I'm not saying that it won't work, just that the chance it being successful is very low.
Any martial art takes a lot of time, patience and discipline to learn. Outside of the dojo these things can all be in short supply. Training at the dojo forces you to make the ...
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First, men who know nothing about martial arts may see a woman leading the class and immediately think that they (the men) could beat up the female teacher. So they think there is no reason why the woman could teach them anything about fighting.
Second, some men might not want to train with women at all (students or teachers), because it would be awkward ...
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I'm going to be very precise with my answer here. Your technique will remain the same, your kicks and punches should still be the same as when you practice them. What does change though is your approach to your opponent so that you can deliver that technique.
Because your opponent is taller, you will have more issues than it just being harder to reach their ...
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The first, and biggest, point is that if it hurts don't do it. Be careful with an injured shoulder, possibly focusing more on the opposite side or starting on your injured side significantly more slowly or at a lower height (get the dive roll perfect from the knees first). The other major thing is to make sure you are practicing on good mats. There's no ...
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I am afraid you are looking for a unicorn and you do not even know what a unicorn is.
There's a world of difference between giving your daughter enough training to "survive" a date and her surviving walking back to base after crossing Mogadishu. No Nonsense Self-Defense is a good place to start looking at these issues but is by no mean exhaustive. As for ...
answered Nov 7 '13 at 8:47
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
14.3k2 gold badges42 silver badges116 bronze badges
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Reasons to Study Weapons
I - improved coordination
Training with weapons improves your coordination in ways that only controlling something that you don't have nerve endings in can.
II - weapons of opportunity
It's not just a stick. It's also, potentially, a sword, or a baseball bat, or a lead pipe. By training with a stick, you're also training with ...
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I have not been impressed with the stories I hear from people who have gone to these Asian martial arts retreats. These camps seem like a way to separate Westerners from their money while providing a bare minimum of services. Much like the explosion of "teacher training" yoga retreats, they provide an experience, not an education.
First-Person Accounts
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You should practice techniques on both sides. That being said, most of the time you're going to use your dominant side, so you should practice that the most, but more often than you expect, the opportunity is going to come up where a non-dominant side technique will allow you a decisive score or perhaps even a victory, so never discount the possibility.
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If the students are going too hard on the beginners, the instructor either don't care or has lost control of the class. It's his or her responsibility to make sure everybody is safe. Most good schools ease their beginners into sparring. They start of with some light sparring, and then progress from there. Even pro fighters spar easy a lot of the time, as it'...
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Yes! Martial arts can help you with posture, improve you overall fitness and stamina, and give you the discipline to do things correctly.
No! There are much better ways to get a good posture and behaviour while working at a desk than joining a martial art class. You can see a physiotherapist, get a new chair, have a work station safety analysis done, take ...
answered Mar 1 '13 at 8:55
Sardathrion - against SE abuse
14.3k2 gold badges42 silver badges116 bronze badges
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Yes, it's possible, but if you focus on that you're likely to be disappointed.
Most people who start (any martial art, or anything else difficult for that matter) tend to drop out after a short time, or simply not have the time or natural talent to rise to elite competitive levels. And that's ok.
It seems a little early to be caring about national level ...
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