Martial arts for self-defence for rookies - the experts need to be more frank I think.

I see Karate and such as sports rather than any actual self-defence. Of course, it's great for instilling discipline, confidence and fitness. That may be what's needed but in a real fight, it's very quick and brutal. Most fights I've been in, people will not fight fair. They want to hurt you as much as they can and take you down for whatever reason.

I'm not gonna say this or that is the best because that comes down to personal experience but I find boxing for a standing fight and wrestling/BJJ for the ground has helped me out a lot. I recommend going to a local boxing/wrestling club and see if there's a free day or something. Basically self defence is being calm and reacting quickly in the situation you are in. If that means legging it, then leg it! :D
 
KatanaDV20 said:
I dunno...what do ya'll think....will be interested to hear from black-belters and rookies like me who do martial arts of any kind.....:)
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A black belt doesn't mean anything by itself, it entirely depends on who gave it to you.

Martial arts where you play fight and act out "scenarios" are by and large completely useless. The only martial arts worth doing are full contact. MMA, Kick Boxing/Muay Thai and Boxing are the only ones worth doing for street self defence. (I purposefully leave out Ju Jitsu because imo its fairly useless in a traditional British night out in town self defence scenario, fantastic martial art to know a bit of as a side bar though)

Why train to defend yourself against a punch you know is coming that is being thrown with the idea in mind you will intercept it? It's pointless and liable to get you hurt when you try the nonsense they are teaching you out in the real world.

If you want real fitness and combat experience, join your local boxing gym where you will learn how to deal with a punch thrown with the same intention you would be defending against in the real world.

If these dudes have such amazing systems and real world combat experience and techniques that work, why aren't we seeing them in the UFC or other MMA competitions or events? (hint: we did, during UFC 1, they all got their asses kicked by real fighters)
 
Morba said:
Lolplatinumwannabet16!
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??

Its true. I worry about these things. For instance, should I ever catch a burglar in my house, well, things would get nasty, and I may lock them in a room for a few days, and issue sporadic but controlled beatings.

Either that or if it happened really quickly and the other party foolishly decided to get involved in something, well, the last thing I want to happen is for any neighbours to see me dragging a body out onto the street.
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
My opinion of martial arts (From around 7 years experience)

Most martial arts will not prepare you for a real street fight. In fact they can often have the opposite effect as they give you false confidence, or bewilder you will so many techniques you will fail to produce a suitable defence/offence when you really need it.

You cannot block a punch. It cannot and will not happen.

It's a good idea on learning how to stop a potential fight at the verbal stage through the use of body language and verbal tones. The best and imo the only way to lauch a suitable defence is to go on the offence as soon as you know a fight is unavoidable.

If you wait for a punch to be thrown, you will almost definately be hit unless it is massively telegraphed.

Boxing will prepare you far better than most martial arts, as you will be used to giving and taking punishment, which is something you simply do not get from most systems. The downside obviously is that you will likely receive far more injuries/bruises etc from training than you ever will on the street!
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Yes you can defend a punch, I have defended many myself.
 
TangoSixteen said:
If I completed my martial arts training, I would actually be fearful of causing another mans death should I lose my temper in a more ferocious than normal fashion.
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Don't mean to pick your words apart, but you'll never finish your martial arts training. Its a life-long journey.
Not to get all philosophical about it, but constant training off and on the mat (so to speak) it what prepares the mind and body for combat.
Only the real crazies practice full-on and the ones i've witnessed, lol, well the padding provided very little protection at all.
'Most' MA's will teach locks and holds as their ethos is to defend and not attack. Its also a very practical way of restraining a baddie without further injury to either whilst awaiting the arrival of the fuzz.

H&S, sadly does restrict a lot of club from going nuts, but take something like aiki-ju-jutsu. I studied it for 3 years off the back of 11 years of aikido. And OMG i got more injuries from that because of being constantly drilled into the mat, all in the name of "realism".
What most fail to grasp is that you are taughty basic 'class-safe' techniques....and the further your training goes and the more experience you gain more things becomes instinctive and you adapt the techniques to what suits you. This represents the deepest level of learning in just about any MA (according to all the seniors/masters i studied under). They don't want you to be a robot and just emulate, they want you to learn and adapt. That's how other schools are developed....someones takes what they've learned, applies their 'twist' to it and creates a new style.
Anyone studying karate or tae kwon do will surely understand that if they tried punching someone in the street they way they punch during kata, they'd be laughed at and levelled inside a few seconds.
Obviously they're 'tend' to punch differently in kumite, but not all do. The ones that understand, use instinct and adapt are the ones that becomes successful in combat.

Sorry if it sounds deep, but that's my take on it, from 24 years of studying karate, kung fu, kick/thai boxing, unarmed combat, aikido and aiki-ju-jutsu. I've also learned the old school hard way....so now i just sutdy sword arts as i'm too knacked to be flying around the mat. :rolleyes:
 
it has not been mentioned but what have u been training in?

You've got a good and valid point. I Say go for Muay Thai and BJJ :)
good ground game excellent on your feet
 
hurfdurf said:
If these dudes have such amazing systems and real world combat experience and techniques that work, why aren't we seeing them in the UFC or other MMA competitions or events? (hint: we did, during UFC 1, they all got their asses kicked by real fighters)
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bit confused by that last bit, as you say go train in boxing but boxers were getting beat a lot in the early UFC days :p
which other systems are you talking about btw? as a lot of the top mma fighters all have trained in other fighting techniques as a base for their skills.
most other systems do have their own competitions but theyre just not as big as ufc/pride(was)/strikeforce/WEC etc.
 
I could name anything but I could be talking a load of carp so what's the point?

I'm an Amater MMArtist who has been doing it 3 years now, 2-0 record. I have blocked punches. Why do you seem to think punches can't be blocked?

If you had said "you can't block a punch you don't see coming" there is some merit to that, but outright saying "you can't block a punch" is stupid..
 
I have practiced Judo for about 4-5 years and can safely say that your instructors are going about it the right way. You can't expect to join a club and be put right into the deep end, the only thing that will happen is that you will get disheartened and probably quit learning quite quickly.

They say practice makes perfect (although not precisely true as very few people manage the perfection) and to be fair things start out very slow. At my club the first 1-2 lessons for a new starter are about how to break fall and no real Judo techniques!

If anything, I find martial arts gives you better reaction and perception. I'm not going to lie and say after a few years it'll stop you getting beaten up by a gang of thugs in the street, because it probably won't.
 
Dkore-DeX said:
I could name anything but I could be talking a load of carp so what's the point?

I'm an Amater MMArtist who has been doing it 3 years now, 2-0 record. I have blocked punches. Why do you seem to think punches can't be blocked?

If you had said "you can't block a punch you don't see coming" there is some merit to that, but outright saying "you can't block a punch" is stupid..
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I assumed you did MMA from your 'location'.

For the record I have a lot of respect for MMA and again feel this prepares you far more than more 'traditional' methods. It is however flawed for preparing you for a street fight.

When a street fight occurs, the agressor decides how and when the fight will start. which is very different to two people starting at a determined time.

Once you are in conversation range, it is almost impossible to mount any kind of defence in the type of scenario taught at most martial art gyms, let alone 'block' a punch. It simply does not happen in real world when one person decides how and when a fight starts.
 
But from studying MA's/combat you will learn as vidda says, reaction and perception. Possibly the most important weapons for survival in a fight.
I've lost a lot of sharpness in my technique, simply because i don't fight, but i can often tell if someone is ready to fight. Its not rocket science but a lot of people miss the tell tale signs. So an aggressor in a pub who squares up to you will shows signs of when he's ready to attack. MA's will teach you those, or rather, through MA's you will learn how to perceive those 'shows' and instinct will do the rest.
 
Zatoichi.uK said:
True but you have to be fairly strong to recover from an initial punch asuming your attacker is stronger than you, which is why it's far better to go on the offensive once you know there is no avoiding a fight.
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I agree entirely with this statement. If its unavoidable...take the initiative.
 
I think people focus too much on belts with martial arts, karate and the like seem to give out belts like sweets, we've had a few karate black belts turn up at our place (MMA) where 80% of our BJJ fighters are white belts and find out it didn't count for very much at all.

As the guy with the Pride sig (sorry, can't remember username :p) said earlier the only stuff thats really any good is the full contact stuff where you're forced to learn to defend yourself or you'll never get chance to attack back. Then when it happens for real on a night out it's automatically there that you need to defend your jaw etc.
I'd disagree about Ju-jitsu though, in the small number of scuffles I've bin unfortunate enough to find myself in choking someone unconcious has worked well. People don't expect it or know how to defend against it. I wouldn't mess around with joint locks, but the RNC, Guillotine (on a smaller guy though, didn't fancy jumping to guard on the pavement!) and Standing arm triangle choke have all worked for me in the past.

Just my two cents anyway, and before the 'lol keyboard warrior!!1!' brigade arrive I completely disagree with fighting in the street and only get involved if I absolutely have to.
 
Its fair comment Josh, your experience has taught you what your strong points are.
I've found the need on occasion to use joint locks (from aikido) much like doormen and the police use. Its very painful and infuriating for the attacker, but it also looks good for you should the law get involved. It shows you used restraint rather than aggression to subdue the attacker. It also bitches them out a little, lol!
 
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