Self defence?

Self defense / fighting should always be the last port of call. It's far better not to get into that situation, or to try and diffuse it or get away from it. It sounds pathetic and wimp-like (and I'm far from being pathetic and wimp like) but I'd just get the hell out of there. I always stood up to bullies at school, and never got bullied back, but out in the big wide world and the way things have become things are getting a little messed up :(

A very very good martial art for self defense is Aikido as it teaches you to use the persons offence to your advantage. As most scraps end on the floor however, Judo may well be the better option, besides as with all martial arts they keep you fit and flexible as a bi-product - which always helps.
 
Forget martial arts training completely, if you get into a fight you're not going to have the time to do it, it'll be a street brawl and you'll be far to close or out numbered for it to make the slightest difference. I trained in karate for 11 years, was pretty good to be honest but the few times I've been involved in scraps I found my boxing training (only 2 years) far more useful.

However, if in down hit the mummy/daddy button between the legs with a good kick/knee and leave. Don't hang about and for the love of god dont try flying kicks, you'll only make a complete fool of yourself.

I know I won't be popular with the martial arts people, but lets face it outside of competition it's not that useful and if you had to stand up in court and prosecution said "oh by the way the guy in the stand is a black belt" you're going to instantly look like an aggressor.
 
I've been doing kickboxing and tae-kwon-do for a while now and really enjoy it, I'd also hope that if I could not get out of trouble it would give me confidence how to throw a deccent punch/kick and move out of the way when someone threw a punch

But in all honesty if some one tried to mug me or attack me I'd do this......Fight Dirty. Knee them in the nuts, stamp hard as you can on the side of their ankle, kick their knee, fingers in the eyes etc, etc It's gonna stop them in the quickest and hopefully most painfull manner possible
 
Kami said:
I know I won't be popular with the martial arts people, but lets face it outside of competition it's not that useful.
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So very, very true.

There is a world of difference between self defence and martial arts and the first rule of self defence is run away.
 
I did aikido and tbh i dont believe it would make me steven seagal in a fight but it did teach me balance and some of the moves could be used in self defence.

the whole idea of karate/kick boxing/kung fu as self defence is a joke

U train to a level that u deem worthy of self control/defence, u get into a fight and some1 gets hurt

U R GOING DOWN!*if it goes to a court)
 
street fight have a tendency to end up on the floor. the best thing to learn to be able to fight/protect urself on the floor is Vale Tudo, ever seen UFC, most of the fighting styles on there are taken from that. google video has some examples.
 
IMO the main thing you need to do is act confident, if you dont run act like your really hard to make them think twice about starting on you, i've never been mugged though so no idea if that would work lol.

As for martial arts Jui Jitsu or Kickboxing would probably be the most useful. I've just started Jui Jitsu and I think its quite useful for real situations as it deals with defending from broken bottles and knives and is more about disabliing your opponent than beating the crap out of them.
 
ElRazur said:
Guns? No training needed.... :D
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I know that was facetious, but I'd just like to point out that I had to do a mandatory course before I got my CCW. It involved gun safety, 'marksmanship' (to about the level of hitting the barn door you happen to be leaning upon) and, most emphatically, gun laws.

So "no training needed"? I don't think so. Or, at least, not where I live .... if you desire to remain outside of a jail cell.
 
wordy said:
I've been doing kickboxing and tae-kwon-do for a while now and really enjoy it, I'd also hope that if I could not get out of trouble it would give me confidence how to throw a deccent punch/kick and move out of the way when someone threw a punch

But in all honesty if some one tried to mug me or attack me I'd do this......Fight Dirty. Knee them in the nuts, stamp hard as you can on the side of their ankle, kick their knee, fingers in the eyes etc, etc It's gonna stop them in the quickest and hopefully most painfull manner possible
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I'd agree with that - if you cant run, then biting and spiting at them (directly in there eyes) will also stun them for a moment.
 
learn aikido or systema

aikido requires no strength. its all about using the opponents strengths agains them selfs which is real fun.

systema is russian ma. i went to 10 sessions at my college it was really enjoyable you get so many bruises even though its only training.

you can really toughen your self up with systema. you learn real combat situations which is really cool,. the worst was the tortcher training. when i had to do 40 press ups while 3 people were kicking me.

well.. enjoy
 
shimy182 said:
systema is russian ma. i went to 10 sessions at my college it was really enjoyable you get so many bruises even though its only training.

you can really toughen your self up with systema. you learn real combat situations which is really cool,. the worst was the tortcher training. when i had to do 40 press ups while 3 people were kicking me.
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I've seen a load of Krav Maga guys seriously sparring with blokes doing Systema.

Man, those Systema guys got a kicking. It was like watching some sort of comedy film with the Systema instructor saying "ah, but there's nothing you can do about this!" and then promptly getting uncermoniously put on his backside.
 
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[DOD]Asprilla said:
Krav Maga.

There is a list of trainers on here, including South London:

http://www.kravmagascotland.co.uk/History-of-Krav-Maga.aspx
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Krav Maga is not actually a good choice for self defence in the UK. Taught as it's meant to be used, it's too aggressive and will quite likely end up with you on an assault charge due to the type of strikes/reactions it encourages. Alternatively some places teach a much softer variant of Krav Maga which while less likely to get you arrested, is much less effective.

Krav Maga is very effective at what it's designed to do, which is disable an opponant as quickly as possible and for as long as possible, but taught correctly, it's an art for hurting, maiming and killing, not for defending oneself.
 
Dolph said:
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Some of that is very true, but some of it isn't, and the same could be said of a lot of martial arts.

They key to any self defence it to shock or disable your assailant long enough let you escape or to make them think twice.

Teaching Krav Maga or KAPAP as self defence might not be as effective a true Krav Maga, but it's still a lot better than teaching people how to fight against someone of similar skill in their chosen martial art form.

Krav Maga has no fighing stance, no set rules and no set attacks for you to defend.

I'm not saying it's perfect, but it is a lot more like real life than any other martial art and when taught by a responsible self defence teacher you are certainly not going to end up in the dock.
 
[DOD]Asprilla said:
Some of that is very true, but some of it isn't, and the same could be said of a lot of martial arts.
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I can think of very few other MA schools that encourage first strike to areas such as the groin and throat. Such areas are generally discouraged as strike points unless you actually want to seriously injure someone.

They key to any self defence it to shock or disable your assailant long enough let you escape or to make them think twice.
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Self defence is about neutralising a threat, that doesn't have to entail crippling someone or causing them large amounts of pain to do it.

Teaching Krav Maga or KAPAP as self defence might not be as effective a true Krav Maga, but it's still a lot better than teaching people how to fight against someone of similar skill in their chosen martial art form.
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Well, anyone who focuses exclusively on one training method or style will always have a vunerable point, Krav Maga practicers certainly do, in that they are overly aggressive in many cases.

I'm not saying it's perfect, but it is a lot more like real life than any other martial art and when taught by a responsible self defence teacher you are certainly not going to end up in the dock.
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As with all these things, our mileage may very, and we're both entitled to our own opinions :)
 
Is there anywhere near Reading that teaches Krav Maga? I've been looking for ages, seems like the one that suits me best. (i.e. the most effective one!)

Want to learn self-defence as I'm sure it would make me feel 20 times more confident in the big bad world, saying that I've never been mugged and very rarely am even accosted in any way. This is half because the area I live in is fairly peaceful and half because I always stay away from danger spots. I want to be ready for clubbing though! :p
 
I did a martial art for serveral years but my teacher always told all the classes the same thing.

"The best form of defense is not to be there in the first place"

Works for me :)
 
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