!!!! The OCUK Martial Arts Thread !!!!

panthro said:
lol, I liken myself to him.....a martial artist engineering genius who is also a badass :)

Have you been down to a session yet? how did it go?
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Went and watched Taekwondo last friday with my friend and we liked what we saw. Our first session is tonight! :)
 
Here is my review:

I went last night and it was just my mate and myself there. We did some stretching (which I am not the greatest at because of my footballer legs lol) and then we moved onto doing some punching with pads. We were shown various techniques as well as a couple of kicks as well.
Last night was just a taster really and we are going to join (we have to take 3 passport photos for our licence next week). Really looking forward to the next session!
 
Chaos said:
For those that do Jui Jitsu how fit do you need to be as a beginner, I was thinking of taking classes but im kinda worried im not fit enough. Maybe if I started it would motivate me to do more exercise.
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Fitness will pick up with training but it's not essential to start with, nor is it needed to a great degree later on - though I'm sure a few of the JJ guys will disagree with that.

I guess what i'm trying to say is JJ doesn't require the fitness levels of say someone doing TKD or kickboxing. However, as you train you will develop your fitness since all the throws and takedowns you'll suffer do take it out of you ;)
 
Quite a few martial artists here. From the VERY brief read through Ive done of this thread, it appears the majority of us are grapplers or hit, wind and run discipline.

Started off with boxing and did that for a year or so, so that I could learn to punch. Started Muay Thai boxing after that, at K-Star in Birmingham. Was pretty good fun for 2 years. The boxing came in handy but was also a cause of annoyance because thai boxers dont bop, weave and duck like regular boxers. Try ducking against a thai boxer and you'll either get kneed in the face or an elbow to the back of your head. Would love to go back again now that studies are way behind me, just finding the time thats the problem :(

I tried Wa-De-Rou and Shotokan karate in between my boxing and thai boxing, but it didnt work out properly for me. I dont know if any of you will agree with me on this, but Ive found both karate and tae kwondo to suit shorter and stockier people.
 
Lowe said:
Fitness will pick up with training but it's not essential to start with, nor is it needed to a great degree later on - though I'm sure a few of the JJ guys will disagree with that.

I guess what i'm trying to say is JJ doesn't require the fitness levels of say someone doing TKD or kickboxing. However, as you train you will develop your fitness since all the throws and takedowns you'll suffer do take it out of you ;)
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I'd agree with that. The only time you need to be super fit in JJ is if you're sparring. But that really saps your energy regardless of the MA you're doing. A typical JJ groundfight is more stamina than fitness. It's about pacing yourself and not going all out for 20 seconds then collapsing :p

You really don't need to be fit at all for the locks and throws, but obviously you will get fitter over time :)
 
CLAWS said:
I dont know if any of you will agree with me on this, but Ive found both karate and tae kwondo to suit shorter and stockier people.
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Dunno about that....I have an extremely long reach both arms and legs and it has advantages to no end!
 
Likewise, shorter and stockier makes you better for throws and takedowns since your centre of gravity is lower. Taller makes you better for strikes and kicks since you've got the the reach :) Makes it a bit more awkward trying to throw smaller people too since you need to lower your CoG under theirs to get the best effect.
 
I could use some advice from the Martial Arts practitioners among the OcUK members :)

I'm heading off to Uni in September and I was looking into taking up a martial art. I'd basically like something that doesn't totally ignore strikes, has a nice mix of techniques and might actually be useful if you get into a spot of bother. The choices are:-

Aikido (Shodokan Aikido)
Ju-jitsu
Judo
Karate (Ko Ken Ryu Karate Jutsu)
Kung Fu
Tai Chi
Thai Boxing
Traditional Tae Kwondo
Yawara Ryu Jitsu

I'm a bit spoilt for choice. Aikido interests me but I've heard it takes many years to become remotely profficient. Other than that I'm at a loss :) I'm 5'10" and about 70kgs if that has any bearing on anything :)

Any advice?
 
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Depends really. My opinion might be a little biased here, but Ive found thai boxing to be quite effective when in trouble. Its probably one of the best forms of martial arts for conditioning i.e. toughening up the body. Again this is just my opinion from personal experience and in no way am I trying to take anything away from any other disciplines.

In effect you'll train your body to take a hectic battering and yet be able to dish out the same sort of battering too.

One of the guys at my old dojo explained thai boxing to me as a martial art where your offence is your defence or in more simpler terms, attack before you get attacked. This could be applied to most other martial arts, but I found myself agreeing with it.

Where will you be studying just out of curiosity?
 
Looks like it'll probably be Nottingham, unless I hate it when I go over for an open day :)

I'm kind of attracted to Jujitsu as well, as it's kind of the the father of a lot of other martial arts and seems quite rounded - I also like the grading system as it allows for a fair bit of progress in a short time.
 
Nice mix available to you! :)

Personally I'd say JuJitsu, cross trained with the odd lesson of kickboxing.

Since you're not overly tall you'll suit something where you need to get in close to do the damage. At 70kg you're not huge either, so you need something where technique is more important than brute strength. So - you need a close combat, technique based martial art. Ju-Jitsu will do you nicely if you ask me. ;)

The kickboxing as mentioned would be a good idea to cross train in since it'll toughen you up a lot, keep your cardio fitness up and also be a great way of getting some aggression out of you - you can't always go full bore with JJ since you'll end up breaking someones bones/joints or killing them. :P
 
Cool. I lived in Nottingham for a year. My housemate was an advanced jujitsu. We used to grapple from time to time. Holds and restraints wise he could beat me, but going toe to toe with me was difficult for him. If I used my range effectively and added a quick recoil to my punches and kicks there was very little chance of him grabbing me.

When he did grab me I could exploit some of the openings he created. Its suprising where the corner of a knee or elbow fits, plus you can always use your forehead too ;)

EDIT: If you can find a decent thai boxing dojo, you can probably get to learn Shu-Thai, a mix of shoot fighting and thai boxing. This way you can get some ground work i.e. grappling and take down moves picked up along with your thai. This area of thai boxing is nowhere near as intense as doing full on jujitsu, buts its a good mix. If you do decide to go down this route, ask about Shu-Thai and if they teach it and how deep they go.
 
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Cool guys :D Thanks a lot for the advice, looks like Jujitsu to start with and then look into Thai-boxing if I have time.

I don't want to go too full bore in my first year martial arts wise as I really want to try and get some American football and footie in as well ;) I also wouldn't have minded trying rock climbing too lol. At this rate I'll have no time to actual go out drinking ;)

Is there a fair bit of focus in strikes in Jujitsu or is it mainly grapple based?

Claws - how did you find Nottingham if you don't mind me asking? I love the look of the Uni and the course, my only worry is there won't be much in the way of things to do in Nottingham itself, nightlife and other stuff to do etc.
 
My advice would be to attend a session of just watch a session of the ones you are mainly interested in. Cant go wrong that way. With my favouritism coming into effect :) I would go with Taekwon-Do providing it is ITF and I would check out the thai boxing, as it is hard to come across a good instructor and school that teaches traditional methods.
 
Ju-Jitsu typically starts with a block to an incoming attack, a counterattack in the form of a strike/kick/slap then a joint lock then a takedown/throw then a finishing technique.

TKD's good, hell I did it for 5 years, but utimately it does have holes in its armoury which I feel a more rounded fighter could exploit. Hence why I adopted a TKD style which also encompases kickboxing, ju-jitsu and kickboxing. :)
 
IceBus said:
Cool guys :D Thanks a lot for the advice, looks like Jujitsu to start with and then look into Thai-boxing if I have time.

I don't want to go too full bore in my first year martial arts wise as I really want to try and get some American football and footie in as well ;) I also wouldn't have minded trying rock climbing too lol. At this rate I'll have no time to actual go out drinking ;)

Is there a fair bit of focus in strikes in Jujitsu or is it mainly grapple based?

Claws - how did you find Nottingham if you don't mind me asking? I love the look of the Uni and the course, my only worry is there won't be much in the way of things to do in Nottingham itself, nightlife and other stuff to do etc.
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Notts is top notch. You'd be suprised at how much there is to do there. The nightlife is pretty awesome too. I never had any trouble there, certainly not with the masses of beautiful ladies there ;)

I lived in the Meadows area which is supposed to be pretty bad, but I managed fine. You'll soon get used to the news reports about shootings and stabbings and vice versa.

Anyways, back on topic. That looks to me like a good plan/combo. The jujitsu coupled with the toughening achieved in thai boxing will take you a long way. Oh yeah, Ive got to add, neither of these or any discipline for that matters are easy martial arts that can be taken up as a pastime. Apply yourself but dont spread yourself too thin. You got to remember you'll be studying too and this doesnt work too well when you're aching from pressure point hits via jujitsu or from shin bone conditioning via thai (trust me I pained myself through my uni studies) :D
 
IceBus said:
I could use some advice from the Martial Arts practitioners among the OcUK members :)

I'm heading off to Uni in September and I was looking into taking up a martial art. I'd basically like something that doesn't totally ignore strikes, has a nice mix of techniques and might actually be useful if you get into a spot of bother. The choices are:-

Aikido (Shodokan Aikido)
Ju-jitsu
Judo
Karate (Ko Ken Ryu Karate Jutsu)
Kung Fu
Tai Chi
Thai Boxing
Traditional Tae Kwondo
Yawara Ryu Jitsu

I'm a bit spoilt for choice. Aikido interests me but I've heard it takes many years to become remotely profficient. Other than that I'm at a loss :) I'm 5'10" and about 70kgs if that has any bearing on anything :)

Any advice?
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I'd do Judo and mix it with Thai boxing.
 
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