Even if you’re not practicing or persoanlly involved, which martial art do you think is best and why?
All I know is that your kung fu is weak. 
Seriously, there is no “best” and “worst.” The closest I’ve seen from personal experience is that there’s training and techniques that are…ill advised…for certain situations, but that’s about it.
You’re right. I guess I should’ve been more detailed in phrasing the question. I also meant to include the intagible aspects of any system.
Here’s goes again:
Which martial art do you think is best from either a physical, philosophical or spiritual viewpoint?
SMACK FU!
Hands down its Tai Chi or Chi Qong.
Basically these martial arts stem from each other, and they work with the energy in your body or Chi.
My old Chi Qong instructer, no shit, could do a hand stand on his index figure for unknown periods of time…
Amazing stuff. Once he asked us (five of us that day) to try and knock him over. He was just standing in the push the sky position. Hands out legs bowed gathering energy from every thing around him. Now I weigh in at 188, and could not move this guy. All of us pushing on him could not move this small 140 pound man. And then all of a sudden he livened up and knocked us all over the pad. It was insane, and that was 9 years ago. I have worked with him on and off ever since. …
There’s no answer to that question no matter how you phrase it. It depends on what martial art works best for you. If you’re curious, check out several different schools (don’t base your opinion of a martial art on one instructor and his school - there are plenty of bad instructors and crummy schools out there, just as there are plenty of brilliant instructors and respectable schools.) and as many different styles as you can and form your own opinion.
The best martial art is the one you can stick with long enough to learn. Ask me how I’m doing in another year.
I did several different martial arts for 12 years.
Which is “best” depends on what you want to get out of it. In general, the consistent, disciplined practice of any martial art will bring you fitness, suppleness and overall health. I would recommend it for anyone who is physically capable. You will achieve things you thought beyond your reach.
You seem to be interested in the philosophical viewpoint, so that would mean try one of the traditional types like the various styles of kung fu (wu shu), or any of the “-do” martial arts like karate-do, judo, aikido. They usually include meditation and spirital aspects.
If you just want to learn to kick ass if you get attacked in the street, try self defense classes, or one of the more pragmatic arts like jeet kune do or kick-boxing. Ju-jitsu (sp) is supposed to be very good for self defense too, though I never tried it.
If you want to compete on a sporting level, karate is good, as is tai-kwan-do. They both have an extensive sport pedigree.
Another thing to consider is your body type - if you are like me (more sumo than cirque de soleil), you might want to consider one of the “grappling” arts like Judo or wrestling. If you are of a slighter build with plenty of fast-twitch muscle, you might be better suited for one of the striking arts like karate or tai-kwan-do. (Of all of them, tai-kwan-do has perhaps the most spectacular Hollywood-like high kicks and jumping moves). Some martial artists claim the best way is to combine a “hard” martial art like karate with a “soft” (nothing derogatory, Judo practitioners can kick some serious ass) art like Judo.
Just as important as the art you choose is finding a good club. Check out several in your area - the instructor should be willing to let you watch and/or take a free lesson to try it out. Ask yourself if you like the atmosphere of the club - is it laid back, disciplined, “military”? Friendly? Social? Do they emphasize the traditional or the practical? Do they urge you to compete (and do you want to)? How much time do they spend on form (katas), sparring, spiritual aspects?
I never did this (too lazy) but I’ve always thought the ideal combination would be a hard martial art like kick-boxing, mixed with a couple of yoga classes per week, for all-round fitness.
HTH.
Usual disclaimers apply, IAAMA (martial artist) but not Bruce Lee, and I haven’t done it for a few years.
From a purely physical perspective: in my experience, practitioners of muay thai (thai boxing) are hard as iron and fast as cats. They learn to hit with precision, using punishing force, blindingly fast. Muay thai training also hardens the body such that thai boxers practically cannot be hurt.
Anyway, scary. They get my vote.
I second that opinion of Muay Thai practitioners. I wouldn’t want to mess with anyone who trains by kicking a banana tree as hard as they can with their shin.
I’m a big fan of Aki-jutsu. It’s the parent art of Akido and is a lot of fun IMHO. It’s not so hard on the body as Karate and Muay Thai and it can be more versitile. It’s good for young/old/male/female/huge/little people.
As I was always told, it’s easy to learn how to kill people, but hard to learn how not to kill people. Aki teaches you both. Practicioners can put someone down as hard or as softly as their need dictates. I’ve done some Muay Thai and it’s fun, but if someone in a bar has had a bit too much to drink and starts a rukus I would rather be able to merely teach him that it was a bad idea than kill them and have it written on his tombstone.:smack:
My two cents.
How 'bout firearms marksmanship?
Naturally by ‘martial art’ you meant ‘unarmed Eastern-influenced combat style’ and not ‘military skillset’. But I can’t always suppress my need to be a wiseacre.
On your three categories, physical, philosophical, and spritual, I’d choose wing chun.
Physical: you don’t have to be large or strong to do good wing chun. In fact, it’s designed with smaller people in mind. Also, it’s the no-exertion martial art. This is not to say you don’t have to practice hard, but when actually fighting, the idea is to expend as little energy as possible.
Philosophical: Wing chun’s philosophy is very practical and “scientific.” Everything is fairly precisely calculated to work. Also, rather than do what feels best, in wing chun you “bonsai” your body to do what’s most effective.
Spiritual: Wing chun encompasss no spirituality. That’s the way I like it.
Problems with wing chun: It has no performance elements. Something like TKD or Wu Shu looks really cool. Watching wing chun is boring. No kicks above the waist, no flips or spins, just short, direct movements that are often hard to see. Also, if you have only one arm, you can’t really do wing chun, while you could still easily do something like TKD. However, TKD would be really hard if you were blind, whereas wing chun would still be fairly effective. (I used to occasionally spar blindfolded, it was a lot of fun)
One must be careful, of course, of what sort of wing chun teacher one learns from. There are a lot of bad ones out there.
Alternately, Escrima is a great martial art, because it’s traditionally taught weapons-first, empty hand second. Fun!
If you do a search of the archives you’ll see this question comes up at least every six months. Some of the discussions went on for quite a while. My short summary is that there’s no real answer, it depends.
I agree that there’s no real answer. It is what works best for you and what you hope to get out of the martial art. Tae Kwon Do which is popular is much more of a sport than a martial art. That isn’t to say that a Tae Kwon Do practitioner couldn’t kick some ass but against a more refined martial art in a fight to the death the Tae Kwon Do person will likely be at a disadvantage.
I like Aikido as perhpas the most ‘useful’ of the martial arts. That is to say you usually won’t find yourself in a fight to the death but rather have a need to just disable or incapacitate whoever is messing with you without doing too much damage (although you can kick ass with Aikido as well if it comes to that).
One that I found while in college and liked a lot but is hard to find is Hwa Rang Do. It is a Korean martial art like Tae Kwon Do but as I understood it in ancient times Tae Kwon Do was for the masses and Hwa Rang Do was for the kings and generals. It is a truly all encompassing martial art focusing on healing skills I agree that there’s no real answer. It is what works best for you and what you hope to get out of the martial art. Tae Kwon Do which is popular is much more of a sport than a martial art. That isn’t to say that a Tae Kwon Do practitioner couldn’t kick some ass but against a more refined martial art in a fight to the death the Tae Kwon Do person will likely be at a disadvantage.
I like Aikido as perhpas the most ‘useful’ of the martial arts. That is to say you usually won’t find yourself in a fight to the death but rather have a need to just disable or incapacitate whoever is messing with you (although you can kick ass with Aikido as well if it comes to that).
One that I found while in college and liked a lot but is hard to find is Hwa Rang Do. It is a Korean martial art like Tae Kwon Do but as I understood it in ancient times Tae Kwon Do was for the masses and Hwa Rang Do was for the kings and generals. It is a truly all encompassing martial art focusing on healing skills as well as fighting skills (part of the idea with healing being that superior knowledge of the body made you that much more lethal). Hwa Rang Do practitioners ultimately become proficient in multiple weapons (everything from throwing rocks to swords) as well as punching, kicking, throws, joint manipulation and so on. The true masters of the art are your scary, mystical movie type of fighter come to life.
Check out http://www.hwarangdo.com/index2.htm if you’re interested.
I have a tiny amount of experience, call me a dabbler, and I like akido for variety, kenpo karate for nastiness (eye rakes!), and boxing for…I dunno, familiarity. I’ve always thought that boxing was a little diffirent because it was really (by really I mean hitting a bag and whatnot) teaching you to fight as opposed to defending yourself and responding to the other person. Also, you have to be in shape to box, not so much so for the others, perhaps. Understand that I’m not runniing any other art down, these are just my opinions, and boxing doesn’t really give you too many ways to defuse a situation without seriously hurting someone. I’ve always been interested to see that Israeli art, Krava Maga I think it’s called?
One thing I’m curious about Judo though: are most people’s regular clothes durable enough to do some of the throws?
The durability of the thrower’s (tori’s) clothes aren’t important…but I don’t think that’s what you’re asking. As for the throwee (uke’s), everyday clothing may not be strong enough, but depending on the throw executed, it may not be necessary to take hold of the clothing.
For overall effectiveness: Ambush Bug’s right, skill with firearms.
For style, and my personal favorite: Kenjutsu, the Art of the Sword. No spirituality, just numerous ways to kill with a number of Japanese swords. Defeats unarmed arts 9 times out of 10. I cannot say the same for Kendo (The Way of the Sword, though).
For quick success: Escrima, because you start with weapons and work toward bare handed fighting.
For brutality: Thai kickboxing. Those chaps scare the piss out of me. I just pray I never fight one without a sword at my side, though I doubt it’d help much…
HwaRang Do was a precursor to TaeKwon Do - it wasn’t reserved for “kings and generals”, and TKD didn’t exist yet. The HwaRang were the Korean warrior class - “Hwa Rang” means (roughly) “Flowering Youth”, and the HwaRang were trained to fight and in medicine, believing that if they know how to injure, they should also know how to heal. They also studied literature, poetry and music. The HwaRang, by virtue of their training and lifestyle, became an elite warrior class within Korean society, but to my knowledge they weren’t originally intended as an exclusive group. Over the last few hundred years, HwaRang Do changed, incorporating techniques from Chinese and Japanese martial arts, moving away from weapons techniques, and the end result was modern TaeKwon Do. I’m surprised (and pleased) to learn that some version of HwaRang Do still exists.
For neatlookingness- capoeira. My SO’s capoeira instructor could fly, I think. Also, it has a neat history, and it’s the basis for breakdancing.
It’s also the most incredible workout I’ve ever had. I took two classes in it. I have never hurt so much at any other point- and I was in pretty good condition when I took it, doing 9 or 11 hours of dance class a week.
Ouch.