Here is the scenario: Someone is getting stalked by someone who has already attacked her three times physically. She wants to learn how to defend herself and learn a little offensive fighting as well.
She has an instructor who is going to be giving her private lessons. He knows both Tae Kwon Do and Krav Maga. Which one does he use to start teaching her things, and what stuff would he teach her first? I’m assuming he wouldn’t just start her on the regular class regimen since she needs to know really useful stuff kind of urgently.
Thoughts?
ETA: both she and the instructor are vampires, so they’re very strong and very fast, if that matters. I think she’d pick it up quickly, regardless of what she’s learning because as a dancer she’s already very aware of her body.
But I vote Krav Manga. TKD seems to me like something that’s really only useful if both participants agree to only use TKD–ie, I could probably beat Pele at soccer if I could pick the ball up and run with it.
I’m prepared for flames from TKD fans and am not that wedded to my position here, so flame away and maybe I’ll learn something.
Having several years in TKD, I’ll say… Krav Maga. TKD is not all that practical when it comes down to it. You can learn some nice offensive/defensive stuff in TKD, but with it being more about form than function, it’s just not going to have as many practical applications as a martial art developed specifically for street fighting situations. In fact, all the practical stuff I got out of TKD was actually stuff we learned during free time during class, when the instructor would demonstrate and teach us moves from other arts.
Anything that could plausibly pose a physical threat to a vampire ain’t something she’s going to learn to beat easily. It has to be either another vampire, or some more powerful entity. Her instructor should teach her the mantra “feets don’t fail me now” and concentrate on her running the fuck away skills.
If she just has to get physical against a man, then the Greco-Roman Kick in the Balls is likely to be as effective as anything else.
She’s a very new vampire and while she’s stronger than a human, she doesn’t really know what to do with it, and twice the guy has gotten the jump on her, surprising her. She’s gotten away both times. She has been stabbed once, though, and a knife to the heart could kill her (doesn’t have to be a wooden stake in my mythos) so she wants to learn how to beat the guy up next time he comes for her. It will be important later on that she knows some fighting moves, too.
So I’ve had a phone conversation with a Krav Maga instructor now and gotten their opinion on what they’d teach someone first if they were just trying to train someone quickly how to fight in a basic way. One of the things they mentioned were “takedowns” (followed by ankle stomping–woohoo) which I can picture in a sense, but can someone more familiar with the form describe what a “takedown” might entail?
If it’s a good story you’re after, your probably more concerned about verisimilitude than technical accuracy. Martial arts message boards will go into 40 page flameouts over which of any two styles is best (“my awesome White Lotus Kung Fu totally pwns your weak ass Malaysian Silat d00d!!”). Since you’re writing a story, a different concern might be which of the two arts offers more dramatic moves to move the story forward. The eye gouges, hammer fists and groin kicks of Krav might work better dramatically than the relatively more straightforward punches and kicks of TKD.
A takedown is just what it sounds - putting an opponent on the ground. Examples include the single and double leg takedowns from wrestling and any number of throws from Judo. Since Judo is a “jacketed” art, grabbing of the sleeves and collar are allowed; in western wrestling, only grabbing of the body is allowed.
Krav every time, providing you find a decent instructor that has had exposure to expert level instructors in the ikmf (now renamed to something else, I forget what)
Krav suffered years ago with dilution of techniques due to a separation of Krav into different schools of thought.
If you want excellent Krav instruction, find a instructor who has spent time training in Israel.
Krav Maga is an applied theory discipline and thus would be a superiour choice. I’ll echo the other posters who note that running away, or getting a gun might be a better stop gap. Specifically a sawed off filled with buckshot. Vampires might not be able to be killed, but blowing a limb off or a huge hole in the torso can certainly put them to inconvience. TKD is a beautiful form, but it is far less practical. ANY training though is better than none.
A vampire martial art? That’s just ridiculous! Can you please take this seriously?
Now, Opal, you should have your vampire martial artist teach his vampire pupil taekwondo. I took classes when I was six and I’m sure it would have been more effective had I been a vampire.