I know I have asked about this once before, but here’s what I’m looking for. I want to take a martial art. I am easily bored, so please try to find one that is pretty fast paced. I am not adverse to hard work, I just don’t like things that drag. I am looking the following:
[ul]
[li]improve my flexibility[/li][li]get myself into better shape[/li][li]learn to defend myself, pretty quickly.[/li][/ul]
Those of you who are into this stuff, what do you recommend? I live in Winnipeg, so try not to pick a really obscure one, we probably don’t have it here.
Well, using this listing as a starting point, I would probably recommend one of the kenpo karate schools. The style is fairly vigorous and about as useful as any karate style in actual self-defense (simple bits of it actually work in practice, most of it doesn’t, in my experience). The important thing is to observe the school for a while before joining and deciding whether or not you’ll be comfortable there. I prefer nontraditional, highly informal schools myself–that’s something you really need to visit the classes to find out. You might also contact some of the karate clubs–they’ll know quite a bit about the instructors in your area.
For actual self-defense, a grappling or boxing class might be more useful. I would suggest checking out the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school (but then I’d have to be rawly envious of the people getting to grapple with you ).
Seriously though, Gracie JJ is a solid style and worth looking into. It looks like there’s more in Winnipeg than you were hinting. To bad I couldn’t find a Modern Arnis school to recommend–knife and stick styles are cool.
The current rage in self defense is Krav Maga, the martial art of the Israeli military. I’m planning on looking into it myself, whenever I get a chance.
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