Hehehehe 
No, not cowboy hats and spurs.
More like Grappling, dagger and fencing combat in western (historical) techniques.
The grappling and dagger combat are relevant (and effective) today. The fencing isn’t really though, unless you can carry a sword around when you’re in a bad part of town 
But it still a great work out, a study of discipline, timing, strength, agility, etc. In other words, all the things that make a martial art form, a martial art.
Singlestick, (mostly self-taught from old sources)
assorted knife lessons from my S.E.A.L./French Foreign Legion buddy (an interesting guy)
Pistols, modern and blackpowder
Medieval Broadsword, spear and axe
Roman Gladius and Scutum
Tae Kwon Do, 9th kup purple belt (years ago, want to get my black!)
and deadliest of all…
I own six lightsabre’s and I know how to use them! Proof!
Does anyone else find that when you’re out shopping for clothes, not only do you look for things which look good on you etc., but most importantly, trousers/jeans that you can kick in?
All my jeans are either baggy or stretchy enough that I can kick completely freely (and I can almost do the splits in both directions - cold).
You know you’re a martial arts geek when…
I do MMA (mixed martial arts), which is a combination of boxing, Thai boxing, and Brasilian Jiu-Jitsu.
I’ve also, in the past, done Judo, Aiki-Jutsu and Bando. Also Fencing, since that seems to be considered a martial art.
Martial arts are fun. I think of them as aerobics for men, although I’d never say that to anyone I train with.
Kick boxing for me. Because I like kicking things, and boxing?
I started with ECKA Karate, and practiced this for many years. Also dabbled with a little kung-fu (didn’t like much), and wutan. I was rather keen for quite some time, but am somewhat out of practice now.
I have been know to get busy with egg food yung, too.
Hapkido student here – just got my black belt a couple months ago. Love the art: grappling, kicking, punching, weapons, (no contact) sparring, forms - its got everything I find fun, and I have a great instructor, too. Very traditional.
green, I have seen a list of hapkido schools recently, with quite a few listed in Britain, but now I’m having trouble finding it. I’ll look some more…
Hey does Krav Maga count? I’m going to get certified this year (my main personal goal)
Shobu Aikido, actually. I did three years, on and off with the dedication of your average 19 year old acid-head, about 8 years ago in a Honbu style Dojo. I have recently found a Shobu Aikido club in the Hartford area, and I survived my second class on Teusday.
Shobu is even more fluid than some other styles of Aiki one finds in the States, with cultivation of awareness and sensitivity a primary goal. Atemi are taught, but not emphasized and become sort of incidental to the technique
Mostly I like the spirit of play in the Dojo. lots of fun, if a bit intense at times.
Martin
I’ve always wanted to study Hapkido, as it is cousin to Aikido. The developer of Hapkido and O-Sensei studied under the same Daito-Ryu Aikijustu teacher.
I used to take this back when I lived in NJ. Sadly I was forced to quit when I moved, the nearest school to here is 100 miles away. 
It was a very physically and spiritually rewarding art.
Was this in Tarrytown?
Ravenman, congratulations on your black belt btw
Any luck with the list of schools?
Boy, I’ve seen that list about a dozen times, now I can’t find it. But it’s always in the last place you look, ya know?
In the meantime, maybe check out
or
Cheers, that 2nd link looks like it could be useful
I found the page I remembered, but it is a list for Kuk Sool Won schools. So far as I can tell, Kuk Sool Won is quite similar to hapkido, but I by no means an expert on the history of that art or its dissimilarities to hapkido.
Here’s the link anyways:
http://www.kuksoolwon.com/schools.htm
Of course, I will issue the standard disclaimers about choosing a martial arts school: go and watch a class before you sign up, run like hell if you start getting pressured into plunking down money right away, etc.
Good luck!
Thanks for your efforts Ravenman I’m going to check out a coventry hapkido place in a couple of weeks when I’m back in England - should be interesting
About as absurd as my putting on a gi and a hakama. Who the hell do I think I am? More to the point: Who the hell do I think I am being?
Not to mention it’s based on actual combat. Anybody ever hear of dueling? Really happened.
About 30 years ago, there was an accidental death during the fencing trials at the Olympics. One fencer forgot to tuck his glove over his sleeve; tucked it inside. Opposing fencer’s Olympic foil, stiffened for the electronic point-count, slid down his sleeve during a lunge, was trapped by the fabric, punctured his axilla, and went through the lung and into the heart. Fencer dropped dead on the end of the foil. Opponent fencer was utterly horrorstricken, had to leave the trials.
And they say it’s just a sport. Baby, it’s based on killing. For my aikido 2 cents, that makes it a martial art.
I fenced; does that make me one of the two?
That’s not why I’m the Sultana of Slash, though! <gdr>
Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. Our club is very small and I’m the only chick, which is sort of cool. The guys were all really excited to get a girl in the class because my body is so different (I’m super-flexible and not very strong).
Anyway, I love it. My previous experience was with a little bit of Enshin Karate and, though I enjoyed it, I felt pretty intimidated. I needed an art (and a school) that would emphasize the mental part of the learning.
I’ve been doing jujitsu on and off for about a year and a half and am working through the Nage (throws) list which tends to scare most people out of our system. It’s hard on the body, but I’m just hoping to live through it so I can move on to Shime!
Osu!
OfficeGirl
Sultana of Slash : Although modern fencing does have it’s roots in classical fencing (which in turns has it’s roots in historical fencing), I’m not sure that I would call modern fencing anything more than a sport.
It is tought as a sport, it is practiced as a sport, and it is likewise recognized as such. True enough that does not necessarily mean it is not a martial art, but I think taking everything into consideration, I would be hard pressed to call it one.
One of the reasons is that the modern sport has very little to do with historical fencing (fencing as in sword combat, not modern fencing). The method used during those times was a lethal, effective art of combat.
All I know of medieval and rennaissance combat is what I have read, I’m still getting ready to attend an actual class, so could perhaps someone more enlightened give us a ‘hands on’ comparioson between historicla fencing and the modern sport?
(I know there was a historicla fencer on these boards some weeks ago, unfortunatley I do not remember his handle otherwise I would summon him).
