I’ve been involved in National Karate for about 7/8 years now. It is a form of Americanized Tae Kwan Do. I got my black belt about a year ago, right before I went to my first year of college. Over the summer I’ve taken class again at NK but since I’m leaving again for school soon, I also have to stop going. I do hope to get through my first segmanet before I really go back to school. (You have to go through three segments before you can test for your second degree black belt.) Along with NK classes I’ve also taken there kickboxing classes, which seem to be more along the lines of keeping fit than martial arts skills.
I’m going to greatly miss classes at NK when I go back to college, it has been a part of my life for a long time. The people there are all my friends, i’ll miss being able to beat up my friends. There is nothing like a good round of sparring, nothing.
I studied American Freestyle Karate from 12-21. <insert BROAD GENERALIZATION> For those unfamiliar, it’s similar in stylistic approach to Jeet Kun Do. To clarify: Bruce Lee took moves and styles from many other forms and rolled them into Jeet Kun Do. AFK has done a similar thing, except it focuses more on the linear Nipponese karate forms than the more circular Chinese gung fu.
I fought full contact tournaments for almost four years, getting myself retired with a record of 147-1. That 1 really sucked; I got a disk kicked out of my lower back.
As part of the training, I was also schooled in knife, sword, bo, han bo, nunchuku, sai and tonfa. Bo was my specialty weapon for my black belt tests, and I earned a ni dan (second degree) before I stopped taking classes. I still practice forms and combinations every day, although I have to admit I haven’t picked up tonfa and sai in a while.
I’ve been thinking lately about taking up Wing Chun, but I haven’t made the time to investigate schools yet.
Karate. Uechi-ryu in particular relies mostly on hand, elbow, knee, shin and low kicking attacks with a bit of aikido thrown in for flavor. Just about any traditional karate style will fit your body type wonderfully, though. Of course, you probably knew from my above post what I’d recommend.
Bujinkan ninpo taijutsu (ninjutsu) for a year and a half now
Started in my second year at college 'cause I wanted to do something about my physique and coordination, one of my roommates took me along to this fun group and i’m addicted ever since. It’s my first art and in all honesty, I’m hopeless at it nevertheless I have a fun time doing it.
Am I the only one who does the Rorschach Test on his bruises ?
Chrome Spot, Dragwyr, my people! Tang Soo Do for 6 years! On and off for the past two, on account of college. Love it, I’m a high brown belt (3rd gup to those in the know). Are you two in the Association?
Blackclaw, I hear you. I spent 14 years studying shotokan karate. I have been out of practice for a while now and would like to get back in shape but I’m primarily a pool addict now (note the username) and the only martial art I spend any time at now is .45ACP
My parents recently started Tai Chi and have gotten me interested in it. I have also wanted to spend time on kali but I cannot find any qualified teachers here and refuse to go to a commercial school. They are a business first and hence are too expensive and too oriented on the wrong things. If anyone can recommend a person in Atlanta, GA area willign to just teach to an eager student in kali or tai chi, and is not planning on getting rich off me, I would be grateful for a reference.
That depends, what do you want to get out of martial arts?
Do you want to be able to pummel truckers to death?
Do you want to improve your coordination and grace?
For the former, I’d suggest any combat oriented program. Jeet Kune Do, Jujitsu, Hapkido, etc. Any well rounded art. To specialize in beating truckers to death I’d recommend wrestling and boxing, big people are very good at ground’n’pound fighting. Finding a wrestling school is probably going to be next to impossible, so find any groundfighting school. Judo and Jujitsu are probably the most common. And boxing is one of the most valuable arts for a straight forward streetfight, especially if you’re big.
For the latter, I’d suggest any traditonally oriented art. Kung Fu, any pure style, definitely stands out in my mind. There’s Aikido, Tai Chi. WTF Tae Kwon Do. I’m drawing a blank here, I’m afraid. I have littel interest in classical martial arts.
I spent a couple years studying Shotokan, and enjoyed it a lot, but it is a rather time consuming style. It’s not big on flowery stuff or board breaking and it’s not very pretty, but it demands absolute perfection for something as simple as a straight punch. Infraggable, you might want to look into it. It doesn’t involve a lot of jumping around and stuff but is a very straightforward and very effective style and well suited to big guys. It does take a higher level, IMO, of discipline than a lot of other styles though. I had just qualified for brown belt, when I stopped. I was told that I would never make black because although I had a natural ability for the physical skills, I lacked the mental discipline that was required, which was true. I had grown increasingly impatient with the amount of time spent on perfecting something I believed to be perfect rather than learning a new area. Plus, I really wanted to learn some weaponry, which Shotokan does not teach. (They believe that if you need a weapon, you haven’t perfected unarmed fighting… and there is no such thing as perfect Shotokan… blah blah blah) I couldn’t help it… the Sai was just so COOL looking:) I then started Kendo but by then, I was just not into it anymore, and found that chasing girls in bars was a much more enjoyable way to spend my evenings:)
I studied Aikido for about a year. I’d get back in a class somewhere, but I don’t have a car, and there’s nothing too close to where I live now. You’d think in Seattle, where Bruce Lee opened his first school, there’d be all kinds of martial arts schools, but there’s just as many as everywhere else.
I really enjoyed Aikido. It’s an energy-conserving martial art. I had a problem with the class though. Everyone but the Sensei was a beginner, and I don’t think you can learn effectively when practicing against another beginner.
If anyone lives in Seattle and knows a few Aikido or Hapkido schools, let me know please.
Dragon style Kung Fu for about a year now. I am still trying to put myself into the basic stance when I start fighting. I am working to grasp Qi. Qi is the driving force behind Dragon style. Whereas someone who uses Tiger would break boards with strength, a Dragon student uses Qi to focus and disrupt. It is a lot of twisting and dodging with your feet firmly planted, and a lot of anticipation. I have taken to having people strow small objects at me so I can look for where they will be and put my hand there.
Kind of the “Catch the fly, Grasshopper” stage I am in.
No, life took me off of the Tang Soo Do path. Actually, it was difficult scheduling the time for it. The second time I quit was actually because I got a puppy, who took up all my free time.
I think the problem in general was calibrating the level of seriousness with which to approach the discipline.
If you’re ever in the Philly area and need a stretching buddy, get in touch.
I hold a 2nd degree(my school used three degrees on all belts above orange excluding brown and black which had a diffrent system) Blue belt in nine paths kenpo.
I took Brazilian jui jitsu and practiced grappling for about four months a piece and have taken a few classes in Kendo(but stopped cause it’s very expensive)
I hope to start taking some more kenpo soon because my school happens to offer it and i need a credit for Phys ed. blech fortunately karte goes towards it.
It’d be nice to find a grappling oriented school that covers techniques from multiple forms or something in the miami fort lauderdale or west palm beach areas of south florida. If anyone knows someplace drop me a line
Thanks to both Turbo and Anal. Straight-up karate is something I’ve thought a lot about; from what I understand, it’s not as kick-oriented as taekwondo is (which is a great help). I’m not interested in martial arts for the sake of ass-whoopin’ – when you’re my size, people really don’t mess with you that much – but more for improving my own coordination, staying in shape, and general body conditioning.
(BTW, Anal, I’m in the NW Chicago suburbs.)
Now if I could just find a kendo school around here somewhere – not for self-defense, just because it looks interesting as hell!
Some Americanized version of Karate. I was taught by two separate instructors, both who learned it in the military. I had a green belt at one time, but even though I’m still in good shape, I’m nowhere near as limber. I think I may be able to get my leg high enough to deliver a kick to the groin without falling over.
JKD (or JKDC if anyone cares to argue) for somewhere less than 10 years. Quite a bit of FMA during that time, and an emphasis on BJJ-related grappling over the last 5 or so. In the last couple of years, a bit of kickboxing and Muay Thai.
This spring I asked my doctor about the constant pain I had in my left wrist and right foot. The x-rays were pretty ugly. Advanced arthritis in both areas, and they want to remove the bone chips from my wrist. So I am now fencing. (foil and sabber, not chainlink!)
Tomcat - Rick Faye is quite the shit, huh? MKG is a quality organization top to bottom.
I just switched to northern shaolin two months ago. I started out in college doing Wing Chun, which I studied for three years before making this change. WC is a fantastic and effiecient style of in fighting, but I was looking for something a bit more strenuous. At 6’0" 270 pds, I wanted more exercise without selling out to a Tiger Schulman/Tae bo/cardio kickboxing type thing. (No disrespect intended to adherents of any of those activities! They’re just not for me.) Traditional shaolin is definitly the way to go. It’s got all the big pretty moves you see in the movies, but unlike wushu there is real power behind the forms.
I’ve been studying aikido for about two years now with a hiatus or two in the middle. I absolutely love that art. It’s fluid, it’s graceful and it pushes me to understand my mind and body differently.
For all the people studying/recommending Kung Fu, it’s something that I’m interested in learning about, but I don’t understand the nature/origins of the various forms. Could someone please explain what they are and why some are preferred over others? I’m sure if I were to make the decision to cross-train, a lot would depend on the sensei, but it would be nice to have an educated guess as to were to start looking. Sorry for the hijack.
Nen, I think the first thing you need to understand is that kung-fu is a blanket term for all Chinese martial arts, and there are hundreds.
I am of the opinion that there is no “best style,” so the decision as to what to study should be based more on your specific goals and what good teachers are available in your area. Here in New York city, nearly every style is represented and taught well so my decision was based purely on my own goals and word of mouth. If your location is less populated, I would consider studying under whoever is most qualified. Obviously, this is determined by watching class and talking to local practioners.
Having said that- If you are into fluidity, my brother studied aikido for around 3 years and recently switched to tai-chi and white crane (same teacher). The deciding factor for him was he moved to a new city and hated the aikido school but loved the white crane school.
If you like, I will post some links and add more detail tommorow when I have some more time to think about this. Happy hunting!
