You've taken krav maga before? It definitely seems to fit what I'm looking for. I will also be starting jiu jitsu in about six months to round out my training.

you make it sound like every idiot in street fights is a BJJ black belt or something. I would take TKD training over nothing any time. I have see 13 y.o. skinny kid take on two football guys and beat the living shit out of them. That black belt really helped him out.

i spent some time watching some Kenpo classes once just out of curiosity to know more about other martial arts and what they do. It was by far the most bizarre display of ridiculous insanity that i had witnessed as someone who went to all tournaments in the seattle area, studied couple styles of karate, boxed and owned a martial arts school.

fighting is fighting. if you want to learn to hit... you better be in an emotional place to BE HIT... if you want to kick... you better be in a place where you are prepared to be kicked. if you want to be good... you better be prepared for pain. if you are kinda into it... don't bother. if you want to learn how to fight on the ground... train bjj. if you want to be good... be prepared to give 110% every second you are in the gym... be prepared to work until you puke. if you're not ready for that.. don't bother... if you want to carry a gun, be ready for someone to take it from you and kill you with it. if you want to learn some jackasses "self defense" course... be prepared to kick a guy in the balls and have him in turn, tear your head off. if you want to use mace... be prepared to get beat to death by the pissed off psychotic guy with mace in his face.

there are no easy answers. life is wildly unpredictable, violent and chaotic. if you want to feel safer.. don't put yourself in an unsafe place. that is the single best answer. if you think training is the answer... you will only be as good as the effort you put into it and as good as the instructor can make you. the vast majority of martial arts is pure bullshit. martial arts that isn't bullshit is hard work, pain and intense training.

I've been involved in martial arts off and on for my entire life and been in quite a bit of real fights. (Shaolin Gung-fu, Niesi GOJU Ryu Karate, Sanuces Ryu Ju-Jitsu, Ho Chi-Mo Karate, Thi-Chi, Kick boxing and now Gracie Barra Jiu Jitsu)
Not saying I'm great or anything, (Was pretty freakin' good at one time) but I trained for a lot of years.

#1 Been witness to many real fights and it is true that 90+% go to the ground, especially in bars and in tight locations. (Sucker punches not withstanding)
This is why I'm going to advocate Brazillian Jiu Jitsu over any other marial art listed on this page.

#2 In order to be able to defend yourself for real you must train in a live martial art. One that you train with a live opponent on a daily basis. You can train in BJJ throughout your entire life. (In other MMA style like Boxing or Muay-Thai the punches and kicks to your face/head etc.... will get old after a while)

#3 I started training BJJ when I was 45 and was able to get right in and train without serious injury, this should be true for most people as well.

#4 As an added bonus BJJ will get your ass in the best shape of your life.

Am I saying that BJJ is the absolute best thing there is? NO!!! Complete MMA traing including BJJ would be better as proven in the octogon.

For a healthy life long martial art (That works) BJJ is great.

FYI: there are many many nasty tricks like eye gauging, finger breaking, mouth hooking, throat and neck punching/chopping and nut kicking etc..... that MMA leaves out for obvious reasons. For self defense you should learn all the nasty stuff you can get your hands on too!!! And don't forget weapons guns, knife and sticks.

:2 cents:

I didn't really like what I saw at the kenpo school. They really seemed to focus on katas and forms and "if he does this, I do these moves" which I'm really not looking for. Anthony made a very good point about finding somewhere that practices full strength instead of punching and kicking the air, and that's why I chose krav maga.

You also have some very good points and I agree 100%. I always try to be aware of my surroundings and avoid situations, but shit happens sometimes. I'm definitely going into this 100% :thumbsup

Don't listen to Anthony, he knows nothing! It's Rex Kwon Do or go home

http://rlv.zcache.com/rex_kwon_do_bo...09q0yk_400.jpg

You're kidding right?

I imagine so, that's the "martial art" from Napolean Dynamite :1orglaugh

Bow to your Sensei!

I personally don't take anything.... that being said my Finacee has been taking BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) for almost 2 years and he loves it!

I recommend it cause: 1. it works and 2. its also good for self defense!

the krav maga beginner course is twice a week for a couple months, after that intermediate is once a week. I'll be taking jiu jitsu in addition to krav maga in a couple months when I hit the intermediate level :thumbsup

To Tae Kwon Do defense - it is a SPORT more than a street fighting thing. Here is the proof: https://youtube.com/watch?v=sfGz3...eature=related

yup, I think everyone here realizes that... but thanks for sharing the funny video

A lot of people shitted on TKD in this thread. I think someone like Pedro Xavier (considered by many to be the best point fighter ever) and his devastating kicks could stand up to some of the toughest MT guys.

sure... he could stand up to them... and score points... then get taken down and beat to death.

;)

and you're talking about one guy... not the sport in general. your talking about a sport that generally passes out black belts like a charity passing out free t-shirts to homeless people.

there's been some decent kung fu guys in MMA.. people like Ken Shamrock was originally Kenpo. Both still totally suck as fighting styles the whole and there is a reason you NEVER see Tae Kwon Do in mma. ;)

There is a difference between the fighter and his ability and the style he's trained. styles don't make people great.

haha.. watched the video

wow. typical TKD... effective against..... TKD.

I dare you to take one side kick in you torso and see. You guys are bunch of morons comparing apples and radiators. yes, TKD is flashy and I don't think very many TKD fighters will be using round house kicks all the timein a street fight, but come on, one headshot ala "Crocop" in the head and fight is over. Onse side kick in your beer guy and you're done.

here's your typical street fight. Mexican punk pics on some kid that knows a thing or two. Flashy? yes, but he takes care of "little Pedro".
Guys like Anthony don't pick street fights just for hell of it, because they have ethics and know their power. Its punk asses like this one.



https://youtube.com/watch?v=TsFmWipioeg

You ever watch that old baseball fight between Chan Ho Park (at the time of the Dodgers) and Tim Belcher (at the time of the Angels)? Park, who is supposed to be a black belt in TKD, didn't like the hard tag he received from Belcher after a sacrifice bunt. A fight broke out, and Park tried to throw one of those bullshit TKD flying kicks at Belcher. Belcher stepped aside and pushed Park to the ground, and then Belcher fell on top of, and pounded the living shit out of Park.

http://dodgerblues.com/images/chanhokick.gif

Personally I think your 13 year old skinny kid story is bullshit, but I don't care enough to argue with you. There are always freaks of nature like Cung Lee that can throw these stylish roundhouse kicks and connect with him, but for 99% of the world if you try and throw some obnoxious TKD kick you will soon end up on your ass with the other person on top of you...

I have taken Riffle, Handgun and Shotgun before. True story.

IF one of those kicks happen to connect you wouldn't know where you are and what your name is. I took TKD with 6th degree black belt.. ex Marine, diagnosed going blind at 25. He can’t see shit within 2 feet but I still would fuck with him. It would even have to get as far as round house. His hands and feet are fast enough to throw few punches and one crushing side kick for you to be in coma. Now, I’m not saying he would go head to head with BJJ fighter or any other MMA guy, but fuck, in a street fight with some homie douchebag ?? I’ll take my blind instructor 9 out of 10 times. Ofcourse you would know better because of some baseball player.. pffft..

No, I know better because I took TKD and several other bullshit martial arts including Shotokan and Kenpo for years, and completely wasted my time before I started taking weekend trips to Coldwater, Michigan in the late '90's and trained with UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn and Becky Levi, long before there was an MMA/BJJ school on every corner. Every time I would try some bullshit TKD kick in sparring Becky Levi would drop me on my fucking ass, my hip, or my tailbone with a Judo throw.

Like I said before, there are guys that are naturally gifted athletes with fast hands and feet that might be able to get away with throwing some silly TKD kicks and roundhouse punches, but if I had to choose between a 5'5", 130 pound TKD black belt, and a 6'5", 270 pound douchebag homie with no fight training, I would take the douchebag homie every time. The only thing TKD teaches the average Joe is false confidence...

Nice vid man.

why don't you try Emelyanenko Brothers.. Or why don't have Becky try them. Jesus christ, did you bother to read my post

riiaaaaaght, why not 8'5" godzilla? as if every thug on the street is 6'5" and 270 lbs.

maybe you went to crappy ass school and slept thru everything. Maybe its just you, because our guy would it even let us use fancy roundhouse kick during sparing. as matter of fact sidekick was his #1 weapon. Dude, that one side kick can crack you ribs. Don;t tell me that would make you think twice before you continue the fight. But hey, Im sure every 6'5" homie that you know is so proficient in self defense he'd have no problem dealing with skilled fighter. what ever...

No, no.. we need a 6"5' NFL lineman fighting this kid, because its all BS.

You should just carry pistols. No one was doing martial arts in the Old West. :2 cents:

Asking people which martial art you should study is like asking which church you should join or which religion you should practice.

Everyone thinks theirs is the best and that everyone who disagrees with them is going to hell (or in this case, will get their ass kicked in a fight)

It really doesn't matter, unless you're planning to fight professionally.

How many fist fights have you been in during the past 5 years? How many of those (if there were any) were against people with heavy martial arts backgrounds?

Also, no matter how much you study and train or what art(s) you train in, there is always going to be someone out there who can beat your ass.

So do what's fun, what keeps you in shape, what's interesting enough to you that you stick with it. That's my :2 cents:

First of all, use Google and do a little reading up on Becky Levi before you go making stupid comments. I have no fucking clue what your Emelianenko comment was supposed to be about, but Fedor never wasted his time with TKD.

Second, maybe your instructor could throw a hard side kick with force, but that doesn't mean he can magically teach some skinny kid to throw the exact same side kick with equal force. TKD is, was, and always has been a bullshit martial art that gives false confidence to people. I guess you must have went to the only TKD school on the planet that didn't teach spinning back fists and crazy roundhouse kicks. Every other TKD school is populated by fat guys with black belts...

That video was two dumb kids throwing wild flailing punches at each other, and the white kid happened to connect first. There was zero skill involved in that...

I half realized that going in, but I still wanted to hear some opinions from people studying martial arts. I'm not looking to compete or fight professionally at all. Interesting points and good advice, thanks.

there was ONE kid throwing punches. White kid threw one backfist. Just one. I doubt he learned that at local 7-11 while asking other kids for their lunch money.

On another note, I think it's stupid that people point to "this fight" or "that fight" as empirical evidence that one fighting style is superior to another.

Royce Gracie was the best BJJ fighter in the world at the time of UFC 1, and he was fighting guys like the boxer who had one glove on and shit.
What UFC 1, 2, and 4 proved was that Royce was an elite fighter, not necessarily that his system was the greatest. (Because to be perfectly honest, BJJ doesn't own the armbar, or the triangle, or the rear naked choke, etc....lots of systems teach those moves, those other systems just weren't as prominent or popular)

Hell look at Kimo. Kimo almost beat Gracie (and put him out of commission that tournament), and I would argue that if Kimo had shaved his head before the fight, he would have won.
Kimo studied TKD.
So does that mean TKD is the 2nd best? :1orglaugh

No, it means that Kimo is a big bad mother fucker and his art or style made no difference.

Speaking of early UFC, look at Tank Abbott. No style whatsoever, just a big mean fucking dude who beat the living shit out of alot of guys who had spent years in dojos and gyms.

My point is, that some people are just plain bad mother fuckers, and other people can train for years in every art there is and they'll still be pussies.

I have see those as well. I've seen kids come to our school from those because they were not learning crap but had belt test every month and had to fork out 50 bucks each time. I never said that every TKD school teaches you a bad ass mofo that can take on Becki Levi.
BTW, you don't know any fat BJJ guys?

What fight were you watching? They were both throwing wild punches, and the white kid just happened to catch the other kid with a punch, and it wasn't a back fist...

:thumbsup:thumbsup:thumbsup

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Those weren’t punches. Watch any KungFu fights. That’s what they do. He threw one punch and knocked Pedro out cold. I doubt anyone fucked with whitie again.

Huge bullshit post.

UFC 1 - 4 proved BJJ was the Best Martial Art, bar none. You can't ask for more empirical data than that.


Because you are ignorant of the subject, I'll educate you. Sambo, Judo, Jiu Jitsu (Japanese) Brazilian/Gracie Jiu Jitsu all share the same techniques. THe difference is setup, and positional dominance. No one knew how to combat it in the early UFC's, plain and simple. Spouting off ignorance does no one any good, and CYF has proven he wants to learn the truth.

Anyways, do you talk out of your ass all the time making shit up? Royce Gracie was FAR from being the best Gracie Jiu Jitsu representative at that time. His Brother Rickson was light years ahead of him, but looked like a fighter. Royce was picked because he didn't have a chiseled body, was soft looking, and looked just like any other 170lbs guy on the street. Royce was picked because he was the weakest of all the Gracies, to prove that GRACIE JIU JITSU was the most dominant martial art at the time.



More talking shit, without any basis in fact. the UFC gave KIMO a ranking in Tae Kwon Do , in reality Kimo was just a street fighter and big. What better way to PROVE that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was effective? Here's another point of fact for you Lenny, Kimo Leopoldo is now a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, why do you think he trained 7 plus years to get it? :1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh


Yah, and when Tank came up and fought a Brazilian by the name of Vitor Belfort, he got his ass KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT. Let's not forget when Frank Mir, a BJJ BLack Belt, tapped out Tank Abbot with a fucking toe hold/ankle lock and Omo Plata combination. Yah, good example there. Everyone talks about the plain bad ass mother fuckers, when in reality not many exist.


Grappling works, and it's not about fighting on the ground, it's about getting up and keep
your opponent on the ground. BJJ, Sambo, Judo (emphasis on Ne Waza), you can't go wrong.

Yeah, because Belfort was a better boxer with faster hands. There wasn't a single ounce of jiu jitsu in that fight, yet you're using it as an example of how BJJ is superior to everything else.

You're hardly an honest broker on this subject.

The problem with discussions like these is that people become personally invested in these things.
A guy who spends years training in a certain discipline (no matter what that discipline is) gets offended when someone tells him that it sucks, or that there's something else better. They go to great lengths to defend their discipline, because in doing so they're trying to validate themselves and the time investment and sweat equity they've put into it.

The same thing is true of people who own a Chevy when talking to a Ford owner, a guy who went to Ohio State when talking to someone from Michigan, even people who host at Webair when someone starts a "webair sucks" thread.

No, UFC 1-4 proved that Royce Gracie was the best fighter out of all the people who entered UFC 1-4.

The conclusion you're trying to draw would be like me saying that Super Bowl 19 is empirical proof that the west coast offense is the best offense ever created, bar none.

Or that Super Bowl 20 is empirical proof that the 46 defense is the best defense ever created, bar none.

While the schemes being used are important, it was the talent and execution of the players that won those games, and players as talented as those probably could have won with the power I formation or a 3-4 defense also.

Of course I don't expect you to be reasonable about this, you have BJJ tourrette's, but everyone else reading this will get the point. :2 cents:

I am no expert in various martial arts forms but I do run a security business and have seen a lot of people get hurt in the streets....... In general real fights are won by the most aggressive and most vicious fighter....... style does not usually seem to come into play. Lots of guys who spend all day in the gym end up getting their skull caved in with a brick by someone who thinks quicker and is a lot meaner than they are.

The person who is willing to do whatever is necessary to cause maximum damage and does not hesitate wins about 99% of the time.