has anyone ever taken a self defense class? what type and how effective was it?
466593
i took a year or 2 in Ju Jitsu it was effective this guy attacked me at school and I floored him easily also 2 of my friends took the same curse and have found it very successful but i stopped and 4got most of the stuff so its best if u keep it up
873148
I have to say that Aikido would be my choice, though it is a mostly defensive art. You can perform offensive moves, but they are usually in response to someone else's aggression and normally in order to incapacitate the opponent/halt the attack; which again, makes them defensive moves. \nThere are some rather intricate kill-tactics employed by practioners of Dim Mak, which follows a series of meridians that control the ebb and flow of the body's energy and if employed correctly, cause series injury leading to death, but I won't go into those here.
879205
It ultimately depends on what martial art you are talking about. As the other guy mentioned, some martial arts have been invented to counter different organizations or different styles at different points in history, which might render these particular styles innefective in todays street situations. \n   The truth is that there are many fake *** artists out there today and this probably makes up for about 75% of "martial artists" today. Some arts are mostly meant for demonstration and if you find yourself trying to apply your demonstration technique in a life or death street situation, you might find yourself dead pretty fast.\n   One of the things a REAL art will provide is incredibly strong concentration and it will help you to keep your cool in a deadly situation. Strong phsycology and negotion skills can give you a serious advantage over your average thug, thus opening the gaps, and letting you get inside to drop a bomb. I dont recommend trying it like they do in the movies and attempting to dodge bullets; you need to be practical. The best way to dodge a bullet is to not even be in the situation in the first place. Be intuitive and you need to develop neurologically and keep your senses sharp as a razor blade. Mental techniques like this help you pick apart certain situations and completely avoid them all together, like a ninja.\n   As far as efficiency goes? You need to use the given situation as your technique. Theres absolutely nothing pre-determined in a fighting situation, regardless of what your phony instructor might tell you. You need to understand the evolution of martial art and that it does involve more weapons than it did during times when the art may have been invented. Shotokan Karate was invented by the Japanese simply because they didnt have any weapons, and they needed to turn their bodies into lethal instruments.\n   Some say that if you are 1 guy that destroys 6 thugs on the street, that you are "lucky". For the average phony martial artist, that might be true. But for a master mind that doesnt even need the title of "master" to begin with, he may have it all calculated from the beginning. \n  Is martial art effective on the street? Its extremely effective, provided that you know a REAL art. The mixed martial artists in the UFC are not necessarily real Martial Artists. Most of them are only interested in destroying others for their own satisfaction. During their game, in the cage, they have the advantage. Obviously they can apply what they know to a real fight. But on the streets, a complete fighter always has the advantage.\n   What is a complete fighter? Think of the evolution of combat without limit. No boundaries. Wouldnt this involve weapons?
20173
I would contact your local police station often times police departments have a program in place where they travel from school to school and talk about safety, not to mention bullying. I would also see if my local or reference library has a video. Also participating in role plays with kids demonstrating the do's and dont's is highly effective since it is hands on.
716200
Quicksilver8676: \n\nBEST ANSWER!! Totally agree with every word. I've studied martial arts for over ten years. I teach self defence mixing Taekwondo and Ju Jitsu techniques. Cross training is the way to go but knowlege snf training in ANY martial art will be useful in a REAL situation.\n\nHood_12: \n\nDumbest guy you'll ever meet. Every post he makes is negative about TKD as he was screwed over by his instructor/school. It does happen sometimes. Most people notice they are been taken for a ride after a couple of lessons. Not this moron tho. Took him five years LOL
415718
The best one would be a style such as but not limited to “Jeet Kun Do” where someone has combined the knowledge he has acquired throughout the years and incorporated the good stuff into it and thrown out the ineffective. Then systematized it to create his own expression. It should include, grappling, some kicks/punches/blocks, locks and body conditioning and include some practical everyday self defense scenarios into the training.
1186001
If you are asking this question you have not been learning long enough.\n\nAny serious martial art will prepare you to defend yourself in the real world
260493
When I was in your shoes, I signed up for Karate lessons.  I never had to actually fight, but the idea that I was studying fighting and was willing to fight for a hobby led the bullies to seek weaker victims.  The bullies themselves are essentially ego-challenged and won't risk being humiliated (although I wouldn't be so crude as to tell them this).  If you can, I recommend tradional Akido instead (not the crappy competitive junk "American" version).  If your dojo master is all about competition, move.  Real martial arts trains the body, mind, and soul, not just how to beat someone else up.\n\nIt's possible that your school is much worse than most (run more by gangs than the school staff).  If that's the case, moving would be a good career move because the quality of your school will be very low.  If that happens, then the REAL bullies (bosses, con artists, and the other adults that try to put you down) will haunt you for the rest of your life.  If you're in that situation and hellbent on staying, then good luck!  You will need to get a cultural change going and that will basically take getting the WHOLE school mobilized towards disempowering and ostracizing the gangs.  In this case, study either peaceful leaders like Gandhi and MLK if you want a pleasant school or violent leaders like the young Malcolm X or Ghengis Khan if you want the whole school carrying some sort of weapon.\n\nIn substantially less violent situations, calling on authorities like parents and teachers can be useful if done vindictively.  Don't let them think you're being a panzy about it, but present an attitude that the teacher/parent/other authority is actually seen as your tool of violence against them.  I also liked setting situations where they almost felt relieved to be caught - the "aren't you glad that it's the teacher solving your problem and not me and my friends beating your head in" routine works best after you've studied some martial arts.  At that point, you can emote pity for the bullies, who are really just stupid brutes and probably don't know any better.  This is a very different "telling the teacher" than when done in fear and cowardice because you are acting from a position of power.  Did I mention that they have fragile egos and hunt the weak and fearful?  They are slightly more evolved than dogs, although dogs are often better trained.  Being cruel doesn't really help and beating them up probably won't change them.  I was always willing to help them on their way to real rehabilitation services such that the teacher likewise understood that if they couldn't do the job and the principal couldn't do the job and their parents couldn't handle it, then the police were obliged to respond to calls - even if that led them to entering a classroom.  This also never had to happen, but my willingness to do whatever it took to get the kids not just punished but their heads "fixed."  Telling bullies directly that they have psychological problems is likewise not good advice, but the teacher should understand that counseling, juvenile detention, or having the bullies sent off to foster homes might also be the solution.  Again, for someone in your shoes, this isn't just a caring response, but also a "and I'll be damned if I am going to put up with this kind of crap!" attitude.
5075
May be the best way to get this info is not on the web, but using as Bit Torrent program. There´s some books available about self defense that are very interesting!
688426
I can tell you what I've read in the past.  Always, ALWAYS pay attention to your surroundings.  Never be caught off guard.  Be ready for just in case.  You are less likely to be approached if you show that you are alert.  I hope that you have some sort of self defense training.  If not, check with your local Recreation Center.  They usually offer something reasonably priced.  Even if you only attend for a month, that is one month more you have under your belt than what you had.  I was strangled, smothered and stabbed when I was 10, so I made a point to make sure my daughters had self defense, even if they hated it.  I hope this has helped.
861940
A lot of good answers above.\n\nIt is important for you to determine your main motivation and goal for wanting to learn a martial art. If it is self defense, esp. for the street, TKD would be better than aikido, but there are more practical arts out there for that (which have been mentioned above). Aikido is a very different style than most arts... no offensive moves (in what I consider the pure forms, there are harder styles), and focuses on relaxation, not tension/ resistance. It has a greater philosophical component, and it takes a long time to learn to react appropriately, since those reactions tend to be contrary to natural instinct. Someone grabs your wrist, the impulse is to tense up and resist the pull, not relax. An instructor said that it would take about 10 years for a student to get to the point to be truly effective in a self defense situation.\n\nI've taken different styles from here and there... ju-jitsu, karate... but hadn't really found one that fit my personality. The goal for me evolved from being practical self defense to wanting to learn a martial art "for the art". I'm a very non-aggressive person. I'm 5'1", and am not going to want to, nor be very effective, in wading in, doing a lot of damage, and get back out, as a lot of hard styles advocate. It just wasn't me. \n\nI found my way to aikido, and that was just the art for me. It is a very philosophical art, which I love. Having no offensive moves fits in well with my personal style, and the art lends itself to people with low centers of balance, so being short is actually a plus. It's a good fit all around for me.\n\nSo it really helps to examine your reasons for learning, and giving different styles out there a try and see what you like and don't like. Good advice from above also in regards to places to study. Be wary of the McDojo's... sit in on classes and get a feel for if the instructor is a good teacher, and does the teaching style fit what you want. If they have large class sizes, how much personal attention do they give to the students... all good things to consider.
1083758
Not sure what you mean by "real fighting."  The martial arts you mention as well as others can teach you a lot about technique as well as very useful moves and combinations all while conditioning your body and mind.  There are also hapkido or aikido for grappling and joint locks.  So, there is nothing "fake" about any of those.  An individual who is proficient in any of those arts would be a very good fighter.  You could also take the route of someone like Bruce Lee who found those arts limiting and developed his own style by transforming what he learned into something he found more useful.  In any event, there is no "most effective" style of fighting in my opinion.  It depends on the individual's skill in whatever style he knows.
457742
The best form of combat is Ju Box Fu it is a combination of Brazilian Jujitsu,Muay Thai kickboxing and kungFu if you have time to include wrestling you cant be beaten. \nIf someone is bigger and stronger you can take them to the ground and use your Jujitsu witch is very easy to learn and very effective. If your opponent is smaller and faster you can use you size and strength and strike them Kungfu is very unorthodox with back fists and kicking techniques they are hard to defend however it takes a long time to learn this style so start with kickboxing witch has a lot of basic power attacks.\nJujitsu is the best form for a 1 on 1 street fight but if you are faced with more than 1 opponent you will need to know your striking.\nIf you only have time to practise and learn 1 style i recommend Jujitsu if you study it for one year you can easily beat a 15 year Martial Artist from any of the classical styles (Karate,Boxing,KungFu,Judo or wrestling) witch are useless unless you both now the same style.\nIt is also very hard to find a Ju Box Fu school as it is a relatively new style so good luck.
383182
Milpitas Health & Fitness just recently started a kickboxing class.  I hear it's excellent, although I've never attended myself.  I have a fried that's a great swimmer, but she skips swim practice to attend her nighttime kickboxing classes.  The teacher is also well reknowned, I think he's a professional of some sort.
1068935
While mostly a matter of opinion, a martial arts style's success is dependent on two major factors: Training, Style-Body compatibility.\n\nThe US Army uses Brazillian Jujitsu, since it relies on ground fighting (IE wrestling on the ground) and has several skeltal locks (bending joints in opposite directions to break them). It is good for all around survival in most unarmed fights.\n\nThe Isreali style, known as Krav Maga, is designed without specific stances, focusing instead on striking points and utilizing your body's natural kenetics to maximize impact against your target. It is likely the easiest, and fastest way to learn unarmed defense.\n\nJeet Kun Do, though very philisophical in nature, is utilizing natural momentum and adaptibility, in concert with timing and mental focus (more so that traditional Kung Fu). This style is amazingly fast and has a great deal of potential, but it takes a very lon time to master and has many 'fake' schools, that lack the full depth in training.\n\nLastly, you have Federated Sambo, this relies a great deal on body strength, as it is a combination of over 200+ forms of cultural wrestling from Russia, used by Spetznaz (Russian Special Forces) it is similar in effect to Brazillian Jujitsu in use of skeletal locks. It is a very brutal form and can devistating in close quarters against an untrained opponent.\n\nSo to answer your question completely, you have several factors to consider in your choice of martial art, the best way to decide is to look at local schools, and sit in on a session or two as an observer (most credible schools have no problems allowing this) and find th estyle that fits your needs and capibilities.\n\nI hope that helps.
63216
There are many, but few have english speaking instructors.  I'm gonig to a place near COEX.  The teacher speaks some english, enough for me to understand what I need to do.  Mostly we do striking, Jiu-Jitsu and MMA striking/takedown.  If you're interested in knowing more send me an IM or email.
818362
This was taught to me as a young boy,(i was bullied constantly at school) Him who fights and rund away,may live to fight another day,but him who fights and stands his ground may get his flippin head knocked round.\nyou are not a coward for refusing to engage in violence,you quite possibly maybe the smartest man on the planet.\nAfter taking more hidings than was good for me i decided to fight back,i went as a young boy to a boxing school where i was taught to defend myself,Boxing is the noble art of self defence, and i was very good at it, i joined the army where i became an army boxer,and after fighting all over this globe with weapons and without, having been blown up, shot, stabbed, hit over the head with lumps of timber of various thicknessess, i recon if i had to live my life all over again, i would have continued running, much smarter, self confidence comes from within it does not come from joining the bullies, they are inadequate,.being prepared to defend yourself is ok,when all else fails, violence is the last resort of a sensible man. i have taken on men twice my size and come through it,but what does that say about me as a person, that i am brave,no it takes a far braver man to walk away with his dignity intact. regards LF