Can you teach yourself styles of martial arts?
917942
The problem is that books and videos are only good for refference material to those who've already learned the basic techniques of the discipline(s) they are studying.\n\nit's only good for helping the individual that reads or watches it to be able to incorporate newer techniques into their own techniques that they've already learned from a formal setting in a class, because that's how the person in the video or the author of the book started out, by studying a discipline in a class and reading  or watching other materials and adding the techniques to better themselves and their own techniques.\n\nA book or video can't tell you exactly where the punch should land on an opponent, nor does it tell you where to properly place your ready hand to protect yourself against a possible counter from an opponent, or what you can do to protect yourself from a potential counterattack from an opponent, you can only get that through trial and error in a class setting; if you try doing it on your own with a friend or family member you could wind up hurting yourself or them or both of you.\n\nOnly a certified Martial Arts instructor can properly tell you or show you how to do the techniques to begin with, studying reference materials like books or videos only helps give you new ideas to work from and improve yourself for the class.
107669
Give it a name and bam! you have a new martial art style. Since it's new, you'll need to make all the certification rules and what not.
285284
I am told by those who know that most martial arts are not really designed as self defence systems. Most contain certain archaic moves such as top knot grabs and sword arm blocks.\nYou must also take into account the situation you might find yourself in. I was attacked in the street once and it was very scary I would have to have been very well drilled to be able to utilize any techniques I had learned (which I wasn't)therefore you would need to be a black belt in at least one Martial art and close to black in at least one other to be confident of winning the day unscathed as it were.\nYou must also remember that most attackers / muggers will usually not attack you head on (in case you are a martial arts expert) most "Jump" their victim from behind in order to get them on the floor as quickly as possible.\nTherefore, in order to finally answer your question I would learn one "grappling" martial art Ju Jitsu or Aikido and one "Striking" one Probably Wu Shu or Kung Fu, though the fighting form of Tai Chi is said to be very good.
376438
go to your yellow pages and look at them.  If you want something that will actually teach you how to defend yourself then i would find a place that teaches one of these arts:  \nwing chun\njeet kune do\nmuay thai \nshoot wrestling\nsilat/escrima/kuntao/kali/arnis\nbrazilian jiu-jitsu\nrussian sambo\n\nDon't take anything like karate, aikido, judo, kenpo, tae kwon do, etc...  They are more for show or competitions.  They do not help you to learn how to defend yourself.  My advice is to find a place in the yellow pages and then call them up and ask if you can try it out for a day or two to see if you like it.  Here is a website that shows some really good technique from the styles i mentioned above so you know what you will be getting yourself into:\nhttp://www.afsacademy.com/home.htm\nJust click on the demo video and watch it
243249
They style sepends upon the indivual and the teacher. There really is no such thing as a bad martial arts style, only lazy students and bad instructors.\n\nKeep in mind the diference between a sport and a self-defense fighing style. Choose the one that best fits your needs.\n\nUS Army Combatives and the Marine Corps hand to hand programs combine a number of different fighting styles including Krav Maja, jujitsu, freestyle wrestling, and karate. For self-defense one of those is your best bet.
259905
Yes, I do.  Se-Jong TKD, which is old school.  It is totally worth it.  There are 2 types of schools.  1) old-school schools that teach you respect, discipline & how to be an artist. 2) New schools teach you that if you have enough $$$$$ to spend, you can buy yourself a blackbelt.  1 is about the art of it, 2 is about the sport of it and spending way to much money on patches.
204155
I wouldn't recommend trying to learn karate on your own. I would attend a few classes and learn the basics first. If you want to learn train on your own, you can try videos and books.
1174251
I started in Boxing and Tae Kwon Do, for about a year.  This was about 1989, my sophmore year in college.  I switched to a Northern Style Kung Fu called Shipagi, some of the forms of which I still practice to this day.\n\nIn 1992 I studied Wing Chun and Arnis at the local YMCA for about 3 years.  After that, when I became a school teacher, I just trained on my own until 1999.\n\nThat's when I hooked up with Joseph Simonet in Wenatchee WA.  I trained in quite a few arts at that point (mainly because Joe is so well versed in so many himself) including Arnis/Eskrima, Tracy's Kenpo Karate, Yang style Tai Chi, Wing Chun and Pentjak Silat Serak.  I eventually earned a black belt in a hybrid curriculum he developed called American Wing Chun-Silat.\n\nSo let's see... I guess all told I have been training about 17 years.  Hmm, doesn't seem all that long and yet it's been quite the journey.\n\nPeace,\nVT
678552
If you only have time to learn one art at a time i recommend Ju-Jitsu it is mostly joint locks and submission moves but any of the traditional arts (Kung FU,Karate,boxing,Muay Thai or Wrestling) seem useless as Ju-Jitsu is ground fighting. 9 out of 10 fights end up on the ground if your opponent has limited ground skills the fight will be over very quickly. I have studied all of the above styles and Ju-Jitsu is by far the easiest to learn and apply. Having said that if you can learn Muay Thai and wrestling as well you will be unbeatable in a street fight. Everyone is cross training now there is no one best form of martial art but as i said Ju-Jitsu is easy to learn and very effective good luck.
1059247
I've got 32 years experience in a southern Chinese style of kung fu - (a five family system of Tsoi-Li-Ho-Fut-Hung ga) and hold a Master's rank.  This is a fighting style, not show or artsy style of kung fu.\n\nAs you said, there are hundreds of Chinese styles and some are mere showiness, with little, if any, actual fighting prowess.  However, there are also many which are devastating fighting arts.  They are brutal, direct, and deadly.  It depends on the style as well as the teacher and the student.  The best fighting art in the world is useless if the teacher can't teach it or the student refuses to do what is necessary to make the art effective -  i.e, train, work correctly, and not namby-pamby about as if the name of the art itself was like some magical talisman which protects against all comers.\n\nI have seen some outstanding Northern Shaolin style fighters! and I do NOT use the term fighter loosely.  These people were world class fighters by anyone's definition, anywhere.  I've also seen some who were so caught up in useless idiocies that all an actual fighter could do was to laugh at their sheer lunacy.\n\nThe sad thing is that many schools, not only Chinese, but Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc., in the country have degenerated into sort of McDojo's - run to get as many people thru as quickly as possible with as little skill as could possibly be imparted.\n\nThere are also some absolutely top FIGHTING schools in almost all of the arts (I'm not one who believes all styles are equally worthwhile - some are simply for show or sport ) but I am one who firmly believes that if someone in a good fighting style doesn't train well, doesn't take it seriously, doesn't fight full out when it's necessary - then that someone will be creamed by someone who's trained in an inferior art, but who took it very seriously.\n\nSo to try to answer you question a bit more directly - I think kung fu (again remembering that we're talking about hundreds of styles when we use this term) can be one of the most effective fighting arts on the planet.  It can also be one of the biggest jokes, depending on which art and which student we're discussing.  \n\nIf you are looking at any particular art for yourself, the best thing to do is to visit the school  Don't make your decision based on one day.  Visit a few times.  See how the people interact with the instructor and with each other.  If they don't even seem like they like each other or are obnoxiously cocky - run, don't walk, to the exit.  Are you required to sign a contract or do they go month to month and want you there because you want to learn?  (Both have their advocates, I'm a definite no-contract kind of guy).  Do they charge you to test? Or is the testing part of what they do because they are supposed to help you learn?  All of these are things you should find out and evaluate for yourself.\n\nIf you want a fighting art for self defense, find out how much time is actually put into that.  How much into form work.  How much into weapons skill.  If you are looking for competition, then find a school which specializes in that - not necessarily stuff that's actually effective on the street - but stuff that wows the judge and the audience.  So, basically, find what you want and go with it.
500981
I take two styles Wing Chung Kune and the Chin Na grappling system. Wing Chung is great for fighing it is mean to maim or kill the attacker. Chin Na is not a martial art it is a system. Both Chin Na and Wing Chung Kune are taught at both the nothern and souther Shaolin temples. I also like the older styles such as from the Hung Gar family (Tiger Crain is an example). I agree with what you said about the circular motion in Kung Fu i belive that Karate is far to ridged and do not belive it would hold up well against an experience Kung Fu practioner.
551760
Tae-kwon-do as well as most of the other martial arts are based on speed, strength, focus, and etiquette. Make sure you are really respectful, especially to the Master(s) and instructors. Seeing as you're starting out as a white belt you don't really need to be training any muscles more than usual. As you progress from belt to belt you may find that you need to strengthen your arms, legs, or abs to perform some of the moves better.  Good Luck!
347090
There are many martial arts schools that teach weapons at more advance belt levels but rarely few that actually have students spar with them. The two martial arts I've trainined in that teach weapons and they are taekwondo and shotokan karate. Why don't you try kendo?
60460
Do you do full contact or kata only? Either way, practice makes perfect. Stretch out every morning. Work on your basics to develop power, balance, flexibility, focus, speed, accuracy, and conditioning. Then try to use your moves in sparring to develop timing, distance, reflex. Once you have all these, techniques will come easier. Unless you have anything specific in mind, all traditional martial arts have the above principles in mind at the beginning. The higher level stuff will come to you once you are well versed in the basics. Ex. A punch can be a block at the same time and vice versa.
427281
Wow, you just opened a can of worms with that question. There's always a big debate about "which is the best style?" and "is there such a thing as a best style?"\n\nI am of the opinion that there is no best style, but some styles are better for certain goals than others. Tae Kwon Do is good for those who want to take up martial arts purely for sport and competition. But I wouldn't pick up TKD if self-defence is your main goal. \nAnd just a note, usually, how you get along with the instructor is much more important than the style. If you plan on taking up any martial art, see what you think of the instructor, and then move on to the following steps (choosing a style, etc.)\n\nEvery style has its benefits, so why not tell us what your goal is, and we could help you out.
1021188
Yup, that is how I learned. But it will definately be more fun to learn with someone else and you'll advance faster. But learning on your own is a good way to develop your own style. Sometimes when you watch people who have always skated with a crew, they all have the same style and do the same tricks. It's cool to see folks who are self taught because they usually have a unique style and way of doing things as they learned it all on their own.\n\nDefinately follow the other advice here and invest in some good pads, particularly wrist guards. Good luck and have fun.
489518
There is a very old and very true saying... \n\n"The Jack of all trades is a master of none."\n\nI believe it is a good thing to learn multiple martial arts. The issue is that many martial arts are fundamentally so different that it is hard to learn them together.  Arts like Tae Kwon Do and Aikido are so different from one another that learning them together is not a problem. Other martial arts such as many forms of Kung-fu are do conceptually different from Tae Kwon do that learning the art will be very difficult, if not virtually impossible. \n\nFor instance. Aikido uses circle to enter into your opponent and bring him down with any number of throws, pins or locks. Tae Kwon Do uses strait lines to enter into an opponent and then either attack with a strike (Kick or punch) or block their strike and then counter strike. Many forms of Chinese Martial arts don’t block, but rather parry attacks. They also use circular or more common angular movements to enter into an opponent and prefer multiple rapid attacks using chi as power rather then the one or three step sparing drills used in Tae Kwon Do.  Furthermore, many forms of Chinese martial arts are as much mental (philosophical/strategical)  as they are physical. It will be hard to do one thing one way in one class and another way in another class. Also, traditional Kung-fu instructors will not train a person who is studying another martial art. Not because they think there are is the best or some such nonsense as that, but because they are afraid that if you divide your thoughts and energies between their art and the other art(s) then you will not be able to give 100% of your time to their art. \n\nRemember, many Martial Arts, (Unlike Tae Kwon Do) take many, many years to become even the least bit proficient in. Learning forms is not the only goal. In a traditional Chinese Martial Arts school it often takes several moths to learn a single form and then a year or more to get to a level of proficiency that the Sifu thinks you are ready to learn another form. I've known more then my share of people that have dropped out of Chinese martial arts schools because they felt they weren’t learning anything new after working on the same form for six months. \n\nThe problem you will face is that Tea Kwon Do is linear and hard. Most of your forms are Move, then strike. Step left into a front stance, then perform a down block, followed by an upper block, step right into a right front stance and then do an eyelevel front punch. Chinese martial arts forms are different. As you step into a stance you are striking and before you settle into the position, you are already moving again. It is much more fluid. Everything flown one into the next. TKD is more Choppy. In fact, if the forms are not performed in a Step by step fashion, you aren't doing them right. (I have a 2nd Dan and use to judge at tournaments) \n\nAll I am saying is that is would be hard to master an art that requires your undivided attention if you are not giving your undivided attention. It's something to think about.