What martial art should I learn?

Originally Posted by TheIdler

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It seems to me that a lot of martial arts training lends itself to developing the mind as well as the body in a way that's different from, say, playing squash. Plus, just about everything I've read so far about martial arts seems to say the same thing. But your phrasing indicates you think otherwise?

Well, as I said, I'm also interested in the mental/meditation aspects, and the Chinese/Japanese traditions seem more in line with this than, say, Krav Maga. It's also, at least where I'm living now, easier to find schools that teach these.

i'm kinda confused what this thread is about. seems like you have already decided what you want. besides that, you have limited choices--luckily the choices you do have coincide with your current notion of what martial arts do and are.

so unfortunately, no one on here is going to be able to give you any advice, unless you are just looking for moral support.

On 2nd thought, he should probably just do yoga if all he wants is meditation and spiritual building

Originally Posted by adversity04

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On 2nd thought, he should probably just do yoga if all he wants is meditation and spiritual building

yoga is a great option.

i think it provides better self-defense than many martial arts in that it gives you a peaceful state of mind and lessens stress.

you'll meet a lot of hot girls at the class, so you won't need to go to bars and get into altercations.

plus, it will give you better strength and conditioning than most martial arts schools provide.

Originally Posted by mizanation

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i'm kinda confused what this thread is about. seems like you have already decided what you want. besides that, you have limited choices--luckily the choices you do have coincide with your current notion of what martial arts do and are.

so unfortunately, no one on here is going to be able to give you any advice, unless you are just looking for moral support.

Dude, what's up? Everybody else is being really helpful, but you seem a bit critical of...what exactly? I haven't made up my mind yet...why would I be asking if I had? Seriously, if you think I'm going about this wrong or I have the wrong idea about something, I'm open to hearing what you think. But your kind of veiled comments aren't really helping.

Anyway, thanks to everybody else who has chimed in. You guys have convinced me that Muay Thai might be useful, and Aikido is a possibility. I'm definitely going to go to a couple of judo and karate schools and check them out. What should I be looking for in a teacher/school? I mean, I realize I should be wary of schools that promise a guaranteed black belt in X months, but are there any other positive/negative things I should look out for?

Low risk of injury, competitive sport, and practical self defense are not really going to be found under one roof. You're going to have to figure out what aspect you want to give up or de-emphasize.

If you really want to stick with East Asian styles, your closest fit will probably be karate or judo. Go with judo if throws and grappling appeal to you, go with karate if you want to work on punching and kicking.

There are varying degrees of contact in karate styles. Kyokushin karate and its offshoots (Oyama, Ashihara, and Enshin among others) typically use a full contact (no strikes to the groin or joints, kicks but no punches to the head) method with little protective gear. This makes their style of training a better one for self defense, but it has higher risk of injury for obvious reasons. Just about every other karate style will be somewhere on the range from zero contact to medium contact, which lowers the injury risk but also lowers the real fighting skills developed because people don't learn to take a punch and sometimes have problems with learning how to really parry or avoid full strength techniques.

My guess is that in Spain you should be able to easily find a group that trains in shotokan style karate. Depending in lineage, most shotokan groups tend to teach a very sport-oriented noncontact style. You might want to start there.

I think this is highly appropriate:

Originally Posted by TheIdler

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Dude, what's up? Everybody else is being really helpful, but you seem a bit critical of...what exactly? I haven't made up my mind yet...why would I be asking if I had? Seriously, if you think I'm going about this wrong or I have the wrong idea about something, I'm open to hearing what you think. But your kind of veiled comments aren't really helping.

Anyway, thanks to everybody else who has chimed in. You guys have convinced me that Muay Thai might be useful, and Aikido is a possibility. I'm definitely going to go to a couple of judo and karate schools and check them out. What should I be looking for in a teacher/school? I mean, I realize I should be wary of schools that promise a guaranteed black belt in X months, but are there any other positive/negative things I should look out for?

Avoid any place that wont let you watch a class or seems too secretive. Avoid any place that promises superhuman skills (i.e. the ability to throw or attack people without touching them). I'd generally stay away from places with long term contracts. Take a look at how big the class sizes are and who's teaching the classes. Ask plenty of questions about what they offer and explain what you want. Make sure you go to a bunch of places before deciding on one, don't just go with the first one that looks good.

Ask if your required to compete or test for belts/rank (as well as how much this may cost), and buy a uniform. You should find out the variety or range of classes offered and types of training (including weapons), level of etiquette, general focus of training (self defense, competition, health, spiritual development, etc) and instructors background. None of these things are inherently good or bad, but you have to decide what appeals to you, what you individually want and don't want.

Originally Posted by Rolo

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I vote for Kendo. You get to hit people with sticks.

If you really want to hit people with sticks, go with Kali or escrima.

not trying to be critical, just trying to help you out. you have this notion that you can develop mental discipline and, i think, some kind of spirituality through martial arts--specifically some sort of "east asian" traditional martial art. which can be true. but, you have to understand that this has nothing to do with performance in terms of fighting or "self-defense"--which is the purpose of martial art. there is no level of spiritual understanding which will make you a better fighter. realistic training in a proven system of fighting will make you a better fighter. the cool thing, though, is that you can develop the "mental discipline" that you desire, through this training. even though it's not as exotic as you would hope. so, you have to decide whether you want to learn a spiritual discipline or a martial art.

Originally Posted by Eason

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If you really want to hit people with sticks, go with Kali or escrima.
The human weapons episode on Escrima was great.

Originally Posted by mizanation

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so, you have to decide whether you want to learn a spiritual discipline or a martial art.
mar·tial /ˈmɑrʃəl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[mahr-shuhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
-adjective 1. inclined or disposed to war; warlike: The ancient Romans were a martial people.
2. of, suitable for, or associated with war or the armed forces: martial music.
3. characteristic of or befitting a warrior: a martial stride.

Basically, do you want to kick someones ass or find inner peace and self confidence? There's better ways to discipline than pretending to hit someone.

kongfu

Originally Posted by Eason

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If you really want to hit people with sticks, go with Kali or escrima.

The problem with all of these is you are facing someone that wants to hit you with a stick. What I've seen of Escrima is absolutely insane. You at least get some padding in Kendo.

Originally Posted by Rolo

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The problem with all of these is you are facing someone that wants to hit you with a stick. What I've seen of Escrima is absolutely insane. You at least get some padding in Kendo.

Some escrima people do use safety gear, including a helmet and mask that is not unlike kendo gear.

I'm not sure I catch your drift on the problem of a stick-bearing opponent. You have a stick (or in escrima, maybe a knife, or two sticks, or a stick and a knife) also.

Originally Posted by Rolo

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The problem with all of these is you are facing someone that wants to hit you with a stick. What I've seen of Escrima is absolutely insane. You at least get some padding in Kendo.

Originally Posted by retronotmetro

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Some escrima people do use safety gear, including a helmet and mask that is not unlike kendo gear.

many escrima/kali schools use actual kendo gear.

escrima/kali is completely safe to train in. even competitions are usually heavily padded.