Most effective MA for self-defense.

Forget about the concept of a superior style. ___________ insert a style here. It is the way it is trained/practiced. If a style, and this includes any as opposed to what someone said above, is trained correctly and realistically it will be effective. It must be progressively rigorous. it must include realistic sparring with all its rigors and injuries etc. must have offensive and defensive attributes. must get the person into far superior CONDITIONING. Increase anaerobic and aerobic capacity. Toughen the practitioner mentally and physically. The problem with Mcdojo's is not a problem of "styles". the problem is that styles such as karate became successful financially by a bunch of money *****s that cranked out black belts by the gazillions to make dough quickly. hence, like the overbreeding of certain dogs, an inferior end product not really representative of the style. today it almost impossible to find a really good ___________ practitioner. the few there are can stand with anyone. i trained in a time and place where this was a reality. three things are needed. a good student, a good teacher and a good style. if the student has the will he can overcome deficiencies in the other two. have seen that happen also. the most important thing is the intangible, unseen quality of heart. what has been called the size of the fight in the dog, not the size of the dog in the fight. passison can overcome a lot. combine that with good training and you have it.

 

:bbb , great post! :fire

I feel like I have down syndrome after reading your writing.:silly

 

paboinov:happy

 

:good

The day someone thought of the "black belt or your money back" approach :-(.

 

PIRA....there were schools here that had black belt guarantees. and behold, everyone made black belt in a year or less.

 

I know people say it's not the style, it's who you are and how you do it, but with Wing Chun and Kung Fu, most of the techniques they use to block strikes, even when taught thoroughly, simply don't work. The stance these people have is also suicidal in a real fight against someone who knows other styles, especially boxing, kick boxing, wrestling and jiu jitsu.

 

Same here - fits right in with the "upsize" marketing approach - many of these guaranteed black belts had to upsize their belts to accomodate their bellies.:deal

 

the "Elvis Black Belt."

 

Champion martial artist Joe Lewis listed his top 10 favorite arts for self defense in an article for blackbelt magazine with a description of why. Anyway (in no particular order) he listed

Judo
Boxing
KickBoxing
Okinawa-Te
Aikijutsu
Bando
Chinese Kenpo
Kajukenbo
Outlaw Tai Chi
Kyokushinkai Karate

http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/m...e-lewis-top-10-martial-arts-for-self-defense/

 

No really that was no joke actually.

"...regardless of the merits of these lofty claims on his (Elvis Presley) behalf, you are left wondering who was the man who awarded the legendary entertainer his original black belt.... there is one bona fide reference: in Martial Arts Traditions, History And People by John Corcoran and Emil Farkas (page 370), the authors offer this information on the subject:

"... Presley qualified for 1st degree black belt in 1960 in Memphis with the late Hank Slemansky, a Chito-ryu stylist. Slemansky was killed on active duty in Vietnam sometime in the mid 1960s."

Later on Presley studied with Khang Rhee and Ed Parker.

 

I'm 44 years old and in that time have practiced for no more than 2 years, various MA's such as boxing, kickboxing, Tetsudo and ****okan Karate. The last time I had a street fight which was in my early thirties, I layed the guy out with a head but! The last thing I did was Karate. Our Sensei was a 5th Dan called Phil Powell who has ran his own dojo since the late 70's and has participated in international competition in that time. Of all the people I've trained with, his skill set was the most impressive. Even in his 60's, his reaction time and reflex's are phenomenal. He's about as easy to tag as Herol Graham. At the end of the day a lot of it stems from the mental aspect. I've sparred and done a little competition and as a consequence know how it feels to take a punch and also when a situation is likely to escalate, meaning I've always got off first. This knowledge has held me in good stead ever since the school play ground.

 

A little boxing know-how goes a long, long way. Judo is a nice skill set to have. Wrestling too. Krav Maga is probably the most real world applicable martial art. Either way, training in a discipline is absolutely an advantage, but training really only refines what is inside you to begin with. Someone said it on another page....and it is true. Mental make up matters a lot. At least in my opinion/life experiences.