That martial arts editorial

[_gruevy]

Well, I so seldom do this, but I just cant let this slide. I dont necessarily disagree with most of what that person said. However, if you are going to put your kids in a martial art, PLEASE read what I have to say.

True:
-In most cases, the teacher is much more important than the art.
-You will be gypped on belt costs and things like that with most larger schools.

Now consider this:
-Smaller schools and private teachers with small classes of dedicated teachers will be cheaper, period.
-Smaller schools are less likely to be run by assholes, because if you are a dick to your ten students, they leave.

The only problem with smaller schools, is that you don't know if you are getting the highest or the lowest level of instruction. The best teachers are seldom associated with large schools, at least in America. The worst teachers are pretty much divided between private, small schools, and stuck teaching in the bigger ones, because they have seniority.

Now about which martial art you decide to put your kids in. Even though the teacher is usually more important than the art, what you want in a martial art should be the first consideration. Don't put your kids in a crappy art. The following is sure to offend some martial artists out there.

Tai Chi: Not a martial art, at least not for like 40 years of practice.

Tae Kwon Do: This seems to be the most common, and the reason is because the style is so laughably simple, that an accomplished martial artist from another non-grappling style should reasonably expect to hit blackbelt after no more than 6 months. No joke. It consists of fanciful kicks and flips and things like that, with pathetically useless hand techniques that are sure to please a crowd, and sure to get your ass kicked on the street. The only way you won't get smeared by Joe Average Punk is to have done it for 15 years. First year students will learn things that will lose them fights, period. If you want your kid in a flashy, exciting style that is usually very well structured, and a style that is completely harmless, go with this one.

Karate disciplines: These include shotokan, kenpo, and a million made up variations with the name 'dragon' in them. I personally won't even walk into a dojo that has a name like "White dragons of bushido karate" because the dude made it up, almost guaranteed. Karate is better than tae kwon do by half, and has much more interesting history and tradition, and a good school is more likely to be well taught than a taekwondo school. However, the style itself is still simply sorry as far as a street fight is concerned. The punches are uninspired, the blocking method is far, far too slow, and the kicks are, although more useful than in taekwondo, still unlikely to be useful enough to win a fight. If you want tradition, order, and a style that's recognized in most video games, and want to pay a hell of a lot of money, karate styles are for you. (these do tend to be the most expensive) Caveat: the American kenpo style of karate is the least bad, and could actaully win you a fight after a few months.

Wing Chun: This is a style of Shaolin kung fu that is usually taught separate from everything else. It is probably the most useful of any style, from the first day. (this is not my style btw) The kicks are not exciting in any way, the punches mean business, the blocking is the best of anything, period. Only problem, there are a lot of bad teachers out there. Dont take from a guy who does this and karate or taekwondo. He doesn't know what the hell he is doing if he knows Wing Chun and is still teaching karate. Pluses: Super effective from day 1. Minuses: Lots of bad teachers, not very exciting to watch.

Kung fu in general: This is so hard to get into. This is the style in which you MUST find a good teacher, or you'll be learning karate with some stupid tricks thrown in from the 8 kung fu classes the dude took. If someone is mixing any kind of kung fu with karate or something, it's a definite NO. NO, NO, and NO. Now, don't be put off by things like 'white crane' or 'praying mantis' next to the words kung fu. The animal styles of kung fu, when taught well, are ingenious and bitchingly effective. Kung fu consists of so many different things that it's hard to nail down, which is why the teacher is the foremost consideration. Even in the pure, unchanged original Shaolin discipline of Kung Fu, there are literally hundreds of different things to learn. Kung fu was designed to help you not die, unlike karate, which is designed to help you win tournaments against other people who do karate. A good, well rounded teacher of Kung fu is probably your best bet, if you can find one. Pluses: effective from day 1, hella cool looking, well rounded styles, order, usually cheaper. negatives: hard to find a good teacher.

Kickboxing: Hella effective after some training. Serious kickboxers, Thai boxers, i mean, muay thai, are the most dangerous of anybody around. People die regularly in tournaments in Thailand. They dont learn how to be nice in a fight, but with their iron body training, it doesnt even matter if they get hit or not. They will win a street fight, period. Pluses: mean, nasty, cruel, effective. Negatives: mean, nasty, cruel, some weeny-ass teachers who seem good on the first day, but water it down because it scares them.

Aikido, jiu jutsu, and judo. If you cant find a kung fu or wing chun teacher, these are your next best bet for both the oppurtunity to be nice or mean, and effectiveness. The are all considered the highest of the grappling styles. I would personally go with jiu jutsu because those guys have a tendency to win no-holds-barred competitions, or aikido because it is a peaceful, spiritual style. Judo could get you in trouble if you both end up on the ground and the other guy knows some wrestling. DEFINITELY go with this before anything that says karate or taekwondo if you want your kid to be able to actually defend himself. Pluses: Effective, lots of history. Can win fights without hurting people. Negatives: some people just hate wrestling, and its hard to show off.

Weapons: I add this because there are a lot of schools who will try and trick you into joining because they have a lot of weapons on the walls. Consideration one: Who carries a sword around? Consideration two: Most of those weapons are likely to be there for show. With that in mind, I love, love, love weapons. If you want the most effective, kung fu schools are your best bet. However, for the samurai sword, find a school that has a traditional teacher with all the armor. Dont be fooled by a karate guy who lists 8 styles and says he can use 15 weapons. If he's in karate, 11 of those 15 he learned from kung fu people, or he cant use them. Also, the chinese method of using a staff is about twice as effective as the japanese method. Sorry guys, its true.

Some final general rules. Don't take from a school that puts a lot of emphasis on rank, unless it's taught by a native of that country, because its most likely to be run by assholes who like money. Dont take from a school that mixes styles that dont belong together, like kung fu and taekwondo. Find a martial art that will let your kid win a fight, for god's sake. I wasn't kidding about karate and taekwondo blocking, it sucks. And lastly, find a teacher who is humble. He is most likely to be really, really good.

Er, thanks for reading my lengthy epistle. I hope this helps.
My style, btw, is the original Shaolin from the Hunan temple. I was immeasurably blessed to find a teacher.

[iceravent]

just a note, i doubt anyone is gonna read something that long.

[Mikol]

lol i didnt.... way too long....

[Yebyosh]

Well, I did read the whole thing and found it an interesting opinion on the article .

With some brushing up of the language, it could be put up as an editorial too. How about submitting it?

A suggestion, if you know about some other martial arts e.g. Malaysia's Silat, Brazil's Capiero(spelling?), the Irish style ( the no-holds barred style of fighting ) and such, some comments on them would be nice. What about the sports Boxing?

[Kaiser]

I read the whole thing and found it very informative. Like Yebyosh says, if you brushed it up a bit we can use this as an martial arts editoral part 2.

[_gruevy]

I'll get right on writing that in the form of an article. I wrote it intentionally not to sound like one because I felt like that would be a bit presumptive of me. I'll also include some other styles as per your request.

PS - my username is gruevy, but i forgot twice to log in before i wrote this, and didnt wanna lose it to log in. Hence the _ .

[casey2w]

sorry but your refence to tae kwon do is wrong it is alot harder than what you make it out to be it has taken me 3 years to get to brown belt and thats the only 7 belt up i'm still a long way from black i got red and red black tip the two hardest test because of the endurance and hard work and tae kwon do is not all about fancy kicks we work alot of the basic kicks in martial arts side kick and front snap kick sure there are alot of fancy kicks but those are hard kicks to do right and if you get down to it the people who land those "fancy kicks" land one it hurts like a B****. Tae kwon do does offer ground fighting too btw one of the first things i learned in tae kwon do washow to take people down to the ground or defence from the ground. Please don't make broad statements about something you probaly only seen a little bit of. no offence or anything btw.

[Tevesh]

I like kung-run the fuck away, personally.

And then shoot them. You don't want to get into a struggle with someone with a gun, because you'll lose. Most people die from their own gun, not someone else's.

[JOman]

Wow, that asa lot of information, My friend was wanting to take a martial arts but was unsure of the style, He tried Tai Kwan do, but he doesn't have the build to do some of the moves, I'll show him this and see what he thinks.
_________________
"I've got dibs on the first stone"

[the_underdog]

I read this and it s interesting. I always thought Karate was bs. its way too slow for my tastes.
oh and u forgot to mention Boxing. I think it may be an effective style,though Ive never taken classes on it. They are taught to look for openings on an opponent so Karate and Tae Kwon Do users would be screwed against a good boxer.

[kevinn]

this was greate... i love it and i read them all.... well, i am kindda crazy for martial arts.... well last times i join karate and found it is useless.... i even join a lot of other martial art... including stealing something form kung fu... (not join in) just wacth their move and i lose intrested in it.... now i am learning martial art my own ways... hope it work... can't really know for sure. well, but i sure win some gang fight with the martial art i learn myself... all i wanna say it try your best and know your weakness. and make use of everymove at your body and try block the incoming attck.... give the hardest strike toward your oppenent at 1st and make sure they can't stand up again.

[Loveless]

i did boxing in the YMCA, only 3 rounds though and i just kept dodging and blocking until they started to get a little tired. Push them into the corner and whale on them until they cry.

oh yeah and i did tai chi with this old guy when i was 10 because he gave me ice cream!

[kevinn]

darn.... don't learn martial art your own way as i mention above.... yesterday i was hospitalize when i am learning my own martial art.... i go and break so windows with bare hands.... and guess what? at the last window, a glass cut my skin. i use my streang to break the glass that cut my skin and eventually it stuck inside my hand...DAM! must do operation to remove it.

[Yorioku]

I learn Kung-Fu from my dad, but he was a lousy teacher so I learned new moves by myself. Practicing takes hard work, but worth it to protect yourself.

[kevinn]

lucky for you to have a dad as a kung fu master.....