Which Martial Art

[jaydub]

[ QUOTE ]
K Im gonna semi bump this, as I was gone for all this lovely and heartwarming discussion.

As far as ninjitsu, to the guy who disputed my claims that I took it based upon what I told him, all I can remember from the class is alot of trips and grabs, using my opponests weight against him. It could be I had a bad instructor, but there that is.

As far as whether or not I want to fight, absolutely. Not that I think I'll ever need it, but in bars, it seems like every lil guy with a napoleon complex wants to pick a fight with the tall guy, and Im sick of being slow.

Im going to be in/near Austin, TX by Jan. of this upcoming year, and this is when I want to start. I like certain aspects of Tai Chi, being the spiritual side of it all, but I dont want to just do that, because most of the time it seems it's being taught for health.

Kung Fu: haha, I would love to learn a style of Kung Fu, but I think this would be the hardest to find a competant teacher in, because kung fu just sounds cool. Also, I wouldnt know where to start as far as style.

Last but not least, I really am not interested in grappling styles. As a big dude, I prefer to stay on my feet.

Thanks again for the good advice so far, and what I hope will be more. And DieBitter... great advice... Ive been "waxing the car" for hours now.

..that sounded wrong [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

muay thai will be a good place to start. the practicality of it for your situation is indisputable, the focus is on strikes with fists, elbows, knees, and feet with much training being done in close quarters with a thai clinch. as a tall guy, you can deliver knee strikes significantly easier than most so if you learn this skill, you should be able to quickly stop aggressors while making their buddies reconsider the course of action.

jujitsu is a great skill and would be useful but not for you as a first technique. pulling someone into your guard in a bar fight is not wise.

oh and please don't be that tool who learns a little bit and then goes looking for bar fights.

I dont ever look for fights... all my life as a tall guy little guys have come up to me.

I have one thing to say to all the short poeple: I can take jokes about being tall, and do, with a laugh. WHY CANT YOU TAKE SHORT JOKES!!

as an aside, I just made a friend who is an instructor of the filipino arts, jeet kune do and jun fan gung fu as a second generation Lee student.

He will be teaching me these arts, in a mixed way, and he also wants to set me up with an instructor in the Tiger-Craane mixed style to see if I like that.

I will be taking pakua after my body is sufficiently tuned so that I actually gain from the internal study.

Thanks again for all the advice!

also, does anyone here use kettlebells? I've looked them up and they look extremely interesting.

[nicky g]

[ QUOTE ]
ast but not least, I really am not interested in grappling styles. As a big dude, I prefer to stay on my feet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some problems here. As a big guy, a lot of people will (if you ever get into a fight) not want to keep you on your feet. Regardless, a lot of fights end up on the ground anyway (there is endless debate about how much, but it seems to be a large proportion), regardless of whether either participant wants it too. Finally, grappling styles to varying ddegrees (I agree you don't want to concentrate on a style that focuses purely on the ground) will be the best thing to teach you how to stay on your feet/keep your balance - Judo especially so.

My main advice if you're keen to learn how to fight would be not to do anything that doesn't involve at least some sparring.

Yeah, the guy that I met teaches some grappling within his teachings of some Filipino arts, and he says they do class sparring once a week, so both problems covered.

Also, for students that want to try, he teaches what he called drunken monkey, which he says is a mix of a monkey kung fu style and drunken boxing... alot of weaving, but he says practical because it involves a lowered center of gravity.

He might be pullin my leg on that last bit, but I checked him out otherwise, all reviews of the school are good. He does it as a hobby, not to make money, and so there are no contract commitments, and he's happy to find other instructors/styles for his students.

[jaydub]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ast but not least, I really am not interested in grappling styles. As a big dude, I prefer to stay on my feet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some problems here. As a big guy, a lot of people will (if you ever get into a fight) not want to keep you on your feet. Regardless, a lot of fights end up on the ground anyway (there is endless debate about how much, but it seems to be a large proportion), regardless of whether either participant wants it too. Finally, grappling styles to varying ddegrees (I agree you don't want to concentrate on a style that focuses purely on the ground) will be the best thing to teach you how to stay on your feet/keep your balance - Judo especially so.

My main advice if you're keen to learn how to fight would be not to do anything that doesn't involve at least some sparring.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would favor a brazilian jujitsu type grappling over judo as a second skill because it will better allow you to regain position if someone does take you down as well as teach you to avoid various submissions. With the prevalence of mma on tv, a lot more people will being trying arm bars and such. If you cannot take a bjj type skill due to no offerings in your area, basic college style wrestling training can be invaluable in grappling. Though the lack of submission awareness makes it inferior to a good jujitsu.

[nicky g]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ast but not least, I really am not interested in grappling styles. As a big dude, I prefer to stay on my feet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some problems here. As a big guy, a lot of people will (if you ever get into a fight) not want to keep you on your feet. Regardless, a lot of fights end up on the ground anyway (there is endless debate about how much, but it seems to be a large proportion), regardless of whether either participant wants it too. Finally, grappling styles to varying ddegrees (I agree you don't want to concentrate on a style that focuses purely on the ground) will be the best thing to teach you how to stay on your feet/keep your balance - Judo especially so.

My main advice if you're keen to learn how to fight would be not to do anything that doesn't involve at least some sparring.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would favor a brazilian jujitsu type grappling over judo as a second skill because it will better allow you to regain position if someone does take you down as well as teach you to avoid various submissions. With the prevalence of mma on tv, a lot more people will being trying arm bars and such. If you cannot take a bjj type skill due to no offerings in your area, basic college style wrestling training can be invaluable in grappling. Though the lack of submission awareness makes it inferior to a good jujitsu.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, although I think judo is probably the best way to learn how to put other people on the ground without ending up there yourself. Once you're down there, jj is probably more useful.

[jaydub]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ast but not least, I really am not interested in grappling styles. As a big dude, I prefer to stay on my feet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Some problems here. As a big guy, a lot of people will (if you ever get into a fight) not want to keep you on your feet. Regardless, a lot of fights end up on the ground anyway (there is endless debate about how much, but it seems to be a large proportion), regardless of whether either participant wants it too. Finally, grappling styles to varying ddegrees (I agree you don't want to concentrate on a style that focuses purely on the ground) will be the best thing to teach you how to stay on your feet/keep your balance - Judo especially so.

My main advice if you're keen to learn how to fight would be not to do anything that doesn't involve at least some sparring.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would favor a brazilian jujitsu type grappling over judo as a second skill because it will better allow you to regain position if someone does take you down as well as teach you to avoid various submissions. With the prevalence of mma on tv, a lot more people will being trying arm bars and such. If you cannot take a bjj type skill due to no offerings in your area, basic college style wrestling training can be invaluable in grappling. Though the lack of submission awareness makes it inferior to a good jujitsu.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed, although I think judo is probably the best way to learn how to put other people on the ground without ending up there yourself. Once you're down there, jj is probably more useful.

[/ QUOTE ]

OP wants to keep things off the ground, why would want to learn throws?

[krimson]

[ QUOTE ]
As far as whether or not I want to fight, absolutely. Not that I think I'll ever need it, but in bars, it seems like every lil guy with a napoleon complex wants to pick a fight with the tall guy, and Im sick of being slow.

[/ QUOTE ]
In this case, I think 1000 years of taichi training is the correct answer. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Muay Thai is probably optimal for bar/street fight scenarios, however it's not an asian based / flowing martial art like your looking for. Grappling isn't that useful in a bar fight, because you are vulnerable when on the ground to a 3rd party joining the fight. Also stuff like Karate / Kung Fu / Tae Kwon Do type striking arts are pretty useless for a real fight, other than just developing your striking abilities and reflexes.

Muay Thai is good for bar fights, because it is a stand-up striking style, and has a big focus on clenching / dirty boxing, which is where Karate / Tae Kwon Do kind of fall apart. If you're a big guy, you'll be hard to take down so you'll be in a clench a lot if people try.

[68Mustang]

BJJ

[Blarg]

[ QUOTE ]
I dont ever look for fights... all my life as a tall guy little guys have come up to me.

I have one thing to say to all the short poeple: I can take jokes about being tall, and do, with a laugh. WHY CANT YOU TAKE SHORT JOKES!!

as an aside, I just made a friend who is an instructor of the filipino arts, jeet kune do and jun fan gung fu as a second generation Lee student.

He will be teaching me these arts, in a mixed way, and he also wants to set me up with an instructor in the Tiger-Craane mixed style to see if I like that.

I will be taking pakua after my body is sufficiently tuned so that I actually gain from the internal study.

Thanks again for all the advice!

also, does anyone here use kettlebells? I've looked them up and they look extremely interesting.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like you got hooked up with a good guy there. What's his name? I might have heard of him.

You might want to PM AZK on kettlebells. He's getting started in them himself right now. Also check out www.dragondoor.com. They have great forums with very experienced kettlebell instructors and students. And they all tend to do lots of other stuff too, so even though the place is basically kettlebells central in the U.S., there's plenty of endorsement of lots of other ways of keeping in shape besides kettlebells too, as well as talk of how to integrate kettlebells into various types of exercise programs. I think they're particularly good for martial arts because they're so often used ballistically, that is, i explosive movements. And also because they require careful balance as you work with them.

Oh, since you're into martial arts too, you should check out www.fullkontact.com (yes, with a K, as in Knock Out). That's Steve Cotter's site, and he's a leading kettlebell trainer who is also a long-time internal martial artist. The guy is no lightweight though; he's really built and well known for being super strong. I have his first two DVD's, which show great ways of integrating KB's into martial arts work. Tons of work on balance in motion. There are little mini-videos on his site showing some of what's in his video's. Check out the dragon walks and the towel swinging. Some seriously athletic stuff there. Also some demonstratin of a KB exercise to help with the bagua walking, too. He explains in his DVD's how certain motions with kettlebells mimic balance and movement problems in martial arts, and make you stronger in those movements. Very much worth the money. That guy will show you that internal martial artists don't have to be weak, that's for sure.

He's a really sharp guy and excellent writer, too. His posts on dragondoor and his newsletter are always really well done and high quality.