martial arts :)

[iaxa]

i have been thinking about this for awhile and i wanna learn a type of martial art but i dont have a clue on what type to study / start up. i wouldnt mind learning kendo ( just pure swords pretty much) but there is know clubs i was just wondering if anyone who has done or is doing some form of self defense could explain them some to me would be great. with all the braches that they have it gets rather confusing :)

[Arielle]

Well my boyfriend does swordsmanship, and he's teaching me some of it... and he's also teaching me to kick-box. Probably just for the high kicks >>;; but anyways. Do you have any particular preference?

[iaxa]

more hand to hand kind of stuff mainly just something to help me control emotions etc

[-Michael-]

I did karate for a year or two.

*shrugs*

[iaxa]

did it get you fit? i hear it is really good for building up core strength or something.

[Buttons93]

Taekwondo? =) tis gooood .. or kick-boxing?

[Tamsin (:]

Kick-boxing is amazing for getting you fit. I was going to start doing it, it can burn up to 500 calories per hour or something :D And it keeps you reeeally toned. Don't really know much about the other ones you can do, but I'd definitely reccomend kick-boxing

[Amexie]

I do Shotokan karate, and am on the final belt before black.
If you want a sport just to keep you fit, I wouldn't reccommend karate. It takes years to get to black belt - I've been training since I was 8, and I'm 14 now, and still have at least one year left before I can take the grading for my black.

But karate is good for the techniques and speeds up your reflexes, and looks verryy impressive when done properly. But get ready for a long term commitment if you want to get that good.

[-Michael-]

Iaxa,

I was already fairly fit to begin with but it teaches you to use different muscles in your body.

[MrCrow]

fuck i'm annoying

[iaxa]

yeah i was going to this with just doing for a run to the beach. they have chin up, push up and sit up station

[Hugga-Bear]

kick boxing is the best, do muay thai if you can find it...

kendo's rubbish, tisn't sword fighting, its too technical and points based, youre constantly stopping and resetting and it annoyed the hell out of me...

also recommend judo, even if you only do it for a short while its invaluable in a fight and teaches you some odd skills...

[Tommeh!!!]

easy and cheap is usually karate, by cheap i dont mean bad by any means, i used to teach kids...like...up to second stanza :P but theres alot of it around and club competition drops the price.

Its nice and easy to get into, and it does offer alot for your self control, confidence and such.

but of course theres alot of added coolness in others :P

[cutthehardline]

Ju-Jitsu is excelent!... I've been doing it for 13 years

before you train, you do exercises, which give you great body tone! and then its ALL hand to hand and some minor weapons training, learning where the body weakens and where its strong

It has great competitions, the moves look amazing when performed to competition standard and has a really good rank system, oh and you'll get a chance to take your own classes if you get to a good enough quality under Kokoro Kai (the school) Ju-Jitsu

It's defensive, so when we do demo's for the public, it looks spectacular!

heres a demo, some of the things I'm doing too! lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjRpTNWv7dY

[-Luke-]

I'd look for a martial art that suits your body type really. Like i'm quite lean so i went into Wushu when i lived in China and as my muscles grew i went into Hung Gar, Shaolin martial arts from Southern China.
Go with the flow *Literally*:P

[Galaxy42]

I would love to learn aikido, the only thing is that the only places I've found (2! So sad) are too far away.
I considered kendo a while back, but it seems a bit to violent for my tastes, even though I like the swords. XD