Since people like to ask this question, I thought I'd save some time and cut to the chase. Everyone wants to know what martial art is the most effective, which one is 'best', which one is best for them, given their body type / athletic ability / age / desire to whoop *** / etc. I have the answer.
The best martial art for you is the one you actually...
All martial arts have their pluses and minuses. All of them have some similarities and some differences. All of them can be taught well or taught poorly. Everyone is better-suited for some more than others. But you'll never know and no one can tell you which of these is best for you unless you go out and explore them on your own. Don't hang around online asking questions so much. Go visit the training centers near you. Watch, listen, ask questions. Try them out if you can without making a commitment. Then ask questions online about your short list. Pick one and make a commitment to yourself, even if not required by the training center in question.
The number one secret of martial arts training is perseverance. Train when you're tired. Train when you have been working too much. Train when the weather is bad. Train when the weather is good. Train when you'd rather be somewhere else. Train when you have a headache. Train when you hate martial arts that day. Train when you're sore and bruised from the last training session. When you're sick, train at home.
When you train, give it everything you have. Every punch should have snap, every kick should pop. The last one should sound like the first one. If you sandbag and lay back because you're tired, sore, bored, or whatever, you only cheat yourself. You are only driving half as fast as the speed limit; you'll take twice as long to arrive at your destination.
Don't be ashamed to be a beginner. Don't be ashamed to not be good. No one came in wearing a white belt and was Bruce Lee from day one.
Don't worry about others who advance faster, who seem to pick things up more quickly than you, who seem more gifted. If anything, my experience has shown that very often, the people who are the most gifted quit the soonest. This race is not to the fastest, it's to the person who keeps putting one foot in front of the other the longest.
Understand that martial arts is not like going to college - you go, you get your degree, you're all done. It's life-long. You don't master martial arts, it masters you. Your student status is perpetual. If that thought bothers you, martial arts is not for you.
If you wonder when you'll be good at the martial art skills you're learning, the answer is that you will eventually be good, but you won't know when you get there. Each year, you'll look back and laugh at the thoughts you had when you thought you had finally become proficient the previous year. Then the following year, the same thing. In other words, you never get good, you just get better.
If you have an excuse, a reason why you're not good, the problem is generally not your reason, the problem is you. Your knee hurts, so you can't kick? So punch until your knee is better. You can't do pushups? Then practice something else that increases upper body strength until you can. You are not flexible? Then stretch more and be patient, and do what you can do. You're too old? Then you're trading air speed for altitude; play to your strengths and find ways around your weaknesses.
Bottom line, though, is this. Keep training. Keep training. Keep training. If you want the secret to martial arts success, the secret is no secret. Keep training. If you do not train, you do not succeed. Keep training. The best martial art? The one you choose and then KEEP TRAINING.
The best martial art for you is the one you actually...
a) enjoy
b) continue training in
c) practice when you're not officially training
b) continue training in
c) practice when you're not officially training
All martial arts have their pluses and minuses. All of them have some similarities and some differences. All of them can be taught well or taught poorly. Everyone is better-suited for some more than others. But you'll never know and no one can tell you which of these is best for you unless you go out and explore them on your own. Don't hang around online asking questions so much. Go visit the training centers near you. Watch, listen, ask questions. Try them out if you can without making a commitment. Then ask questions online about your short list. Pick one and make a commitment to yourself, even if not required by the training center in question.
The number one secret of martial arts training is perseverance. Train when you're tired. Train when you have been working too much. Train when the weather is bad. Train when the weather is good. Train when you'd rather be somewhere else. Train when you have a headache. Train when you hate martial arts that day. Train when you're sore and bruised from the last training session. When you're sick, train at home.
When you train, give it everything you have. Every punch should have snap, every kick should pop. The last one should sound like the first one. If you sandbag and lay back because you're tired, sore, bored, or whatever, you only cheat yourself. You are only driving half as fast as the speed limit; you'll take twice as long to arrive at your destination.
Don't be ashamed to be a beginner. Don't be ashamed to not be good. No one came in wearing a white belt and was Bruce Lee from day one.
Don't worry about others who advance faster, who seem to pick things up more quickly than you, who seem more gifted. If anything, my experience has shown that very often, the people who are the most gifted quit the soonest. This race is not to the fastest, it's to the person who keeps putting one foot in front of the other the longest.
Understand that martial arts is not like going to college - you go, you get your degree, you're all done. It's life-long. You don't master martial arts, it masters you. Your student status is perpetual. If that thought bothers you, martial arts is not for you.
If you wonder when you'll be good at the martial art skills you're learning, the answer is that you will eventually be good, but you won't know when you get there. Each year, you'll look back and laugh at the thoughts you had when you thought you had finally become proficient the previous year. Then the following year, the same thing. In other words, you never get good, you just get better.
If you have an excuse, a reason why you're not good, the problem is generally not your reason, the problem is you. Your knee hurts, so you can't kick? So punch until your knee is better. You can't do pushups? Then practice something else that increases upper body strength until you can. You are not flexible? Then stretch more and be patient, and do what you can do. You're too old? Then you're trading air speed for altitude; play to your strengths and find ways around your weaknesses.
Bottom line, though, is this. Keep training. Keep training. Keep training. If you want the secret to martial arts success, the secret is no secret. Keep training. If you do not train, you do not succeed. Keep training. The best martial art? The one you choose and then KEEP TRAINING.
