I'm 18, and 161cm/5'4 tall.
I haven't trained in any martial arts the last 10 years(I was forced to quit then) but the passion for it never ended. And I finally am able to start again.
Out of what I have a little attraction to, my city offers:
ITF Taekwondo.
Taijichuan.
Judo.
Jujutsu.
Kali.
Krav maga.
The rest which I don't feel attracted to is: Shotokan karate, MMA, Boxing, Kick Boxing, Wrestling, Muay thai, and some more..
I have been adviced before to start with taekwondo to get the basics with flexibility, balance, etc. before I find something else. But the person I asked practice taekwondo, so I rather hear more voices before I decide.
What I want from the martial art? Health, being practical, control of the body, cultural background for it.
So, any inputs?
Thank you.
Well, I'm 5'3" and may have some different advice. Being small your going to find that no matter what you take, it's going to be beneficial first of all. As far as Taekwondo goes for your first art, that is a personal choice, but beyond basics being smaller your going to be naturally quicker than the average joe, so taekwondo is going to give you lightning fast kicks. Just from the practice, they've got a plathora of kicks. Great art for staying back at a long range, ( my opinion). On the down side for me if you watch any taekwondo tournaments, you'll notice right away that their hands are down at there sides, not much defense going on. They seem to be waiting for that giant flying roundhouse kick, that's going to take the guys head off. That's what I've noticed about those guys. Personally. Also they've got alot of power in those kicks too.
Now, Taijichuan, I assume is the same as Tai Chi, haven't had much experience in the art. However my understanding is it takes along time to be effective in combat, but once you are your devastating. If time is a factor as far as immediate use goes, it may not be your first choice, but may be later. It's very good for many other things beyond just combat effectiveness, health etc...
Judo I don't know too much about. Seems to me from what I've read when I was a kid, it was created more for sport, to get the japanese children more into an after school curriclulum. Kind of a watered down jujutsu if you will. Still very effective, it will give you the ability to take your oponents balance and drop him on his head, among other things. Good art.
Jujutsu obviously will give you the ground game. However, some styles also have a pretty good stand up game from what I understand. So that may be something else to consider. Jujutsu is the art that the samurai used, for combat. Very effective and has been used for well over a thousand years for that purpose.
Kali is the art that they chose to depict in the movie the Borne Identity and the two sequels. My understanding is it's kind of alot like the Philipino version of Wing Chun. Alot of traps, and destructiveness going on in that art. You will here depending on who you talk to that kali has better traps than wing chun, and vice versa, but still seems to be a pretty solid art to me. Very good for stand up fighting, not very many people fight inside trapping range to my understanding. However, I think that, that may be changing as more and more people go from one art to the other, and incorporate different aspects of various arts into there own style of doing things.
Krav Maga is an Israeli art. They have been doing it for a very long time. It's battle tested, reality style training. The Israelis have been at war or the verge of war for as long as anybody can remember, it's what they use, and I would imagine there is a reason for it. You can find clips of it at the history channels website, under human weapon. OR maybe it's the discovery channel. I forget. Also I'm pretty sure most of the arts that you have mentioned you can find there, I know kali is one that they did, judo is, not sure if they did one jujutsu yet or not. Actually they did do an episode on brazilian jujutsu, they've done so many you know.
Anyways, for a small guy with what your interested in like everybody says, I would check out all of the schools and find one that has the environment that your looking for. I know that where I attend I felt at home immediately. Everybody was very friendly, and welcomed me like they knew me my whole life. Just a great family atmosphere. As far as style goes, hmm....If I personally had to choose just base on style from the list you gave I would choose between krav maga or kali. Just personally I think they would give me for my size more of what I need. That's me though, you may find that they aren't what your interested in once you check them out. But check them out. Don't just go and sign up, to the first one. And distance is a consideration, but the bottom line is if it takes you an extra twenty minutes to drive to the school you like, are comfortable in, and are getting what you want and need, then you drive the extra twenty minutes. My opinion.
I hope that this was helpful. Good luck with making a decision and let us know what you decide. I'm sure everyone here will be interested. Have fun, and enjoy it, cause really it's your money. So make a good decision for yourself.:asian:
