pros/cons/description of different martial arts
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Tanaka
Purple Belt
Well first start by looking at whats in your area. Or whats reasonable for you to get to.
Then see if they have websites explaining what they do. Normally schools/dojo will let you come in for a day or couple days to try it out for free. So you can see if you like what they do. Also you can sometimes look up their school online and read up about what other people have researched. I would do this because there are some schools who claim what they aren't. And you should be aware of this so you're not fooled. But to some people this might not matter as long as they're learning effective arts. So all in all depends on what you want to learn martial arts for.
Then see if they have websites explaining what they do. Normally schools/dojo will let you come in for a day or couple days to try it out for free. So you can see if you like what they do. Also you can sometimes look up their school online and read up about what other people have researched. I would do this because there are some schools who claim what they aren't. And you should be aware of this so you're not fooled. But to some people this might not matter as long as they're learning effective arts. So all in all depends on what you want to learn martial arts for.
Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Hi,
While I understand where you're coming from, this is far too vague to really get into at this point. The first step, as Tanaka said, would be to see what is around you, and then see what appeals. From there we can start to give you some understanding as to what you may find is various arts. Once you have an idea of what you are after, I highly recommend spending a fair amount of time searching this and other forums, you will probably be overwhelmed by the amount of information present. But to get you started (and give you an idea as to why this is not an easy thing to sum up in a short space such as a single post)....
There are a large number of ways of seperating the different martial arts. One of the most common is country of origin, so I'll use that here. Each country (and the time of the systems formation, as well as the social reasons/uses for it) will have a bearing on what would "typically" be encountered.
Japanese Martial Arts (JMA - kinda my area, so this will be the most detailed out of the descriptions here).
The Japanese systems are commonly grouped in Koryu (old schools, pre-1868) and Gendai (modern, after 1868). Koryu systems tend to eschew competition, and are often concerned with weaponry use, although there are quite a number of unarmed systems as well (most unarmed systems do also have weapon use in their teachings though). The common way these arts are taught is be repeating set sequences of actions without variation (known as kata, although the way they look is a little different to what is often thought of as a "kata, ie long string of solo techniques as in Karate).
Examples of weaponry koryu systems include Tenshin Shoden Katori Shinto Ryu, focused on the use of sword, but also incorporating a number of other weapons with the idea that the swordsman may face them, so they should know how to handle them; Shinto Muso Ryu, focused on using a Jo (a four foot staff) against sword(s), incorporating a number of other weapon systems as well; Hyoho Niten Ichi Ryu, a school of swordsmanship; Muso Jikiden Eishin Ryu and Muso Shinden Ryu, both schools of Iai (sword drawing) sharing a common history; Meifu Shinkage Ryu, a school of shuriken, throwing blades; Hozoin Ryu, a school of spearmanship; Jikishinkage Ryu, a school of naginata use (a short curved blade on a long shaft), and many many many more. In fact, these are only a tiny representation of the schools teaching each of these skills, each with their own flavour and approach.
Examples of primarily unarmed koryu systems include Hontai Yoshin Ryu, a primarily unarmoured system that also includes staff and sword work; Tenshin Shinyo Ryu, a very "hard" jujutsu system that has a greater than usual focus on striking and was highly influential on modern Judo; Takeuchi (or Takenouchi) Ryu, focused on grappling in armour, and utilising a number of small weapons such as daggers; Asayama Ichiden Ryu, and many many many more. Again, this list is far from complete, and is barely even representative of a lot of what's out there.
The third form of koryu system is what's refered to as a sogo bujutsu system, which is a broad-ranging system covering a range of areas. Some of the best known are Kukishin Ryu, best known for their use of staff weapons, although the spear and naginata is the original focus; Kashima Shinryu, well known for their Jujutsu and swordwork, although they also feature many other weapons, and again many many more.
These old systems are not easy to find, though, and even if found are not necessarily easy to gain access to. If you are lucky enough to have one nearby, and it is what you are interested in, then you are very fortunate indeed. But they are not really suited to everyone, and can be very demanding, so make sure they are what you are after before you join.
Gendai (modern) systems range from combative-focused to sporting competitive systems, through to more philosophical idealistic systems, and again can be weaponry centric, unarmed, or a mixture (sogo). Modern weapon systems include Kendo (sporting approach to swordsmanship), Iaido (modern approach to sword-drawing, focused on perfection of technique over combative effectiveness, more philosophical in approach), Seitei Jo (modern four foot staff, based on Shinto Muso Ryu mentioned above), Jukendo (bayonet fighting), Atarashii Naginatado (modern sporting use of Naginata), and other more obscure systems (one I've seen refering to itself as Koppojutsu, focused on knife fighting).
Modern unarmed systems include Aikido (based on Daito Ryu Aikijutsu, focused on joint locks, with the philosophical approach of not causing unnecessary damage), Judo (modern grappling sport based on older koryu systems, primarily Tenshin Shinyo Ryu and Kito Ryu), various forms of Japanese Karate, as opposed to Okinawan Karate (often combining sporting aspects with the more "traditional" teachings), Shorinji Kenpo, Hakko Ryu Jujutsu, and many more.
Modern composite systems include the Ninjutsu-related systems (Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu, Genbukan Ninpo Bugei/Kokusei Jujutsu Renmei, Jinenkan Jissen Kobudo), each of which draw their methods from a variety of koryu sources, although the modern combination makes them "new" arts. These systems teach a variety of unarmed and weaponry systems and techincal approaches, with the weaponry being both older forms (traditional, such as swords, staves, spears, and many more) and more modern ones (pistol, knife, defence against them and more), and typically have no competitive aspect either (same as the koryu they come from).
Typical aspects of a Japanese system will be a focus on grappling over striking in unarmed systems (Japanese Karate being a major exception, showing it's Okinawan roots), weaponry designed to be used with two hands (and as a result a lack of use of things such as shields), and a focus on mental aspects such as mushin (a concept of "no mind", essentially getting your conscious mind out of the way when you are fighting - pretty much all systems will teach that in some way, by the way, but the Japanese systems really focus on it).
Okinawan systems include Karate and Kobudo (weaponry). These are sometimes taught together, sometimes seperately. Okinawan systems tend to have less (to no) focus on competition (as opposed to the Japanese Karate systems), and focus on a great deal of strong application of straight line techniques. There is often a fair amount of conditioning work, and kicks tend to be low (waist-height or lower). Kobudo systems can feature a wide variety of weaponry, including nunchaku, sai, tonfa, etc, as well as less-known weapons such as timbe, oar, nunti, and tekko.
Chinese systems are often divided into "internal" and "external" systems, sometimes refered to as "soft" and "hard" styles. Honestly, that's a rather artificial distinction, what it typically refers to is the focus of the teaching methods of the system itself, rather than whether or not the style is "hard" or "soft".
So-called "soft", or internal systems include Taiji, Xingyi, Bagua and more. Each of these systems have their own methods that I really can't do justice here. "Hard", or external systems include well known arts like Wing Chun (Bruce Lee's original system, focused on straight line attacks and defences, striking as a primary feature, but also including trapping and a few weapons. It also has a number of unique training methods such as Chi Sau [sticking hands] for developing sensitivity, and the use of the famous "wooden dummy"), Hung Gar (pretty much the exact opposite of Wing Chun, circular actions with wide stances, more kicks, a few more weapons and so on), Tong Long (Praying Mantis, a very distinctive system which includes striking and grappling, said to be based on the movements of a praying mantis), the various animal-based systems, and many many more.
The main thing to understand here is that the common term "kung fu" doesn't mean "martial arts", it refers to (very loosely translated) the rewards of hard work (although there are many other possible translations), so if someone is teaching (or learning) "kung fu", it could be any of the above systems, or something different (generic, modern, less-than-legitimate etc). I'm mainly saying this because, although you have said here that you haven't started training yet, your profile lists your art as kung fu.... so the question would be have you actually started, or have you put kung fu because that's what you are wanting?
Back to the list....
Korean systems include various Tae Kwon Do-related systems (very similar to Japanese Karate, but with a far greater emphasis on kicking, and often highly focused on competition). These systems have names such as Tang Soo Do, Mook Do Kwan, and so on. The other commonly encountered Korean system is Hapkido, which has a much greater emphasis on grappling (throws, joint locks, etc), and is thought to have been developed from Daito Ryu, same as Aikido). There is no single "standard" form of Hapkido, so what you encounter will be highly influenced by teh instructor in question.
Other common arts are Muay Thai (Thai kickboxing), boxing, RBSD systems, MMA, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) is a modern sporting system based on different ranges, incorporating stand-up striking, kicking, grappling, takedowns, and ground-based grappling and escapes. BJJ is a modern Brazilian take on Judo, with a great emphasis on ground fighting, specifically the grappling side of things (locks, chokes, submissions etc).
Well, I think that should do it for now. As said, a search on the site will reveal a lot more information. I wish you the best in your journey.
I'm going to say what I say to everyone who asks these types of questions. There are a huge number of arts out there. My suggestion to you would be to:
1) Sit down and figure out what you're looking to get out of your training.
2) Once you have that figured out, narrow that down to the arts that meet those needs.
3) Next, see if there are any schools in your area or surrounding areas that teach what you're looking for.
4) Go to each school. Watch some classes, take a few free trial lessons, talk to the inst., the students, etc.
5) Make your decision.
Dont take my reply the wrong way, but as I said, there are way too many arts out there to talk about each and every one. Now, if you have one in mind, then yeah, ask away.
Well, honestly, that doesn't tell me much. Its not always the art, but the way each person trains it.
Ummm...yeah, ok. Still doesn't tell me much. Oh, BTW, you're boarderline trolling here. Actually, some of your posts are starting to sound silimar to another member that was recently given the boot here. Hmmmm.....
You live in a violent high school? Have boarding schools become that dangerous (excepting Hogwarts...)?
MJS gave you some of the best advice that I've ever seen on this front. Any martial art out there can be effective in combat; after all, that's what they're for. Much depends on how it's trained. But to answer "tell me about all the martial arts" is impossible. Apart from the simple fact that there are literally hundreds of thousands, from all over the world (I think Antarctica is the only continent without some form of indigenous martial art...) There are Eastern arts from Japan, China, India, Tibet... There are arts from Indonesia. There are Western arts from all over Europe and the Americas...
There's just too much to answer.
You say you want an art for self defense; fine. How much time will or can you devote to it? How quickly do you need the skills? Martial arts may not be what you're after. You may be better served by a good self defense class.
Are you being deliberately ignorant? Every martial art includes both offensive and defensive moves -- even arts like aikido that are very strongly defensive in mindset recognize that there are times you have to carry the attack forward, and not merely wait.
One more thing...
We don't even have a clue what's available to you. It'd be no good to tell you to learn Sinanju unless you happen to have a stack of gold, and an acquaintance with a certain Korean assassin or his singular pupil. (Yes, mythical martial art. No way you can learn it. Kind of makes the point, huh?) Wanna learn Piper knife fighting? You kind of have to go to South Africa right now. I can just keep stretching the list...
Again... MJS gave great advice. Re-read it, and start doing your legwork.
We don't even have a clue what's available to you. It'd be no good to tell you to learn Sinanju unless you happen to have a stack of gold, and an acquaintance with a certain Korean assassin or his singular pupil. (Yes, mythical martial art. No way you can learn it. Kind of makes the point, huh?) Wanna learn Piper knife fighting? You kind of have to go to South Africa right now. I can just keep stretching the list...
Again... MJS gave great advice. Re-read it, and start doing your legwork.
Chris Parker
Grandmaster
Hmm, this came directly after my post in which I said that kung fu is a generic term, not a martial art itself (indeed, not even necessarily martial arts related in context at all), so some more details would be required. And I note that even though you're still saying you haven't started at a school yet, you have adjusted your art from "kung fu" to "kung fu - learning". I may suggest that "none" would be a better and moer correct comment?
Really, you need to give us a lot more information if you want to be helped in any real way. At the moment it's like telling us you want to buy something, so which shop should you go to? Well, what do you want to buy? How much do you want to spend? What shops are around you (if I suggest a store that's not found in the US, but is in Australia, is that going to help you?)? Simply saying that you want something that is offensive, and not just defensive, isn't enough. My above list was really to show you that there is a huge variety around, so you really need to narrow it down, and the first step should be to see what is available (and so you know, that list was far from exhaustive... as jks pointed out, I omitted most Western arts, Filipino arts, Indonesian arts, Indian arts.... and I barely scratched the surface of the areas I did cover).
So I'll make this simple for you. Here is a list of questions. Answer each of these, and then we can start to get somewhere. If they are not answered, we'll just assume you're trolling and will stop answering. Sound fair? Okay, here we go:
1) How old are you (you've mentioned high school, and some systems, particularly older ones, may have age limits for entry. I only really accept students over 18, for example, although exceptions can and have been made)?
2) What arts are available to you in your area (within range for you to travel to, classes at a time you can attend, costs within your reach etc)?
3) How many of these available schools have you visited, or at least contacted?
4) What interests you in the martial arts? Are you drawn to kicking systems, striking, grappling, ground fighting etc?
5) What do you want out of your martial arts experience? Be as specific as you can here, not just "I want to be able to defend myself", as that is the same as asking you where you want to go for dinner and you saying "somewhere with food".
That should be enough to get going. I leave it to you.
Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
Well that does not really narrow it down much since kung fu, although incorrectly used by many, now means Chinese Martial Arts
What falls onder Kung Fu. And that is just a partial list
And here is a partial list of other styles from other parts of the world
Define equipment
Blade96
Senior Master
ipwnu said:
Good old Wikipedia. :angel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_martial_arts
Dang it. Sheng beat me to it. Oh well. =]
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I think you should plug into the Matrix, then you too can know Kung Fu.
How are you going to travel a great distance, every day, at 15? Traveling a great distance every day, especially if you're using public transportation, will get old very quickly. You would be better off finding something close by.
Blade96
Senior Master
Thats nothing. I travel many miles just to train at my dojo twice a week.
Of course, thats just twice a week, and I am not 15.
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