Some advice for an indecisive mind

[TMA17]

The last month I've been unable to train Judo due to minor surgery (not related to martial arts/had a cyst removed from my neck).

Which of the following do you think would be most beneficial for learning an art for self defense purposes:

1. Private lessons with a top notch, olympic Judoka.
2. Private lessons with a wrestling coach (would be wrestling with high school kids).
3. BJJ with a guy that studied under Royce Gracie and is 5 minutes away. They offer a self defense class once a week.

I spoke to one of my friends today that studied BJJ up to a blue belt and told me it's not effective for self defense. LOL

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I would get more information. That's just their qualifications, not how well they teach. A crappy instructor can be a great MAist and vice versa. I would also see how sport focused they are, since all 3, if sport focused, I wouldn't use for self-defense. You'll never learn how to block a punch. If they teach SD along with sport, its different.

 

[TMA17]

The BJJ guy studied Muay Thai for years. Then studied under Royce Gracie. I spoke with him this week and asked him about the sport focus of BJJ. His response was he didn't even know BJJ was a sport when he was training. They focus on basic takedowns and have a night where they focus on self defense aspects of BJJ.

The Judoka is top notch. Expensive but time is an issue right now for me with kids. This is where location comes into to play as the BJJ school is 5 minutes away.

As far as what I enjoy most, it's been Judo. 2.5 months and I like it a lot. It's tough and the learning curve is high. But do ideally prefer more standup focus and takedown/takedown defense.

 

[MetalBoar]

The BJJ guy studied Muay Thai for years. Then studied under Royce Gracie. I spoke with him this week and asked him about the sport focus of BJJ. His response was he didn't even know BJJ was a sport when he was training. They focus on basic takedowns and have a night where they focus on self defense aspects of BJJ.

The Judoka is top notch. Expensive but time is an issue right now for me with kids. This is where location comes into to play as the BJJ school is 5 minutes away.

As far as what I enjoy most, it's been Judo. 2.5 months and I like it a lot. It's tough and the learning curve is high. But do ideally prefer more standup focus and takedown/takedown defense.

If you like Judo the most and the Judoka is really great and it's one on one private lessons (or the instructor and you and a training partner) that seems hard to beat. I know when I started taking one on one instruction from an Olympic level fencing coach my skills shot through the roof even after just the first handful of 30 minutes lessons. All that immediate feedback about what you need to do differently really speeds things up in a way that's hard to believe if you haven't done it. On the other hand, I'd be a little concerned about how well it would work if you are unable to do any group work as that's usually where you really get to cement what you've worked on in the private lessons in my experience.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

If you like Judo the most and the Judoka is really great and it's one on one private lessons (or the instructor and you and a training partner) that seems hard to beat. I know when I started taking one on one instruction from an Olympic level fencing coach my skills shot through the roof even after just the first handful of 30 minutes lessons. All that immediate feedback about what you need to do differently really speeds things up in a way that's hard to believe if you haven't done it. On the other hand, I'd be a little concerned about how well it would work if you are unable to do any group work as that's usually where you really get to cement what you've worked on in the private lessons in my experience.

The good thing is he could still probably find some open mats to go to nearby. Most grappling based schools that compete in some aspect are cool with that from my experience, as long as you pay a mat fee.

 

[TMA17]

The private lessons are tempting, but they are costly. I'm going with the BJJ. It's 5 minutes away. I want to see how self defense oriented his program is. Thanks for all the suggestions I appreciate it.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

The private lessons are tempting, but they are costly. I'm going with the BJJ. It's 5 minutes away. I want to see how self defense oriented his program is. Thanks for all the suggestions I appreciate it.

Worse comes to worst you don't like it and still have two options left

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I'm going to be the voice of dissent here. I don't find as much value in private lessons, until there's a strong foundation. I've both taken and taught private lessons at various levels. For beginners, it's too much attention and not enough time to just work on repetition and make mistakes. At mid-level (for most folks, after a couple of years), it starts to have some real value. For more advanced folks (for most folks, after at least 5 years, usually considerably longer), it allows tinkering and digging in areas open classes rarely get to.

The exception to this would be competition, where you need to focus on specific areas for your next match (and often on a specific competitor).

 

[TMA17]

gp your advice is greatly appreciated as you've actually trained people privately, so that means a lot. Of all the things I've tried the past year, Judo has been the most fun. However, I have to consider time and distance of where I train. The BJJ school I'm going to be going to is 5 minutes away, and the instructor is from the Gracie lineage. They offer a self defense class. I have to stick with my goal which is to learn a grappling art and when I consider the time element and having kids, this just makes the most sense right now. In time if I want to learn takedowns at a higher level, I'll worth with the Judo instructor but I feel if I can learn a few takedowns at the BJJ school (one guy is a former wrestler), that will be more than sufficient. They also teach Muay Thai there but striking is something I work on at home now that I have better equipment - muay thai bag, bob, boxing reflex bag.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

gp your advice is greatly appreciated as you've actually trained people privately, so that means a lot. Of all the things I've tried the past year, Judo has been the most fun. However, I have to consider time and distance of where I train. The BJJ school I'm going to be going to is 5 minutes away, and the instructor is from the Gracie lineage. They offer a self defense class. I have to stick with my goal which is to learn a grappling art and when I consider the time element and having kids, this just makes the most sense right now. In time if I want to learn takedowns at a higher level, I'll worth with the Judo instructor but I feel if I can learn a few takedowns at the BJJ school (one guy is a former wrestler), that will be more than sufficient. They also teach Muay Thai there but striking is something I work on at home now that I have better equipment - muay thai bag, bob, boxing reflex bag.

From our other discussions, I rather like the sound of that BJJ school.

 

[Martial D]

The last month I've been unable to train Judo due to minor surgery (not related to martial arts/had a cyst removed from my neck).

Which of the following do you think would be most beneficial for learning an art for self defense purposes:

1. Private lessons with a top notch, olympic Judoka.
2. Private lessons with a wrestling coach (would be wrestling with high school kids).
3. BJJ with a guy that studied under Royce Gracie and is 5 minutes away. They offer a self defense class once a week.

I spoke to one of my friends today that studied BJJ up to a blue belt and told me it's not effective for self defense. LOL

TBH I'd go with the first or third options(both amazing opportunities!), but the second one is also good. Why not do all three?

 

[drop bear]

Do the wrestling as well if you can.

 

[TMA17]

LOL if I could I would do all three but I have to choose one for now due to time money.

Option 1 is where I'm headed to try. One of the instructors as mentioned was a wrestler and the head instructor is Gracie lineage. This place is less than 10 minutes away. These 3 options are so great that's why I'm struggling with it. I'd be wrestling high school kids though which the coach said is no big deal. Coach is fantastic.