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  1. #1

    Martial arts advice please.

    i have found that in the last few months i have been getting less and less enjoyment out of my workouts, so im looking for something new to do. I've decided on martial arts, but i am not completely sold on which one yet.

    I am a decently large guy, 6'2" 250 lbs (188 cm 113 kg) not cut, but not fat. i have done some boxing, so i am fairly confident in my ability to defend myself. What i am looking for is a truly artful martial art. I want something that requires speed, agility, flexibility, and incredible technique. I don't want to be able to use my strength advantage at all.

    As of right now i have narrowed it down to Baguazhang and Aikido. any input is appreciated, please specify whether you do the martial art you are talking about, or any martial art for that matter.

    Also, i took TKD when i was little, and while i liked it i would like something different.

  2. #2
    I would honestly say thai boxing or sumthn like that. I've done some thai and if u get a good coach, u'll get so ripped. Fat will just pour off u.

    188cm and 113kg is still in the obese category, ya know :P Unless u have a big muscular size that is.

  3. #3
    The Patient slavrix's Avatar
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    BJJ, man Brazilian Jujitsu is the way to go. get your grapple on. cardio and str training at the same time.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Juni View Post
    188cm and 113kg is still in the obese category, ya know :P Unless u have a big muscular size that is.
    Yea. I used to be 280 lbs when i played football(handegg to the euros). i got a nice big badonkadonk, and a barrel chest.

  5. #5
    Muay thai sounds like it could suit you. Or if you can find a dojo that teaches it, try Kyokushin, it's brutal but worth the effort.

  6. #6
    Herald of the Titans Kuniku's Avatar
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    Hi,

    I train Jujutsu (Japanese not BJJ) which is what Aikido is based on, I've had the pleasure of being taught by some Aikido Sensei who also train our Jujutsu, and their work is impressive! Jujutsu itself is more about the technique than strength, however you will find (as I do) that while learning you will do a move using strength for ages, and then something will click, someone will explain it slightly differently and boom, it becomes effortless.

    I imagine Aikido is somewhat similar, however the techniques I've been taught (which are probably at a higher level to what you'd start out with) just plain didn't work without technique, you couldn't brute them and hope for the best, they just didn't work, which is why I have tremendous respect, and greatly enjoy watching Aikidoka training.

    That said, its largely useless on the street IMO compared to jujutsu, but you did say that you wanted it for the art, and not the defense aspect.

    The chinese arts, wushu etc, are always very impressive to watch, and take great skill as well, having never trained them I can't say much more than that...

    Are you after purely the art? or are you after competing as well?

    I'd also put forward Jujutsu as a somewhat biased suggestion, as I said earlier, for the frist couple of belts you can get away with bruting it, unless you get "lucky" and train with someone a fair bit bigger than you, but once you get into it, technique becomes a lot more apparent, useful and eventually required - some of the techniques in the purple, brown and eventually first dan onwards are very difficult to brute I'll tell you!

    I've got to the stage (Training for Brown atm) where I'm starting to get techniques that your size will hinder you quite a bit. Which is quite interesting for me personally, as I tend to learn it by bruting it and then adjusting to get the technique right, some of these are very subtle that require positioning more than anything.

    Then there is all the Weapon Katas, lots of fun, and takes a lot of skill to get right ^_^

  7. #7
    Immortal roahn the warlock's Avatar
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    I trained in Tang soo do for many years, but if you are looking for something that will really give a workout, mainstream karate isn't for you, because frankly, most are franchised like bloody mcdonalds, find a good gym that does mixed martial arts and do that.
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  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Kipling View Post
    Are you after purely the art? or are you after competing as well?
    The art of it more than anything, if that leads into competition i would enjoy it. but definitely the art first.

  9. #9
    Herald of the Titans Kuniku's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by QQingshaman View Post
    The art of it more than anything, if that leads into competition i would enjoy it. but definitely the art first.
    I'll stick to Japanese arts, as I honestly don't know much about the chinese arts.

    I've never really seen an aikido competition, i'm not sure how they'd pan out tbh, possibly end up a bit like judo =p

    jujutsu however (at least in my association) has many different forms of competition, and some of these are based more on the "art" than the "fighting"

    we have:

    Sparring - stand up semi contact fighting, most strikes allowed (no elbows or knees or low blows) as well as standing locks and throws - judges desicion

    Ground Fighting - both start kneeling, fight goes until the end of the round for judges desicion or until tap out

    "Kumite" - at some smaller comps they mix the 2 above into one competition, which is basically ameture mma rules - very fun =D

    Kata - Pick a Kata and perform it, judged on technique, accuracy and generally how well you did it

    Weapons Kata - Same as above but with weapons =D

    Pairs Demo - This is basically a 2 min long choreographed fight, you're both judged on how good/smooth it all looks, and how good the techniques are

    and finally:

    Random Attacks - I've just got back from the European championships in this, and while originally I didn't rate it, after training as part of the UK squad for 6 months in preparation I now really enjoy it. The Idea is that its a self defence competition, you take a partner with you usually, and he/she is your attacker, they will be told in secret what attack (usually from a list of 40 or so) to do on you. they then stand behind you, the ref tells you to turn around and as soona s you're facing the attacker they perform the relavent attack and you have to defend yourself. judged on effectiveness, technique and it has to be streetwise - so it would have to work on the streets - which limits the "flying" techniques =p

  10. #10
    Boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ. Be very skeptical about all the 'traditional arts' - most of them are charlatans. Best martial arts are the one with recorded history of successes in real fights. I met some Judo and Aikido people who very really excellent, but its not that easy to find a really good trainer in these arts. Clearly keep away from Wing Tsun and other chinese Kung Fu - 95% of these schools are charlatans.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Kipling View Post
    Random Attacks - I've just got back from the European championships in this, and while originally I didn't rate it, after training as part of the UK squad for 6 months in preparation I now really enjoy it. The Idea is that its a self defence competition, you take a partner with you usually, and he/she is your attacker, they will be told in secret what attack (usually from a list of 40 or so) to do on you. they then stand behind you, the ref tells you to turn around and as soona s you're facing the attacker they perform the relavent attack and you have to defend yourself. judged on effectiveness, technique and it has to be streetwise - so it would have to work on the streets - which limits the "flying" techniques =p
    This sounds incredibly fun. How often are competitions usually held?

    ---------- Post added 2012-06-23 at 02:49 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by mafao View Post
    Boxing, Muay Thai, BJJ. Be very skeptical about all the 'traditional arts' - most of them are charlatans. Best martial arts are the one with recorded history of successes in real fights. I met some Judo and Aikido people who very really excellent, but its not that easy to find a really good trainer in these arts. Clearly keep away from Wing Tsun and other chinese Kung Fu - 95% of these schools are charlatans.
    yea. The thing is i really dont know how to judge these places either. i dont really have a gauge for what is legit, and what is commercialized BS.

  12. #12
    Herald of the Titans Kuniku's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=QQingshaman;17275535]This sounds incredibly fun. How often are competitions usually held?[COLOR="red"]

    The Europeans are every other year (well it alternates between random attacks and sparring/ground fighting)

    here in the UK, we have the nationals each year which have the random attack competition format in.

    and we have a summer holiday to cornwall every summer which has a competition afternoon involved which has randoms in too.

    the BJJA nationals (which are smaller than ours) also have randoms in, but i dont attend that one as i'm not part of the BJJA

  13. #13
    Well, anything that has to do with MMA would prolly suit u very well as u dont know what u really want and there u kinda get a little bit of everything. Some muay thai, some boxing, some BJJ, and then some strength and cardio training on top of that. But its not as fancy schmancy as some of the chinese arts (not talking down on it, but its less of the "ceremonial/spiritual" part of it).

  14. #14
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    to start with maby you could try thai boxing im diong it myself and its a great fighting sport
    you train your hole body in holland its very populair at the moment !

  15. #15
    The way to tell if a martial art is bullshit or if it's for real, is to look up if said martial art has regular full contact competitions.

    Bullshit techniques and magic mumbo-jumbo doesn't work in full contact tournaments.

    So, boxing, BJJ, wrestling, judo are all legit.
    Aikido is not. It's fake, 99%-100% of the techniques do not work on a fully resisting opponent. Don't waste time studying it.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Romeo83x View Post
    The way to tell if a martial art is bullshit or if it's for real, is to look up if said martial art has regular full contact competitions.

    Bullshit techniques and magic mumbo-jumbo doesn't work in full contact tournaments.

    So, boxing, BJJ, wrestling, judo are all legit.
    Aikido is not. It's fake, 99%-100% of the techniques do not work on a fully resisting opponent. Don't waste time studying it.
    hahaha indd still stupid that some people try to practise it ....once your in the ring with boxing and thaiboxing etc you only use basic thing's xd

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Romeo83x View Post
    The way to tell if a martial art is bullshit or if it's for real, is to look up if said martial art has regular full contact competitions.

    Bullshit techniques and magic mumbo-jumbo doesn't work in full contact tournaments.

    So, boxing, BJJ, wrestling, judo are all legit.
    Aikido is not. It's fake, 99%-100% of the techniques do not work on a fully resisting opponent. Don't waste time studying it.
    Have to agree with this. These days everyone is in full padding, there is little contact and they teach you nothing but belly dancing.

    Get into a fight in a pub, with some guy with a knife, and 90% of these "Martial Arts" would be worthless. You're not taught to disable, kill or maim another person, you're taught to stand, pose and mess around.

    Martial Arts has two sides. 80% of it is Spiritual Energies, while the other 20% is Physical Strength & Technique. No-where I've been teaches the Spiritual Energies, and so I've seen these people get their ass handed to them in any real fight.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by QQingshaman View Post
    I am a decently large guy, 6'2" 250 lbs (188 cm 113 kg) not cut, but not fat. i have done some boxing, so i am fairly confident in my ability to defend myself. What i am looking for is a truly artful martial art. I want something that requires speed, agility, flexibility, and incredible technique. I don't want to be able to use my strength advantage at all.
    Aikido would be my pick as it revolves around technique not physical prowess. I've seen small women (around 5'4") bring down large men (6ft plus) using correctly performed joint-locks/takedowns.

    Everybodys bones and body work in the same way, no matter how big or strong you are.

  19. #19
    Field Marshal
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    From what you said in your first post, you seem to be more interested in the aesthetics of martial arts rather than its effectiveness in combat. If you want something truly showy, then the Chinese arts are very impressive, especially if you continue on to train in weapons or start getting into flips and shit. Some people will say not to bother with any of those arts because it is not street effective, but let's face it, having a black belt in BJJ is not going to stop your opponent's mate from glassing the back of your head. Choose one that pleases you the most, after all to truly become good you will have to enjoy it enough to stick with it.

    As for me, I have not done any chinese arts. I was training in Panantukan (Filipino dirty boxing) for a while until my trainer made me choose between boxing and lifting weights. Since I was studying to be a personal trainer, I picked weights.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by QQingshaman View Post
    i have found that in the last few months i have been getting less and less enjoyment out of my workouts, so im looking for something new to do. I've decided on martial arts, but i am not completely sold on which one yet.

    I am a decently large guy, 6'2" 250 lbs (188 cm 113 kg) not cut, but not fat. i have done some boxing, so i am fairly confident in my ability to defend myself. What i am looking for is a truly artful martial art. I want something that requires speed, agility, flexibility, and incredible technique. I don't want to be able to use my strength advantage at all.

    As of right now i have narrowed it down to Baguazhang and Aikido. any input is appreciated, please specify whether you do the martial art you are talking about, or any martial art for that matter.

    Also, i took TKD when i was little, and while i liked it i would like something different.
    Akido is an excellent style, for someone your size, I would recommend jiu jitsu or traditional karate as a base and eventually work your way around different styles
    It's like crossing an intersection. There's shit going on all over the place and you don't panic and act like an idiot then do you?

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