Martial Arts

[Ivelliis]

Anyone here have any experience with any martial arts? I need something new in my life, and as daunting I'll feel being in a class of (possibly) kids who could probably kick my arse (ok I'm sure I'd take a few down, but 10 little ninjas would down the greatest fighter!) I'm not sure where to go. I've looked (briefly, it's 1.41am and I'm slightly pissed off and on a roll with this) and I'd like some first hand opinions if possible.

[Variol (Farseer) Elmwood]

I recommend Tai Chi,
You don't have to hit anybody, it's a good workout, and if you do need to defend yourself, the accelerated form is a deadly art.

[Firestormalpha]

Well, I can't give first hand on this, but most of my friends swear by Tae Kwan Do. Also had a youth pastor who had a black belt in kickboxing, he would occasionally let some of the teens try to take him down.

Tai Bo however, is out of the question, it's step aerobics not martial arts.


I've also heard of the martial art for young children, Tai Mai Shu.

Or the ancient Monkey arts of Fling Puu.

[Luvian]

I took Taekwondo classes maybe ten years ago. I liked it better than my friend's generic Karate classes.

Most martial arts schools have age brackets, so you most likely won't end up in the same time slot as kids.

The White Belt classes are generally pretty easy. They're more about getting you in shape and teaching you the idea of katas, punches and kicks.

Personally what I'd like to get into is Judo. It seems kind of fun.

[CerebroDragon]

I studied Aikido for about three years and really enjoyed it for it's pacifistic and abstract spiritual philosophy. It's non-combative in nature and usually includes a written component when it comes to gradings.
Training in it also helped me make key lifestyle changes and became a kind of physical therapy from the depressive rut I was in at the time.
As for what type of art to go for, I guess it depends on what you're really looking at achieving with it. There's lots of options out there.

[Dragonshadow]

I did Chum Kune Do for several years, before I had to leave for about four different reasons.
Make sure you do something which isn't likely to destroy your knees.

[Wolf Rider2]

Karate can be good but the sparring hurts. You have to get a few belts before you start sparring but it can be a scary experience. Other than that it might be ok.

[Ivelliis]

I did (at about age 12/13) do a bit of karate and got up to the...fourth belt? I think the next belt was where I would do sparring and stuff, I had all the pads and whatnot.

[Wolf Rider2]

We saw one guy get a karate chop to the side of his eye socket. It started bleeding, and it looked like it hurt.

[Wolf Rider2]

Recently talked to a friend of mine about her kickboxing classes. She said they throw a basketball at your stomach to build muscle strength. Hmm. Not sure how painful it would be but probably builds up a six-pack pretty quickly.