Chewer Martial Artists

Does keeping a Ninja sword beside your bed count?

I do that in the nude. Definitely a martial art in that case.


In all seriousness, I took Karate in seventh grade, got to "yellow tip" (watch out Jet Li!). Lately I've been wanting to try Kendo, more of a swordplay discipline.

My cousin does that, and I'm pretty sure he has no idea how to use it, but I still wouldn't attack him.

Been doing MMA (mixed martial arts) for about 5 years now, which is the sport that federations like the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championship host.

Well, I wouldn't say I'm a master. I do know the basics. I really don't think I'll get maybe more than one or two swings in before the thing shatters. It's really only a show piece. I do have my eye on a hand made sparring sword.

As for the topic starters question. I did take marital arts when I was growing up. And I do plan on taking some classes again, it's just that there are only a couple of good teachers in my area. The rest are shysters, basically out to get your money.

I did Tae Kwan Do in high school and made it to green belt. Been doing traditional boxing for about 3 months, and will start back up with Muy Thai kickboxing again next week (I was doing it in conjunction with the boxing, but stopped for a while to focus solely on boxing and to get back into shape...because my kickboxing classes kick your a-s-s. Our new instructor is a No Holds Barred fighter and is a really nice guy, but ruthless when it comes to teaching class.)

I've been doing Aikido for about 7 years now. I love it.

The basics are that its a sword, its sharp, and I don't want it swinging at my head.

Ha...billy you're looking for a bokken.

Which I have right above my head where I sleep.

I can make paper sculptures.

I did a combination of karate/aikido for 10 years. Ever summer, for 2 months, we'd do judo training as well. I stopped when I was 18; however recently I started getting back into shape and training at my gym with someone I trained with back in the day. We both used to be instructors so between the two of us we have all the gear and equipment we need. We train twice a week now and I run/workout 3 times a week on top of that. I'm hoping, combined with a better diet, that I'll be back in fighting shape soon.

I will kick all of your asses at once. All I need is a line of blow, a broken Jager bottle and a barstool leg.

I've been taking Fencing for a few years....does that count at all?

I guess it depends on what kind of neigborhoods you're putting the fences up in.

I've been going to United Studios of Self Defense for at least ten years now and have a first degree black belt. They teach mostly Shaolin Ch'uan Fa.

Why when I think of Chewer Martial Artists do I imagine something like this?

I have dabbled in TKD, Tai Chi Chuan, and Aikido. I REALLY want to get back into Aikido and not just because I bought a really nice gi. The place I studied it was kind of a martial arts collective that rented a space at the Boys and Girls Club in Greenville, NC. One night they taught Arnis and those guys were CAH-RAZY fast with their sticks, but no padding. Not for this white boy.

I've mastered the art of paper throwing stars.

I have mastered the art of the Big Boot/ Legdrop combo a la Hulk Hogan. And I can do a cartwheel really bad.

Im a black belt in Filipino Kali, and an accredited instructor in the same, ultimately under Guro Dan Inosanto. Ive also worked in Muay Thai, Wing Chun and Judo.
Not only can I kick your ass, I can also bore you to death talking about wrist-lock flow drills.

I boxed for two years in college, tried my hand at judo and jiu-jitsu, and dabbled in wrestling. I was a bouncer for six years through college and law school and have a lot of experience in grabbing somebody from behind by the neck and hair and dragging them out a front door. Is that a martial arts discipline?

They all take too much work. I'll stick to body building and just try to look real scary.

As a kid I took an introductory class in jiu-jitsu, but that's about all the formal schooling I've had. I was interested in hapkido, but never took a class in it.

These days all my "expertise" is in stage combat, which is pretty much completely useless in any fight not involving music from West Side Story. . .

Just don't snap your fingers at the aggressor, he might mis-interpret it as a come on....

Isn't Dan Inosanto out here in LA now?

I need recommendations for a martial art to study. I've been getting insanely out of shape in the last couple of years and I would love to learn some discipline, but I never got around to it.

There's a Shotokan dojo near me, probably going to go sit in on a lesson to check it out. But I'm not sure what kind to go for. I've always been interested in Thai Kickboxing (especially since I've learned a few moves from people who study it for use at hardcore shows....heh) but I hear they fucking destroy you when you start. But maybe I can go for that.

I hear a lot of good stuff about Wing Chun Kung Fu, almost enough to want to check it out myself (status as a semi-poor college student notwithstanding). Aside from that, I can't recommend much, as most of the training I've had was in boxing (mentorship from my granddad who boxed while he was in the USMC, a few classes, a few very, very small-fries matches against corn-fed hicks in East Texas).

My problem is finding something that can cater to someone with plenty of bulk who's kinda slow. I dated a girl who was a black belt in karate, and she could bend and flex and dash around like a track runner on PCP, so I can't help but let seeing what she and her peers could do with their bodies color my perception of martial arts.

I'm lifer with regards to martial arts, and reached 2nd dan in Shotokan back in the early 90's. It's probably one of most well rounded martial arts available and based on the dojo, will appropriately kick your ass into shape. I spent some time later in informal Aikido training, and found it to be one of the more interesting forms, as well as various kick boxing training on the amateur circuit.

It's all about what your interested in pursuing. If you're looking at getting into sparring out of the gate, a traditional martial arts school might not be for you, considering the memorization on stances and forms that occur early on. There may be some non-aerobic kick boxing classes around that focus more on incorporating various styles of fighting for practical purposes, and less on martial arts tradition.

Also, most of the practitioners on the board hang out (not surprisingly) in the MMA thread. Martin Savage and Martianman are currently training now, so you may want to shoot them a PM to get their opinion on the options available today.

My wife and I are considering letting our son learn Tae Kwan Do when he gets older. But we are probably going to push Ice Hockey instead.

Well I've been practicing Cheng Bagua Zhang for 3-4 years now, with another 4 years of Hung Gar Kung Fu before.

Death Surge is right. I might add that more importantly than the style itself is finding a good master, or a good gym if you go to a MMA school. Traditional stuff like Karate and Tae Kwon Do lost their prestige because of shabby teachers who could train you or didn't know how to fight with it, but there is still some real hidden gems out there.

On the other side, MMA are physically punishing, battle tested and will prepare you for it, but usually are not as deep with some exceptions.

Some traditionnal stuff like Muay Thai and some Kung Fu stylesl are still great, but like I said above it's a matter of case by case. No matter where you go, take some time to check different schools and styles, and stay to watch a class. Check the teacher's credentials and try one free class in the places you like. That's the least they can do.

The single most important thing about martial arts is that there is no crappy styles ( I'm not talking about home-brewed new fighting styles designed by a ex-nam veteran who simply mixed the styles he knows, I'm talking about established names, from Brazilian Ju-Jitsu to Krav Maga-even Capoeira is fun), only bad teachers and bad fighters. Some styles are better suited for certain people.

I started off with Kyokushinkai karate when I was in school then did some boxing and Aikido in the service. When I got out, one of my buddies got me into Jeet Kune Do and I did different varitions on it for about ten years. I guess I was more interested in Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu at the beginning, then got really into Kali after that. The most fun that I had was going to a full-contact stick fighting group that some of my friends ran on Sundays.

A couple of years ago, I moved to a new town, and I was too busy at work to do much. Now, I find that I really miss it. I've been teaching my kids some stuff, and that's gotten me excited about it again. There aren't any Inosanto-style schools around me, but there's a MMA school with a good reputation, so I think that I'll go give it a try.

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I actually had my mind made up for me- bunch of friends chipped in and bought me a month of a beginner's class at a local Muay Thai gym. I'm starting tomorrow and am going to be doing it 3 times a week for a month.

I can't wait to see how sore I am tomorrow night. Nervous and exited about it.

Let him do both. That way if another players gets in his way he can seriously fuck them up. His team will be feared and they will the championship. It's a win win... until the law suit happens.

I could kick ALL your asses. I have a gun.

How's the Muay Thai going?

Heh... funny story. I didn't actually start until yesterday, and while I got there early by the time I talked to the instructor the class had already started. So I just watched it and I'm starting wednesday.

But... holy shit. This is the beginner's class and I got a workout just watching them. My out of shape ass is going to be hurting, because it's an hour and a half of constant movement. I doubt I can keep up but I'm going to try as best as I can. The sparring looks pretty fun.

I'm going to have to quit smoking, aren't I? (grumble...)

Sparring looks fun, but don't think about it for a little moment. You'll have enough just to do your shit correctly, trust me. Sparring is fun once you're a bit at ease with basic movements.

Tae Kwon Do when I was younger (the instructor also mixed in some judo and some boxing). Soem knife fighting and sword work as well when I got older.

Nowadays Tai Chi just to limber up. It is hell getting old, but i find 45-60minutes of tai chi makes me feel better.

Funny thing, in college my best friend's started doing Gracie Jiu Jitsu. They loved to throw me around and show how they could break certain apendages. I never could take them. Put a bokken in my hands though and I made them pay.

Now that I have a son, I am starting to get back to practicing with my bokken though. Want to be able to pass some knowledge on to him. When he gets into grade school I will probably have him take Tae Kwon Do or some style of Karate. Something simple to get him interested and give him a base to work with.

You find sparring fun? Satisfying...perhaps, but fun? The number one reason I stopped boxing is that it's no fun to get hit in the head (which is going to happen, no matter how good you are). Wrestling/Jiu Jitsu present similar dilemmas.

Of the various discplines I've dabbled in, Judo was probably the only one I'd consider "fun". I tried it fairly late in life, with folks who I generally outweighed by 60-100 pounds. I only tried it out for three or four months, but with that type of weight/strength advantage I was able to get people a good yard or two off the ground.

Sparring is fun, but that entirely depends on the context. I usually spar with friends and we know we won't intentionally cross that line that puts the whole thing into a stressing event, not that it's not needed sometimes for the instinct's sake.

Judo is a sport, and from what I did ( few months) it's fun, and not a bad MA.

I know from personal experience how much sparring can suck. I cut my ACL sparring (in 'randori' I think its called) in Jiu-Jitsu. That effectively ended my interest in that type of martial arts. I didn't mind though, I hated having to remember Katas. I did Aikido for a couple of years in college (blue belt bitches, I think I'm finally good enough to rail on some middle schoolers) and I definitely enjoyed that more. Maybe because it was calmer or spiritual even. I'm going to have to take it up again.

I'm glad this came up - the local rag had a feature on Krav Maga and I was thinking of looking into it; any opinions/experience?

Like Martin, I loved sparring too. I liked full-on fights even better. There's a primitive mindset prevalent in some of us that makes that a pure endorphin rush.

I'm sure most of us get that way from getting knocked in the head too many times.

I'm guessing the teacher still makes a difference, but apparently, it's pretty effective, as it's more of a survival oriented method of combat than a traditionnal martial art.

Yeah, I'm pretty much with that mentality. I've gotten hit so many times in pits at hardcore shows that it doesn't faze me that much, whether that's a good thing or not.

So... I can't do this, at least stamina-wise, just yet. I'm just not ready for it. I'm working out and trying to eat better and hopefully drop the weight I need before getting into this seriously, hopefully by summer.

So, you think of shaping up with MT or outside of it so you can jump in it more fit ?

I started Kung Fu 7 years ago all flabby and I was tired every time. Two months later there was a huge difference. What helps is that there a great source of motivation and conditionning at the same place, something you won't find everywhere.

Just getting out on the mat does help you get in shape, but putting in some time on your own will make it so much easier. Especially if you do want to do more active sparring. Jumping rope, running sprints and intervals, endurance training with weights--it pays off in little ways. You keep your guard up better, you respond more quickly, you're the one with the energy at the end of the bout. It's worth the extra effort to spend more time being the one who rings the bells, rather than the one getting his bells rung.

Outside. I'm beyond flabby, dude. I'll work out with my punching bag for 5 minutes and be completely winded. I know it'd probably be better just to man up and do the training at the gym but I really don't know if I can handle it.

I've found out that a friend of a friend of mine does MT, and I'm going to be meeting with him to seek out some advice- maybe even try training with him. I will do this, it's just a question of when...

Most fights are over relatively quickly, and involve far less sustained punishment, then steady sparring over days and weeks. I found that I really looked forward to the actual bouts, but began to get very, very tired of sparring every other day. Fighting in "real life" was exciting initially, but at some point as it was happening every single weekend (for my job), it became old. I reached a similar dynamic in regards to weight-lifting. Satisfying? Yes. Endorphin-atingly great? Yes. Fun? Not really.

I think I may have gone soft. Yipes.

But I'll still kick all your asses. Simultaneously. BWAHAHAHAHA. HA.

Cool thread.

I'm 36 I started training at age 13.

I did TKD until blackbelt - I quit at 19 because I saw kung fu(wu shu) in person for the first time and it blew me away. From 19-26 I trained in wu-shu mostly, in an older style called chang ch'uan(long fist), and received my 'black sash' in that(belts are weird in kung fu some places use them, some dont. My sifu was the real thing though. Sifu chan tinpai, who trained with sifu yao li in Boston. I also did a lot of tai chi, your basic short form stuff, and some chen style tai chi which is really difficult btw.

During my time doing wu shu, I also started cross training in jeet kun do, judo, and eventually between the ages of 24-26 I was introduced to boxing,Thai boxing and san shou. I really liked boxing and thai boxing, so I eventually abandoned all traditional martial arts and started training purely in those. Along the way, I met some blue belts in Brazilian jiu jitsu who wanted to learn some striking, so we started training together and eventually two of us opened up our own mma school. I eventually left the school to move across the country for graduate school, and I started training with Charles Gracie in Brazilian jiu jitsu - I got my blue belt from him, and after that I started training at Ralph Gracie's academy.

Unfortunately, through the years, I accumulated: lots of broken fingers and toes, lots of broken ribs, torn hamstrings on both legs, a shattered inner eyesocket and the coup de grace - torn ligaments in my neck. My neck hasn't really ever recovered, so I stopped training a couple years back.

I started surfing instead.