Anyone into martial arts? If so, what style?

The art of fighting with out fighting


Good topic

I have always felt drawn to and wanted to pratice martial arts, but I live in a smallish area with highly Americanized classes, which don't focus on the chi aspect of martial arts at all. I'm interested in thousand cuts and Capoeira the most.

In my opinion the style I prefer is Jeet Kun Do by the late great Bruce Lee. Every style is good but that is I prefer.

i have studied shotokan, which uses judo jujitsu and akido all in the same thing, and muai thai, and grappling

i practice tae kwon do, and also carry belts in karate and judo.

most taekwondo places i have no respect for,, they want money for the black belts,, and it takes about a year, in shotokan it takes 4 years and is very very hard. not saying that bout all of em,, just most of em

that's funny...because the place that i went to for years was bought out by someone that would pass just about anyone that tested. was...very disappointing to me.

this is why i wont study it,, and i take out the black belts in the school when i get there

If it wasn't for my health my oldest would have became a black belt in karate by december..i had all 3 of my boys in karate

i doubt ill ever get my black belt, but i dont really want it. i am on the black belt level on so many issues that i might as well be one already. but thats alright

I used to be into Tae Kwon DO.

*raises eyebrow* Ohh, something i'm interested in!!!

I've studied alot of arts. Never liked tae kwon do, more into akido/ju jitsu/5 style/kempo/jeet kun do.

Personally i don't believe in any belt system. It just seems to undermine the whole purpose of martial arts to me. Which is constant progression and understanding of yourself, and your body with self disapline and a strong mind. I've always felt that a black belt ment stop, cause you know everything, but thats just me.

in shotokan the old way was you had one belt, a white one. you never washed it thats where the colors come from. and first dan, or first black, means first step. there are ten dan's in shotokan, and it mixes judo ju jitsu and akido into it.

no...black belt doesn't mean "stop". it means that the journey is just beginning...

there are nine degrees of black...which take a lifetime to even come close to achieving.

10 in shotokan, and the first 5 dans are the ones you can work to earn, the rest is more spiritual and 10 is the hardest to get, there are only 15 alive right now

ehhh my hole point is i dont feel its an accurate way to tell how good you are, or where you are at, or really anything. especially in this day in age where i can go to a school knowing nothing, and just buy a blackbelt of any degree for what, ten lessons?

yeah alot of schools are like that,, "come here and you will be a black belt in a year" kinda deal, and thats a joke to anyone and a true insult to a true karate-ka. it took me 4 years to hit my brown belt and i had to earn everything i got. i had to learn japanese, customs, all the forms, and the actual fighting. so yeah i worked hard to get what i have.

oh and i have the deepest respect for anyone who went through the hell of training to learn the beautiful arts and customs of martial arts. it's just that personally the belts dont seem to hold much meaning to anyone but the person who earned it. great example is watching the gracies on youtube beat up 4th degree chinese masters. i've trained a bit with one of the gracies in cali when i was learning jeet kun do, and he openly admited that they are still waiting for an honest master of an art. pretty much they get challanges from guys who want to prove themselfs, and guys that pretend to be masters. that whole half the training but all the reward. and as you should know thumper, after 4 years of studying any martial art and learning the self discipline, its not something you ever feel like using to show off, as it feels wrong and dishonorable.

besides, the black belt isnt the accomplishment, it was the 4 years of brutal training and learning to gain the knowledge that was.

i know exactly what you mean. the man i learned from hold 4 diffrent black belts and has lived and breathed martial arts for 37 years. his dojo was in the basement of his house, and we had that place decked very traditional. down to the makawara pads. my abs, back and knuckles went through hell in that place and i loved every minuite of it. i have went to find diffrent schools since the one i was in i cant go to anymore, and all the ones i found wanted to start me off at white belt. i went into one and one of the 3rd blacks challenged me to a kumite match, and i beat him hands down 3 to nothing. most of the black belts are just that,, handed a black belt and know nothing of the true bushido spirit.