Styles?

[Kaga]

Hello all,

I have a question and it is a very broad and i apologize for that.. First let me explain my situation, I am a former TKD practitioner but stopped a few years ago. Recently I've been searching for something new and something that fits me best... I've researched so many styles but I'm just not sure what to do, and what would be best for me. I was hoping that people could suggest styles/schools for me? I live in the NYC area and am looking for something in the manhatten. I'm 6'4" 220lbs and the only thing I do now is weight lifting. Also I'm a college student so money is an issue.

Thanks in advance :)

[yenhoi]

Tae Kwon Do.

- Cheap
- Social (you get to meet lots of people)
- Melting pot (depending on the association, you will be exposed to a variety of arts)
- Cardio
- Accessible (comercialization makes TKD shops open nearly 24/7 - offering classes of all skill levels at nearly any hour of the day.)


Once your in shape and ready to fight go look for a teacher.

[Kaga]

I've already done TKD, got to 2nd degree black belt, but that means nothing....im looking for something less commercial.

thanx though

[NatGun]

well, if you are looking for something completely different, i would go with Tai Chi, i am not a tai chi practitioner myself, but i have a friend who is a master, the stuff he has shown me, including the videos he let me borrow are really fantastic. tai chi develops internal energy which can be issued during a fight. before you join a school, make sure they teach tai chi as the full art, that means it must include sparring and push-hands, if they do not teach these parts of the art, you will just be taking an exercise class. some of the other guys can tell you more about tai chi, but from what i have seen, the full art is very impressive.

[TaoBoy]

Kaga,

This is a tough question for us to answer.
So, give us some more info.


I've researched so many styles but I'm just not sure what to do, and what would be best for me.

Which styles have you researched? What were your thoughts?
What are you looking for in a school (self-defence, sport, etc.)?

Maybe someone who knows your area will be able to help given this info...?

Anyhow, I would suggest that you get online and search for schools in your area, search the phone book, ask friends, ask at your college. Then, when you find a school, go and check it out, try a class and take it from there.

Hope this helps.

[Mantis9]

You might wish to look into Sifu Tony Chuy's Northern Praying Mantis school in Manhattan. He is well regarded by my sifu and the NPM community.

Also, he has a very active Lion Dance team. Lion dance is great fun and exercise.

I don't know his rates.

Good luck. Your in a great area for kung fu.

[SevenStar]

I don't know too much about you, and body type is not really a way to decide what to train in, but based on your body type, I would say mantis or a southern style, however, since you have a black belt in tkd, you must be pretty agile and fairly good with kicks - for that reason, you may wanna check out a northern style, as you'd probably feel more at home.

As far as commercialization goes

1. it's virtually everywhere, as nowadays people teach to make a living

2.There are alot of **** good tkd schools out there. Don't just write them off.

If money is a big problem, check local community centers. Judo will teach you ALOT - especially about balance and using your opponents center. there are alot of good judo instructors that teach in community centers. you may find some kung fu there as well.

[Kaga]

Originally posted by TaoBoy


This is a tough question for us to answer.
So, give us some more info.

Which styles have you researched? What were your thoughts?
What are you looking for in a school (self-defence, sport, etc.)?



I've researched, shaolin kung fu, aikido, dim mak, ninjitsu, kendo, and some light tai chi quan.....

shaolin seems really kewl, and I've tried it a few times up at Shi Yan Mings place.....It was an intense workout to say the least and i loved it my main problem was that there were about 80-100 in the class, so u dont get to much help from shifu....and the other thing was that all we did were drills....nothing but drills.

aikido well I think it lacks in alot of areas, and its using the opponents force against and counters and throws stuff like that...it was alittle meak for me..I would prefer something alittle harder

dim mak..well this is just freakin awesome... I'd love to learn dim mak, with both great healing and fighting aspects it ranks high in my book...but the only problem is its hard to find an instructor, very hard.

ninjitsu- To basic for me, I'm looking mainly for fighting style and the ninjitsu fighting style is known as taijitsu if i remember correctly...ninjitsu is great but most of it relys on weapons and stealthy unhonorable combat, thats not my style. The same goes for kendo seeing as thats all swordpaly and stuff.

and Tai Chi well I know that there in yang and chen style and that William C. C. Chen has a school and I'd love to try it out but it costs 200 bux a month!! thats insane especially for a college student....but they did alot of stuff from what i could tell from their site and brochoure.

I hope this helps :)

[TaoBoy]

Kaga,

Well it sounds like you've done a lot of homework.

From this I'm getting the idea that you want a style that is more 'aggressive' than Aikido and that you are most likely wanting a non-sport style. I would also guess you are after an external style, so that probably eliminates Tai Ji, Ba Qua and Xing Yi (all of which are wonderful arts).

If you are interested in a med-long range style, perhaps Choy Lay Fut or Hung Gar or Long Fist?

If you are interested in a short-med range style, perhaps Southern Praying Mantis or Wing Chun?

Of course there are many others that I haven't mentioned (for no other reason than there is no time and no room).

If you enjoyed the Shaolin class - I stay stick with it. You will eventually get attention from the Sifu. It is up to you to train hard and learn as much as possible. And at the very least it will provide some training until you find the right school for you.

Okay, that's enough from me....good luck.

[Serpent]

Dim mak is not a style, it's a technique or set of techniques, utilising pressure points and the like. You should find that all traditional martial arts have dim mak as part of their syllabus to one degree or another.

Sounds to me that you'd like a traditional Chinese style. Perhaps check out Hung Gar, Choy Lee Fut, other Shaolin schools, stuff like that.

Are there really that many people in Shi Yang Ming's school? He must be raking it in!

[BrentCarey]

Kaga,

This may sound like a harsh answer, but it is not intended to be. Simply put, there is no way for anyone to suggest a style unless you have very specific goals in mind. In fact, I would not recommend training without specific goals at all.

It sounds like you are just looking for something different. Many people are drawn to the Chinese arts for just this reason. They seem somehow more exotic than other systems.

As I'm sure you have learned already, Chinese martial arts run the full spectrum. Anything that you want, that is available from martial arts, can be found. If you give us your goals, I'm sure the feedback will be much more helpful.

Best regards,

Brent Carey

[Serpent]

I didn't see your post when I replied, Taoboy. Looks like we think alike! How scary!

[TaoBoy]

Yes, scary indeed Mr. Serpent. I think I need to lie down now.

Back to the topic: Brent is right...again. He has asked the question I was trying to ask earlier.

Cheers.

[SevenStar]

"and the other thing was that all we did were drills....nothing but drills. "

welcome to kung fu


"ninjitsu- To basic for me, I'm looking mainly for fighting style and the ninjitsu fighting style is known as taijitsu if i remember correctly...ninjitsu is great but most of it relys on weapons and stealthy unhonorable combat, thats not my style. The same goes for kendo seeing as thats all swordpaly and stuff. "

it's not that basic, and even if it was, so what? would you rather master 5 strikes, or only half master 105? even when you learn all of those techs, how many are you really going to use in sparring or in a fight? out of 64 judo throws, most judoka fight with 5 - 10...or less. in kung fu, you learn a tech called a bear claw, but how often will you use it? some TKD has the "statue of liberty axe kick" but how often would you use it? the way to advance is by mastering the basics.

and what in the world is unhonorable combat? in an altercation, the last thing on my mind is whether or not my fighting is dirty. fi I see a brick and it's accessible, guess what? I'm using it. you do what you have to to survive.

[KnightSabre]

Are you only interested in CMA?

What about a grappling style like BJJ,Judo or Sambo?

[SDriver]

Renzo Gracie has a school in the Manhattan area.

[lotusleaf]

You could try MyJhong Law Horn or MyJhong Lohan..kind of a longfist northern style. Lots of kicking so you wouldn't have any problems either. I'd say it's a pretty smooth transition from tkd since it involves a lot of striking(especially high kicks) and it also involves a lot of sparring.

[lotusleaf]

I would also recommend some wing chun to go w/ you tkd experience. Fast hands and fast feet are an asset. Plus you could make up the lack of punching from tkd in wing chun and add an incredible amount of arsenal to your tkd kicking experience.

[Kaga]

Wow!! thanks everyone for all the great replies!!!

I'm going to research all of the arts that you guys mentoined to see what they are all about. Wing Chun did look rather interesting but I thought it was made for smaller people to defend against big grunts like me? I've also been doing some research on bruce lee and his jeet kune do....he had some really good points, but isnt jeet kune do going against what he said later in life, about the whole no style thing?

anyway goalwise, well I'm really not sure what my goals are, I just want to be a good martial artists.....I've competed a few times in TKD and did well but I didnt really care for it to much, maybe it was cuz its TKD? and I dont really need to know how to defend myself, cuz I already do, plus I have my natural size and strength which comes in handy intimidating people who would want to attack me. I've read alot that what is learned in kung fu and tai chi can be put to life, not fighting wise but just the lessons you learn etc etc. I think that is why I like it, and I love the traditional aspects of it all.

I'm not sure if that helps but I hope it does.. and again thanks everyone for all the great posts.