Most street-effective Martial Art..

[MantisKungFu]

I am in search of a street-effective martial art. I am a tiny person at 5'4" 120lbs, but I'm very quick and in good shape. I want to have self confidence and be able to defend myself should I ever get in a confrontation. I want a martial art that focuses mainly on hand techniques with kicking second. Due to my local area (Burlington, VT) my choices are very limited, but here they are:

1. Villari's Self Defense. I studied here a year ago up to a yellow-belt, but I stopped due to other conflicts. I now don't know whether to go back because as I look back I don't know what I took out of it.

2. TKD. There are two schools near me, but I've heard TKD is very kick heavy and I feel at only 5'4" I should concentrate on hand techniques more. Plus I feel kicks are unpractical on the street.

3. Kung Fu. There is a local Kung Fu Academy that teaches a variation of Wah Lum Praying Mantis (the sifu did study it) and Northern Shaolin Kung Fu. Does this sound fishy at all? Would these styles be what I'm looking for?

Now I know that teacher matters a lot, but as a beginner I can't really distinguish good from bad. So, with all this in mind, what are your thoughts on what I should do? Any suggestions/comments/recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

"It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

[Crimson Phoenix]

Hmmmmm...obviously you'll find lots of Chinese Martial Arts fans here...hehehehe I guess they'll all advise you to go for the Wha Lum school...At least that's what I would advise you ;)

[fmann]

Go to the schools and see what they do. If it's too "traditional" with a lot of focus on forms and less on building confidence in a confrontation, then don't continue.

Another question: do the beginners get any self-defense applications / confidence building? Or are only the senior students sparring and stuff? To me, even the beginners should get s-d applications and learning how to handle things on the street.

Alot of it depends on the instructor: my current WT instructor spends a lot of time focusing on self-defense and handling confrontation whereas my old instructor focused more on forms and technical aspects of the techniques.

Obviously I'm sticking with my current instructor.

[Badger]

Do they have Combat Tae-Bo in your area?
I would go with the no-gi Tae-Bo for no rules fighting.


Badger

Tae-Bo is Superior

[MaFuYee]

buy yourself a gun, get a ccw permit, and make regular visits to the local gun range. - this is sometimes known as 'glock-fu'.

in mere minutes, you can learn to defeat mike tyson, gordon liu, jackie chan, jet li, bruce lee, and keanneu reaves, at the same time.

(ok, maybe not keanneau reaves...)

Why would you say that I am insane? I wouldn't say that I've lost my mind simply because I've heard the voices and seen the godless things moving in the woods. If anything, I think more clearly now than ever before. - Ash

[MIKSANSOO]

lol@badger

i'd shot reeves for being a sh*tty actor and i don't like him. maybe just in the kneecap.

"you can take my life, but not my confidence"
Jimmy H. Woo

[Xebsball]

Kung fu is most best style

-------------------------
I'm too sexy for my shirt, too sexy for my shirt
I'm too sexy for your mother, too sexy for your mother
So sexy, YEAH

[Stranger]

Isn't there a university in Burlington? If you go look there you will find more options most likely.

Don't limit yourself to the Yellow Pages!

I know I have heard of more Burlington MA schools than what you listed as your options.

I don't get mad.
I get stabby.

[Dark Knight]

I have a Black Belt in TKD, and in Kempo,and others. You will be happier with the Kempo or the Kung Fu because they will offer more information for years, TKD is effective if tought properly but limited in information, I enjoy learning and expanding on my information.

Many TKD schools are teaching BJJ to suppliment TKD, but it doesnt flow with TKD, you go from one extreme to another, far away fighting to grappling, Also how complete is an art if they have to add another to round it off?

If you decide to add another art to your knowledge a few years down the road you will find that Kempo or most Kung Fu styles will flow into other styles. I took up Ju jitsu well after being a black belt and it complimented what I had perfectly.

Go with the school that has an instructor you click with, both decisions will be fine, and how effective it is is up to you, you get back what you put out.

[blaktiger]

To be honest with you, you would never want to tangle with someone who outweighed you by 100 lbs or more. So I'd say BJJ is out. Your art should concentrate on quickly incapacitating your opponent, and escaping.

While Bruce Lee was able to generate fierce internal power at his size (I think he weighed no more than 160), that kind of dedication is out of the reach of most Americans.

So my advice, being someone who once weighed 120 lbs (at 6 feet tall at that!), would be a throwing art like Aikido, maybe combined with a pressure point striking art - in case a big dude does get his hands on you. I would also concentrate on gaining 10 pounds (I'm assuming you're a dude, if not, sorry!) and getting incredibly defined with it. This alone may provide a visual deterent to someone who might want to f*ck with you on GP. Good Luck!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I'll be too busy lookin' good!"

[Johnny Hot Shot]

I think that BJJ complements any stand up art. Your right about the TKD BJJ combo and missing a range or two in that mix. I think youd have to add Kenpo or Judo to TKD and BJJ to make it more well rounded.

"Who's your Daddy?"
Rowdy McNasty

[marcelino31]

if you can i recommend you try out wing chun... it was developed for a small person to defend themselves aggressively against a much larger stronger enemy -- it uses lots of simple direct hand techniques and low powerful kicks.

[Dark Knight]

I agree Johnnybut now your bringing in way to much just to round off TKD. I dont mean to say its a poor art, and I have met some great fighters in it, but it does leave a lot of holes in fighting, not to mention that in TKD you need to fit the art rather than have the art fit to you.

[Dark Knight]

"Im your Daddy"
Dargo

[shaolinboxer]

Really, there is no most "street effective" martial art. Find a school that has classes you enjoy and use them to sharpen your mind and body. You must experiment to find what works best for you.

Many of the techniques in Aikido, the style I study, definately place the shorter person at an advantage. I'm sure there are other arts that do the same.

You also have to decide what your overall mentality about self defense is, and how you would like to develop yourself. Martial arts are created around philosophies or concepts. Since you cannot evaulated technique due to lack of experience, perhaps that is the best place to start.

[CD Lee]

Xingi sounds good for your build, maybe Wing Chun too. Xingi is into very fast confrontations and moving into your opponent to fight close. I take it you do not want to try to fight on the outside based on your size. Too bad. You are small and you have to take shots inside, but you'll get killed on the outside!

Xingi is also very simple and devestating, so less to think about, more easy to apply. I think Wing Chun is similar is some respects?

Just some thoughts from a beginner who has read a bunch

[Merryprankster]

Is there a good Judo school around? There are also some San Shou enclaves up your way (MASS). Might want to look into that.

Judo has some excellent throws for the short quick man, and once you learn to break balance, speed and explosiveness are key.

[Ozihn]

How tall was O Sensei and how much did he weigh? Just as comparison for MantisKungFu. :)

[tigerking]

Master the Art of Discussing and Sprinting.

If you can't master talking your way out of a street-encounter, at least you can flee.


:D

keep combat in the RING

to the Victor goes the Spoils

[straight blast]

Wing Chun! If it's not in the phone book, look elsewhere until you find it. If you've got a good teacher then you'll be set ;)

"Pain is merely weakness leaving the body"

[buddhistfist]

African Tiger, do you mean that Americans are to busy or not as enduring as the chinese?

"While Bruce Lee was able to generate fierce internal power at his size (I think he weighed no more than 160), that kind of dedication is out of the reach of most Americans."

[MantisKungFu]

Wing Chun is exactly what I thought of after looking around a little bit. Unfortunately, there are no wing chun teachers that I have found in the entire state. So it looks to be out of the picture. Any more suggestions?

Also, what are good places to find local schools/teachers besides the phone book?

"It is better to be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

[yenhoi]

Buy some books!

Read them!

Practice Kung-fu everyday.

strike!

[atsai]

Try the wing chun forum next door; I'm sure someone can help you find a wing chun school. Also visit this site http://www.wingchun.org/text/schools/usa/us.html, I presume you want NY.

IMO, the most street effective martial art is nude tai chi. If you can find a school near you, sign up now!

<TABLE BORDER="3" CELLSPACING="1" CELLPADDING="1"><TR><TD><form><INPUT TYPE="button" VALUE=" Art Tsai " onClick="parent.location='http://people.we.mediaone.net/arttsai/home.html'"></TD></TR></table></form><HR Width="97%">"You fight like you train." --Motto, USN Fighter Weapon School (TOPGUN)

[LEGEND]

Dood...learn to box and wrestle...add bjj to your way of fighting. BOXING will give u the striking u need. Wrestling will give u the ability to leverage bigger and stronger opponents...bjj gives u the defensive ability to attack if u're taken down by a bigger guy and the submission ability to choke or break something.

A

[atsai]

Is there a nude coed bjj? :confused: If so, nude tai chi crosstrain w/ nude bjj would be..., well, i can't think of a pun right now...

<TABLE BORDER="3" CELLSPACING="1" CELLPADDING="1"><TR><TD><form><INPUT TYPE="button" VALUE=" Art Tsai " onClick="parent.location='http://people.we.mediaone.net/arttsai/home.html'"></TD></TR></table></form><HR Width="97%">"You fight like you train." --Motto, USN Fighter Weapon School (TOPGUN)

[HuangKaiVun]

sample all.

ask questions later.

[blaktiger]

I meant to say, while we are usually too busy watching football and drinking beer, comparitively, chinese martial artists spend their entire youth studying kung fu. I'm sure other asian martial artists do as well.

Given the option, unless of course you are planning to teach kung fu, would you spend 8 hrs per day training? Not to mention, you'd still have to work so you could survive and take care of your family (if applicable).

Personally I train 1-2 hrs a day, but even that can be a burden. AND I want to teach someday :eek:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"I'll be too busy lookin' good!"

[chokeyouout2]

people will think you have no control of your mind and will be rendered unconscious.

When you'r telling one of your little stories, here's a idea; Have a point, it makes it so much more interesting for the reader.