Hi Uncle Max!
There are two basic strands of unarmed Martial Arts - Striking and Grappling.
Both Taekwondo and Wing Chun are striking arts, but still couldn't be more different. Taekwondo specialises in very impressive lookind high kicks. However, you need years of practice to make them effective. Wing Chun has very fast punches (though they are not as strong as, say, a western boxers) and low kicks. They fight close up and have developed something called "chi sao", which is where they keep their arms in contact with their opponent and can react to an opponents movements before the eye has even seen them.
The above descriptions are VERY brief, but give you a little flavour.
The grappling arts are things like Judo (if you've seen that on the television). Nowadays the best known grappling art is probably Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. In the 1990's no rules competitions took place and a Brazillian famly called the Gracie's cleared up. People who have studied their arts (and incorporated it into their own) have beaten them,but rarely. Their general strategy is to take their opponent ot the floor and then use ground wrestling moves to make them submit (i.e. strangles or arm locks etc.)
Many agree that the best arts are those that combine striking with grappling. And that is how the participants in Mixed martial Arts events now train.
I think it would be true to say that Thai Boxing has an exceptionally good reputation as a striking art. Why not combine that with Judo (as there are Judo clubs all over the place).
Anyway, as long as you find something that suits you, thats the main thing. Good luck.
|