The Right Martial Art?

rruffian · 11-14-2002, 07:06 PM

Greetings All,

I've been involved in martial arts for well over 20 years and I continue to get asked the same question. What is the best martial art? The closest answer I ever heard is that "...the best martial art is the one that works best for you."

I can honestly say that I do not think there is one answer to that question. For instance, I hold advanced black belt ranks in multiple disciplines yet I've been training in new arts and methods for the last six months. Essentially, starting over once again.

I feel that everyone gets something positive out of any martial arts training. As part of your journey, you as a person need to find what works best for you. Now I can say that I started as a hard line traditional practioner and learned over the years that there is good in all arts and one must give and take out of each to make oneself better overall.

In summary, the "best martial art" question is one that's been around for many many years. In my opinion, training in any art is good for you. Just keep in mind, there will always be someone better out there. Rather than take that as a challenge, take it as an opportunity to learn. They may teach you something and you may teach them something! If that happens, we all win!

shredder · 11-14-2002, 08:03 PM

No kidding.

Scott Kano · 11-15-2002, 12:02 AM

Totally agree with. The best MA is the one that works best for you!

Scott

quietanswer · 12-07-2002, 01:55 PM

Look at what you are actually saying.

The question is "Which martial art is best"

The answer you give is "The martial art that is best for you!"

This is no answer. It is merely the question reworded. It supplies absolutely no information to the questioner other than "Go try the 10 billion different styles, and maybe you'll like one. Maybe you'll die of old age first"

That is not good advice. Why? I'll tell you why. Because most martial art schools are pisspoor. They do not teach "how to fight".

If you want to be a kickboxer, go kickbox. I suggest muay thai or western boxing. Spar a lot, without limitation.

If you want to be a competing wrestler, study some wrestling style.

If you want to be a fighter, attend a school that fights in all three ranges. Fight a lot. Take punishment. Do not pull your punches.

The answer "the art that works best for you!" is not an answer.

I would highly suggest you visit www.straightblastgym.com and read everything posted there. I highly suggest the "street vs. sport nonsense" articles. The "philosophy" section. And any other section. Read that whole site. That is not an end-all be-all. But it sure should give you some better advice on the world of fight-training than "whatever works for you, dood!"

rruffian · 12-07-2002, 05:10 PM

You are certainly entitled to your opinion. My point is simply this: trainging in martial arts is good for you. I do not get hung up on "this style is better than that style". Having trained for more than 22 years years, I have seen many styles, trained in many styles and have learned something from all of them. I try to keep an open mind at all times. To say any particular one is the best is an invalid statement.

It's the same on song and dance BJJ is better than Karate is better than Muay Thai is better than Shoot Fighting and so on and so on. Those that make statements about "The best style" have not expanded their skill set to see what other things they can learn.

Overall, you do what works best for you. That's All!

Sean J · 12-08-2002, 10:22 AM

Nobody has to try xx.000 styles because they do not differ that much.

But a reasonable question would be to ask: Why are there so many styles?

My opinion/answer: Apart from all political reasons - all those who founded them had learned a certain structure, certain principles, but to achieve the maximum of their abilities it made more sense to change the style to fit them and not vice versa. This is not accepted in the classical styles so they founded new styles.

So what do we learn from this: Some of us obviously don't learn anything. Some of us learn that based on certain methods or styles we can achieve a certain structure, but to become really good we have to alter and add new things to fit our personal needs.
I see people do that all the time and use excuses for still claiming they are traditionalists - and I see people claim they were doing JKD or other non-classical stuff and still accept dogmatism like they were doing classical martial arts.

And vice versa.

It is really strange.

aseepish · 12-09-2002, 02:25 AM

My style is the BEST style!

And I'm not going to say anything more about that.

quietanswer · 12-09-2002, 12:19 PM

You'd be right, if:

A) all martial arts were good for you

B) martial arts were an art in the sense Painting is, rather than in the sense Chemistry is..

Martial art is not an art like dance. That is a whole different thing. It is an art in the same sense as chemistry, meaning: it should get a result. How you get that result is where the expression comes in. But it is not Dance.

Dance is all about personal expression and there is no dancing "wrong". Fighting is about surviving. You can't just choose any way to move you like. You have to move efficiently and effectively to fight.

If you want to screw around point fighting and doing Tae Kwon Do kata, cool! I dig you!

But, All you're doing is dancing. May as well throw on some BeeGees while you're at it.

If someone asks me "What's the best martial art?" I do not assume the communication they desire is "Which one will help me keep the weight off?"

If they wanted that info, they'd have asked for an aerobics instructor. MARTIAL art IS 'martial'.. or, a way of fighting. It is a science of defense.

And therefore, the art that works best within the physics of defense is going to the best.

It is not a matter of opinion. If a guy can't fight, his method sucks ass. His training method CAN'T BE working if he can't fight.

(shrug)

This is really pretty simple to understand.

Were the tough guys in your high school days Martial Artists, or did they just generally fight alot? Fighting, with few rules/limitations is what makes one a good fighter. A fight has no rules. So if you are point fighting with limited contact and limited zstriking area and limited strikes with limited techniques...then you are just plain limited.

So, 90 percent of the fighting schools in america suck. Most of them teach "martial dance".

And there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the students know and understand they are merely dancing.

crazyjoe380 · 12-10-2002, 01:11 PM

your style has to be able to be re-aranged for the street and for no holds barred events..

if your style cant cope with both then.. it sucks

Szczepankiewicz · 12-10-2002, 01:23 PM

No Holds Barred is indeed a misnomer. I am of the opinion that Krav Maga and CQC would not do well in the supposed NHB competitions. However, they may prove to be extremely effective in Self-Defense.

Bring on the THUNDERDOME!

quietanswer · 12-12-2002, 09:36 AM

we can THEORIZE all day about what MAY work. But until someone is ready to get punched in the head and have their arm broke, we really don't know.

I'm done replying. I hope everyone has a great christmas/hanukah/newyear.

and though I use a "curseword" in my title, pleae don't think I'm all pouty-sulky. I truly appreciate the debate and opinions offered.

Ryu (JKD?) · 12-12-2002, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by quietanswer
You'd be right, if:

A) all martial arts were good for you

B) martial arts were an art in the sense Painting is, rather than in the sense Chemistry is..

Martial art is not an art like dance. That is a whole different thing. It is an art in the same sense as chemistry, meaning: it should get a result. How you get that result is where the expression comes in. But it is not Dance.

Dance is all about personal expression and there is no dancing "wrong". Fighting is about surviving. You can't just choose any way to move you like. You have to move efficiently and effectively to fight.

If you want to screw around point fighting and doing Tae Kwon Do kata, cool! I dig you!

But, All you're doing is dancing. May as well throw on some BeeGees while you're at it.

If someone asks me "What's the best martial art?" I do not assume the communication they desire is "Which one will help me keep the weight off?"

If they wanted that info, they'd have asked for an aerobics instructor. MARTIAL art IS 'martial'.. or, a way of fighting. It is a science of defense.

And therefore, the art that works best within the physics of defense is going to the best.

It is not a matter of opinion. If a guy can't fight, his method sucks ass. His training method CAN'T BE working if he can't fight.

(shrug)

This is really pretty simple to understand.

Were the tough guys in your high school days Martial Artists, or did they just generally fight alot? Fighting, with few rules/limitations is what makes one a good fighter. A fight has no rules. So if you are point fighting with limited contact and limited zstriking area and limited strikes with limited techniques...then you are just plain limited.

So, 90 percent of the fighting schools in america suck. Most of them teach "martial dance".

And there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the students know and understand they are merely dancing.

*clap clap clap*
Great post! The only bad thing is that you've said everything I was going to say

Absolutely correct. You've got to be very careful how you use relativity and objectivity. Both can be seen in real life, however real "truth" exists in many things. Being able to fight is one of them. In order to "fight" for real you have to follow some absolute truths regardless of the "subjective" martial art you choose. These truths are in training methods and delivery systems.

So if someone asked me what is the 'best martial art' I would let them know that they are the ones that train you in these "truths" of combat. Namely, attribute development, real contact experience, training with resisting opponents, scenario training, etc.

BIG difference between truths of "dancing" and truths of "chemistry."
Wonderful analogy.

Ryu

quietanswer · 12-12-2002, 06:10 PM

thank you so much.

I said I wouldn't reply, but someone is stroking me, so I gotta talk.

I was lucky to know some "tough guys" at various stages of my life. When I was a "kicker" the wrestlers in my highschool were willing (in a friendly way) to kick my "kicker" ass anytime I tried to pull off some tae kwon do b.s. on them.

When I was doing sumbrada and such, I had a friend who fought a lot in his high school (but mellowed to be a wonderful cat) beat me up repeatedly to show me it doesn't work.

And all these people were kind enough to inform me that the only way to learn to fight is to fight. It sucks, but its true.

Here's the beauty of the martial arts school: You can practice fighting without fear that the individual is going to break your neck, or curb your face til your jaw breaks and your teeth are gone.

Any fight school that doesn't fight, hard, without rules, at some point (and often) isn't a fight school. It is more of a Mock-Battle school..

But, I'm not a NHB athelete myself. So, in a sense, I'm just another bullshitter talking smack. But I'm an honest one..

Szczepankiewicz · 12-13-2002, 04:24 PM

Quote:

wrestlers in my highschool were willing (in a friendly way) to kick my "kicker" ass

Quote:

When I was doing sumbrada and such, I had a friend who fought a lot in his high school (but mellowed to be a wonderful cat) beat me up repeatedly to show me it doesn't work

QA, amigo, compadre,

I hate to be the one to bring this up, but maybe... just maybe you're simply a pussy?

I mean, you seem to get beat up a lot!?!?

Just kiddin'

Szczepankiewicz the Humorous

quietanswer · 12-14-2002, 09:57 AM

You made me laugh...I appreciate it.

Actually, I'm a pussy depending on who you have me fighting.

And I was probably a pussy back then, no matter whether you had me fight your sister or Ken Shamrock.

But your sister NEVER put up much of a fight, as I recall.
But you don't need ANOTHER guy telling you that, eh? You probably get real sick of hearing about it...

Rhoden "the sharp tongued"

11-14-2002, 07:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
rruffian Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 15	The Right Martial Art? Greetings All, I've been involved in martial arts for well over 20 years and I continue to get asked the same question. What is the best martial art? The closest answer I ever heard is that "...the best martial art is the one that works best for you." I can honestly say that I do not think there is one answer to that question. For instance, I hold advanced black belt ranks in multiple disciplines yet I've been training in new arts and methods for the last six months. Essentially, starting over once again. I feel that everyone gets something positive out of any martial arts training. As part of your journey, you as a person need to find what works best for you. Now I can say that I started as a hard line traditional practioner and learned over the years that there is good in all arts and one must give and take out of each to make oneself better overall. In summary, the "best martial art" question is one that's been around for many many years. In my opinion, training in any art is good for you. Just keep in mind, there will always be someone better out there. Rather than take that as a challenge, take it as an opportunity to learn. They may teach you something and you may teach them something! If that happens, we all win!

11-15-2002, 12:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
Scott Kano Novice Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Christchurch NZ Posts: 160	Totally agree with. The best MA is the one that works best for you! Scott __________________ Minimum Effort, with Maximum Efficieny

12-07-2002, 01:55 PM	#4 (permalink)
quietanswer Novice Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Posts: 377	are you guys serious? Look at what you are actually saying. The question is "Which martial art is best" The answer you give is "The martial art that is best for you!" This is no answer. It is merely the question reworded. It supplies absolutely no information to the questioner other than "Go try the 10 billion different styles, and maybe you'll like one. Maybe you'll die of old age first" That is not good advice. Why? I'll tell you why. Because most martial art schools are pisspoor. They do not teach "how to fight". If you want to be a kickboxer, go kickbox. I suggest muay thai or western boxing. Spar a lot, without limitation. If you want to be a competing wrestler, study some wrestling style. If you want to be a fighter, attend a school that fights in all three ranges. Fight a lot. Take punishment. Do not pull your punches. The answer "the art that works best for you!" is not an answer. I would highly suggest you visit www.straightblastgym.com and read everything posted there. I highly suggest the "street vs. sport nonsense" articles. The "philosophy" section. And any other section. Read that whole site. That is not an end-all be-all. But it sure should give you some better advice on the world of fight-training than "whatever works for you, dood!" __________________ ------------------------------------------------ *St Louis MMA Club for Boxing / Clinch / Grappling Training* *www.stlouistrainingcircle.com* Last edited by quietanswer; 12-07-2002 at 01:57 PM.

12-07-2002, 05:10 PM	#5 (permalink)
rruffian Registered User Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Houston Posts: 15	Opinion You are certainly entitled to your opinion. My point is simply this: trainging in martial arts is good for you. I do not get hung up on "this style is better than that style". Having trained for more than 22 years years, I have seen many styles, trained in many styles and have learned something from all of them. I try to keep an open mind at all times. To say any particular one is the best is an invalid statement. It's the same on song and dance BJJ is better than Karate is better than Muay Thai is better than Shoot Fighting and so on and so on. Those that make statements about "The best style" have not expanded their skill set to see what other things they can learn. Overall, you do what works best for you. That's All!

12-08-2002, 10:22 AM	#6 (permalink)
Sean J Novice Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Germany Posts: 79	Nobody has to try xx.000 styles because they do not differ that much. But a reasonable question would be to ask: Why are there so many styles? My opinion/answer: Apart from all political reasons - all those who founded them had learned a certain structure, certain principles, but to achieve the maximum of their abilities it made more sense to change the style to fit them and not vice versa. This is not accepted in the classical styles so they founded new styles. So what do we learn from this: Some of us obviously don't learn anything. Some of us learn that based on certain methods or styles we can achieve a certain structure, but to become really good we have to alter and add new things to fit our personal needs. I see people do that all the time and use excuses for still claiming they are traditionalists - and I see people claim they were doing JKD or other non-classical stuff and still accept dogmatism like they were doing classical martial arts. And vice versa. It is really strange. __________________ Sean J

11-14-2002, 08:03 PM	#2 (permalink)
shredder Registered User Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 46	No kidding.

12-09-2002, 02:25 AM	#7 (permalink)
aseepish Registered User Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: British Columbia Posts: 1,629	The best style... My style is the BEST style! And I'm not going to say anything more about that. __________________ "It was about that time I realized that searching was my symbol, the emblem of those who go out at night with nothing in mind, the motives of a destroyer of compasses." -Cortázar

12-09-2002, 12:19 PM	#8 (permalink)
quietanswer Novice Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Posts: 377	you'd be right, if You'd be right, if: A) all martial arts were good for you B) martial arts were an art in the sense Painting is, rather than in the sense Chemistry is.. Martial art is not an art like dance. That is a whole different thing. It is an art in the same sense as chemistry, meaning: it should get a result. How you get that result is where the expression comes in. But it is not Dance. Dance is all about personal expression and there is no dancing "wrong". Fighting is about surviving. You can't just choose any way to move you like. You have to move efficiently and effectively to fight. If you want to screw around point fighting and doing Tae Kwon Do kata, cool! I dig you! But, All you're doing is dancing. May as well throw on some BeeGees while you're at it. If someone asks me "What's the best martial art?" I do not assume the communication they desire is "Which one will help me keep the weight off?" If they wanted that info, they'd have asked for an aerobics instructor. MARTIAL art IS 'martial'.. or, a way of fighting. It is a science of defense. And therefore, the art that works best within the physics of defense is going to the best. It is not a matter of opinion. If a guy can't fight, his method sucks ass. His training method CAN'T BE working if he can't fight. (shrug) This is really pretty simple to understand. Were the tough guys in your high school days Martial Artists, or did they just generally fight alot? Fighting, with few rules/limitations is what makes one a good fighter. A fight has no rules. So if you are point fighting with limited contact and limited zstriking area and limited strikes with limited techniques...then you are just plain limited. So, 90 percent of the fighting schools in america suck. Most of them teach "martial dance". And there is nothing wrong with that, so long as the students know and understand they are merely dancing. __________________ ------------------------------------------------ *St Louis MMA Club for Boxing / Clinch / Grappling Training* *www.stlouistrainingcircle.com* Last edited by quietanswer; 12-09-2002 at 12:25 PM.

12-10-2002, 01:11 PM	#9 (permalink)
crazyjoe380 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 1,368	your style has to be able to be re-aranged for the street and for no holds barred events.. if your style cant cope with both then.. it sucks __________________

12-10-2002, 01:23 PM	#10 (permalink)
Szczepankiewicz Registered User Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Meridian, ID, USA Posts: 4,109	No Holds Barred is indeed a misnomer. I am of the opinion that Krav Maga and CQC would not do well in the supposed NHB competitions. However, they may prove to be extremely effective in Self-Defense. Bring on the THUNDERDOME!

12-12-2002, 09:36 AM	#11 (permalink)
quietanswer Novice Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Posts: 377	theories are like azzholez we can THEORIZE all day about what MAY work. But until someone is ready to get punched in the head and have their arm broke, we really don't know. I'm done replying. I hope everyone has a great christmas/hanukah/newyear. and though I use a "curseword" in my title, pleae don't think I'm all pouty-sulky. I truly appreciate the debate and opinions offered. __________________ ------------------------------------------------ *St Louis MMA Club for Boxing / Clinch / Grappling Training* *www.stlouistrainingcircle.com* Last edited by quietanswer; 12-12-2002 at 05:59 PM.

12-12-2002, 06:10 PM	#13 (permalink)
quietanswer Novice Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Posts: 377	analogies are like azzholez...:D thank you so much. I said I wouldn't reply, but someone is stroking me, so I gotta talk. I was lucky to know some "tough guys" at various stages of my life. When I was a "kicker" the wrestlers in my highschool were willing (in a friendly way) to kick my "kicker" ass anytime I tried to pull off some tae kwon do b.s. on them. When I was doing sumbrada and such, I had a friend who fought a lot in his high school (but mellowed to be a wonderful cat) beat me up repeatedly to show me it doesn't work. And all these people were kind enough to inform me that the only way to learn to fight is to fight. It sucks, but its true. Here's the beauty of the martial arts school: You can practice fighting without fear that the individual is going to break your neck, or curb your face til your jaw breaks and your teeth are gone. Any fight school that doesn't fight, hard, without rules, at some point (and often) isn't a fight school. It is more of a Mock-Battle school.. But, I'm not a NHB athelete myself. So, in a sense, I'm just another bullshitter talking smack. But I'm an honest one.. __________________ ------------------------------------------------ *St Louis MMA Club for Boxing / Clinch / Grappling Training* *www.stlouistrainingcircle.com*

12-14-2002, 09:57 AM	#15 (permalink)
quietanswer Novice Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA Posts: 377	You made me laugh...I appreciate it. Actually, I'm a pussy depending on who you have me fighting. And I was probably a pussy back then, no matter whether you had me fight your sister or Ken Shamrock. But your sister NEVER put up much of a fight, as I recall. But you don't need ANOTHER guy telling you that, eh? You probably get real sick of hearing about it... Rhoden "the sharp tongued" __________________ ------------------------------------------------ *St Louis MMA Club for Boxing / Clinch / Grappling Training* *www.stlouistrainingcircle.com*

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