Starting Martial Arts, kajukenbo?

[MMAjenkins]

Hello everyone, Im gonna start taking kajukenbo. This is my first Real MMA school. I just have a couple of questions. Is kajukenbo a good Martial art? I want to learn how to fight and also want to compete. I wanted to take Muay thai or BJJ, but not available in my location. I'm 21 now and was wondering if I trained to my fullest could I be a great Martial Artists? Is it to late for me to be great. I also want to fight later in UFC or something of that sort. Ive been a quit a few street fights and can say I can hold my own. Is kajukenbo the MMA I want or should I hold out for something better? Any responses would be great. Also here is some info on the school Im going to go to http://www.eoni.com/~shermer
Also its only $60 for unlimted classes, which Ill be taking 4-5 days a week. Thanks everyone in advance for the responses.

[Jkd_SiLaT]

Sup Jenkins,

Honestly, if you want to fight in the UFC (and win) in the future. Kajukenbo is not the art to go with. You probably would have had a chance when UFC first started but now its a different game. Kajukenbo is a style of karate somewhat like kenpo. In order to suceed in NHB tournaments, you have to train strictly on fighting. Stay away from arts that have forms. And no, its not too late to start. But you have to start in the right arts. If you decide to compete in karate tournaments. Kajukenbo is a great art to study. It all depends on you. Hope this helps, and good luck on your training.

[ryanhall]

ditto jkd_silat

if you are seious about competing, you have to know the games of the other fighters--this means learning bjj, thai, shooto, boxing, etc.. the best way to counter it is to be able to do it. karate is a fine art, but it will develop bad habits (aka dripping hands, punching from the hip, being too linear in motion).

if you have commitment and are fairly athletic, you could probably compete and do well. it's all about desire. good luck.

ryan

[MMAjenkins]

THanks guys for the response!

[MMAjenkins]

ANy more input on this subject would be great. Thanks

[terry]

As a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area I've run into Adriano Emperado and some of the senior members of the Kajukembo clan. My impression is that they have an art that they teach publically to beginners, which doesn't interest me, and several backup systems that they use for fighting, which happens to be the same stuff I'm training anyway. Some of the senior guys are very knowledgeable and very cool.

If you can get to the backup system stuff it is very good and the people that train it are very good. Let me give you an example:

One high ranking guy in Kajukembo has like 35 year in martial arts, more than 45 professional boxing matches under his belt, teaches Muay Thai at to the Thais at the Thai temple in Freemont, and has been sparring with Cacoy Canete for more than a decade. He also introduces himself as a beginner, and if you are foolish enough to believe him then the joke is on you.

I can also tell you that there is some very McDojo stuff that some Kajukembo instructors present to beginners that I quietly roll my eyes at. You'll know it when you see it: Gis, belts, lines, forms, no sparring, the works. If you can get past that to the guys that just hit hard in T-shirts then you have a chance.

T