Self-Defense: Which Style? Beginner

[chillaplata]

I only said 10 weeks because thats how long I have before my college school year ends, and then i will be relocating for a short period of time before next year begins, so i would only be able to stay with the gym for 10~ weeks before leaving for 3 months.

It sounds like a Boxing/Judo combination would be good?

or a Boxing/Muay Thai duo? except from what I have read Muay Thai is much more complex?

anyways, I really appreciate all the advice, I definitely came to the right forum

I think boxing and judo would be an AWESOME combination. Muay Thai and judo would be a great combination as well, but I think it might be best to just concentrate on boxing initially. Then you can always take up Muay Thai or kickboxing once you have basic boxing footwork, defense and punching mechanics down.

Muay Thai and boxing would be a terrific combination of striking arts, but you wouldn't be getting any grappling training. You can't go wrong with one of those two disciplines plus judo.

EDIT: The biggest advantage of MT (IMO) is that you would learn how to throw elbows and knees -- these can be extremely effective in a street situation.

[KenshiRyan]

Kenshi Ryan,

Based on the given criteria(experience and time frame), I agree with you more than I disagree. Ten weeks is a relatively short period to develop any martial arts prowess, but boxing is a pretty good bet. He'll learn some basic fundamentals that can apply in a street scenario.

However, there are street-specific martial arts that incorporate boxing, grappling and the likes; provided you can find such a program in your area.

I disagree with you regarding ground grappling; specifically BJJ. While it is a very complex art that requires many years of study, the self-defense applications are fairly simple to pick up. In fact, most gyms teach these right off the bat with the full understanding that should the student quit early, at least they'll have this knowledge.

I would encourage someone who decides to go the BJJ route, or any route I guess, to let the gym know (if you're on a time restraint) what your intentions, priorities and time frame are. Don't just go into a gym without any expectations. Ask, inquire and request at all times!

Finally, after 10 weeks it's up to the person to keep building on what was learned. If not, that knowledge will quickly disappear.

Sorry If i gave the wrong impression before; I am not saying ground arts are of no use for self defence, as he said he has no past experience, even though as youve said the basics are fairly easy to pick up, I dont think it would be as easy for somone with no experience to pick up compared to if they had dabbled a bit in a few martial arts.
In the time frame and his current experience, he would learn alot more from boxing or muay thai, I dont suggest trying to do two different styles when youve only got 10 weeks and especially since he has no experience, Hes more likely to learn a whole lot less than if he just stuck to one, I'd say its the best option to stick to one, then once he has a good base to work from he can start mixing things up with other disciplins.
Get a good base to start with searchingmethod then once your comfortable with that begin to try other arts if you wish, but I dont suggest doing multiple styles at this stage; It'll be like trying to learn to walk and run at the same time if you get what I mean. Learn to walk first, Then you can start running; Just focus on the one for now.

[chillaplata]

Sorry If i gave the wrong impression before; I am not saying ground arts are of no use for self defence, as he said he has no past experience, even though as youve said the basics are fairly easy to pick up, I dont think it would be as easy for somone with no experience to pick up compared to if they had dabbled a bit in a few martial arts.
In the time frame and his current experience, he would learn alot more from boxing or muay thai, I dont suggest trying to do two different styles when youve only got 10 weeks and especially since he has no experience, Hes more likely to learn a whole lot less than if he just stuck to one, I'd say its the best option to stick to one, then once he has a good base to work from he can start mixing things up with other disciplins.
Get a good base to start with searchingmethod then once your comfortable with that begin to try other arts if you wish, but I dont suggest doing multiple styles at this stage; It'll be like trying to learn to walk and run at the same time if you get what I mean. Learn to walk first, Then you can start running; Just focus on the one for now.

I see your point, and I think reasonable minds can disagree on this issue, but I still believe that even in the limited time frame of 10 weeks he could and should learn at least the rudiments of both striking and grappling for street self-defense. Maybe the best solution is for SearchingMethod to try out the boxing (or MT) and judo classes in his area, talk to the instructors, and then decide for himself (with their guidance) whether he wants to pursue one, both, or something else entirely.