Extreme beginner to the MA

[mild7]

I'd recommend Judo. It's a great art to start from, and I'm of the opinion that your base in the martial arts shuld consist of fullcontact arts(Judo, boxing etc, even JKD).
This will give you the basic but very dependable skills that you can work up until a high level.
And who knows, from your age, you could go on to become a top Judo competitor.

Regarding 'ninjitsu', the main problem you'll face is that most ppl in the NHB community tend to just put it down at every opportunity. So I'm not sure if you can tolerate that(unless you're a Mixed Martial Artist like me).
Ppl have told me that ninjitsu is a load of shit all my life, but all it took was for me to go look at school and I was convinced that it was good. The style I do is Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu btw, which is the only 'ninjitsu'(more of a slang name) style adknowledged by the japanese government. But like every art it has it's pros and cons, pros are that it is weapons oriented and is focused on efficency(no flashy kicks) but it's main problem is that there is no fullcontact sparring. I overcome this by going for Judo and boxing(at the moment).

Research your own truth and understand that every art has it's good and bad points. Know what you're after.
If you keep this principle you can learn anything and be an efficient fighter at the end of the day.

[Kroagnon]

The verdict

After a very long weekend for me.. I've got a bit of information atleast

I went to the studio today and I got a little card thingie with info and talked to Master Chung..

what I'm confused about is one of thing things in the card was talking about what they teach.. and I'll quote it here

"What are some other martial arts taught at this acadmet?

At Chung's Black Belt Academt we teach the Moo Sool Do System. This system combines many different martial art styles to form a COMPLETE system. It incorporates Judo, Karate, Kick Boxing, Aikido, Hapkido, Tank Soo Do, Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Tae Guk, Kwon (Tai Chi), and Weapons. It has striking techniques as well as grappling techniques"

this is what confuses me.. I don't understand if they mean they teach this along WITH TDK.. or if they're just combining a lot of the stuff..
(it may be painfully obvious to someone else but I don't get it)

otherwise the guy has a large list of credentials that I won't repeat.. other then he DID say that they have Kick Boxing that is actually meant for self defense.. he said they had aerobic Kick Boxing but a lotta people found it too boring so they changed it

so if anyone else can figure this out.. please enlighten me

anyway..
Underdog: I've lived in a bad bad area for quite a while.. not that people don't take kindly to me or anything.. I've just had knives pulled on me (luckily in that case the kid was REALLY a kid and I just took it from him) and otherwise I was just picked on a lot by older people in the area.. I always had fun fighting too)

as for why I want to learn how to fight.. it's for several reasons.. like for one I'd like to be a lot less afraid walking down the street in my area.. I enjoy sparing with my friends (except that since mostly they've all had training of some sort mostly they always beat me) and I need the phsyical fitness involved in learning one

and if Judo is that hard on the body.. then I'd want to take that much more.. I'm rather tired of being so skinny

Mr.Miyagi: Well.. I know what you mean when you say look at my dad.. that's what most people tell me
however.. my dad weighs the very same he did since he was 14 (which is only about 20-35 more then me) and he's the same height as me.. so I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be cursed with this for my entire life

SweepEm: Noooo! not my hair! I'll lose all my powers and become a weakling if I cu.. err.. wait.. that was something else *smacks himself upside the head*
right now in anything I do that requires having my vision clear (table tennis and such) I just use a bandana and hold my hair back.. would that be acceptable? or are the clothing rules too strict for that to be worn?

mild7: I appreciate the input on Ninjitsu.. and the place that offers it here is infact Budo Taijutsu as well.. and it wouldn't bother me.. I've never taken much value in what other people say about something that matters to me

the weapon oriented thing is the only thing that'd bother me.. but if I were taking Judo as well I don't think that'd be a problem.

So right now I have to figure out what I'm going to do.. the general consenus is take Judo.. which I probably will have to do since I learnt that TDK classes I was talking about earlier were between 80-125 a month which I can't come close to covering (or getting parent types to cover.. *ahem*)

thanks for the info everyone! hope I can get some more good input =)

[Underdog]

If one of your problems is safety on the streets get a handgun a learn how to use it really really well...

[PassiveGuy]

It sounds to me like that all in one MA class is alot like the concepts of Jeet Kune Do, so I think that would be your best choice, If you wanna learn how to defend yourself and fight.

[Ryu (non-working password]

I still say go with judo
Everyone and their dog seems to be putting martial arts together and coming up with their own "system." Not saying it's wrong, but some people don't have the ability to create and effective system from stringing martial arts together. It sounds like Mr. Chung is on the MMA (mixed martial arts) bandwagon.
I don't know him, so I can't say what he teaches is not effective, but I'd still go with judo. You got a good base on the ground, and some good resisting opponents during randori (freestyle sparring)

Good luck, my friend.

Take care

Ryu

[terryowl]

I still say go with judo
Everyone and their dog seems to be putting martial arts together and coming up with their own "system." Not saying it's wrong, but some people don't have the ability to create and effective system from stringing martial arts together. It sounds like Mr. Chung is on the MMA (mixed martial arts) bandwagon.
I don't know him, so I can't say what he teaches is not effective, but I'd still go with judo. You got a good base on the ground, and some good resisting opponents during randori (freestyle sparring)

Good luck, my friend.

Take care

Ryu

This is the reason I came aboard this forum. To set the record straight. Grand Master Chung, DOES NOT TEACH A MMA...he teaches traditional Moo Du Kwon/Tang Soo Do PLUS Tae Kwon Do (USTU rules)..PLUS Hap Ki Do. These are very seperate classes. That TKD/TSD side..it depends day to day..what will be practiced..they are very related. The HKD side of life, is very much seperate. The dobok (uniform is black) their classes are seperate of the TKD/TSD classes. The instructor's are a bit different. But to say this system is not effective? It's about SELF DEFENSE friend. And to defend oneself is the main objective of any martial art. But to dog a system you have no idea about..and this kid comes on here to ask question's 6 years ago? He isn't talking to the right people. People who do not know. He was asking from the Kalamazoo area..which has a vast array of Martial Arts, Chinese/Japanese/Korean martial art's all around him. And about grappling self defense portion of our classes, that in itself was a small portion and practice for certain situations that arrise, in Self Defense.

I'm sorry to bring up old laundry here..but as a former student and good friend of Master Chung..9th Dan, his system is a good system, and one that is very practical.

If that kid was sincere, and wanted to learn a system easily enough, Hap Ki Do would have been his ticket. Very effective self defense.

Thanks for listening.

[WildWest.]

Ultimately, through experimentation and listening to experienced people offering advice, you will choose a style that suits you and what you want. You say you want a practical fighting MA to make you a better fighter?? Most MA's can do this if they train appropriately. By that I mean regular sparring (stand up/ground/random attacks), pushing and testing your physical boundary's, throwing you out of your comfort zone as well as providing an excellent base for discipline so that you learn to avoid getting into fights in the first place. As you are only 15 and homeschooled I find it hard to imagine how you get into so many fights in the first place. You need to ask yourself "why is this?". Maybe you need more contact with people to learn how to communicate with them. An MA club will provide this.

You say you want to improve how to fight. To summarise the MA styles with the best records in NHB competitions you should probably take something along the lines of (in no particular order) Judo/BJJ/Muay Thai/Boxing/Wrestling (freestyle or Greco-Roman)/Pancrase/Sambo/Kickboxing/Shootfighting/Kuyokishin (sp!) Karate. Other styles such as Japanese Jujutsu/Hapkido/Aikijujutsu/Aikido are often trained and dabbled with by NHB competitors because they offer different fighting ranges/techniques/training and their approaches towards combat vary from the more popular styles. Also these styles are often used by special forces soldiers around the world albeit bastardised versions of them. Bear in mind though that these guys train a lot differently from your regular Martial Artist.

TKD is fun, will improve your flexibility, your balance, your footwork and will provide discipline. Most TKD clubs don't do much punching and they suffer because of it (personal opinion). If you want to kick like a movie star take TKD. If you want to learn how to fight take one of the previous styles I mentioned. But find something that suits you.....remember though, to get results you must train hard, be put under pressure in training, be realistic, and have regular sparring. You should be physically pretty stuffed when you finish training as well.

And get a haircut.

[WildWest.]

Maybe I should have looked at the date on the original post and I wouldn't have wasted my time!!!

Oh well.

[terryowl]

Maybe I should have looked at the date on the original post and I wouldn't have wasted my time!!!

Oh well.

No I disagree it being a wast of your time, I find that was an excellent post and to reference any other's with simular questions in the future. Good opinion!