[Green Ajah Warrior Event] Martial Arts Discussion

[Guest]

In this discussion, you can share what sort of experiences you have or are interested in with martial arts.

 

When most people think of martial arts, the first thing that may come to mind is an East Asian art, such as "kung fu," karate, or tae kwon do. This is in part due to its popularisation in media for the past several decades, as well as the availability of teachers.

There are many other kinds of martial arts, however - many cultures had multiple styles of how to fight with a given weapon or hand-to-hand. Because of centuries of disuse in favour of gun use and "conventional" warfare, much of European martial arts have been largely forgotten; in recent times, though, organisations like HEMA and SCA have made attempts to reconstruct and revive such martial arts. Other organisations or groups focus more specifically on restoring or continuing regional arts, like bataireacht, the art of stick/shillelagh fighting in Ireland. Tribal peoples all over the world may have their own martial traditions, some of which are slowly being shared with outsiders.

 

Some question the use of martial arts in an age of high tech weaponry, but there are many arguments in support of martial arts, the most familiar and powerful of which is personal health benefits. 

 

Feel free to add whatever you wish to the discussion, but here are some questions to help guide potential conversations:

Do you practice a martial art? What is it?

 

Why do you practice?

 

[Ryrin]

I don't know if this counts, but I took fencing lessons when I was very young. It's not easy. Later, I took Krav Maga classes but had to stop due to health reasons. I found that form of martial arts to be very physically challenging. 

 

Through the SCA, we have been introduced to archery and my husband participated in thrown weapons.

[Tamcha]

I would love to go to a Taekwondo training, but my job doesn't really allow me to go to a regular training due to business trips.

I'm lucky with archery training though. I can go there 4 days per week :-)

[thehumantrashcan]

I would love to Krav Maga or MuayTai.  Mostly because movies.

[Guest]

I do Krav Maga and the teacher love Jujitsu... so sometimes he spices the class with some moves from that martial art :)

[Guest]

I would say fencing counts - it has it's own particular movements besides that, outside of formal competition, it was used for actual duels at one point. 

I do archery, but it is for hunting - that is something I wonder about, whether if it can be considered a "martial art" if it has a practical function.

 

Depending on the dojo, they may not mind if you miss a lot of classes, in terms of tae kwon do - some can be very informal, or they don't care so long as you are paying. 

 

Maybe you can give Oscar some pointers/debunking any misconceptions about Krav maga, Chae!

[Dar'Jen Ab Owain]

I have always been interested in learning some form of martial arts. Howver, as there does appear to be so many variations, is there a way to determine which might be best for me?

[Ryrin]

I would love to Krav Maga or MuayTai.  Mostly because movies.

 

Krav Maga is awesome.

[Ryrin]

I would love to go to a Taekwondo training, but my job doesn't really allow me to go to a regular training due to business trips.

I'm lucky with archery training though. I can go there 4 days per week :-)

 

We haven't started. Any pointers?

[Guest]

Dar'Jen, I think the first thing to do would be reading up on different traditions. A lot of people have one in mind already - such as because of films, or their own culture, or they know friends who practice one, and so they may just start with that as something they are familiar with and/or can practice with friends.

 

If you are looking for something that would "fit" you best, physically and mentally, other than background research you will want to assess what you can do and what you want out of an art. If you aren't in very good health right now, you can try finding a family-friendly instructor or programme that won't really expect exceptional physical health. If it is something you just want to do casually and to get/stay in decent shape with, lots of the more "popular" martial arts (many of them East Asian) have, again, casual dojos/dojangs that won't pressure you or expect you to be competitive. Tae kwon do and karate have some of the most laidback studios you can find, though that's not always the case. If you really like competition, that could push you towards other things, like judo or MMA, which are pretty competition-oriented.

 

You would also want to keep in mind that even though a style may sound right for you, the local studio or group that practices it might not always be the best people to train with - in other words, like anywhere else, if you are somewhere with annoying people, it can ruin the experience. So that is something to consider as well. 

[Tamcha]

 

I would love to go to a Taekwondo training, but my job doesn't really allow me to go to a regular training due to business trips.

I'm lucky with archery training though. I can go there 4 days per week :-)

 

We haven't started. Any pointers?

 

 

For archery?

Well, I started by booking a training for beginners, where they explain the basics of archery and also the most common typed of bows you could chose from.

For learning I started with a recurve bow, because it's available with less strenghts than a longbow for example (that's the kind of bow I'm shooting with now) and you have more time to practice your stand and aiming if you don't need all of your strengths to hold the bow fully drawn for such a long time.

Basically it's all a matter of personal preference, which bow you'd chose in the end. I know, this is probably not very helpful, but the best advice I can give is: try to find a good teacher and also try different bow types if you have the opportunity.

[Verbal32]

My son and I take a combination of Taekwondo and Jeet Kun Do, and we like it a lot.  In college, I took Capoeira (my personal favorite), but I've been unable to find a good school that is both nearby and works with my schedule....so I go to the same school my son does.

 

The chief instructor also spent a lot of time learning Krav Maga, and he teaches that on the side to a few students - I've considering joining in, but I might wait for my son to be older (so he isn't up too late on a school night).

 

 

 

 

I love it, the discipline for children is excellent, and the balance/flexibility/core strength for adults is great, too.

[Guest]

On my own part:

Do you practice a martial art? What is it?

 

Bare-knuckled boxing is very big in my family, so I've practiced at that since I was a kid. I've practiced shillelagh-fighting for a long time, since teens, and I've tried my hand with knives - the latter I'm not sure you would call a formal art, though, given that it's mostly tricks I've picked up all over the place, for once and I while a "formal" competition.

 

I tried my hand at tae kwon do and hap ki do for awhile, mainly because I fell in love with "martial arts movies" and that was just what was available in the area. I stopped because of financial problems, though one of my brothers continued and is actually a black belt now in the World Taekwondo Federation. So I've practiced/learned some with him since, and I guess now you can say I just do kickboxing/some light grappling from what I've learned from that.

 

In the past year, I actually started going to a HEMA group (Historical European martial arts). Because it is so broad and in a lot of ways "reconstructed," it is relatively unstructured and very competition oriented - so that if you don't like "facing" other people and mind getting hit alot, it's might not be a thing for you. 
 

 

Why do you practice?

 

I practice just because it seems something I ought to do, probably since you are at least expected to know how to box in my family. It also helps take out aggression/frustration, and it can make you feel more confident about yourself, knowing that if you are ever in a situation where you are physically attacked, or someone else is physically attacked, you have a good chance of getting out alright or you could save someone else.

 

 

Some more questions;

 

What do you or would you hope to get out of a martial art?

What relevance, in your opinion, do they have today?
 

[Verbal32]

 

What do you or would you hope to get out of a martial art?

What relevance, in your opinion, do they have today?

 

 

Good questions.  I would say they differ depending on whether you're an adult or a child (usually).  For children, I want my son to appreciate the discipline that comes from the relationship between instructor and student, and also the knowledge on when this 'skill' is to be used.....which leads into the relevance - self defense and defense of others in need, and general good health.

 

Same for adults, although some probably don't need the discipline part, but the others are always great.

[Sooh]

A little on the side here, since I never have tried anything resembling a martial art, but I have some students who do. A few of my 13 year old boys are learning tae kwon do, and they have been demonstrating their "tricks" in the school hallways, so now they are on extremely short leashes before we tell their instructor and they get kicked out of training. 

 

I think that's a good thing, because from all I know about it the discipline doesn't allow you to hurt or threaten to hurt anyone for no reason, correct me if I'm wrong here. Do you have similar rules?

[Verbal32]

A little on the side here, since I never have tried anything resembling a martial art, but I have some students who do. A few of my 13 year old boys are learning tae kwon do, and they have been demonstrating their "tricks" in the school hallways, so now they are on extremely short leashes before we tell their instructor and they get kicked out of training. 

 

I think that's a good thing, because from all I know about it the discipline doesn't allow you to hurt or threaten to hurt anyone for no reason, correct me if I'm wrong here. Do you have similar rules?

 

For us, yes.  If our instructor heard about any of his students using martial arts on another person without just cause, they would definitely be kicked out of the school.  In that way, he's a very "strict but fair" instructor, and that's what we parents like about the school.

[Tamcha]

A lot of people are doing martial arts (especially the ones without weapons) to be able to defend themselves. At least courses for Taekwondo and such are often advertised in this way.

I would prefer to learn it though, to be able to fight agains someone with a fighting style without really hurting each other.

 

What I would like to get out of it? A good workout^^

[Ryrin]

 

 

I would love to go to a Taekwondo training, but my job doesn't really allow me to go to a regular training due to business trips.

I'm lucky with archery training though. I can go there 4 days per week :-)

 

We haven't started. Any pointers?

 

 

For archery?

Well, I started by booking a training for beginners, where they explain the basics of archery and also the most common typed of bows you could chose from.

For learning I started with a recurve bow, because it's available with less strenghts than a longbow for example (that's the kind of bow I'm shooting with now) and you have more time to practice your stand and aiming if you don't need all of your strengths to hold the bow fully drawn for such a long time.

Basically it's all a matter of personal preference, which bow you'd chose in the end. I know, this is probably not very helpful, but the best advice I can give is: try to find a good teacher and also try different bow types if you have the opportunity.

 

 

Thank you.

[Ryrin]

 

A little on the side here, since I never have tried anything resembling a martial art, but I have some students who do. A few of my 13 year old boys are learning tae kwon do, and they have been demonstrating their "tricks" in the school hallways, so now they are on extremely short leashes before we tell their instructor and they get kicked out of training. 

 

I think that's a good thing, because from all I know about it the discipline doesn't allow you to hurt or threaten to hurt anyone for no reason, correct me if I'm wrong here. Do you have similar rules?

 

For us, yes.  If our instructor heard about any of his students using martial arts on another person without just cause, they would definitely be kicked out of the school.  In that way, he's a very "strict but fair" instructor, and that's what we parents like about the school.

 

 

Same when my son took Karate when he was very young.

[Ryrin]

Krav Maga has different aspects than other martial arts. 

 

"Krav Maga is the official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). What separates Krav Maga from other forms of Martial Arts is, there are no rules or limitations in Krav Maga. Anything and everything goes when it comes down to survival. In Krav Maga we build our defense with a strong offense by striking aggressively to the weak spots of body, neutralizing the threat as quick as possible."