Looking to start martial arts.?

I've never done any martial arts but I'm looking to start with a friend for mostly leisure and some self-defense / work-out. What style do you recommend I start I start with? Please compare and contrast several common styles.

Looking to start martial arts.?
Which one to try depends on your motivation, for example, self defense, exercise and fitness, or you wish to be in the UFC. My advice is to check out different places and take trial classes. Find an instructor you like and a place you enjoy going to, and the style really becomes secondary.





Here is a breakdown of several good martial arts:





Aikido - uses opponents momemtum and strength against them, redirecting the force, instead of blocking the force. Never engaging strength against strength. Aikido is very defensive.





Judo - Olympic sport, opponents are more engaged with eachoter and try to use leverage and balance to throw their opponent. Judo is closer to wrestling, there are no punches, no kicks, all throws. You are mostly standing until you are thrown. After a throw, you usually get back up and start over.





Ju-Jitsu (Brazilian and Japanese) - Brazilian ju-jitsu is more of a grappling, ground fighting system, where the object is to submit your opponent through joint locks (such as an armbar or kimura) or you can choke your opponent out by getting in a dominant position and using a combination of your arms and or legs to choke them (triangle choke uses legs, rear choke uses arms). Your opponet "taps", to signal his submission and the match is over.





Karate - Karate originates in Okinawa, but many styles were adopted and modified in Japan. There are many different types of Karate (Shotokan, Gen-wa-ki, Kempo, Kenpo, Kyokoshin, Goju, Isshin-Ryu). Karate also usually incorporates weapons training into it's system using the traditional Budo weapons (Staff, Nunchaku, Tonfa, Kama, Sai). Empty hand Karate utilized punches and kicks and the training usually involves serious "toughening" of your entire body.





Kendo is sword/stick fighting. They where a type of armor/face shield and fight with bamboo swords.





Tae Kwon Do - TKD is almost like 3 different martial arts. TKD comes from Korea. It is is an official Olympic sport and some TKD practitioners train exclusively in this version of the art. TKD is also a practical self defense system that it utilizes by the Korean military and secret police. It it often taught in conjunction with another Korean martial art called Hapkido, which uses small joint (wrist, fingers, ankles) manipulation and submission tactics. There are also different types of TKD, such as Moo Du Kwan or Han Mu Kwan. One of the unique things about TKD is that they have a global governing body that unifies all of the forms (Poomse or Kata) and standards required for promotion. So let's say you are a blue belt or "5th Geup" in Korea, you are learning the exact same form as a blue belt in California, or Europe, or anywhere else in the world. TKD is also unique in that it's ratio of kicking techniqes to hand techniqes is about 80% kicking to 20% hand techniques.





Tai Chi - Tai Chi is Chinese in origin. Although Tai Chi can be used in self defense, it is primarily used as exercise around the world. It is believed by many that there are many unexplainable health benefits in practicing Tai Chi. The Chinese believe that all life has an inner force called "Chi". Tai Chi is a means of channelling and releasing one's Chi and therefore reaping the benefits.





The concept of Chi is not exclusive to Tai Chi. It is part of all types of Chinese Kung Fu and is known as "Ki" in Japanese and Korean martial arts. The concept is typically considered part of all traditional martial arts.








Hope this helps....





James (near Detroit, MI)
Reply:tae kwon do...easiest to learn and its great for your mind and fitness
Reply:how about kenpo karate, it is very versitile and great for your mind and body, and can be great for self defense. Tae kwon do is good also so is kung fu and kick boxing, wrestling,judo,,jiu jitsu,hapkido,they are all good just depends on what you are looking for alot of kicks or strikes or grappling throwing and take downs or all the above like aikido....
Reply:brazilian jiu-jitsu
Reply:jiu jitsu for sure...most fights end up on the ground with neither person knowing what to do there...it's great for your body(it will hurt though),balance (a solid base in wrestling is a bonus) and you can see your improvements quickly...it can constantly be improved on...after that maybe start working on something else like kenpo if you're not good on your feet...you could always be better...
Reply:All styles are good it depends on your abilities if your fast with your feet and hands try muy tai karate or tae kwon do. If your heavy sumo wrestling and if you like grappelling jujitsu .
Reply:Muay Thai and Jiujitsu. Learn the stanup and ground game. It's a very fun way to work out and learn how to kick butt.
Reply:TKD
Reply:congrats looking to start a martial art. you want to see the most common martial arts and see the pros and cons of each along with videos so you can get the feel of em





then check out


http://majorsmartialarts.com/disciplines...





i hope it helps you out and if you need any more help feel free to email me