Roager

Thanks the responses! After watching some of those videos in the link I'm taking another look at Judo. Here are some within a 10-25 minute drive: Traditional Korean Karate: Tang Soo Do. A School that offers Tang Soo Do, Tai Chi, Kempo, Wung Chun, and Ju Jitsu. A school that offer TKD and Kum Do Aikido TKD Traditional Japanese Shotokan Karate Within a 30 to 50 minute drive: Judo Hapkido I know there are more but this is just a sample. I live in Marion Iowa, about an hour away from Iowa City and ten minutes from Cedar Rapids if any of you want to google search the area for different schools.

Hello, I'm new to the forums and stumbled across your website while searching for different styles of marital arts, and I must say that I am very impressed with both the quality of the site and that of the users who post here. The information provided by the articles and users here are very helpful and outstanding and I am very glad I found this sight. The question I have for you all is about which styles that will best suit me, which I’ve seen has asked a lot around here. What I want to do is narrow down the martial art styles that best fit me into a short list and hopefully find a dojo within my area that has one of those styles listed. I do intend to drive out and observe their sessions to learn about the instructors, but I would much rather have a list of styles best suited for me first instead of driving thirty minutes to a dojo and not liking the style within five minutes. Also, I would much rather have input from people about the styles than just from just my own online research. Information about me: I’m 21 years old, 6 foot and currently 240 pounds but plan to be around 215 by summer, which is when I plan to start my training. I want to learn martial arts to bring back discipline in my life, keep me in shape, and train me to defend myself on the job and my friends and family. My body has short legs, medium length arms, a long thick torso and wide shoulders and thick frame. Although I’ve been inactive for the past year and a half I still retain some of my upper and lower body strength from football. Since my legs are not long nor as flexible I guess high kicks and jumps are not something I’m looking for, so I know I do not want to take Taekwondo. I have wrestled for four years in high school and played football up to my junior year in college until I needed stop because of two knee surgeries. The only martial arts training I had was when I was 16 for three months in Okinawan Shorin-Ryu. I had to quit because of my sport activities. I don’t remember my belt rank but I do remember I was in the middle of learning the last kata needed to try out for a green belt. I want to point out that am not put off by this style. When I played football I was a defensive end and my coach put a great deal of emphasis on speed, explosiveness, hand placement and leverage to control and throw offensive lineman off balance, which I needed considering I was one of the smallest lineman on the team. Wrestling also helped me with balance, leverage and hand control, so I guess I’m a decent grappler. But during an actual fight, and because of my job as a security guard, I would much rather be in standing position, or at least in an upper controlled position, over my opponent when I throw them to the ground instead of falling with them. This is mostly due to the fact that the people I encounter will most likely not be alone and being on the ground will put me at a disadvantage, so I guess Judo is something I do not want. (Unless I am completely mistaken about Judo’s techniques, which is highly likely on my part) Overall, what I’m not looking for is style that is too flashy, focuses on high jumps and kicks, and does not realistically take into account of opponents using weapons. I’m not interested in competitive martial arts. What I am looking for is a style that will help me subdue and disarm my opponent(s) with the least amount of bodily harm to myself and help me maintain positions that will not put me at a disadvantage. I am not turned off by punches or kicks and would love to use them. I apologize if I rambled on too much and I appreciate all the tips, comments, and help you can provide.