Mist

Thanks for both of your posts. Thats good info in both of them.

If it were easy to tell the difference between a good school and a bad school then there weren't be so many bad schools out there making money. Your going to have to vist schools and watch classes even participate in some beofe determining what is right for you. Some things to look for are what do the schools focus on? Is it mostly kata with little application? Are the applications realistic or mainly for show? Do the students know what they are learning or is a common answer to "why are you doing it that way" is "because the teacher told me to". I enjoy the classical styles of karate for me they seem to have more lonjevity in them. Though even a classical style can be hard on the body if you choose. There are areas of karate that have to do with conditoning the parts of the body for striking or being struck. Though depending on the school you should have the choice whether or not you want to focus on that. But if its soley self defense your looking for look into Krav Maga. Krav is a style that focuses almost soley on real world application I have looked into Krav before and it seems cool. But I don't know if thats a style I want to take. For some reason it just does not interest me as much. But that could change. Would you say that classical styles of karate teaches one how to fight well and defend themselves well in real world situations?

I have not done martial arts for years because of my fear about this. But it is something that i really want to do in my life. So im just trying to make the best decision that i can for what style i should take. I have wanted to do martial arts since i was a kid.

I tried Aikido and it was too hard on my wrists (i have tendonitis in both wrists). That was my first choice but it did not work out for me.

What are some things that i should look for in a school/teacher that will show me that they can teach me how to fight and defend myself well? Im not interested in competition at all. For me its about real world self defense. What are some styles that you would say are hard on the body? Im a career musician (drummer) and i have to be careful to not injure myself to where i cant play. But i do want to be able to know how to fight if i need to. I also want a style that i can physically do for the rest of my life that i can grow in as well.

Hi, im new here. I have a few questions about a few things. Im interested in taking either Wing Chun Kung Fu or okinawan karate. I have been told by a few different people who are also martial artists that these 2 styles are not effective for real world self defense. These people were more into MMA and seemed to be biased against other styles that were not MMA based. So my question is are Wing Chun and okinawan karate good for real world self defense? Meaning, if i were to study either of these styles and i got attacked on the street would these styles really teach me how to defend myself well? If not what styles would you recommend that i take? For me i want to learn how to fight and how to defend myself well. Thanks!