Badger2011

Haha you're going to have to take it down a level. I have no idea what Shito Ryu is like. I'm edging away from Kyokushin now. The contact and body conditioning is a nice prospect but I think I'd rather a style less focussed on kicking and more on soft style stuff which will probably be more practical.

Do you know anything about Wado?

Thanks for your quick reply. I appreciate the fact that its going to be heavily dependant on the teacher and classes themselves but I'm just trying to pick one to give a proper go at first. If it turns out I don't like it for some reason I can then try the others. I have been doing a bit more research and from what I can tell Shotokan looks like it is likely to lack the "realistic" sparring aspect in favour of focussing tournament sparring. It also looks like its going to lack the "soft" side I'd like too. So for now I'm counting that out unless someone is able to inform me otherwise. Does Kyokushin involve many throw-downs or is it basically just kicking and punches?

Hi everyone, After I graduate in a couple of months I am looking to take up martial arts and I am trying to decide upon a style. After searching for a while all I have seemingly managed to do is overwhelm myself with informational. I've finally decided to simplify matters and ask for advice! Sorry if this all comes across very newbie-ish! I know many of you will say "go and try them out then pick one you like best". I am going to consider doing this but I would like to get more of an idea about the styles first so I don't waste mine or anyone else's time trying something that isn't right for me. I also have the luxury of having a variety of places to train where I live so making a decision based on location isn't a priority either. Basically, besides the fitness, "hobby" and social aspects I want something with the following: Useful for self defence A style leaning more towards striking but also with take-downs and maybe a few holds I prefer the the idea of "diverting" attacks rather than "parrying" them with solid blocks. I quite like the idea of full contact sparring I've narrowed it down to four styles that might be okay and are offered nearby: Shotokan Kyokushinkai Goju-Ryu Wado-Ryu What do each of these styles involve? A sort of list/breakdown/direct comparison would be useful. And, therefore which of these would be most suitable? It might be helpful to know what and why I decided certain styles weren't suitable for me (this is purely from an outsiders perspective. I appreciate they all are very powerful in their own right - they just don't seem for me): Aikido - Too defensive and inefficient (takes a lot of time to reach an outcome). From a self defensive perspective if someone was bigger than me or there were more than one of them it doesn't seem like it would be too much use Jujitsu - Again, if the opponent was bigger or stronger I could see it being an unfair fight due to the grappling aspects. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.