Jack1

Interesting how many differing opinions there are! It just goes to show there is not one 'ultimate' style. It seems the majority would recommend the MMA. Can I ask the MMA practitioners do they find the different lessons tending to blur into one after a while? I found all the lessons very distinct to each other. It could of course just be because I'm new to it all. Thanks

Well I'm no expert but... A kettlebell is a lump of metal like a cannon-ball with a handle on. I believe they were mainly used by eastern block athletes who lacked the funding of the western countries. They were cheap, portable, and basic but highly effective conditioning tools. They are now used by the military and martial artists all over the world and there is actually a russian sport of kettlebell lifting. KB training is based around olympic style lifts like the power snatch which are performed in high reps, and strength lifts like the military press which are perfomed in low reps. The vast majority of the drills work the core stabiliser muscles and supporting muscles of the back and don't isolate muscle groups in an artificial way gym machines do. Some people liken it to yoga with weights. I like to think of it as calithenics with resistance. I'm new all to it but in the six weeks so far I've been getting superb results.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned kettlebells on this forum yet. Many people think they are by far the best all round conditioning tool for the functional fitness that Martial Artists seem to require. Anybody out there using them and what do you think?

Thanks for advice Kensai. Would you recommend I start just the one style until I'm reasonably proficient or do both at the same time from go. The classes would overlap on one of the days so I could do 2 days CLF and 1 day JJ if work allowed. Or should I just learn Aikido?!!! Its Japanese JJ by the way. Any other opinions out there?

Can anybody help? I'm looking to start a MA in the next few weeks and would appreciate your thoughts on a style to suit. I have a choice of: KALI/ESCRIMA JUI JITSU WING CHUN CHOI LEE FUT MMA (JKD/MUAY THAI/BJJ) I'm looking for a practical effective and rounded self defence mainly based around blocking and striking but perhaps with some takedown and ground skills. Now the difficult bit! I work shift work which changes week to week and means I will not be able to train on some days. I would therefore like some thing with a reasonably steep learning curve. This is not to say I'm not prepared to put in the necessary effort! I've already been to the MMA gym, and although I enjoyed it I was put off a bit by the fact I was learning one style and 45 mins later another. For example we learned some trapping moves in JKD and in the next lesson which was western boxing we couldn't block incoming punches. A bit confusing for the beginner and I feel it may be better to concentrate on one style to start with. However I would appreciate your expert help and am open to all suggestions. Thanking you in advance.