Sens55

What is available in your area or within a reasonable driving distance? It might do to start there and then choose the best available. As I've said before, training you can get is better than the best training you cannot get.

BladeLee, The adreneline rush is caused by your natural instincts of "Fight or Flight". It's your body's natural response to confrontational situations. I doubt you will ever overcome it, you can only hope to control it. You'd be fighting an uphill battle, though. Some call it fear, and maybe it is. If it is, then a quote from Gen. Patton (my personal favorite) was somewhat to the point. He said (and I paraphrase), that if a brave man is a man who knows no fear, then he knows of no brave men. But a courageous man is one who overcomes his fear. I think this is accurate. You think you can take anyone you face, but your body is smarter. Every confrontation is a potentially life-threatening situation. You may be capable of taking everyone, but let me clue you in on one secret of streetfighting. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FAIR FIGHT! You can face a weapon, multiple opponents, be caught off guard, slip or any other number of things. Don't let your youthful sense of immortality cloud your judgement. Beyond that, the adreneline is a good thing. It will make you stronger and can make you more focused if need be. I think it becomes a distraction to you because you're facing a potentially dangerous situation, and your subconscious knows that better than your conscious self. From my own experience I can tell you that, when I was in the Army, I was an Airborne unit. And, no matter how many times I jumped, I got nervous and a little apprehensive. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVED it, but, every time, my stomach would be tight, I'd feel like I had to pi** even though I didn't and all kinds of other things. Any anyone who tells you they didn't have something similar occuring is either lying or crazy, and I don't want to be around anyone who's either. But, the vast majority of us would jump in spite of that "fear". Same thing here. Having an adrenline rush is a good thing. It tells you that your body is still wired correctly even if your head is loose. Success, to me, is not in the absence of that rush, but in controlling it. And that is something that is mental. You either decide to jump or you don't. Period. After the first second out the door, it's gone. (At least until you're ready to hit the ground in a night jump!). The same thing in a fight. Once a fight starts, the adreneline rush will hardly be noticeable. BTW, I never got as nervous during or before the jump, but afterwards I'd almost throw up. Just my way of dealing with it. Part of that is because I'm afraid of heights! Anyway, I would never advocate fighting for anything other than self-preservation or the defense of someone else. If you can't go to parties without the potential for confrontation, then stop going to parties. Sooner or later you might find that getting in fights is going to land you in jail and/or the hospital. But, if you HAVE to defend yourself, then once the first punch is thrown, then it'll take care of itself.

I can tell you one way it happens. When you get a black belt in a particular style and want to open a school, you can frequently get "belt recognition" from another school. Meaning, they want you to teach their style or pay dues to their organization or whatever. So, if you spend 4 or 5 years to get a black belt, you can then apply to another (not all, but some) organizations and be recognized as a blackbelt in their group and start working on your various dan in their organization. In this way, you can actually be simultaneously achieving dan rank in multiple associations. Again, most require you to hold a black belt in some other organization first. Of course, each organization has different time and testing requirements to achieve additional dan rank.

Shorinryu Sensei, I wouldn't disagree that carrying a weapon is not always the wisest. I might also add, however, that I spent 15 years in the Army in Combat Arms positions and was (ages ago) an instructor on a few weapons systems. I have been using firearms almost my entire life and have more than an average understanding of their use. I do not think that everyone should carry a weapon. They really need to be able to use it if needed. And when I say use, I mean from both a mechanical and a personal perspective. Displaying a weapon without the ability of determination to use it is dangerous. That being said, if someone is in that situation, they should train on the weapon before even thinking about carrying it. By the way, I read an interesting article in this month's Black Belt magazine the night I posted my response to you. It was written by someone who just wrote a book concerning group attacks and violence and it had some interesting conclusions, supposedly statistically supported, that show your chances of handling conrontation with more than one adversary. One point it made clearly was that an adolescent male living in an urban area is something like 6 times as likely as any other group to be involved in (either victim or aggressor) than anyone else.

Shorinryu Sensei, I would have to agree with a lot of what you said. Using our arts should never be taken lightly. Your words concerning bravado and braggadacio are certainly correct. I would also agree that kids carrying weapons is dangerous. That being said, don't mistakenly assume that because there is no need to carry a weapon in your area that the same can hold true in all. Again, this is not condoning carrying the weapon. I believe that unless you know what you are doing the weapon can be just as, if not more dangerous, for the user than not carrying one. However, sometimes it is wiser to be armed than not. I work in sales and my job takes me to parts of town I wouldn't normally roam without reason. I often have to go into areas where gangs are commonplace and some of the inhabitants would think nothing of mugging (or worse) an outsider that ventured into their territory. I know for an absolute fact that my carrying, and one time displaying, my weapon kept me from becoming a statistic. Again, I'm not recommending it for everyone (or anyone), but one should be hesitant before saying any such need is just a Walter Mitty moment. I am also a big guy. I've been studying various arts off and on for years. I've had my share of scraps and have no real desire to mess with anyone else. But I still take my self-protection and self-preservation seriously and all my experience and size won't mean diddly if jumped by a bunch of gangbangers who think I'm an easy way to make a few bucks. In my one instance, by making eye contact and letting my previously concealed Beretta come into view let them know that I was not an easy target and they moved on. On that day that .40 was worth every penny of the $900 I paid for it an then some!

NO, NO, Please don't go....I like dead horses

There are plenty of books and tapes you can use to augment your knowledge in grappling. It obviously works better if you have a partner, and even better if you have an instructor. Like someone else pointed out, you might not have opportunities now, but you might if you go to college. There are some schools that will allow you to "train" with their tapes and even test for belts. Be careful, many are not that good, but there are some good ones out there. They are the ones that will point out that distance learning is not a replacement for dojo training, but is better than nothing. One that I know of is https://www.combat-ajj.com Good Luck

Miguksaram, I disagree with you that what they taught was Korean Karate. I believe it was a recognizable name for other arts, Tang Soo Do, Moo Duk Kwan and Kuk Sool Wan which were all being taught, but were confusing and unmarketable. It is true that most of these arts have roots in some form of Karate, but that is oversimplifying it. They also derive a lot from Chinese Kung Fu, Japanese Ju Jutsu and older Korean arts. So, what they taught was not simply Korean Karate. But, for the uninitiated Americans, it was close enough.

I enjoy good beer regularly. I don't drink for effect, but I just enjoy beer. I was raised on it, and it's my beverage of choice for most occasions. Besides, I never trust someone who's too uptight to imbibe once in a while. By the same token, I don't enjoy being around people who cannot control their liquor. Drunks are jerks, period. In moderation, it's no big deal.

For the most part I agree with Mr. Love (for once ). But, I will say everything is relative. Someone's tactics may be good, but not good enough to overcome a big thug that lands a good hard punch, even if he didn't know what he was doing. The averages would say that that won't happen in most occasions. But, I, personally, don't care about the other 99% of the time, I care about the one time that I'm in it, and the reality is, in that one time, I can be bigger, better, stronger, faster, smarter and everything else and I MIGHT STILL LOSE! Sure, if we go 100 times, I'll win 99 of them BUT, that's no guarantee that in the 1 time that it matters which way it will go.

Something's better than nothing. The average joe never studies any form of combative training. In that sense Judo would be an advantage over someone who didn't know anything other than instict. However, different opponents have different ways of attacking, and Judo would help address some of those situations and lack in others. But then again, that could be said for most arts out there.

BLH, Ju Jitsu has plenty of ground moves. After all, BJJ didn't invent ground work. They popularized it. There are different variations of Ju Jitsu, each with slightly different focuses. But a good Ju Jitsu school will teach you the same basic things as BJJ. BJJ just focues MORE one groundwork than most TJJ schools. In fact, just about every move in BJJ if found somewhere in TJJ. The set up and the execution may differ, but the moves are still basically the same.

I should also put as an addendum, that this is based on my experiences. I read earlier where JohnnyS had TJJ schools say they had to learn some ridiculous amount of throws before they could work on ground. That's not the way it is at our school. It's TJJ, but a lot of the formality is dropped. It's very laid back in formility (somewhat similar to my BJJ class), but there's a somedays where it's stand up, some days it's throws, some days it ground, some days it's all of the above. So, I can say with honesty that I could study the same art at a different school and not like it as much.

Goshinman & Kenpo, I agree with you and completely disagree with Tibby. I have studied BJJ for a while until the commute to the school became a burden. I then took up TJJ closer to home. I have yet to see anything I learned in BJJ that I haven't seen in TJJ. I will say that I have seen plenty in TJJ that I did not see in BJJ. Certainly there are differences. Focus of training, training style and setups come easily to mind. However, there was remarkedly little focus on striking, in which there was a fair amount in the TJJ. The BJJ school and the TJJ school I studied at had an open randori, and it got ugly when the matches ended up being pretty even. We don't wear belts or gis in our classes, so there were accusations of guys rolling in lower belt classes and other things. And that brings me to what I think is one of the original selling points of BJJ, and now, to me, one of it's ugly sides and that's the machismo. I'll try to stay away from sweeping generalizations, but it's a solid fact that machismo plays an very important role in most South American countries. It's a mark of manliness, verility and is highly esteemed. In fact, without a little bravado, it's hard to get respect. That is the culture. And that attitude was a siren's call when it came north because many of the traditional MA had become PC milquetoast. However, the BJJ mark is now well-established (and well-earned), but in many of its practitioners it's become arrogance. And what is worse, many of those that bash TJJ and say BJJ is better have never seen the other side and are baseing their claims on hearsay and ignorance. All of this is well and good, but to say that it is an completely different art is WAY off in my opinion. It's not. It's a certain style of JJ, not a completely new art. Just like various forms of Karate and TKD have different schools within their art, so does JJ. I just would like to see those that brag that "my school's better than yours" try both schools before saying that.

Whattya know. A trivia game and an IT class all wrapped up in one. This post turned out far better than I figured!

JohnnyS is right. But you also say they teach Ju Jitsu. So watch a few classes and you might have a great combination. The judo to work on throws and the ju jitsu for the groundwork. After all, BJJ is what is popular right now. And I'm not knocking it's effectiveness. But, at the end of the day it's still ju jitsu. And the training you CAN get is better than the best training that you cannot get.

Like anything, train your weakness. Like the others have said, just start lightly punching things (i.e. punching bag, makiwara, whatever) and work up. It may take time, but your knuckles will get used to it.

I like the original posts, in which actual advice was being given instead of an advertisement for their art. Most effective MA have scenarios for dealing with smaller individuals taking on larger opponents. I especially like the story of the kick to the knee. Which one is best is a personal choice based on many factors. I can tell you from the receiving end (I'm 6' 300 lbs), that a kick to my knee has a far better chance than kicking me in the junk. I have been kicked in the junk many times before, and a few were show stoppers, but most either missed me, glanced off or once, hit me so hard the pain was actually delayed! (I threw up later though). However, there are two knees and more opportunities to hit them. Let's face it a big house with no foundation is just a pile of rubble. At the very least, a good knee kick will slow them up if you try to run. Additionally, you don't usually have to get as close to the opponent to hit a knee since they'll frequently have one leg closer to you than their body.

Anyone who says size doesn't matter has never been punched by someone that is big and strong. Size is not always the determining factor, but don't ever say it doesn't matter! Skill CAN overcome size. Speed and knowledge and many other things can overcome size. But, all things being equal, bigger people beat up littler people, if for no other reason than their size and weight can be brought to bear on their opponent with very little effort on their part. The reason we have to learning MA is so important is that, frequently we need this training to even the tables when matched with a bigger opponent.

Step forward at an angle to the kick, since it generally comes straight in. He'll either miss you or have to adjust mid-kick. Even if he successfully moves back, he'll have to change his angle to kick you again. He'd have to be a heck of a lot faster than you are to continually step back, change angle, and kick before you can step inside of him and have his front (or back if you prefer) exposed for a few shots.

The business side of things can always be an impediment to what is taught. Once a school opens publicly it is a commercial enterprise with a goal of, if not making a profit, at least breaking even. Certainly quality of teaching effects their ability to do that, but it's not the only determining factor. TKD has become quite commercial, which is both a good and bad. In its expansion, it has grown rapidly but not been able to keep a tight control on quality. And, let's face it, when any of us started in MA, how would we know if the teacher REALLY knew his stuff or not? Unless you had been around it or knew someone around it, we probably chose the school closest to us. In that regard, there are more TKD schools than most other arts. And with the plethora of schools, there are good ones and bad ones. But, as with anything, you rarely hear about things when it's a good experience, but EVERYBODY hears about it when it's bad. (Marketing surveys say that dissatisfied customer will tell, on average over 8 people about a bad experience and less than 3 for a good one). Anyway, I've found that the less commercial schools can frequently be more selective in who and what they teach. In doing so, they more often focus on the quality of their art, not the quantity of their students as a measure of success.

Any kick that effectively lands!

OUCH! That hurts just thinking about it. I'm kind of lucky, my neck is about 21". Smaller guys can't get me in a choke easily because they can't get their arms around it.

Although it may be difficult to master without proper training, and it certainly will take more time, you can teach yourself these things, especially with a partner (any partner). The general concept is to look at the joint being manipulated. It was made to function in a certain range. If you look at the mechanics of it, you'll see that making it go at a different angle will lock it. I.e. your wrist can only extend so far up or down. Taking it past it's intended range will "lock" it. Taking time to study it joint by joint and finding ways to manipulate it will work. After all, that's what the various masters did to learn them in the first place. Of course, since it is reinventing the wheel, so to speak, it's certainly faster and easier to find someone who knows how and have them teach you. Additionally, a knowing instructor can often show minute things that you can do to make it more efficient or effective. Like in an "Americana" or "figure 4 arm bar" just moving the arm down at a 45 degree angle makes the move more effective. Unlikely lessons like that will be free, though.

My instructor is forever correcting my Kihaps. He has a very personal idea of how it should be done. But, after all my years in the Army, we grunted and yelled more than anything else. At my age it's hard to break a half-a-lifetime habit.