karsh44

I think the gun is an option. In the situations described, where there is no distance between you, then disarming is definitely best. But what about when you're in the dark parking garage on your way to the car, and you see those two suspicious guys standing a couple cars down? If you have your hand on the gun already, or have drawn but keep it out of site, you are ready to react instantly if they make a move on you. Just the sight of you pulling out a gun may be enough to make them stand back. IMHO, you can never have too many options when it comes to defending yourself. being both skilled and armed gives you more options, to deal with more situations. I would agree that you're more likely to be in a situation where MA skill would be appropriate, but I stick with the old saying "Its better to have it and not need it (or be able to use it), than need it and not have it."

I'm only engaged, but I'll say that my financee is interested in the martial arts as well, and we would like to find an art we both would practice together

^^Agree. I would also like to mention that for some less experienced martial artists, lack of skill can equate "harder" with "faster" or "better". I know b/c I was that way An inexperienced student might not know how to move fast without punching/kicking harder. Combine that with desire to spar someone better to learn, and you can get these "challenges". I think a lot more is probably cockiness though. Just my $.02

Didn't mean to put your response down or anything. Potential liability for guys touching those areas was discussed in another thread not long ago. If you brush the wrong woman's chest, could be hello lawsuit Not that that is real likely.

I personally think a large part of the "street fighter" mystique is the mind set they gain from experience. If you go into the fight knowing you're going to open up on someone and expend all your effort on defeating them and inflicting maximum damage, it will magnify your skills. The ability to shake off a hit and keep coming makes a good fighter better. Thus, the value of full contact training. With the right "must win" mindset, I think even a small amount of training can go a long way. (all of the above assumes unarmed confrontation. If you get weapons in the mix, the best mental preparation becomes less of a factor...)

"Soft" hits in those areas could open up a whole other set of problems...

In general, I would wait. However, in certain obviously dangerous situations (two guys following you into the dark parking lot, one has a folding knife unopened in his hand, and you see both coming right for you or something) you may need to strike first to have a reasonable chance of escaping the encounter. If the threat is serious and obvious, you shouldn't give up the advantage of striking first. Better to explain to the cop why you hit the guy first than wake up in the hospital or worse.

I am of the opinion that limiting training at all is a handicap. Deadly techniques should be reserved for skilled (and hopefully mature) practitioners of an art, but they should be taught. If there were some hypothetical technique to kill multiple opponents simultaneously, even that wouldn't be out of bounds imho. The odds of ever needing something remotely like that are infinetesimal for most people, but if the one in a million chance turns out to be you, you may really need that knowledge. To quote the old saying, "better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it".

For the most part, guns are illegal in the UK too. Since they banned them though, gun violence has increased markedly. Makes you wonder about the effectiveness of gun control...

Forgive me if the question is inappropriate for this forum (or thread) but those sound like interesting stories if you cared to elaborate, Shorinryu Sensei...

Thanks for the welcome, I feel at home already

Thanks for the reply. The ninjutsu seems relatively legit, with pics of the instructor w/ Dr. Hatsumi, but the description of the combat hapkido style was more interesting. I'm still hoping someone who has trained in combat hapkido will give their opinon of the style though

Hi foks, been lurking for a while and decided to join as it seems there are a lot of very knowlegable martial artists here. My own training is limited. I've taken a couple years of TKD, but have been out of the MA's for a while. I'm looking to get back in, and want to learn all I can.

Both arts in the title are available to me in my home city. Can anyone give more detail about how they compare for self defense? I've seen good things posted here about the versatility of ninjutsu, and hapkido, but I haven't really seen anything about combat hapkido as a separate variation of hapkido. Any information about either art would be much appreciated