Kyle-san

Oh, so it's a Brazillian Jujutsu school. I meant a traditional one. BJJ is wonderful for ground work, but it's lacking in other areas. The traditional schools usually have less focus on sport and ground work, but make up for it by being very well rounded.

I've found that a good Karate style (ie. Shotokan with a competent instructor) mixes very well with Jujutsu seeing as the base for the arts is similar. Striking in Jujutsu is similar to striking in Karate.

Is there, say, a Jujutsu school in the area or within a reasonable distance? That might give you the "exotic taste" you're looking for. Of course, I'm fairly biased on that opinion.

Traditional Jujutsu lacks kata, does that mean it's a modern style despite being used hundreds of years ago?

From what I've experienced it's very hard to find a respectable Ninjutsu dojo (as with a lot of other styles), but they are out there. In fact I was just talking with the instructor from the local Ninjutsu dojo the other day and he seemed fairly competent. Basically you just have to look at what's available in your area, then go find out if you feel comfortable with it. Personally, I would avoid those 10-15 k seminars.

Well, thank you. I'm sorry if I came off a bit abrasive there but I had spent the first part of my day in a fairly bad mood. Anyway, that's an excellent idea of a complete martial artist and it's certainly one that I'm striving for at the moment. I think more than anything I'm just trying to soak up all the ideas that I can to find something that works for me.

Ignorance never fails to amuse me.

Just a poor spelling of Ju Jutsu.

If you can find a traditional Jujutsu school it'd do quite well for what you're looking for.

Personally, I wouldn't mind a class that spent most of it's time on kata. Yes, I like learning new techniques and do enjoy sparring (either stand-up or grappling) but through all my training I just loved to do kata. I really don't care if they'll make me a good fighter or not, I enjoy them for what they are and the fact that I get very relaxed while running through them.

Well, that's good that you have so much confidence in your style. It's nice to know that your system teaches all ranges and all angles, but then again mine do the same thing. Just because my Jujutsu training focuses on in-close fighting doesn't mean that's what it's limited to. If you look at my previous post I wasn't taking any shots at Kempo or any other style, just saying that most Karate students wouldn't know what to do from a grab. Not all.

[quote="isshinryu kid"]YAWN. :roll:[/quote] You're a little late with that sarcastic reply, y'know.

Personally, I'd suggest against taking a second martial art if you're only a white belt. Especially if you're planning on taking two "similar" arts (i.e. two traditional striking arts). They'll likely use different stances, different ways of kicking and punching, and have different forms (katas, patterns, etc). It'd be extremely easy to get things mixed up between classes. With that said you might want to check out the chinese boxing anyway and see if it appeals to you more than karate. It seems to have caught your interest.

In my mind "full contact" sparring means no rules, no limits to your movements and how you can attack. The examples you have given still have some rules intact and make people act with restraint. It's interesting that I haven't been to one Tae Kwon Do tournament where at least someone has left with severely bruised or broken ribs because one opponent lost regard for the other. I don't know about you, but even that seems an undesirable situation to me. I have no problems with some heavy sparring and expect to come away sore and bruised, but on the other hand I expect that my partner isn't trying to cause me serious harm. It's that slight distinction that I feel separates UFC-style rules (so-called No Holds Barred) from an anything goes street situation. Real full contact.

I have to disagree with this point. If traditional martial arts such as Jujutsu and Aikido sparred full contact there would be no shortage of damage done to the students with a high possibility of broken limbs. Even a Karate dojo sparring full contact would result in some very painful experiences. Sparring with control is far better than just going full out/anything goes.

So why should I be worried if someone who does this for a living can "wreck" me? I, personally, love just being able to practice my style and adapt it to my way of life. I'm not out to win prizes at competitions because that's only a small part of the martial arts. Unfortunately, it's the most public part of MA's so people tend to forget why they practice.

Unfortunately, all you have to do is pick up a martial arts magazine to see some very good examples of black belts who haven't let their egos and preconceptions go. They may have achieved the rank, but they're still human.

And this is the exact scenario I was hoping someone would bring up. A situation applicable to the street that makes a very good pro-grappling case as opposed to the UFC supported case that comes up so often. This is why it's completely necessary to have both good grappling and striking skills so you can at least have some idea of how to deal with random situations. Balance is necessary in martial arts.

In my experience we all learn new things and grow after achieving that particular rank, but that doesn't mean we'll all end up in a common "art". Sadly egos and differences of opinion keep widening the distance between arts.

I'm just going to copy most of my reply to another post: I certainly agree with the importance of grappling and that a lot of fights will end up on the ground, but if I remember correctly that 90% figure came from a report on confrontations that police officers got themselves into. Generally speaking they're trained to take an opponent down which would lead to a lot less bruising (and lawsuits) than a stand-up fight. I'm fully aware there are many better fighters than me out there and that there are no rules on the street and I expect that going into every possible fight situation. Assuming the other guy has more experience and is better than you is a wonderful way to think. With that in mind, I'd much rather fight someone standing up and try and avoid going to the ground if they're more experienced than me. I never implied that one or two shots would take a guy down every time, but a few well aimed strikes will take the fight out of most people (especially inexperienced fighters) without you ever going to the ground. That doesn't mean I dispute the fact that grappling is important, but it does mean I don't underestimate what a good striker can do.

I certainly agree with the importance of grappling and that a lot of fights will end up on the ground, but if I remember correctly that 90% figure came from a report on confrontations that police officers got themselves into. Generally speaking they're trained to take an opponent down which would lead to a lot less bruising (and lawsuits) than a stand-up fight. I'm fully aware there are many better fighters than me out there and that there are no rules on the street and I expect that going into every possible fight situation. Assuming the other guy has more experience and is better than you is a wonderful way to think. With that in mind, I'd much rather fight someone standing up and try and avoid going to the ground if they're more experienced than me. I never implied that one or two shots would take a guy down every time, but a few well aimed strikes will take the fight out of most people (especially inexperienced fighters) without you ever going to the ground. That doesn't mean I dispute the fact that grappling is important, but it does mean I don't underestimate what a good striker can do. I'd have thought that someone who's spent so long in striking arts (12 years in karate and 4 in Muay Thai if I remember your posts correctly) would recognize that fact. Edit- And maybe next time you could stick to the relevant question and not spew answers I've heard a dozen other times about how a striker is screwed in a street fight. Thanks.

So that 9/10 stat applies to what group of fighters exactly?

That'd definately get him if you're faster than the striker, but I really wouldn't count on that. I can't say one thing that works against every striker, but I know a lot that like to keep their distance. If you throw a few aggressive feints and get in close just grab on. That'll mess a lot of strikers up unless they've had some experience against grapplers.

Go find an Aikijutsu practitioner to dispute that fact for you.

Look at the copy of Budo magazine that's currently on the shelves, it has an article on Systema.