Cant decide?

[mormonfiend]

hey i am 17 years old and i am about 5'7" and wiegh around 135 (small guy i guess?). anyways i took tae kon do(sp?) for about a year and a half back when i was 13 but quit beacuse it was mainly kicking and most the people i would fight with were 5 or 6 years old. i really wanna get back into the martial arts and i looked up a local dojo and they offer classes such as chin-na,kick boxing, and mixed martial arts. Kick Boxing would be my first choice beacuse i wanna do something that involves punching and taking hits. is m.m.a something you can start out at or does it require experience in other styles of fighting? i also looked up chin na and it looks very interesting but do i need experience in kung fu before i can start training? im gonna call tommorow but i dont wanna sound totaly dumb. both me and my bro are looking into starting up in the martial arts again. Am i too small to start kick boxing? im worried that theyll throw me in the ring with someone and ill get hurt badly. which one of these do u think would best fit me? Chin-na looks fun but im not really educated on it. ne suggestions would be of gret help. thanx

[gcav]

MMA usually means mixed martial arts. An instructor will take what he or she thinks are the best parts of several different MAs, put them all together, and teach it as one system. If you get the right mix, MMAs can be a very effective system for self defense. You can start just about any MA without prior experience. HTH

[P.A.L]

it's better if you start with a basic system like

 

Judo,Jujitsu,Karate,Muai thai,boxing,... after making a solid fundation in one style you can go for MMA, that's what i think.

[Vito]

mma typically just means striking and grappling. usually that means muay thai and bjj. so look for those.

[Kreisi]

Jujutsu is the roughest art if you ask me!

 

In the matches you can torchure your opponent anyways you want. Squeeze the head or so.

[VinnieDaChin]

mma almost always involves muay thai (kickboxing to the next level) and BJJ, wrestling, or both. youll probably train both individually and put them together later.

[Shane]

You said your worried about getting thrown in the ring and getting hurt. Most kickboxing schools dont require you to compete. Thats what you need to look into. I run a kickboxing class and I only have 1 fighter the other students just love doing the intense training and sparring in class not the ring. As far as MMA goes they can be really good for you but its going to all depend on the Instructor and the program but thats pretty much with all schools. If its a good mma program then you will develop a good base foundation.

 

When you talk to them ask them to describe the program and see if they offer a free class if they do then take it, you might want to go watch a class before taking the free one.

 

good luck

[mormonfiend]

i contacted the school which isnt the most well known in my area and the instructor seemed really excited id even heard of the place but ne ways, he just told me that kick boxing was just open gym or something like that were you just come in whenever you want. is this how yall do it? im gonna check again and see more into the mma fighting cuz all he really told me was its a class and i should attend 2 times a week. just curious though i havent done the martial arts in a long while. what should i wear to this? and what can i expect to do on the first lesson? did yall start out in begginer classes or did you just hop in and pick up were everyone else is? any comments be greatly appreciated. thanx

[italian_guy]

If it is kickboxing you can wear either short or long kickboxing pants and a vest or shirt without sleeves... you should expect an intense workout and going throu the early basics with an instructor.

 

Anyhow from the description you made for the art you wanted to do I think your best choice would be Sanda which is chinese kickboxing with some kung fu elements in it (so you can learn chi-na).

 

Anyway if you like your present school keep it and have fun!!

[username4]

well i dont find anything wrong with TKD i like to do lots of kicks but i practice my punches on my own. i hear kick boxing is a realtive of TKD but not the some kicks and what not. i practice puches on my own becuase i can do this easily but working on my legs i needed a better enviroment. feel very balnced in TKD but my real balance(example: walkin an a thin rail and not fallin off and hurting your self) needs more work. thats the only thing im not getting from TKD. i am getting balance from doing a little XMA. if the only kids in the dojo you went to were 5-6 then why dont you just try to con one of yo friends who is yo size to go wit you? but any way good luck in KB and tell us how it goes.

 

B.T.W. i have a friend of mine who wants to take KB and i would like to know what to tell her.