Newbie question for how to get started.

[Anvilbreaker]

Hello all;

I am new to martial arts, and only just recently have decided that in this stage of life its time to work on myself. A little background on me, I am 30 years old, overweight 240 at 5'6 tall. I have just recently went though a divorce and have decided that life is too short and its time to take care of myself. I am looking for a style of martial arts/self-defense I can get into that doesnt involve a lot of kicking. I have just had hip surgey and cant do a lot of kicking, a friend of mine told me to look at Aikido or Hapikdo since its mainly useing the force of the other person to flip or lock them down or pressure points. I do like the pressure points, flips, and lock styles since there is not a whole lot of kicking involved and would like to stay around that same style. I can kick but I just dont expect me to do any round house or stuff like that. I have started a great weight training program and I would also like to learn something in martial arts for self-defense. Any help would be appreciated, on this subject.

Thanks

Anvil

[danbong]

Most hapkido schools do quite a bit a kicking. And in most hapkido schools and pretty much all aikido schools you will be doing a whole bunch of breakfalls - they can be tough on you physically - you might want to wait on that until you hip is better. Perhaps escrima/kali might be a better choice for you right now. Having a weapon would be a great equalizer for lack of mobility.

[CheekyMusician]

Most martial arts will involve a lot of hip movement. Often I find that the kicks bother my hips less than the rest of the stuff we do!

My karate Sensei had a hip replacement a few years back and is still going strong and recently gained his 4th dan, so there is definately hope for you. He said that after his operation his kicking skills were pretty much all gone after a lifetime of working to attain them, but he just persevered and now you wouldn't even know he'd ever had problems with his hips, so maybe you want to just go into martial arts realising that your hip op is going to make things a lot harder for you, but thinking that with a bit of hard work you can manage anything, even those dreaded kicks.

[Anvilbreaker]

No don’t get me wrong my surgery is over, I have been though physical therapy, and have been walking around and enjoying life for a year now. I can do some stuff I just have to watch what I am doing and keep it somewhat low key. There has to be something out there that doesn’t require a weapon to protect myself. If I wanted to carry a weapon I would just go and get the concealed hand gun permit.

[glockmeister]

Have you considered boxing?

[Anvilbreaker]

I have considered boxing it would be a great fitness program, but how many people have you seen fighting that are just standing trading blows? I havent seen them most of it is 2 or 3 blows, and then grapple and then someone breaks them apart and its over.

I appreciate all the great feedback, I will keep doing my research and see what else is out there. Thanks again.

Anvil

[ravenzoom]

Have you thought of Krav Maga if you have it near you?

[ebff]

I recommend wing chun. We did many things, but kicking wasn't one of them. That whole "kicking doesn't happen in real fights" thing; it got on my nerves eventually - kicking is quite possibly the most fun part of martial arts (other than these takedowns that just work somehow).

[glockmeister]

I have considered boxing it would be a great fitness program, but how many people have you seen fighting that are just standing trading blows? I havent seen them most of it is 2 or 3 blows, and then grapple and then someone breaks them apart and its over.

I appreciate all the great feedback, I will keep doing my research and see what else is out there. Thanks again.

Anvil

Well I have seena few but that's besides the point. The reason you see people fioghting and then falling to the ground and rolling around like in the old west movies is because very few people in the streets actually know how to fight. A very good boxer can usually pulverize the average joker in the street long bfore it gets to the ground. I think if you do some searching on this board. the Boxing vs. traditional martial arts threads can give you a lot of feedback on the pros and cons of boxing.

Incidently, how many fights have you seen in the streets with two people just trading kicks?

[Anvilbreaker]

Have you thought of Krav Maga if you have it near you?

Thanks Ravenzoom, I did some research on it and it looks very interesting and luck would have it that there is a place just a couple of miles down the street from me. Its sad I have never gone that way before or I would have seen it. Thanks

Well I have seena few but that's besides the point. The reason you see people fioghting and then falling to the ground and rolling around like in the old west movies is because very few people in the streets actually know how to fight. A very good boxer can usually pulverize the average joker in the street long bfore it gets to the ground. I think if you do some searching on this board. the Boxing vs. traditional martial arts threads can give you a lot of feedback on the pros and cons of boxing.

Incidently, how many fights have you seen in the streets with two people just trading kicks?

Very true Glockmeister I havent seen many trading kick kind of fights. I will look into boxing as well. The worst thing it can do for me is help me get into better shape right? And also would serve me great in a core program on the basics. Plus after watching some video clips of boxing in self-defense your right a great one can take down anyone joker in a second.

Thanks again everyone for the great infomation, it has all come in handy.

Anvil