what style? preparation?

[bigsouthpaw6]

I am new to these forums. I like martial arts and did tkd when I was younger. I was always good at it but was young when I took it and lost interest. I am looking to get back into martial arts but I don't know what style. I have 4 choices. I can take wado-ryu karate, bjj, judo, or tkd (all twice a week.) I weigh 190 and am 5'11, I am 17 years old. My goal is to major in criminal justice and hopefully someday work as a DEA agent. Which of these would help me the most on a resume and what is the typical time it takes to get to the lowest level of the highest rank (ex...1st degree black belt) in each style? (I want something I can progress fairly quickly in but EARN it.)

Other information: I am athletic. I am a calm easy going type of person. Aggression is not something I can turn on and off. I did a year of wrestling but it did not come to me easily. I wasn't dedicated to it though and I think I'd have to work harder at a grappling martial art as opposed to a standing but could be dedicated enough to do a grappling one now. When I took tkd I was 10. It was a small place but I was the best in the kid class and it came easily to me. I also have taken boxing since then (loved it but the place closed) and it was natural to me. I currently lift weights and I am in above average condition. I am pretty healthy although I do have one shoulder that sometimes bothers me if I put a lot of pressure on it. I think I'll spend this summer getting in better shape then start one of these martial arts. Which one should I do? What are the aspects of it and what are some things I can do to prepare myself for it?

[tallgeese]

You should probibly check them all out and see which one fit's your personality better. There's obviously something you could take from each.

I'd say with your intrest in law enforcement some sort of grappling art would be very useful. If there are no systems specializing in standing jujitsu in your area, I'd lean towards BJJ or judo. Striking is always important, but since you've boxed previously your hands are probibly already pretty good.

Most of the altercations in cop work are messy wrestling matchs and grappling skills have served me pretty well. Also, check out all the videos that are out there of cops getting signifigantly hurt or killed on duty, most of them start with the cop getting tackled to the ground and overwhealmed. It really drives home the importance of at least being able to stop the shoot.

Bear in mind, once you do start practicing any of these arts, you'll have to modify your responses based on your departments use of force model. But it's genrally not hard. What's more difficult is adjusting to utilizing your training while wearing duty gear. Every time you get in a scuffle at work, there is always a gun involved...and you brought it. Again, this is not insurmountable and you can condtion yourself to the fact quickly if you spend some time trainnig with an old set of duty gear on.

For example, and we'll use groundfighting here, I find that since I started on the job, I tend to set up sweeps with my strong side down now. This limits the attackers access to my weapon side. I keep it down until, 1) I get the sweep or 2) I can gain enough space to safetly access and deploy my weapon.

You may want to keep this in mind as you take a look at the schools in your area. Good luck.

[bushido_man96]

The best thing that you can do is go visit each school a few times, and observe the classes objectives, and the instructors' methods. These may weigh in more than the style itself.

I'd say with your intrest in law enforcement some sort of grappling art would be very useful. If there are no systems specializing in standing jujitsu in your area, I'd lean towards BJJ or judo. Striking is always important, but since you've boxed previously your hands are probibly already pretty good.

Most of the altercations in cop work are messy wrestling matchs and grappling skills have served me pretty well. Also, check out all the videos that are out there of cops getting signifigantly hurt or killed on duty, most of them start with the cop getting tackled to the ground and overwhealmed. It really drives home the importance of at least being able to stop the shoot.

With what I said above, tallgeese is right on target here. With all of the time I have spent in my MA training, I wish now that I would have Wrestled more, and focused on my Combat Hapkido more. I don't pick up grappling very well, either, but there is no denying its usefulness. Especially in Law Enforcement, where you won't be able to really use striking skills until the situation escalates seriously. By that time, you will be upgrading to weaponry, anyways. BJJ is great for position improvement, whereas Judo will give you a plethora of takedowns. Both use the same moves, but each has a different focus.

In the end, check out each school, and then make your choice. The TKD school may even have a Hapkido program to supplement your training as well. Let us know, and welcome to the forums!

[NewEnglands_KyoSa]

Definately a school with a good applicable self defense base sounds like what you need. But what it all comes down to is go to a class. You'll immediately fall in love with the style you really want.

[Throwdown0850]

Don't know much about the other ones, but, it all depends on what you want?? have you sat in on any of the classes to see if you like them or not? personally, I would go with judo, it can take you between 4 to 6 years to get black...

[fleasome]

I'm curious where you are located? Even if there are only 4 schools listed in the phone book (assumption here from first post) there are sometimes unlisted places. Sometimes the basement or garage dojo has the more experienced people that just don't want the headaches of the strip mall approach. Of course, it doesn't necessarily mean that a basement dojo is better, but that there may be other unadvertised places that you just need to work harder to uncover. Shop around at as many places as you can find.

As far as law enforcement, the other police on here are right. Grappling is very important. As a cop, you don't get looked at favorably if you just knock someone out, break bones, etc. You tend to get involved when it is time to arrest someone. Which usually means that you have to take them to a handcuffing position. This usually ends up on the ground, but maybe on the hood or trunk of a car, etc. The key is you want to be the one taking them to the ground.

Big giant spin kicks to the head look cool in the movies but not on the dash cam played back on Channel 5 news or in the judges chambers.

Another thing to take into consideration is that quite often we have to arrest someone that is not necessarily fighting us, they are just standing they and refusing to follow our directions, like put your hands behind your back. They refuse whether because they disagree, are too high, or want to create a show. The issue is that now we have to make the first move to put our hands on them. Something to think about. A lot of techniques out there are the opposite.

Additionally, pressure points have limitations. If you ever have to arrest someone that is high on PCP, you will learn that standard pressure points do "do" some things to the opponent, however the pain factor goes away because the signals are pretty much ignored by their juiced up brain. Striking a nerve that normally causes other reactions in addition to pain will usually still cause that reaction. But they just won't react to the pain portion of it. I've seen some pretty big PCP'rs not even flinch at broken bones.

Lee

[bushido_man96]

Additionally, pressure points have limitations. If you ever have to arrest someone that is high on PCP, you will learn that standard pressure points do "do" some things to the opponent, however the pain factor goes away because the signals are pretty much ignored by their juiced up brain. Striking a nerve that normally causes other reactions in addition to pain will usually still cause that reaction. But they just won't react to the pain portion of it. I've seen some pretty big PCP'rs not even flinch at broken bones.

Lee

Not to mention the ones that have been shot multiple times, and still keep coming. Very scary stuff.