Martial arts question

[Mist]

What are some things that i should look for in a school/teacher that will show me that they can teach me how to fight and defend myself well? Im not interested in competition at all. For me its about real world self defense.

What are some styles that you would say are hard on the body? Im a career musician (drummer) and i have to be careful to not injure myself to where i cant play. But i do want to be able to know how to fight if i need to. I also want a style that i can physically do for the rest of my life that i can grow in as well.

If it were easy to tell the difference between a good school and a bad school then there weren't be so many bad schools out there making money. Your going to have to vist schools and watch classes even participate in some beofe determining what is right for you. Some things to look for are what do the schools focus on? Is it mostly kata with little application? Are the applications realistic or mainly for show? Do the students know what they are learning or is a common answer to "why are you doing it that way" is "because the teacher told me to". I enjoy the classical styles of karate for me they seem to have more lonjevity in them. Though even a classical style can be hard on the body if you choose. There are areas of karate that have to do with conditoning the parts of the body for striking or being struck. Though depending on the school you should have the choice whether or not you want to focus on that. But if its soley self defense your looking for look into Krav Maga. Krav is a style that focuses almost soley on real world application

I have looked into Krav before and it seems cool. But I don't know if thats a style I want to take. For some reason it just does not interest me as much. But that could change.

Would you say that classical styles of karate teaches one how to fight well and defend themselves well in real world situations?

[KarateGeorge]

Would you say that classical styles of karate teaches one how to fight well and defend themselves well in real world situations?

It's not the style that matters but the school, or teacher.

Yes, a classical style of karate can teach one how to fight and defend themselves, and no, a classical style won't teach someone how to fight and defend themselves.

Any style of martial arts can provide someone with a basis of self-defense. Some will teach it quicker than others, and some instructor's are better at teaching than others, so its not the style that ultimately determines its effectiveness, its the quality of the instruction and the effort put in by the student.

If you have a good instructor and you put forth the effort to practice and learn, karate, wing chun, aikido, judo, MMA, etc. can all provide solid self-defense training. If you have a poor instructor and/or you don't put forth enough effort in your training, you won't develop the skills you're looking for.

Since you're a career musician as a drummer, let me use this analogy. If someone is looking to learn to play the drums, what's more important, the drum set they're buying or finding a solid instructor and putting in a lot of practice time? Yes, one drum set vs. another can make learning to play more enjoyable, but ultimately, it comes down to having an instructor who knows what they're doing and for the student to continue to practice what they're being taught.

Many of the same types of qualities you'd look for in a quality drum instructor can be applied to a martial arts instructor. Though they may be different skill sets, the same principals of teaching apply. Even as someone unfamiliar with a style, you can observe a teacher and their students and know if they're a good teacher.

[bushido_man96]

Street effectivness is going to depend on how the art is taught, not what the art is. If the instructors focus on self-defense type scenarios and applications, then you should be good to go. If they don't, then it might be tougher to see where the applications lie. I'd take a look at each class, and then talk to each instructor, and ask them how they teach in relation to self-defense, and go from there.

Good luck in your search.

[Mist]

Thanks for both of your posts. Thats good info in both of them.

[MasterPain]

Karate and wing chun are fine for self defense, so long as they are taught in such a manner as to be good for self defense. One thing we have learned from mma is that a striking art should be complimented by a ground fighting art. And saying that you will knock someone out before they take you down does not count as a groundfighting art. Also ask your mma friends how often they have trained defending against knives. Try to find a complete system.

[Nevinyrral]

Also it would be good to spend some time in the gym to improve your speed and strenght, because even if someone have some nice techniques but is weak or slow he would be easily defeated.