What Martial Arts should I consider?

[miraistreak]

First off I am currently a 16 year old male in reasonably good shape and I formaly studied Tae Kwan Do for a year when I was 10. I have been out of the loop for awhile when it comes to formal training, but have been keeping some of my favorite moves memorized and practiced. Now 5 years after I quit(I was 11) I wish to rejoin a martial arts program, but from what I learned from Tae Kwan Do is that it doesn't seem to fit me and I should look at something else.

 

I would like the opinions of people who have taken formal martial arts for more than 1 year.

 

I would perfer a style with....

 

Effective and Powerful Kicking attacks

 

Ability to defend myself with at least basic counters, takedowns etc.

 

Intermediate punching and other arm attacks

 

Basic-Intermediate Weapons Knowledge

 

(excuse the wierd way of putting that, I couldn't think of a good way to do it)

 

If you state a martial arts that has multiple styles (Kung Fu is a great example of that) please list the style.

 

Thank You for your help.

Edited January 12, 2003 by miraistreak

[omnifinite]

Hapkido might be good. You could apply your TKD knowledge to it more easily than you might be able to with another style because of their similar origins.

[rabid hamster]

I think it would be hard to find an art with everything you want. You might want to think of crosstraining in the future. Or you could try checking out Jeet Kune do.

[miraistreak]

That had crossed my mind, and cross training would not be a problem in the least. But for now I'm looking for a good martial arts to start out with and then move onto a 2nd one to refine my skills.

[rabid hamster]

How about muay thai or kickboxing? It has two of the things you are looking for.

 

Good luck

[MantisWarrior]

well what i study doesn't really have what i would call powerful kicks, but i do wish you luck in finding a style and school u like.

 

my style is northern 7-Star mantis.

 

any questions about it i will gladly try to answer.

[Kirves]

If you have an Ashihara Karate school nearby, go check it out. It is excellent! Do you know Kyokushinkai? Ashihara is derived from that, but concentrates more on self defence (less competition, more throws and street wise techniques).

[karatekid1975]

I would say Hapkido, or Kempo. Effective kicks, good self defense (both are very effective for self defense), and weapons training. Muay Thai is great, but not much weapons training. Jujitsu is great for self defense and other stuff, but not much for kicking.

 

My advise would be, look around for schools that catch your eye. Make sure it's not a McDojang. Choose a couple of styles that you might like out of those. Then try classes out. Most schools have a free trail thing. Take advantage of that. Then pick from there.

 

Good luck, and I hope you find something you like

[miraistreak]

a friend of mine takes Kempo and says it's mostly street fighting effective with very few kicks cept for the basics. He says it's effective and has been in there for a few years. But I don't have too much interest in a mostly punching martial art style. I think I'll try Hapkido since there is a school in town that has it. But any other ideas would be great.

 

BTW does anyone happen to have a website giving a good description of modern Hapkido?

[SBN Doug]

Austin TX!!!!!!!!!!!! You're in Kuk Sool Won country son.

 

https://www.kuksoolwon.com

 

World headquarters is in Houston. I know there are a few schools in Austin, they're listed on the web site. If you don't think it's for you, then Hapkido would be my next recommendation, based on your criteria. In either case, make sure you visit the dojang and watch a few classes before committing.