Ok so I was just shooting the bull with a buddy about martial arts and self defense and what I consider my preferred systems. So here's a quick no BS list of the martial arts/self defense systems I most prefer and strongly recommend if you're looking for a school.
6.Wing Chun Kung Fu
Strengths I've heard great things about their knife defenses. The chi sao (sticky hands) drills are hella impressing to watch
Weaknesses I'm almost certain that chi sao and many other techniques in this style require a high degree of fine motor skills as well as take a lot of time to learn
5. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)
Strengths This is the stuff of UFC. If you doubt its effectiveness in a fight, watch a UFC fight or two. Unlike a number of other arts out there that practically ignore ground fighting, MMA's ground game is just as good as it's standup fighting
Weaknesses UFC has rules, weight classes, a referee, an Octagon free of debris to hurt yourself on, etc. The street does not. Plus MMA, being a sporting art, doesn't have any weapon defenses/disarms
4. Budokan Ninjutsu
Strengths Yeah, this is ninja fighting. What I've learned from Ninjutsu is pretty good. It also teaches ground fighting
Weaknesses Unfortunately, this is somewhat antiquated. You train with ninja style weapons (a sword and a Bo staff, for example). Who can carry these weapons to employ in their defense?? Also a lot of the things taught in Ninjutsu require fine motor skills, and those simply won't be there in a real confrontation
3. Kajukenbo
Strengths I discussed Kajukenbo a few posts ago. It's real street fighting. I like the emphasis on always being aware of your surroundings and the possibility of a second attacker showing up for the fun. Overall this seems to be a great style.
Weaknesses Nothing that I've encountered thus far. But nothing is perfect, just remember that
2. Escrima/Arnis/Kali
Strengths I fell in love with Kali after seeing the Human Weapon episode on it. Since then I've watched videos and read a few books on the art. It teaches knife fighting and defense, unarmed combat and stick combat (read as ASP baton). Best thing is that the way they train, the techniques are the same whether you have a weapon or not
Weaknesses For one, no firearms threats. Otherwise this seems to be a very viable self defense system
1. Krav Maga
Strengths My personal favorite. Used by everyone from Israeli Mossad to the Federal Air Marshals. Guns, knives, clubs, fists, etc. It'll teach you pretty much anything. Hell I've even learned a hand grenade from a Krav book. Lots of conditioning and focus on the street has no rules
Weaknesses The ground fighting is pretty much just ground-and-pound. I'd like to learn a few other things for my ground game but in a real fight you may only be able to trade punches. I've also disclosed some other flaws in Krav in a few previous posts. Just remember, as I said above, nothing is perfect and nobody has all the answers--if they say they do they're selling you BS
Now before anybody gets pissed off and yells "hey my (insert name here) isn't on the list!!" please remember this is just my opinion. There are a few I didn't include there such as Brazilian Jiu-Jutsu, Kenpo, etc. I like those too but nobody wants to read a dissertation, just a post.
I can't stress enough that no system is perfect or complete. Everything has flaws and nobody knows it all. Also keep in mind that you shouldn't go dissing any other style. If you aren't open minded enough to find SOME kind of good in anything else, you've got an issue somewhere. Lastly just be mindful of the fact that any training is generally better than no training. If your only chance is in some esoteric Asian martial art or combatives no-name style, then go for it. You can always remove what you don't think works and keep what does.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Combat Fitness
Today I've decided to discuss combat fitness. Now I know that a lot of people right now don't have a gym membership, especially with the economic hardships at this current time. I myself do not have a gym membership. I recently picked up a copy of Felon Fitness, written with input of a number of California Department of Corrections inmates. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in self defense and/or fitness.
I'd like to address a few recent changes I've made to my workout, due in part to Felon Fitness as well as training with a buddy who recently returned from Army Basic Combat Training.
1. I've dropped traditional crunches in favor of the V-up. This little exercise is admittedly more difficult than the old crunch, and it definitely works the abs faster. I can do 50+ crunches (and I'm somewhat out of shape) whereas I can only bang out 25, max 30 of the V-ups.
2. I've been reminded of the utmost importance of working on legs. For men, its effect is even more important. Leg exercises release testosterone, which obviously leads to larger gains in all of the other muscles. So now I have added lunges and squats to my exercise regimen so as to increase the effectiveness of the rest of it as well as to not ignore the largest muscles in your body. Don't forget, your legs have more power than anything else. For strong kicks and knee strikes, don't forget to tone your leg muscles.
I'd like to address a few recent changes I've made to my workout, due in part to Felon Fitness as well as training with a buddy who recently returned from Army Basic Combat Training.
1. I've dropped traditional crunches in favor of the V-up. This little exercise is admittedly more difficult than the old crunch, and it definitely works the abs faster. I can do 50+ crunches (and I'm somewhat out of shape) whereas I can only bang out 25, max 30 of the V-ups.
2. I've been reminded of the utmost importance of working on legs. For men, its effect is even more important. Leg exercises release testosterone, which obviously leads to larger gains in all of the other muscles. So now I have added lunges and squats to my exercise regimen so as to increase the effectiveness of the rest of it as well as to not ignore the largest muscles in your body. Don't forget, your legs have more power than anything else. For strong kicks and knee strikes, don't forget to tone your leg muscles.
New Lesson Learned
Another old post
I recently started watching Season 1 of Fight Quest. I'm watching the episode on Kajukenbo. I've had a friend or two that have studied Kajukenbo, an art which I'm pretty sure originated in Hawaii. Unlike most "traditional" martial arts, I actually like Kajukenbo quite a bit. Maybe that's because it's actually a no-holds-barred system meant for the street. I would definitely suggest it over most martial arts you'd be able to take.
One of the principle concepts between Kajukenbo is always being prepared for another assailent to pop out at you in a street encounter. In the gym, they taught to finish someone off as quickly as possible (not necessarily "finishing him off" as in ending the individual's life but disabling your attacker) and immediately be up looking around your enviroment for someone else to come at you.
The fact that this was something previously untaught to me, shows that no style (not even Krav Maga) is perfect and entirely complete. The key to succesful self-defense training is cross-training. Even if it's just learning about and meeting practitioners of other arts. There's always something to be learned in another system.
-Stay safe out there
I recently started watching Season 1 of Fight Quest. I'm watching the episode on Kajukenbo. I've had a friend or two that have studied Kajukenbo, an art which I'm pretty sure originated in Hawaii. Unlike most "traditional" martial arts, I actually like Kajukenbo quite a bit. Maybe that's because it's actually a no-holds-barred system meant for the street. I would definitely suggest it over most martial arts you'd be able to take.
One of the principle concepts between Kajukenbo is always being prepared for another assailent to pop out at you in a street encounter. In the gym, they taught to finish someone off as quickly as possible (not necessarily "finishing him off" as in ending the individual's life but disabling your attacker) and immediately be up looking around your enviroment for someone else to come at you.
The fact that this was something previously untaught to me, shows that no style (not even Krav Maga) is perfect and entirely complete. The key to succesful self-defense training is cross-training. Even if it's just learning about and meeting practitioners of other arts. There's always something to be learned in another system.
-Stay safe out there
Jim Wagner's Knife Defense
So I just got ahold of a copy of Jim Wagner's Knife Defense video. I'm into Krav Maga, I usually don't study a whole lot of other "styles" because I find Krav to work and honestly see a lot of flaws in everything else. But, I've recently been getting videos from other styles (lately a lot of Russian spec ops Systema instructionals) and decided to give Jim Wagner a try.
I learned something within the first 10 minutes, and it's something that showed me that there's nothing out there that doesn't have a flaw, and that includes Krav Maga. Jim says, even in training defending against a knife, don't freak out if you get hit. Reinforce to yourself that no matter what, you have to keep fighting back. If you give up even for half of a second, you're surely going to be killed. This brings me back to Krav sessions at my old school, training with the battery-operated Shock Knife and the fact that we would always start over if our opponent scored a cut.
This is a bad way to train. You need to keep fighting to reach your objective no matter how many times you get cut. Even in a fight, getting cut may not mean anything. It could just be a painful slice that didn't even cut into a muscle. Whether your aim is to take the knife, get it away from your attacker or even simply to run away, keep fighting. This is so important in the training phase because this is where you set your psychology. If we always train "uh oh, he got me, gotta start over" that's what will happen in a real life confrontation. Your subconscious will say "uh oh, he got me, better stop fighting," because that is what you've trained yourself to do.
The same principle can be applied to firearms training. This is where Krav got it right. If you're training to disarm a handgun, NEVER return it to your training partner. Always take the gun, then point it at your partner so they can disarm you. It may sound funny in the training studio, but there have been documented cases of someone disarming an assailant's gun only to give it right back. Don't let this happen to you, folks.
No one's perfect, and neither is any one self-defense style or martial art. Even though I thought Krav was the best thing out there (and still do, however), even Krav Maga has its flaws. The often-repeated self-defense cliche tells us that our minds are our greatest weapons. This is very true. Whenever you start to learn something, always think; "is this real? Am I doing this the best way I can be doing it? Might this be a bad idea?" Keep sharp, and don't turn your brain off.
Stay safe out there
I learned something within the first 10 minutes, and it's something that showed me that there's nothing out there that doesn't have a flaw, and that includes Krav Maga. Jim says, even in training defending against a knife, don't freak out if you get hit. Reinforce to yourself that no matter what, you have to keep fighting back. If you give up even for half of a second, you're surely going to be killed. This brings me back to Krav sessions at my old school, training with the battery-operated Shock Knife and the fact that we would always start over if our opponent scored a cut.
This is a bad way to train. You need to keep fighting to reach your objective no matter how many times you get cut. Even in a fight, getting cut may not mean anything. It could just be a painful slice that didn't even cut into a muscle. Whether your aim is to take the knife, get it away from your attacker or even simply to run away, keep fighting. This is so important in the training phase because this is where you set your psychology. If we always train "uh oh, he got me, gotta start over" that's what will happen in a real life confrontation. Your subconscious will say "uh oh, he got me, better stop fighting," because that is what you've trained yourself to do.
The same principle can be applied to firearms training. This is where Krav got it right. If you're training to disarm a handgun, NEVER return it to your training partner. Always take the gun, then point it at your partner so they can disarm you. It may sound funny in the training studio, but there have been documented cases of someone disarming an assailant's gun only to give it right back. Don't let this happen to you, folks.
No one's perfect, and neither is any one self-defense style or martial art. Even though I thought Krav was the best thing out there (and still do, however), even Krav Maga has its flaws. The often-repeated self-defense cliche tells us that our minds are our greatest weapons. This is very true. Whenever you start to learn something, always think; "is this real? Am I doing this the best way I can be doing it? Might this be a bad idea?" Keep sharp, and don't turn your brain off.
Stay safe out there
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