Self defence martial art
Discussion
Hi all, have been thinking about taking up a self defence (rather than sport) martial art. If im gonna stick to it its got to be pretty local. Ive found two places one in coventry which teaches a number of karate/kung fu/kickboxing styles. Ive now found out there is a wing chun school in my town centre run by Sifu Stephen Dyde. Its not cheap but wing chun is the kind of style that interests me. Its more about street self defence and seems pretty practical. Any thoughts from MA people on PH?
'Course, you could argue that most of the likely suspects are sports (although it may be true that 110% of all fights go to the ground). I don't believe Muay Thai generally teaches you to fight against a knife-wielding chav. That said, it is related to krabi krabong but still... And on the street, you certainly don't want it to go to the ground cos the chav will be with 10 of his mates who'll be ready to use your head as a football should you place it anywhere near the ground.
As for WC, it depends what the teacher focuses on as to how good it is in the street.
Krav Maga is supposedly good (although very commercialised). There are also many independent "reality-based" systems but I'd like to see reviews from experienced MAers. I can only recommend one in the SW London area.
As for WC, it depends what the teacher focuses on as to how good it is in the street.
Krav Maga is supposedly good (although very commercialised). There are also many independent "reality-based" systems but I'd like to see reviews from experienced MAers. I can only recommend one in the SW London area.
Edited by ShadownINja on Friday 1st January 17:11
He's under Sam Kwok so if it's Wing Chun you're after then that's a good place to train.
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Babu 01 said:
He's under Sam Kwok so if it's Wing Chun you're after then that's a good place to train.
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Would have thought WC would be suitable for anyone as it's a "soft" art (or at least that's what I was taught).Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
ShadownINja said:
Babu 01 said:
He's under Sam Kwok so if it's Wing Chun you're after then that's a good place to train.
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Would have thought WC would be suitable for anyone as it's a "soft" art (or at least that's what I was taught).Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Say he's an eighteen stone rugby player or is looking to work doors then WC would not (imo) be best suited to either his attributes or the situation he's looking to use it in.
Personally my recommendation to anyone looking for self defence is to find a good Eskrima class and focus on the boxing/knives aspects. Without knowing a bit about the person asking and their motivation though I find it difficult to recommend anything.
davey68 said:
Well im not as in shape as i used to be but im 41 reasonably fit and healthy (5ft10 12 stone). My understanding of wing chun is that physical strength/size are less important than in some martial arts. I may have to just go along and give it a try. cheers.
The same height & weight as me then 
I trained WC under another of Sam Kwok's guys a while back and found it a really good base to build on. Strength and size defintely take a back seat to speed and timing so you should enjoy it.
Might be worth having a look at Lucky's JKD group too seeing as you're near Cov.
http://www.kali-thaiboxing.co.uk/index.html
He's been around a long time and knows his stuff.
Babu 01 said:
ShadownINja said:
Babu 01 said:
He's under Sam Kwok so if it's Wing Chun you're after then that's a good place to train.
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Would have thought WC would be suitable for anyone as it's a "soft" art (or at least that's what I was taught).Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Say he's an eighteen stone rugby player or is looking to work doors then WC would not (imo) be best suited to either his attributes or the situation he's looking to use it in.
Personally my recommendation to anyone looking for self defence is to find a good Eskrima class and focus on the boxing/knives aspects. Without knowing a bit about the person asking and their motivation though I find it difficult to recommend anything.
ShadownINja said:
Babu 01 said:
ShadownINja said:
Babu 01 said:
He's under Sam Kwok so if it's Wing Chun you're after then that's a good place to train.
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Would have thought WC would be suitable for anyone as it's a "soft" art (or at least that's what I was taught).Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Say he's an eighteen stone rugby player or is looking to work doors then WC would not (imo) be best suited to either his attributes or the situation he's looking to use it in.
Personally my recommendation to anyone looking for self defence is to find a good Eskrima class and focus on the boxing/knives aspects. Without knowing a bit about the person asking and their motivation though I find it difficult to recommend anything.
Babu 01 said:
ShadownINja said:
Babu 01 said:
ShadownINja said:
Babu 01 said:
He's under Sam Kwok so if it's Wing Chun you're after then that's a good place to train.
Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Would have thought WC would be suitable for anyone as it's a "soft" art (or at least that's what I was taught).Whether or not Wing Chun is most appropriate for you is another question based on a number of factors.
Who do you intend on defending yourself from? In what circumstances? How athletic are you? How old? Any prior experience? Shape & size?
Say he's an eighteen stone rugby player or is looking to work doors then WC would not (imo) be best suited to either his attributes or the situation he's looking to use it in.
Personally my recommendation to anyone looking for self defence is to find a good Eskrima class and focus on the boxing/knives aspects. Without knowing a bit about the person asking and their motivation though I find it difficult to recommend anything.
I thought it was all about MMA? Then we have a 20 page argument on why some MMA champ can kick Bruce Lee's arse based on theoretical information with much quoting from Bruce Lee's books and films. (Although it is obvious Lee would win as he beat Chuck Norris and Chuck Norris owns all. QED.)
Edited by ShadownINja on Friday 1st January 18:10
Halb said:
A lot of poles that come into our yard have krav tees on. The Israelis invented it, so as long as you have a good teacher, isn't that the best MA for SD?
We go back to the question of suitability again. This summer I did some work with staff from a school for kids classed as having "extreme behavioural difficulties". The restraint training their employers give them streses the importance of never placing the kids under any kind of distress or exposing them to harm. I had to build on what they've been taught already but also keep that in mind at all times. Any kind of military system is going to be worse than useless if taught in such circumstances. Self defence doesn't always involve destruction of other parties.
Assuming that you do want all out ball grabbing, knife stripping, throat punching action then you can find all that in a number of military themed self defense systems. KM has the spotlight at the moment, when I started it was Paul Vunak, which is not to take anything away from KM but having the spotlight in MA does have inherent difficulties. It's an unfortunate fact that any MA which is exposed well will attract the McDojo
I will always recommend people start with the core arts rather than the evolved systems, so they have the knowledge to seperate the wheat from the chaff when they come to look at systems. A good grounding in core arts also makes for more rounded fighters in the long term in my opinion. Someone looking for self defence I will point toward Eskrima and Wing Chun, someone looking for MMA I will point toward BJJ and Muay Thai and so on depending on who they are and how they intend using their training.
Edited by Babu 01 on Saturday 2nd January 11:41
davey68 said:
rather than sport) martial art
a sport MA being used for self defense.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wq5tgszDbE
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