10 Miles Back Again

Training Training Logs
4827

Awesome! I’ve told my kids I’ll be taking them along when things open up again (which is now I guess?) The only thing is I don’t have a clue which martial art to go for and even then which places are actually offering quality instruction (even if I turned up I wouldn’t know what was good or not?! Maybe I should just go an challenge the lead instructor to a fight and see which one smashes me the worst…).

Have you got past experience? How did you make the choice? There aren’t too many Google reviews on places near me.

1 Like
4828

Whats the “aim” of the training? Genuine self defence of fun / fitness?

If its fun / fitness then don’t worry. Find one they like and go with it. For more fitness find a school that competes.
If its self defence - Judo. I’ve done a range of MA. Even going as far as cage fighting. And Judo is the best all around system for self defence. By a mile. Sport Judo is scary. Just find a club with a good track record at local comps. You can find this on the BJA web site.

1 Like
4829

@ChongLordUno cheers mate, will bacon and egg sarnies do it you think?

@alex_uk this was just something my missus saw on Facebook earlier. Mine are 3 and 5 so I wasn’t actually planning on starting them on martial arts yet, but she rang earlier about it and I practically bit her metaphorical hand off. I have no clue what style of training it is, I just regret not continuing and diversifying my martial arts training beyond the very basic levels of Judo I did as a kid so I’m very much hoping my kids take to it.

@carlbm I’ve heard plenty of people agree with this assessment. To borrow and paraphrase a Jocko line: your primary self defense, beyond looking scary, is to run away. The only time this doesn’t work is in grappling situations, which means that grappling sports should be your first choice of training.

4830

Thanks for posting that now all I want to do is eat black pudding and a big fry up !

4831

Seconding a lot of @carlbm Wrote. Tagging in @kdjohn too, given he’s actually trained kids before. It really is a question of what you want to get out of it @alex_uk I signed my kid up recently (and then we all joined up) primarily because it was a Korean martial art and it’s a part of their heritage, so it’s cool that my kid is learning some Korean words and history along with some martial arts stuff. That said, very little of what they’re learning is teaching them how to fight, but that’s something I can teach. They’re getting some discipline and fun out of the ordeal, and maybe it will light the spark for further learning.

Watch out for scummy business practices. Similar to gyms. Long contracts that get you locked in, hidden fees, secret memberships, etc.

4832

No mate, lacks congealed blood

4833

100% agree with this.

Not only - but most. And even “grappling” is a big area. For instance BJJ takes too long. And how many people are willing to break an arm to win a fight? I’d find it hard.
Judo is a throw. BAM - fight over. And against an untrained person Judo is as effective on the floor as BJJ.
Honestly I think its brilliant.

I used to look down on this. Until I went to a wing chun class. I’m not saying wing chun is useless but its not as effective as say Thia boxing. But I took a lot out of the art form. And it was fun to work on my gentle control. Rather than everything being about winning. It was about enjoying.

1 Like
4834

Well that’s pretty much what happened to me

4835

I’m not all that familiar with Judo and I have limited experience with BJJ. But don’t all fights end up going to the ground? I understand Judo can get you there, but then what? BJJ has a big element of ground control. And if you have that, then you can win/end the situation either through pain or just flat out submission.

I’m interested in getting my kids involved in something for the self defense aspect.

4836

I was super into “must be alive” camp of martial arts training in my 20s, primarily because I was raised with a very traditional Tae Kwon Do background and was miffed I spent so long NOT learning how to fight, but getting into my 30s and realizing I’ve NEVER been in a fight outside of a martial arts school, that need went away and I began to appreciate all the good I got FROM Tae Kwon Do outside of that. I eventually learned how to fight, and that was pretty cool too, but I figure it all works well, just like you noted. I’m doing Tang Soo Do now, I don’t think any of it is going to make me a better fighter, but it’s still just a very peaceful activity.

4837

Judo DOES have a ground game. BJJ was (at it’s origins) simply Judo where the emphasis was on the ground game of the art. It then became highly specialized in that aspect. A good Judo school will give a student the tools needed to be competent in the ground.

That said, if one effectively employs a throw from Judo, the fight MAY have gone to the ground…but it ended there too. I’ve heard it summarized well that Judo isn’t grappling, it’s striking: you hit someone with the Earth.

ALL THAT said, you’re in middle america. If you can, get your kids into wrestling. That was one of the best things I ever did for myself as a fighter.

2 Likes
4838

I’ll get back to the convo at hand later but just to make a quick note:

Work for today:
50 pull ups.

Even injured, superhuman status must be protected.

5 Likes
4839

@carlbm @T3hPwnisher @dagill2

Thanks, good info, never even considered Judo, I’ve always been a fan of punching (weird sentence, I’m sure you get what I mean) and thought Judo was fairly strike free? Not that it would preclude me taking the kids (I’m also going to do it!).

Primary reason is for them to have the ability to defend themselves, but I have always reinforced the notion that you don’t start fights and you run if at all possible.

4840

I’m going to keep playing up stereotypes here, but you’re in Britain: surely there’s a boxing gym in your vicinity? Boxing and Judo is a devastating combo that goes back for decades. Teddy Roosevelt, a US president so great even you must have heard of him, was a student of both, and Ned Beaumont’s “Championship Streetfighting” speaks to it’s effectiveness. Boxing and Judo is the poor man’s BJJ and Muay Thai.

Boxing and Wrestling is awesome too, but I imagine wrestling isn’t quite as popular across the pond.

1 Like
4841

There is boxing nearby, I don’t think that would fly as well with the Mrs as martial arts and I’m looking for something I can do with the kids of at least at the same time, so that it frees her up, if I’m out without the kids wouldn’t work. Although I’m a big fan of boxing.

I have indeed heard of Teddy haha (we tend to know a bit about your politics and history as what happens on the US has a way of effecting us too!), Didn’t know the guy could fight though!

Question though if boxing & judo are poor man’s bjj and muay thai wouldn’t it be best to look for those instead?

4842

Honestly depends on the individual and what’s available to them. A good Judo school is better than a bad BJJ school. People fixate on the name of the style, but it’s really the instruction that goes with it that’s important. In the same way you can get two dudes that are medical doctors, but one graduated from Harvard and one graduated from Haiti.

And along with that, if boxing is a no sell, there’s no WAY you’d be able to sell Muay Thai, haha.

And when I say “poor mans”, I’m being literal: boxing and judo instruction tends to be MUCH cheaper than muay thai and BJJ. Judo and Boxing tend to be more prevalent in poorer neighborhoods.

1 Like
4843

Thanks for the tag.

Like Pwn said, I coached martial arts for close to a decade. My background is in hapkido (basically the Korean version of Japanese ju-jitsu combined with TKD), BJJ, muay thai, boxing, plus silat and some judo. I’ve taught all ages — kids, youth, adults — but I was the head instructor for my school’s kids and youth program.

Some semantics: any art that involves fighting is a martial art. Boxing, wrestling, judo — they’re martial arts, not just the “fancy” ones. I really don’t think it matters at a young age which art kids try, as long as they enjoy it. Until they get to be teens and have a better mental grasp on what fighting actually entails, the specific style doesn’t matter.

All that to say, if I was pressed, I would argue that boxing and wrestling are possibly the two simplest and best arts for kids to start with. Why? Because they’re simple and effective. Kids can only retain so much information and don’t have the greatest body awareness. The subtleties of even something like kickboxing can get lost on them. Something like forms in TKD? It just becomes busywork for them, as opposed to an effective visualization exercise (sidenote: if anyone wants to know why forms are actually very important, I’m happy to chat about it).

My personal recommendation is that kids start out with boxing or wrestling, then as they get older and figure out what they enjoy, branch off to specialize a bit more. If they like boxing, head into muay thai/TKD/karate territory, and if they like wrestling, go to BJJ/judo/hapkido. In fact, this advice applies to ANYONE of any age who wants to start martial arts. Just like lifting, start with a base, then specialize.

Final note: I agree with Pwn; if someone wants to become a monster in a fairly short period of time, a combination of boxing and wrestling OR judo, plus lifting, will make you a scary motherfucker in a handful of years. Even with my extensive background, when this pandemic is over, I’m sticking with those two/three.

3 Likes
4844

Yup. Boxing, wrestling and lifting was pretty much all I was when I fought.

Well, really more lifting wrestling and boxing.

There’s a reason I was a Tank Abbot fan, haha.

4 Likes
4845

Thanks for that post @kdjohn really helpful stuff, judo it is then, just need to find a decent local club now!

Really looking forward to getting into something with the kids, thanks for all the advice everyone, I’ll keep you posted when I’ve started and let you know how we all get on.

I’ll jump off @dagill2’s bandwagon now!

3 Likes
4846

Cuz he was great.

1 Like