When I was a younger man I studied several traditional, as well as non traditional ( called freesryle back then) martial arts... hence the nickname "
Ninja".
I started with Sim-Do, a militarized Korean MA developed in tyhe early 40's by the Dir Gen of Korea and taught to the armed forces.
I also studied BJJ, Kendo, Shotokan, and even boxed a bit.
Today's Mixed Martial Arts scene has shown which techniques from different styles actually work in combat.
There is no "one best Martial Art".
Martial arts training is simply learning to use tools and strategy.
Each system has flaws, each system has it's strong points.
a true master can take the techs that work and use them and leave the techs that don't behind.
Take Tae Kwod Do
here's an example anyone who has trained ..say... tkd will Recognize:
.high roundhouse kick to head.. teaches you to keep hand up as guard.
This is flawed.
Sim-Do teaches you to drop the lead hand to block the groin which is very clearly exposed in the TKD tech.
Sim-do however, ignores ground fighting for the most part, and leaves you in an awkeard position to shoot or to take your opponent down.
The reasons?
TKD is now an olympic sport with rules that do not allow groin strikes, etc, so no need to train a counter for them.
Sim Do is militarized, and used to train hand to hand combat. In a real war, when using hand-to-hand techniques...falling to the ground during
battle usually means you're dead.
If someone is interested in starting to learn, I would recommend Brizillian Ju Jistu.
It was developed to WORK. Developed to let a smaller, weaker man take out a larger stronger opponent.
If you are in High school or college, by all means ....Wrestle.
Its a great base, and you can learn from professional coaches for free.
Then find a BJJ coach and pay for good lessons.
Wrestling Teaches you to take down and control...but it doesnt teach you how to fight off your back.
The old saying goes: "What do wrestlers and turtles have in common? Flip them both on their backs and they are helpless."
edit on 23-8-2011 by BadNinja68 because: added example.
edit on 23-8-2011 by BadNinja68 because: (no reason given)