3 Martial Arts for Practical Self Defense: Prepare Yourself!

[Thisperson98]

Today we live in a violent world. In this day and age people should learn how to defend themselves. A lot of people use peeper spay or tasers now to defend themselves and these are good to use, but you might not have them at all times. This makes knowing how to use your body as a weapon a must.

There are many different styles of martial arts out there, but I will focus on three: Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Tai Chi.

Tae Kwon Do

Tae Kwon Do literally translated mean "Foot Hand Way" or the "Way of the hand and foot." Tae Kwon Do was founded in the late 50's and early 60's. Tae Kwon Do is made up of almost 70% of kicks and 30% of hand techniques. Since Tae Kwon Do is mainly punches and kicks, there is not much techniques that would be effective for self defense. For example if you threw a punch at someone in self defense, you could hurt yourself more than you hurt your attacker. Even with training for many of years, I still mess up and hit wrong. Most schools do teach some self defense, but Tae Kwon Do it self is not very effective in self defense situations.

Even with the drawbacks in self defense capability, Tae Kwon Do is a very good way to build up muscle and stamina. Like most martial arts, Tae Kwon Do Teaches you discipline.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu originated in Japan as Japanese Jiu Jitsu (Judo). The Gracie family introduced Judo to Brazil. After a while Judo evolved into what we know today as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was designed for small and weak people, so they can defend themselves from bigger and stronger attackers. When you do Jiu Jitsu, you are actually not suppose to use your strength against your attacker. You are suppose to use their weight, strength, and your knowledge of the human body to fend off attackers. For example I am around six feet tall and over 250 pounds and I had a small girl that is less than five feet tall rolling with me and she easily beat me.

Since Jiu Jitsu was made for self defense, it is a amazing style to learn for self defense. Most techniques in Jiu Jitsu are designed for self defense.

Tai Chi

Tai Chi is normally practiced slow. This make Tai Chi be able to be taught to anyone, at any age. Tai Chi is very useful to calm the body and give a small workout at the same time. Tai Chi may look innocent, but trust me it is far from it.

Tai Chi is designed to use your enemy's strength against them. For example if your attacker throws a punch, you will use the power in the punch and redirect it per se back at your attacker.

Tai Chi strikes are normally targeted at pressure points. This will allow the attack to have a lot bigger effect on the attacker.

[AdamThomas]

All three are bad for self-defence. Tae Kwon Do as you mentioned is bad because it's focused heavily on kicks, where most fights start at punching range. It's hard to do the kicks in jeans for example, and it's not very good for fight close-in, which is why I find it very easy to fight Tae Kwon Do guys.

BJJ is good in some ways, but in a self defence situation you want to avoid ground fighting at all costs. Many fights have been ended where a guy is on top of another guy on the floor beating the shit out of the other guy, and a friend or a girlfriend comes and kicks him in the head and it's lights out, in fact I saw it happen for real where a guy got kicked in the throat. It's good to know since many street fights and up on the ground but it should be used to get back up onto the feet, not used as the main self defence tactic.

Tai Chi is too slow, you should train the way you fight. Pressure point fighting in a real fight is very hard to manage because it's so hard to land a good shot in the first place, never mind to a small pressure point. When the adrenaline starts pumping you lose the fine motor skills necessary to target those small areas.

Better martial arts I'd suggest for self defence are boxing, muay Thai, or if possible the best for reality based training is krav maga.

[Thisperson98]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is not just about ground fighting. There is a lot of techniques for when you are standing.
In Tai Chi you do mainly practice it slow, but there is times when you practice it fast. Every small movement in Tai Chi serves a purpose.

[RandomBritishGuy94]

That happens in BJJ because it's also a sport to encourage fitness. That's not automatically a bad thing but a number of the arts that are passed on this way can lose their value in an actual fight. That isn't really true if you're thought properly but not everywhere focuses on defence over competition.

Boxing has the same problem (well reverse) you say BJJ has - not every fight will be that way. You might know how to punch but when someone puts you on the floor then what? It's always good to have a mix.

[AdamThomas]

Yeah but BJJ is mainly for the ground work. When standing you need to know how to strike, which you need boxing and muay Thai for.

@RandomBritishGuy94

That's true, but most fights start at punching range, and usually it's the one who hits first and keeps on hitting who wins, plus most people punch in a fight automatically. If you know how to hit hard you can finish it quick. It's good to know BJJ too though as I said.

[Thisperson98]

You know most of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu organizations require a lot of training in self defense to earn your blue belt. I don't have my blue belt, but I had around 2 and half years of experience in BJJ. Also you are saying Muay Thai is better than TKD. A good Muay Thai fighter against a good TKD fighter, will never have a set outcome. I have been in the ring many of times with people that have done a lot of different martial arts before, there is not really anything "better" in muay thai than TKD and vice versa.

[AdamThomas]

I disagree. Of course it depends on the fighters, but overall muay Thai is a better self defence martial art as it gives you more tools, better clinch work, better inside fighting. I've always found TKD guys easy to beat.

[Thisperson98]

Then you didn't fight good TKD fighters.

[RandomBritishGuy94]

true but I've done boxing. The second you do something outside of that area (for example an arm lock) they have no clue what to do about it.

Martial arts are all different and even varies from teacher to teacher. generally I think the ones that they teach as sports aren't focused enough on the actual defence. Some are too focused on one type of fighting. I think if you really want to learn to fight you need to do a few different things.

[Thisperson98]

@RandomBritishGuy94 I agree with that. You should learn a lot of styles separately and then combine them.

[Jxpxtxr]

I'm doing Ninjutsu currently, did Muay Thai & Judo in the past and out of the different Martial Arts I've tired I must admit Ninjutsu is by far my fave, and in fact has already helped me a great deal in the past.
I would love to try Tae Kwon Do at some point, too, though!
It's kind of a little dream for me to get my black belt in Ninjutsu and teach kids myself, especially bully victims &/or victims of sexual/physical assault as I think that would give them back so much confidence in life.

[bryon]

Correct me if I'm wrong here , but would Tai- Chi not actually be the most effective in deterring an attacked from choosing to continue an attack ; and in essence be more dangerous?

[Thisperson98]

Yes, Tai Chi is probably the most deadly out of those three.

[bryon]

Do you practice any of these arts?

[Thisperson98]

I did Jiu Jitsu and Tai Chi for two to three years. I have around 8 years of experience in Tae Kwon Do.

[bryon]

They are all honorable arts for sure , congratulations dude

[Thisperson98]

Thanks

[Waffles731]

The best self defense is avoiding the situation or escaping it, the second is a loaded gun

[Waffles731]

www.thespecialistsltd.com/.../...ive%20Special.jpg
Nobody can beat a loaded.38

[Waffles731]

A guy pulls a knife on you and you whip out that snub nose, your attacker is going to have second thoughts FAST

[Thisperson98]

That is true, but so many places that restrict guns now.

[RandomBritishGuy94]

We don't all have gun laws like America. I wouldn't want them here.

[Waffles731]

@RandomBritishGuy94
I have no problem with that. I do understand the other side of the argument

[RandomBritishGuy94]

Fair enough. I get your side as well. So many guns in America it would be almost impossible to get them all off the street.

[Waffles731]

@RandomBritishGuy94
I'm rather pro-gun but again I'm also EXTREMELY liberal, I'm pro universal healthcare,
Pro-seperation of church and state, Pro-Choice, I'm all for stopping foreign interventions, Pro-tax funded college or University on your side of the atlantic.
I really try to keep an open mind you know

[RandomBritishGuy94]

Never said you didn't. They are legal where you are. You don't need to justify owning a weapon to anyone.

[Waffles731]

@RandomBritishGuy94
To some extent you do,
A handgun, rifle or shotgun is okay, but the moment you want something fully automatic, or you want a silencer, or you want an anti-tank gun (Though modern day American Indian tribes use them for whaling these days)
I say, Okay what are you going to do with that

[HeWhoPonders]

"Like most martial arts, Tae Kwon Do Teaches you discipline."

Ah, discipline. Good old fashion discipline. The word that, when used in the context of martial arts, literally translates to "I CAN beat your ass into a carpet stain. But I'm too nice to do that. Here is my butt, feel free to kick it in as many times as you wish."

[RandomBritishGuy94]

Judo comes from Japanese Jiu Jitsu. It's not the same thing as you imply but a Descendant art. It's a different martial art that evolved from it.

[John_Doesnt]

1. Buy a gun. 2. Buy a knife. 3. Try really hard to be a white male.

[BlackPantherSpeaks]

LMFAOOOO!!!

[jamesdegod]

bjj is by far the best martial art