Martial Arts?

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Can anyone recommend a martial art that I can do without weapons or much specialist equipment? I'm going back to university and I want to join a club in order to get fit and learn how to protect myself from attacks. I'm thinking about Karate or Tae Kwon Do.

Thanks for any advice.

Last edited by corroonb on 05 Aug 2008, 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

Try knife fighting. A style I know is AMOK. It is a combination of several styles incuding karate, tai chi, philipean stick fighting, etc. It is not majorly into fitness but I know a lot of bodyguards, special forces, cops all generally have some involvement. The style is still relatively new and is constantly changing and your best chance of self defence.

Most martial arts are not going to involve weapons. When I was in Junior High and High School, I studied Tae Kwon Do, and really the only time weapons were brought up was defense against them. The human body can be quite powerful, and can over-power many weapons. (IE you can't use a gun if it can't be aimed. There are tricks to keep it aimed in a relatively safe direction) Tae Kwon Do has more of a focus on using the lower body, and although I haven't studied Karate, from what I understand is it is a good compliment to Tae Kwon Do, as it has most of the same basic principles, but focuses on the upper body.

Kumdo (Korean version of the way of sword) uses a bamboo sword along with aggressiveness. I being it for over a year and I'm a purple belt. I was programs dealing the Samurai and Kendo, so in the spring of 2007 at Mason I join the Kumdo club and I like it since because it shapes your mind and body into one. Also a great cardio exercise as well.

Sorry guys I wrote "with" instead of "without" weapons in my OP.

I don't want to learn to fight with weapons because I don't believe in carrying any weapons.

Well Tae Kwon Do eventually teach you to use weapons but as self-defense. Kumdo is more for a spirtual and mental purpose in yourself to become a better person in life. There is more to martial arts then self-defense in the end.

Thanks for the suggestion but I'm actually pursuing Zen Buddhism so for the spiritual side of things I'm covered.

Tae Kwon Do sounds ideal as my legs are much stronger than my puny arms. Thanks for the suggestions.

I'd recommend Karate. It's fantastic for strength (both mental and physical), fitness, self-discipline, confidence, it's good fun and a great workout, full of strong spiritual ideals without any one religion spoken of, or religion spoken of at all (they'd go with the buddhism thing), encourages you to always do your best at everything and be disciplined in your pursuits, encourages you to look after yourself and the world... it's such a fantastic thing to do.

Karate means 'from the hand' - without weapons.

Sounds like a very similar description to Tae Kwon Do, which is known as "The way of the foot and the fist" or "The way of life". It's even known as "Korean Karate" It is very good for fitness and strength. (both body and mind) I made it almost to blue belt when I suffered an injury biking that forced me to stop practicing for about 2 months. That is enough time to cause obsessions to change, and I lost interest in Tae Kwon Do.

I do Taekwondo with both of my children. Weapons are only involved if we do the XMA, or Extreme Marital Arts. Just going through the belt colors to reach the Black Belt we do not use any weapons. We do spar with gloves, head and foot gear on.

I honestly don't mind Taekwondo, I enjoy it and all, but I'd rather be practicing the martial arts that I can throw someone down to beat on them, like Muay Thai. But for now, until my kids are older, TKD works.

Here's a small article I found a bit ago. I did a speech for my Public Speaking class on the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, and I used this for possible questions on what people should look into if they wanted to. Hope it helps.

Sorry, maybe I should add the link before I post. oops

http://martialarts.jameshom.com/library ... 092799.htm

Possibly Aikido, it's the martial art based around peacefully ending a conflict, and the only weapons used in it are to train in disarming rather than attacking. I've always enjoyed it, since it's more about flow of movements than forcefull movements. One of my original teachers had a great line of something like "You know you're beginning to master it when you're doing it well but feel like you're being lazy."

Tae Kwon Do is overly dependent on long range attacks - ie high kicks etc. It looks nice but you will have a trade of blows with any kickboxer, karateka or Tae Kwon Do person. Trade of blows is only good for others who are watching, unless you want to do fighting and not self defense. I suggest you try Wing Tsun which is famous for it's efficiency and putting a quick end to hostilities. Check it on the internet sometime.

Thanks. That sounds very interesting. I am only interested in defence, not fighting for sport.

Aikido is definitly the best, although the martial art isn't based around weapons training includes knowing how to use a jo staff, tanto (knife), and bokken (katana).

I would not suggest TKD if you want self defense. Maybe find a Kyokushin Karate dojo, they train hard and realistically.

For self defense... Krav Maga. I find most traditional martial arts BS for this purpose.

For sport... MMA (preferably BJJ + Muay Thai)