If you’re thinking of getting into martial arts, you should spend some time thinking about what martial art you want to learn. There are nearly endless choices and variations to pick from.
Here are some easy guidelines:
1. Why do you want to learn a martial art? This is the most basic question. When you know why you want to learn a martial art, you’ll be able to pick one to suit exactly your needs.
If you’re looking for practical self defense Capoeira is probably not what you’re looking for, yet it can be a fantastic exercise and when there’s enough space to use it, deadly in a fight. Likely motivations for getting into martial arts could be getting fit, feeling like you can take care of your self, self defense, wanting to be able to do showy things, interest in Zen, wanting to learn philosophy, building up discipline, competition, relaxation, etc.
This is a list I thought up in about 25 seconds, so if your reason isn’t up here, don’t fret.
2. After you know why you want to learn a martial art, you can figure out what features it might have.
If you’re looking for philosophy or spirituality, Kung Fu (and its infinite variations), Akido, and Judo might suit you better than Krav Maga. All martial arts are good for getting fit, but since they each train somewhat differently, perhaps the more aerobic and acrobatic work out one gets from Capoeira would suit best. Practical Self defense classes or Krav Maga would work for feeling as if you can handle yourself in a fight. These are just a few examples of things you might want to look for in step 3.
3. Research, Research, Research: As Sun Tzu said, “if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle.”
The application here is in figuring out what you want (knowing yourself and steps 1 and 2), figuring out what the world has to offer around you (knowing your “enemy”), and combining that knowledge into action. Google is a powerful tool for research and here are some sites to help you get started:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts <- For all the crap wikipedia gets about reliability, it often has at least passible introductions and often has great links. Don’t make it your only tool, but keep give it a good once over.
http://www.martialartfinder.com and http://martialbase.blogspot.com/2007/09/martial-arts-school-finder-version-2.html are two sites with a direct dojo/school finder. They may be able to help you find a school that teaches what you want to learn.
Another resource you don’t want to lose out on is message boards. Martial art people almost always love sharing their knowledge, and the internet is no exception. If you can find a reigonal message board you may be able to get information on schools local to you.
http://www.big-boards.com/kw/martial-arts/
http://www.budoseek.net/vbulletin/index.php
http://www.iscfmma.com/ISCFMMAMessageBoard/index.php
Again, these are just to get you started. The internet contains many smaller sites who might be able to help your perticular situation better. Keep a look out for them.
4. Of the choices you’ve found, which suits you best? Not just in fitting in with your purpose, but with cost, commitment, how well you mesh with the people who work there, how the school is run, reading the school’s teachers and owner, and just getting a “vibe” from a place. Consider as much as you can. Look at their training schedule, what equipment they’re using, ask how applicible their skills are to actual fighting.
There are many martial arts that don’t really function in street fighting. Talk to people on message boards and get their reaction to the style/school/teacher. The martial arts community is surprisingly tight. My former Hapkido instructor was friends with Chuck Norris. People tend to know people, so take advantage of it.
5. What kind of commitment am I willing to make?
The last and perhaps most important thing you should ask yourself is how much of a commitment are you willing to make to learning the art you’ve chosen.
Many arts require years of practice and dedication to become competent at their basic skills and many more years to master them. Â I’ve started learning no less than 3 martial arts (which is largely why I know how to pick one). I still have a BMI of 34 and very little worth in a fight because I’ve never stuck with it for long enough to get good.
There are many, many benefits to being a good or great martial artist. Not being one myself, I am probably ignorant of the most subtle and most rewarding of them. With this article, a couple days worth of research, and years of practice, you might be one in the near future.
So Seriously, do the work. It’s worth it.
