Self Defense - Aikido and Krav Maga

[Sophie]

I'm interested in taking a martial art, more for self defense purposes than anything else. I've looked into Krav Maga and Aikido. I haven't checked prices yet as I will have to call to find out. If anyone has experience with both or either, I'd love to hear some experiences.

Hi Sophie, I used to train with Jiko Ryu (Karate) and it was a great self defence class, My advice is look for a class that dose not rely on Kata and more sparring and free fighting.
The Sparring will prepare you for real life situations, where as Kata is just practicing form of movement.
Still is important, but i found it a tad boring

Aikido is a nice defensive art but takes a long time to learn to actually use it in a defensive situation. Krav Maga, for immiedate usefulnesss as a self defense art...damn good. Are there other, better arts? Absolutely. I started with shotokan karate. Learned behind the IGA one night that it wasn't all I thought it was. Moved on to Kung Fu San Soo...which relates into more kinematics of how the body reacts to strikes so you know what your follow up strike will be. In the end after 20 years of this I realized that it was just a very scientific, not pretty way of streetfighting...and quite effective. And I realized that in reality because of what I kept which was useful for me and discarded that was not...I had became a kickboxer from all my years of training. Kind of a letdown eh? All this kung fu history and I'm a kickboxer. Over the years I've played with ju jitsu and various wrestling forms and pretty much sucked at them all.

However, if you are in a real fight...you will likely end up on the ground. So in addition to krav maga (not the ultimate but good training) learn some kind of ground fighting.

The last time I had to fight (2x in one night) it ended up as a wrestling match. There I was, sucking as a wrestler, sucking in ju jitsu, with a guy 30lbs heavier and 20 years younger as an opponent... kind of sucked to be me for a moment. So yeah, include ground fighting with whatever you want to learn. I was really wishing that night that I had.

[MichaelCar]

I would suggest judo which originated from Jujitsu.The basic principles of Judo is to defend against a heavier opponent. I think this maybe right up your alley. Again as in any a martial art, sparring as noted above is key. No fight in the street, or defensive technique ever came with a hand guide. That is to say in kata or technique you have pre-arranged movements, used to build up skill in that particular area, but utilization of a specific technique for a not so specific street occurence usually doesn't end to well. Like Bruce Lee said, "the traing must be like the fighting", spar, spar,spar.

Worked a Judo tournament a couple of days ago. It was great fun to watch. JuJitsu without the strikes and kicks. More wrestling and throws. Great sport. Not so much usefulness as real self defense when being attacked as with ju jitsu or with Krav Maga...but the grappling and throwing skills would be better than nothing if you find yourself in a tough spot and need a way out.

A question sophie. You mentioned Krav Maga, is there a training center available to you that teaches it?

[Sophie]

There is a place that teaches Krav Maga that is around 45 minutes away. The place that teaches Aikido is about the same distance, in the opposite direction.

I am also looking in to taking Arnis classes, just for fun. But I won't be starting anything until I figure out how to balance between working out and working. Scott also has some Arnis videos I could watch and try to teach myself. Time will tell.

When you are ready to start one, go with the Krav Maga. Damn good real world self defense training. Best possible training? Nope...but still very good.

I agree that judo is ok but as it pari's to throw the opponant off balance it dose not really disarm like Jujitsu or Karate, These are more street defence arts, But thats my opinion

[NightWanderer]

It takes a long time to get comfortable enough with aikido for most people in order to be able to use it effectively for self defense. It should also be noted that it focuses on bringing absolute minimal harm (if any) to an aggressor, which may not be good for you if someone is set on making repeated attempts to harm you and you're not particularly well practiced or confident that you can more or less handle them calmly and with ease. I would suggest something with less of a focus on pacifist idealism if you need practical self defense skill right away. Don't get me wrong, I thought Aikido was great, especially if you're a thinker or idealist, but the initial learning curve is steep.
It's good for older people to start with since it's not quite as physically demanding as other systems.

Long story short? get yourself a taser or some pepper spray for now, and try out a few different styles at your leisure. Pick one that strikes a balance between being useful to you and being enjoyable to learn!

[BioGeek]

Krav Maga on its own is one the quickest, but in some cases painful. In other cases you should go with multiple martial arts. One such example is muay thai and jiu jitsu. Often the two are offered by the same instructors. Jiu Jitsu is ground fighting, which many street fights end out as. Muay thai is a type of kickboxing that relies on very powerful kicks. The two are the most commonly used in any MMA competition like the UFC, Pancrase, or King of the Ring. In addition, most of the Marine Corp's H2H training is based on these 2 martial arts (Marine Corp Martial Arts Program, MCMAP).

Some well learned lessons from Jiu Jitsu are to learn your limits (when you are really being choked, or when your arm is truely in danger of breaking), and calm yourself to think when in combat. When fighting even some marines a quick guillatine choke will freak them out and they will struggle frantically and without thought.

With Muay Thai you learn how to take hits and that there are harder parts to hit with than your fists (knees, elbows, skins). Also, in a street fight where fighters are standing the victor is usually the one who uses his legs and knees.

[bonner]

[font=&quot]Krav Maga and Aikido are some of those kinds of martial arts. They are both useful and effective style as a self-defense from their students. Krav Maga is considered a no-nonsense method of self-defense for a variety of situations, while Aikido is considered to be a non-aggressive style. The basic principle of this martial art is “don not fight force with force”.

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[malandi87]

I am into MMA only for exercise. Now I have an idea to add Krav Maga to it for self defense against unpredictable bad elements in the society. Thank you very much for giving me that idea.

[LindsFit01]

I bought my nephew a martial arts fitness DVD recently because he's really into MMA. I know he really loves the program, and uses it a few times a week to keep in shape. Plus its cheaper than paying for individual classes. It's called the Les Mills combat workouti'm pretty sure you can order it online -- http://www.beachbody.com/product/fit...bat-workout.do