Taekwondo is the sports that I copied from Shoutoukankarate.


YouTube - SAMURAI CAT

i did karate when i was young too
i think reasons are everything, recently i done aikido for 7 months, and it was an amazing experience. i built trust in my body and in others, also it has strong philosophy attached to it, everything is partner work, so get used to people being in you space :), in terms of self defence it does a few years to get comfortable with using the techniques outside the dojo, and if your only doing 1 class a week for me to move up the ranks to black belt it have taken around 10 years, so don't expect anything too early. aikido is pretty physical, the social aspect is quite refreshing also, but if you are looking to defend yourself quickly then try a more aggressive art. all i can say is go to one session in basic sportsware, you shouldn't need any footware. you could even talk to the sensei before or after a session and just talk. so yeah i hope my experience helps

My little sister got to a blue belt in Tae Kwon Do.
She got really fit from it, and my parents got her a punching/kicking bag.
Plus, it was fun to watch and she had a lot of fun doing it to.



That is when she got her yellow belt ^___^

These martial arts will only be as good as the instructors who teach them. I studied karate and kendo when I was in high school, and with those backgrounds, if I were to choose any of the arts on your list, I would take Aikido.

Aikido was invented by an interesting man, Morihei Ueshiba. He was one of the last "enlightened" masters of the martial arts (there are none alive now), and the only one of whom film and video exist. Karate and Kendo are very physical forms of the martial arts, wheres Aikido tends to focus on profound principles. It is not a martial art for those who like making high kicks, or breaking things, it is an art which exists above the mentality of such people.

Jiu jitsu is a martial art which is good for bouncers, policemen, or prison guards. It's very physical and demanding, but also very effective. I've never seen the point to Tae Kwon Do, it is high in style, but low in substance. French boxing simply sounds gay, and fencing is completely irrelevant.

The principle behind the martial arts is efficient self defense. After years of study, and earning the rank of shodan in kendo, I had learned a great deal about self defense, and began practicing the most efficient form of self defense; I got a gun permit and a handgun.

You mean Blast Fu. I dabble in it.

I used to be in a Kenpo class. The sparring is fun, but it does seem like more show than self defense. In the sense that you might hit somebody pre-emptively, but that seems like you're looking for trouble. And in fact, every time I've actually seen this sort of thing, the so-called self-defender was borderline looking for trouble, if not surely.

Jujitsu is a lot of work, and also a knife can render it useless. Now, my favorite martial art style by far is Stayoutoftroubletsu.

Well, I just had my first TaeKwonDo class... I'm not too impressed right now... it knackered me out, but not because it was hard, but because I'm very unfit. I saw some of the others that were there for longer doing exactly the same things as me, no one broke a sweat... Karate when I was younger was much more intense... With that said, I am going to continue because I did learn things and it was good exercise... Ju-Jitsu tomorrow :)

French boxing? Are you referring to Savate?

I'm not sure of it's effectiveness or quality in discipline, but I do know Bruce Lee implemented a couple of their moves into his repertoire.


Do they have (regular) Boxing? If you're looking for a work-out, I understand boxing will give you a pretty good burn.

savate
 

Just try go in savate school and you quickly change your opinion.

quality
 

Frankly, I don't know much about style of Bruce Lee but an ancient savate was nothing short of a street fighting. I think that a good kick by leg in heavy footwear is enough effective.

quote :

Savate takes its name from the French for "old boot" (heavy footwear that used to be worn during fights). The modern formalized form is mainly an amalgam of French street fighting techniques from the beginning of the 19th century.

Wiki

I know from experience, savate kicks are deadly. They might not be as strong as traditional muay thai kicks, but they are incredibly hard to get away from or counter because of the way the arm is held forward instead of swung back. They are also harder to perform. Actually, some muay thai trainers resort to savate style kicks over the traditional kick.