What's the best fighting style/martial art for me?

-i%26#039;m 5%26#039;2 and 120lb


-something that focuses in stand up combat and not ground combat


-teaches me to resist pain


-and i%26#039;ve never been in a physical fight before

What%26#039;s the best fighting style/martial art for me?
While any system, if taught well, can help with your listed goals, a medium to close range system maybe a good fit for you. Tae Kwon Do has good systems but they have more emphasis on long range attacks. At long range, you are more likely to have a shorter reach than your opponent so you%26#039;ll have to work extra hard in this style to be as good as someone who%26#039;s taller and stronger. Karate may be a good choice. It%26#039;s not overly complicated for the most part. Techniques are fairly straight forward and many are applicable and progress can be tracked easily when you spar. Kickboxing and Muay Thai are effective, but the training is rough and unless you are doing this to compete, the rules in the ring will limit your thinking on the street a little. Kungfu is great but good luck finding a real master. Besides, it%26#039;s got an all-show-no-substance reputation around from so many bad practioners getting beat down that you%26#039;ll more likely get into fights when idiots pick on you once they learnt that you study it. So unless you are looking to get into fights or plans to devote a lot of time and effort and willing to trek around for a real master, Kungfu isn%26#039;t a good choice. Other Japanese and Korean internal arts can be groups similarly to Kungfu. They are effective but requires a great deal of dedication.


Here%26#039;s how I would find a fitting style.


Part-time (6 hours a week) for self defense: Shotokan Karate, TKD


Competition: Muay Thai and Kickboxing


Full devotion (21 hours a week or more): Internal styles and other Kungfu
Reply:First take Tae Chi, then learn the Dim Mak applications
Reply:Aikido is a good art. Not so good for pain resistance, but at your weight, it%26#039;s a good art to learn. Focuses on re-directing opponents weight in your favor. But really, the search for a martial art is a personal one. Good luck with it. =D
Reply:tai chi try to do wudang style its all stand up fighting and when u get really advanced u teacher wil teach u nei gung which can be used to stop pain so someone can hit u and u wont feel a thing look up dan docherty he is a good teacher he trains me
Reply:no no no he is looking for something that will eliminate his fear of fighting. due to your inexperiance, i would say look torward taekwondo, karate, and southern styles of gung fu. for intense weapon trainig look torward arnis escrima. and for stratigies and learning all you can about the body take northern styles of gung fu, tai chi (old mans style, typically don%26#039;t let young men study, not paitent enough), and or dim mak (know very little about this but it is getting popular). for standup grappling look at hapkido, judo. and finially ground fighting find jujitsu (gracie style is very popular) or sumbo.


hope this helps.
Reply:Judo or taekwondo





im a first digree
Reply:any style really, it all depends on what your looking for but as a begginer you won%26#039;t fight as much
Reply:Although I studied JKD and love it, your situation makes me want to suggest Tae Kwon Do. Most other people will have a longer reach than you so using your legs/feet can help offset that disadvantage. Most people will also likely be stronger and heavier than you, so you will find yourself at a disadvantage on the group as well (although great technique can easily make up for such disadvantages). As far as pain resistance, there are countless martial arts that provide ways of doing that. If you have never been in a fight, then you likely do not know how if feels to hit and get hit, therefore TKD is good because you usually spar with a ton of pads on to absorb the punishment. This is a good start until you feel confortable and slowly remove the pads until you are ready to spar full-contact (no pads).
Reply:Karate.





Karate is a stay standing art that any sized person can learn. In our sparring you get hit, but with hand pads on so it doesn%26#039;t hurt much. This gets you used to taking punches, see them comming, avoiding, blocking and countering with your own attack.





Tai-Chi is an excercise martial art with not alot of self defence in it.


Judo, Aikido, Ju-Jitsu are ground and throwing arts.





Kung-Fu and Tae-Kwon-Do are more for tournements than for actual self defence.





What you have described in your question is Karate
Reply:Tai Chi or Tae Soo Do.
Reply:There is an old saying among martial artists: There is no %26quot;best%26quot; martial art, there is only %26quot;good%26quot; and %26quot;bad%26quot;. If the instruction is sincere, it will meet your simple goals and take you places you didn%26#039;t even realize you wanted to go, expanding your perceptions immeasurably. Find a learning environment in which you feel comfortable in class makeup and instructing style by visiting facilities convenient to you and watch the classes. Any reputable instructor will welcome this and be happy to answer your concerns. You probably will find that you want to at least begin in Okinawan or Japanese Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do rather than Judo or Aikido, as these last two involve more tumbling (at least at the beginning) and groundwork.


PSE has good advice, read his assessment.
Reply:Martial arts are not about fighting they are about rendering the idea of fighting fruitless. If you want to study look for a proper school that will take care to aid you in the development of your mind, body, and spirit.