• Hi Guest - Come check out all of the new CP Merch Shop! Now you can support CigarPass buy purchasing hats, apparel, and more...
    Click here to visit! here...

Martial Arts

A

amateuraficionado

Active Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2008
Messages
2,300
So my son wanted to try out Martial Arts and because Tiger Schulmann's is the most advertised Martial Arts school around he decided he wanted to go there. He's three weeks into his trial period and he likes it a lot. I guess I never realized that T.S. is actually MMA, which apparently is a mix of Muay Thai Kickboxing and Grappling. When we decided to let him try out Martial Arts we were thinking more along the lines of Taekwondo, Karate or some other traditional Martial Art. I did a lot of searching and found, about a half an hour from our home, one of our state's only Full Instructors for Jeet Kune Do certified by the World Jeet Kune Do Federation.

My question....

Do I let him stick with Tiger Schulmann or do I go with one of the more traditional Martial Arts? I am personally leaning towards Jeet Kune Do, but just not too crazy about the hour drive to practice and back home 3 days a week. I'd really appreciate any input you guys have based on your personal experiences or those of you with children involved in Martial Arts.
 
I've been a student of a number of dojos. Tae Kwon Do, Karate, one called universal martial arts which was a guy that mixed it all up (Jujitsu was my favorite) and showed ya how to just plain kick azz (street fighting was fun too). There were sessions for the little kids, teens, and adults. Some were really lax and not taken very seriously, more like romper room. Some were extremely strict in the very traditional sense. It took some time to find the one that I liked and stuck with for some time. Check out the places and get a feel for what they offer. If it were me, I'd go for JKD personally. It's basically the universal martial arts that I took with a mix of the best. But...it's a lot rougher than "the classical mess" (if it's a true JKD school). Better make sure he's got a cup on. :D
 
I have my black belt and my son has a brown belt in a mma based art(shootfighting)
WE never taught the kids ANY chokes.As far as real life usefulness mma styles would be my
1st choice ,Of the traditional martial arts jkd is well respected .How old is your son?
Does the tiger school compete? I saw the show on espn about kids mma and as a former mma fighter it
made me sick this is not what we should be teaching 4 and 5 year olds
 
I took a few forms of karate and then settled on American Combat Karate, as a teenager. IMO, it is the best style of Karate. If not that, a soft style of Kung Fu, to me, is more practical. I've seen too many "Black Belts" get their head handed to them due to the lack of being able to apply what they have learned.

I would recommend Aikido over any other martial art. If you aren't familiar with Aikido, Steven Seagal is
an Aikido Master. He had a respected Dojo in Japan, which is quite an accomplishment for an occidental. The Kung Fu master who choreographed "The Matrix" Worked with Seagal in one of his films. He said something to the effect that Seagal was the most powerful, and deadly martial artist he had ever worked with. I even think he used the word "scary".

No matter which way you decide to go, please make sure that they are genuinely teaching at every class. A lot of schools want to stretch it out as long as possible, taking your money. Your son can do a lot of "practice" at home. It's one thing to perform a few Kata in front of the teacher, for form check, but it's quite another to spend a whole class and not learn something meaningful.
 
Kingantz said:
I've been a student of a number of dojos. Tae Kwon Do, Karate, one called universal martial arts which was a guy that mixed it all up (Jujitsu was my favorite) and showed ya how to just plain kick azz (street fighting was fun too). There were sessions for the little kids, teens, and adults. Some were really lax and not taken very seriously, more like romper room. Some were extremely strict in the very traditional sense. It took some time to find the one that I liked and stuck with for some time. Check out the places and get a feel for what they offer. If it were me, I'd go for JKD personally. It's basically the universal martial arts that I took with a mix of the best. But...it's a lot rougher than "the classical mess" (if it's a true JKD school). Better make sure he's got a cup on. :D
Click to expand...

I should've known you were a student of the Martial Arts by the way you punch out those cigars! :laugh:

It's funny, Jujitsi was another one I had considered. I really do like the idea of Jeet Kune Do though. From what I understand it's primarily a mix of Western Boxing, Filipino Kali, Wing Chun and Savate. In addition to these, I understand that it incorporates elements from 22 or so other Martial Arts. I've been told that it's not necessarily the prettiest style but it is the most useful in real life situations.
 
Check out all of them close to you, there always seems to be ones hidden around that you didn't know about. Make sure they are teaching you son how to fight as well as the forms/katas. All the kata's in the world aren't any good if you can't make it work in real life. That is a simple task for a good school, not so simple for most that you come across.
 
donzz said:
I have my black belt and my son has a brown belt in a mma based art(shootfighting)
WE never taught the kids ANY chokes.As far as real life usefulness mma styles would be my
1st choice ,Of the traditional martial arts jkd is well respected .How old is your son?
Does the tiger school compete? I saw the show on espn about kids mma and as a former mma fighter it
made me sick this is not what we should be teaching 4 and 5 year olds
Click to expand...

Now that's cool! I've always wanted to take Martial Arts but felt like I was too old to start. My son looks like he enjoys class so much I now joke with him that I may start taking them with him. He's nine and so far I haven't seen them teach any chokes to the young'ens. I mean it is only his third week, but I've stayed after his class to watch some of the others and so far it's just basic techniques.


MadMonk said:
I've seen too many "Black Belts" get their head handed to them due to the lack of being able to apply what they have learned.
Click to expand...

That's a good point MM, and also one of my concerns. I want him to actually learn something that he'll be able to apply to a real situation should one arise.

Steven Segal is a baaaad man!..... at least he was! I think he needs to get back in the dojo... maybe a few too many Sapporos or Kirins! :sign:
 
Depending on age, a second nature of applying any martial art, including boxing...which by the way is pretty damn effective as well, comes with contact. The thing is, any effectively applied martial art gives a person an edge in a self defense situation.

My American Combat Karate teacher was Frank Paglione, one of the founders. Rich Barathy was the front man. Famous for his red, white, and blue "Gi"
Frank kicked my butt regularly. You don't want that for a young one. But it sure as hell ingrained certain things into my reflexes. That was 35 years ago. I'm probably a wuss now :laugh:

Edit to add: A while back, the reigning Aikido master was a very portly man. Never judge a book by it's cover. That is another thing you learn from a good teacher.
 
amateuraficionado said:
donzz said:
I have my black belt and my son has a brown belt in a mma based art(shootfighting)
WE never taught the kids ANY chokes.As far as real life usefulness mma styles would be my
1st choice ,Of the traditional martial arts jkd is well respected .How old is your son?
Does the tiger school compete? I saw the show on espn about kids mma and as a former mma fighter it
made me sick this is not what we should be teaching 4 and 5 year olds
Click to expand...

Now that's cool! I've always wanted to take Martial Arts but felt like I was too old to start. My son looks like he enjoys class so much I now joke with him that I may start taking them with him. He's nine and so far I haven't seen them teach any chokes to the young'ens. I mean it is only his third week, but I've stayed after his class to watch some of the others and so far it's just basic techniques.


MadMonk said:
I've seen too many "Black Belts" get their head handed to them due to the lack of being able to apply what they have learned.
Click to expand...

That's a good point MM, and also one of my concerns. I want him to actually learn something that he'll be able to apply to a real situation should one arise.

Steven Segal is a baaaad man!..... at least he was! I think he needs to get back in the dojo... maybe a few too many Sapporos or Kirins! :sign:
Click to expand...


I was in my mid 30's when I started training I had a good base of wrestling having wrestled for 6 years in school and some hand to hand training from the marines its never too late.I quit fighting during the "ban" of mma during the mid '90's.It was a lot of fun met a lot of good guys.you get out of it what you put in
 
I hate wrestling! All that head control. That in and of itself is quite an accomplishment.
 
second Aikido , its what was taught to prison gurads here. a totaly defensive art
 
If you can find one a good Judo school would be awesome. Not a very glamorous sport to most but highly effective! Especially if combined with some other art.
 
trogdor said:
second Aikido , its what was taught to prison gurads here. a totaly defensive art
Click to expand...

Yep, totally defensive. Leverage, motion, anticipation.....imho, there is no-one, given the proper motivation and perserverance, that cannot become effective at self protection applying the principles of Aikido.

Lessons learned in Aikido are seldom mis-applied in an aggressive manner either......the "tough-guy-wannabes" quickly loose interest in the training.
 
Have your son repeatedly kick and punch a brick
wall until he puts a hole in it...., not until then..., will he
be a master. :p :D

Jack
 
I studied and taught Wing Chung for 20 years, the youngest of the Chinese Arts. My teacher, through his travels around the world doing seminars, spent time with Danny Inosanto and so learned Kali, Filipino Art.
This was passed onto me as well which made a nice break for my students.

Both the above styles are not conventional; there is no grading for Wing Chung, no competitions. What you gain with a lot of hard work is a spiritual awareness, stillness, respect and confidence. Wing Chung is
based on physics, the shortest point from A to B is a straight line. It is deadly, makes most kicking styles obsolete, reputed to have been started by a blind woman some 300+ years ago.

All Martial Arts are good, no matter what style. Martial arts is not about how good you are. It is not about ego, it's not about fighting, it's about inner peace. It will make you a better person.

Brian
 
What is a good age to start them at? I have two boys ages 6 and 4. I would like to start them when they are old enough. Primarily to learn respect, decipline, and of course, defense.
 
Depends on the kid but usually it seems that about 4-5 they start to have the attention span to make it through a class. If you get 15-20 minutes of good work out of them and they follow along loosely through the rest of class that's cool. Most places recognize that the little ones won't make the whole class but they kind of "drag" them along and as they become more interested they pay more attention. The achievement of rank also tends to make them pay more attention as they learn that by doing they achieve.
 
Infinity said:
I studied and taught Wing Chung for 20 years, the youngest of the Chinese Arts. My teacher, through his travels around the world doing seminars, spent time with Danny Inosanto and so learned Kali, Filipino Art.
This was passed onto me as well which made a nice break for my students.

Both the above styles are not conventional; there is no grading for Wing Chung, no competitions. What you gain with a lot of hard work is a spiritual awareness, stillness, respect and confidence. Wing Chung is
based on physics, the shortest point from A to B is a straight line. It is deadly, makes most kicking styles obsolete, reputed to have been started by a blind woman some 300+ years ago.

All Martial Arts are good, no matter what style. Martial arts is not about how good you are. It is not about ego, it's not about fighting, it's about inner peace. It will make you a better person.

Brian
Click to expand...

Right on Brian. Right on.
 
Infinity said:
......reputed to have been started by a blind woman some 300+ years ago.

All Martial Arts are good, no matter what style. Martial arts is not about how good you are. It is not about ego, it's not about fighting, it's about inner peace. It will make you a better person.

Brian
Click to expand...

Brian,
That is a great background, and excellent advice.
Exactly what I wanted as a youngster, and this should be what we teach our children.
That's why I love your Handle...it just about says it all.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top