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Martial Arts

Welcome to the FAQ page for /r/MartialArts, if you have any corrections please contact Moderator aw4lly. This page will be continually updated with more sections.

  1. Martial Arts
  2. How to Choose a Martial Art
    1. What do you want out of your art
    2. What is nearby?
  3. List of Martial Art Subreddits
  4. Description of Martial Arts with associated subreddits
  5. Martial Arts Media
    1. Movies
    2. Books
    3. DVD's

How to Choose a Martial Art

A common question on this subreddit is "What Martial Art should I choose" this is a very complex question which boils down to 2 things.

  • What do you want out of your art?
  • What is nearby?

What do you want out of your art

This is a really important question. There are a lot of martial arts out there and it depends on what you want to focus on.

Common traits people look for in a martial art are:

  • Self Defense
  • Weaponry
  • Fitness
  • Fighting Skills
  • Inner Peace
  • Competition
  • Confidence Building

Most martial arts cover all of these things in some way or another, the degree in which it is focussed on is what you are really choosing.

What is nearby?

After you've decided what you want out of your art, you need to find what is nearby. It is all good if you decide that you've found a particular stream of Kung Fu that sounds perfect for you, however, if it is only taught out of a small village in China somewhere, you're probably out of luck.

You need to look around for an art which is near you, bigger cities have more variety than small towns. The best way to find out (Unless you know people who study) is the internet. Type into google

"Martial Arts in Yourtownhere"

So if you're from Sydney and interested in Karate try "Martial Arts in Sydney", "Karate in Sydney", "Karate near 123 Fake St" you can type the same thing into Google Maps and it will display a list of places near you.

List of Martial Art Subreddits

All Subreddits on a single page

This is a list of martial arts which have a subreddit

Small Subreddits

Description of Martial Arts with associated subreddits

Thanks to pointman_joey for writing the descriptions.

  • Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: Adapted from Japanese Judo, BJJ focuses on getting opponents on the ground and using chokes and joint locks to defeat them. The idea is getting an opponent on the ground will take away advantages such as longer reach or better standup fighting techniques. Sparring is common in training. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu
  • Judo: A Japanese art focused on throwing and grappling. Also has "katas", patterns of techniques that are practiced with partners. An old and traditional martial art, with almost no striking. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judo
  • Mixed Martial Arts: A modern fighting style focused on sportive competition. A mixture of BJJ, Judo, Boxing, Muay Thai, Wrestling and various others. Focuses on standing and ground fighting through holds, grapples, throws and strikes. A balanced MA, where previous experience in others may help. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts
  • Boxing: Focused solely on punching. No kicks, grapples, disarms or weapon use taught. Not the most effective for street fighting, but you will develop extremely strong punching technique. Minimal clinching is practiced, though mostly to get a rest or recovery period when sorely pressed by the opponent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing
  • Aikido: Aikido comes from the same lineage as judo and jujitsu; a Japanese art focused on defence and grappling. This art is taught to the Japanese riot police, who are praised for their restraint and rarely harming civilians. It emphasizes good body movement, throws, joint locks, and pins. Although many techniques include softening strikes, the goal of aikido techniques is to neutralize aggression swiftly without undue harm to the attacker. Aikido also includes strikes and disarms with wooden weapons: sword, staff, and knife. Free sparring is rare. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aikido
  • Wing Chun: A Chinese MA that teaches striking and trapping. Focuses strongly on the idea of the "centerline" not found in many other MAs, where an imaginary line is drawn from the chest of the practitioner to the opponent, with the theory that the most effective strikes will go down this line to the eyes/nose/groin etc. Punches are very popular in this MA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_chun
  • Parkour: The art of moving across any obstacle in your path. Involves vaulting fences, climbing walls, jumping gaps, etc. Originated in France. Many, many videos of it are on youtube. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour
  • Jeet Kune Do: Hybrid MA founded by Bruce Lee. No specific focus, and its technical syllabus is much less rigid compared to other fighting styles. A large part of it is "economy of motion", or how to have maximum effect with minimum movement. Also has the centerline of Wing Chun. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeet_Kune_Do
  • Krav Maga: An Israeli fighting style, with complete focus on self defence, not sport. Used by military forces, paramilitary units, and police departments around the world. Focus is on preemptive attacks, disarms, and avoiding groundfighting, as well as fighting more than one attacker. Comes in 3 different types: Civilian, Law Enforcement/Security, and Military. An especially brutal fighting system compared to most other MAs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krav_Maga
  • Taekwondo: Korean MA, said to be the most popular MA in the world. Very strong focus on kicking and striking. Sparring is common in training. Taught in two branches: WTF (sporting) and ITF (traditional). ITF is more geared towards self defence, and has equal emphasis on hand and foot, whereas WTF strikes are almost exclusively kicks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taekwondo
  • Tai Ji Quan: Chinese martial art often taught as a method of low-impact exercise and meditation rather than a fighting method. When taught martially, it focuses on relaxed body mechanics and standing grappling. See also Internal Arts. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_Ji_Quan
  • Bujinkan: A fairly modern Japanese MA which claims to incorporate techniques from ninjutsu. More based on self defence than sport. No specific focus as striking, grappling, throws, weaponry, etc. are all taught. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bujinkan

Martial Arts Media

Movies

Books

A lot of people want to know if they can train with books or DVD's. This isn't generally recommended as there are lots of bad habits you can pick up in an art if you don't have someone watching you. Training from books and DVD's is only recommended if you are supplementing real martial arts classes.

  • To Be Compiled...

DVD's

A lot of people want to know if they can train with books or DVD's. This isn't generally recommended as there are lots of bad habits you can pick up in an art if you don't have someone watching you. Training from books and DVD's is only recommended if you are supplementing real martial arts classes.

  • To Be Compiled...

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