Ok, I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a suitable style, training partly for fun also for actual defense, that dosen't involve 'anything nasty'. Reason being: I do TKD; my g/f wants to take up a martial art, but dosen't like the idea of punching and kicking people at all. I thought jiujitsu would be a good style, but after watching part of a judo lesson I'm not so sure - they were doing lots of groundfighting type stuff, and she says the dosen't like the idea of rolling around on the floor trying to strangle someone either. Any help pls??
All signs point to Aikido surely? A good introduction to the MA I reckon, you could do a lot worse if striking isn't really your g/f's thing. Or am I about to be shot-down, sorry thrown-around, by the Aikidoka here?
yep I'd thought about that - I haven't found an aikido school around here though; I don't really know much about it either... MasterOfNothing goes to look at aikido forum...
Your girlfriend wants to take up a MA but doesnt fancy punching, kicking or grappling. Tell to forget MA's and take up tae - bo or boxercise instead
thanks tosh, had a bit of look round - seems like aikido could be a good choice, if I find a decent school round here. people have written that it takes longer to learn to the same level as other styles though? johndoch - what tae bo class have you been to, that dosen't involve kicking and punching???
Sorry if that sounded abrupt (Iam a lovely guy really ) Anyways if its only fitness the womans after then maybe a MA is not the answer.
A good point but what martial art doesnt involve some form of pysical contact. what I was getting at was tae bo etc has punching and stuff but its not at each other. ie your burd wont get hit
fitness isn't the reason she wants to take up an MA - it's partly to see what it's it like (for fun) and mainly for self-defense. I really don't think that taebo would be an effective form of self-defense training it's true, that to be realistic a style has to have at least some form of contact in it. She dosen't mind locks and throws etc, but dosen't like the idea of groundfighting, or throwing kicks and punches (either at a person or a bag). makes it quite tricky to find something for her!!!
MasterOfNothing, You say her main interest is self-defense. You also seem to be implying that she has an extreme aversion to hurting another human being. There is a word for people who have that characteristic: victims. It is not realistic to expect that you can defend yourself while causing no damage whatsoever to the attacker. This is ESPECIALLY true when the attacker is heavier and stronger. Now, here is where I get a bit unpleasant: If she is determined to not cause the attacker harm then when assaulted she should just lay back and take it. I just have a problem with people who place more value on the life of some scumbag attacker than on their own life. And, that is what it really means when you refuse to cause harm to an attacker. Perhaps you should show her this post.
tai chi? hadn't thought of that; there is a school nearby but I don't know what emphasis they put on it. Perhaps I should clarify what I meant a bit more. She dosen't have an aversion to hurting someone who is attacking her. What she dosen't like is the idea of hurting someone/being hurt in training (in fairness to her, she's more scared of hurting someone else than being hurt herself); also she dosen't like the idea of punching and kicking at all, in any circumstance . I've shown her a couple of basic wristlocks etc and she seems to be quite happy with the concept of breaking someone's arm if they punch her - I haven't quite worked out yet why this is 'less bad' than being punched though!!! I thought that judo or jiujitsu might be a good start, but we watched a judo class and she was really put off by the groundwork they were doing.
style perhaps don't think style..but perhaps reason why she wants to learn and what...3 words spring to mind, evade, counter, destroy, or in this more pc world, incappacitate (bad spelling). I would of thought you would be better off looking for an instructor who caters for your specific needs and worry about style later as for a women defending herself effictiveness in the real world would be more important than form. Just a thought anyway.
TCC's about as soft as it gets, but it does teach you how to get out of things. There are a few strikes, but mainly throws.
thanks for the response guys! found a tai chi class nearby, so we're going to give that a look some time. tkdhkddave, were you meaning find a self-defense class as such, or a MA class that puts a heavy emphasis on self-defense? There are a couple of self-defense classes that I've heard of around, but they all seem to last 6-8 weeks tops (most of them are just one session ). If she likes it, the plan is to stick with it for quite a while, and I thought there would be more to learn from a class that teaches a style.
I can certainly recommend Tai Chi Chuan, provided it is with an instructor who will show you all of the applications. At the same time, don't rule out strikin MA. Provided you can get her to go along, she might find that she enjoys it more than she expects
In order to learn self defense she's going to have to punch, kick or grapple with another human being. There's no way around that. You can't learn self defense in the air. I'm warning you now, if you send her to a school where all the training is cooperative and they never hit or grapple each other full contact then you are setting her up to be seriously hurt or raped.