just finished high school and can't afford to pay like 800 a year. I've already got a membership to a local gym.
Cheap place to learn martial arts for self defense near MEL CBD?
jacknthebeanstalk on 18/12/2013 - 04:17
Comments
There's some truth in that and some not.
You are virtually never going to be able to defend yourself from an attacker with a knife, and I have serious issues with Krav Maga teaching people that. I haven't trained it, but have heard good things about it for fun and fitness, but the concept of self defence is a bad idea.
For the OP, i'd suggest looking at a boxing/kickboxing gym, and possibly throw in some brazillian jiu jitsu or other MMA style. It will give you confidence and the self awareness to avoid confrontational situations, rather than thinking you'll be able to take out anyone in a fight. Once you start sparring and realise how much it hurts being punched with a 16oz glove and headgear, you'll learn to avoid possibly getting punched at all costs.
If you haven't trained it, how can you have 'serious issues' and call it a 'bad idea'? If you think its just fun and fitness you've been misinformed.
Totally agree that defending against a knife is not what you want to do and Krav will teach you that this is your last resort. First choice is situational awareness - if you can see a bad situation developing, avoid it and get out of there. If you can't avoid it - like a bunch of guys at a pub arcing up and moving in on you, look for the exits, keep moving and don't let them all get on top of you. Get to the exit and get out of there.
Last resort - if you have no choice but fight, then the constant drilling at your Krav Maga class on how to deal with a crowd, how to deal with an attacker armed with a knife, bat, broken bottle etc will give you a much better chance of getting out of it alive and minimise your injuries. This is not the sort of training you will get at a kickboxing / bjj or mma gym. Martial arts have rules, referees and single opponents. Self defence has no rules, no referees and any number of attackers.
We got to see a bunch of videos of knife attacks, including one of a cop in the US who was a martial arts expert and decided to try and disarm a guy with a knife - he ended up with over 1,000 stitches to his front, back, face, hands, neck from all the cuts. He should have followed procedure, pulled his weapon and shot the guy, but he thought his training was good enough to take the guy on unarmed.
The point is - you never want to take on a guy with a knife, and the Krav training is very firm on this, but if you have no other choice then the Krav training is amongst the best available.
I've done plenty of reading about it from practitioners.
The fact that it's often dressed up as an unbeatable isreali military system, that if you learn you'll be like a secret agent, is what bothers me.
yeah, I'm with you on that one - there are some practitioners out there that get caught up with the marketing hype and dress it up to be that way… I did some prior research too and preferred the TKM (Tactical Krav Maga) approach, which was far more low-key and very much focused on reality, both in terms of their marketing and the techniques being taught.
The primary thing they drill into you is your personal safety and how to deal with a broad range of scenarios. Avoidance and escape are your primary objectives, actual fighting is a last resort. You learn fairly quickly from the drills that if you weren't wearing the protective gear and if the guy attacking you had a real knife you'd be getting hurt, regardless of how good you are!
Becoming an unbeatable israeli secret super agent is definitely not part of the course!
Good points, and it all comes down to what you prefer and what you'll stick with - if you enjoy krav maga and go regularly, you'll get more out of it than forcing yourself to go to something you hate.
Martial arts are great for physical and mental fitness. Combat sports are great for confidence and resilience. Neither are great for surviving a knife attack.
For true street effectiveness I would checkout Krav Maga and also the US equivalent which is CQC.
To become proficiant a few things need to be in place though, it's more than just a 'good system', you need a good school too (that is easy for you to get to so you'll actually go).
I wouldn't discount Western Boxing… I suspect that could be a cheaper option (perhaps already at your gym!) while still being very good for fitness and self defence.
AIM academy id good.
I'll consider this because I live close by
pfft, wii boxing is where its at
I want to be able to disarm weapons, etc. I don't think boxing will cover that
Did you read anything anyone else said?
Systema.
None of that air punching stuff…you will get kicked and punched during training. Hard. Just Google it and try a class.
Seems interesting. What are the costs?
running is cheap
I think a lot of self defense comes in prevention . The way you carry yourself and your projected attitude.
Don't cause trouble, if you get into it, quickly assess whether you can smooth it over.
If you get in a situation I would think that two rules apply.
The first never varies it is what you must hold onto with your entire being and that is no matter what the weapon is that they have or the numbers they have against, never ever never ever go somewhere with someone e under fear or duress. No matter how isolated your current situation the place they take you to will be worse. It would be better to be knifed or shit than go off with someone with those wespo s. The likelihood that they will use them in the first situation is less than once they have you somewhere.
The second rule which may not always apply, is that you should consider being the craziest mo fo that they could ever imagine. Someone with nothing to lose and who relushes the idea of getting it on.
If you do have to defend yourself, go in hard, really hard for soft parts. Intend to cause damage, preferably to their eyes.
This is a pretty grim subject and I have such an internal taboo against violence that unless my daughter were involved, I'd have a hard time going hard.
But I ever never had an issue with being a crazy mo fo however.
Yeah that's pretty solid advice. I've always learned that avoid confrontation at all costs, even if you can or think you can hold your own, but if someone tries to take you to a second location, do everything in your power to fight for your life, because there's a good chance you're going to lose it.
martial arts gives you the fitness to run away!
I think you are more likely to injure yourself training than you might "defending yourself".
Still it will give you strength/flexibility etc if you choose the right one.
Martial arts is not self defense. If you study a martial art for enough years you may be able to defend yourself on the street, but this is not really the core of the curriculum, despite how the schools pitch it. There are many reasons why you might choose to study a martial art, but if practical self defense is your priority, have a look at Krav Maga:
http://www.guardiandefence.com/
The entire curriculum only takes about two weeks to learn - but the regular classes then focus on the skills and using them in real scenarios - group attacks, knife attacks etc - they really try to emulate a real life scenario as far as possible.
I trained with the Sydney based Tactical Krav Maga and got a lot out of it.