tae (with an e, not an i) kwon do has a few different forms - traditional, americanized, and olympic. They're all styles which build as you go - they don't teach you everything at once. You learn things like throwing/grappling as you progress toward your blackbelt, or after you attain your blackbelt with most of the schools I've seen. break away and control techniques are taught from the beginning, but few at first, and build as you go. Same with disarming techniques. Green belt isn't very far into training with any of the standardized belt systems. At most it's a little less than half-way to your first blackbelt, and usually follows the yellow belt (beginner, first-year student). Would be easier to ID if you indicated what Kup level - not just the belt color around your waist.

Tae kwon do is not for everyone. Neither are any of the styles of japanese karate, judo, jujistu. Any of the jujitsu forms would be more practical if you're looking for pure street fighting skill (though don't discount someone who's very good with a traditional art like tae kwon do or karate, there's a reason you learn blocking, sweeping, punching, and kicking - they were styles developed for close combat well before they became a way for americans to get some exercise). Or you could go the Krav Maga route. Shop around and ask questions of the instructors of what you will learn and roughly when. If you want to learn nothing but disarming and grappling techniques - a traditional asian art probably isn't for you. BJJ and Krav Maga are probably what you need. Depends on how much time and effort you have to invest, and the totality of what you wish to gain from the training. It's easy to write one style or another off if you've not much if anything into it, or if you don't have the patience or time to put in learning things over a period of time. With any style - its best to start learning when you're younger and make it a life long commitment. it's harder for a grown adult to get started, stay interested and motivated, and progress as quickly. Part of it has to do with your body's own physical limitations, part is mental (like attention span, preconceived ideas of how it's going to be, patience, openness to learning), and part has to do with the other portion of your life - work, family, responsibilities, etc.

Frankly I don't entirely care for the established belt system with modern martial arts. It gives a prospective student or a new student this idea that they have to progress through the belt ranks on a set schedule "I want a black belt in two years" or "I need to promote every three months"... I've seen that way too many times. Then feelings get hurt and people get discouraged if they are passed up for promotion because they're not ready - or in the case of children sometimes the parents don't think they're getting their money's worth if a child isn't promoted steadily. They don't see it as an education. No one wants to belive they take longer to learn something than someone else.

The white belt to blackbelt advancement, as told by fable, was something simple. The novice would begin training with a fresh, clean, pure white uniform (dobak, gi, call it what you will). As they trained their white belt would discolor - sweat, dirt, grime, age - and eventually turn grey or black. It took a long time, a lot of effort, and a lot of energy for this progression from the pure white belt to the black belt. It generally coincided with the basic mastery of the art for the student. There were no pretty colored belts awarded to a student for their time or efforts then. You didn't wash the belt because it was said to be unlucky, and you were effectively washing away all your knowledge and training and the effort you'd put in to make your belt as discolored as it was. But around the time that the oriental martial arts became popular in main stream America, americans with generally shorter attention spans, needed something to focus on. Schools came up with the belt system - pretty colored belts to indicate a general idea of where the student was in their training. Some schools attach silly metaphorical meanings to the colors, others just use them to rank students. Some add stripes to the belt, some stick with just degree rank titles (first degree blue belt, second degree blue belt, etc).

There are martial arts that don't use belts or sashes to indicate rank. They're probably better for it or at least have a vastly different take on how someone is evaluated (if they even are).

You can buy a black belt or buy into a program that gaurantees a black belt in X amount of time. You might get that belt at the end of that time period. Doesn't mean you know jack didly. That's sad, as it gives someone false sense of accomplishment, and might even lead to physical harm of the person down the road should they find themselves in confrontation. When someone says they have a blackbelt - they get a little respect from me - but I ask how long it took them to do it.There is a big difference in someone buying a blackbelt on a one or two year program, and someone training for years to earn that belt.

Sticks are good. Mom got in the act fencing. Real use fuzzing ful. Oh well dad knew how to box and picked up some Savat from someone. But I have my secret weapon, if someone is chasing me I can still run a 5:25 mile.

Whats a good one for an almost 40 out of shape guy. Not fat, but not use to exercise either.

Depends on your goals.

Want exercise? Any of the traditional martial arts should be good - tae kwon do, karate, hapkido, etc would be good for that. You'll learn how to defend yourself also.

If you want to learn more specifically-street-fighting tactics - Krav Maga would get top pick. BJJ - Brazillian jujitsu is another good one - but from the guys I've talked to about it, they recommend being somewhat in shape for that. They're all about ground fighting and grappeling and putting the hurt on your attacker from any position you find yourself in.

Take a look at a karate or tae kwon do school in your area. Watch a class or two. Talk to the instructor. Good instructors will be upfront and honest with you about everything, and won't pressure you into a decision. A lot of schools have a discounted first month of classes as an introduction - you can get a taste without a lot of cash outlay. Not sure what it's like in other areas price wise - but most martial arts schools in this area seem to run between $40 and $80 per month normally. Group discounts for family is the norm. So are first month discounts. Some places throw in a free uniform. Most don't require a uniform for beginners classes as it's really not needed - just some comfortable roomy clothes like sweatpants or jogging pants and a t-shirt or tank top. Avoid contracts, especially as a beginner. Contracts are no good for the student - if you decide you don't like it, or you're unable to continue training for some reason, you're out the money no matter what.

You can always branch out and learn other styles if the first pick isn't quite what you expected or wanted. Having a mixed background can't hurt at all - in fact a lot of the better known martial artists (including arguably the most famous - Bruce Lee) are multi-disciplinary. Think of it as learning different shooting techniques - you'll become a more wholely rounded student if you reach out to learn new things. I've had the pleasure of working with a number of folks who came from one style or another - one Hapkido master, a pair of brothers who had studied kung fu with Marc Dacascos, judo students, japanese karate students, boxers, ballet dancers...each brought a unique way of looking at things, and didn't struggle to incorporate the new techniques.

4x Muay Thai champion And Muay Boran, and just came back from China with my fifth belt, 20-0 with 17 knockouts. Lived in Thailand, have been in many street fights 4 against 1 with knives and came out ontop. A master in submissions trained with some legends. 99% Muay Thai all the way. Elbows, Knees, Shins and fist, the best stand up fighting style ever CQC baby you can't go wrong there is no better martial arts standing up. I have been doing Muay Thai and Muay Boran for 13 years and still no sign of stopping, i'll probably do it till i am 90!

This post has been edited by MTReaper: November 8th 2009 2:58 PM

BJJ hurts like hell it's the basis for the Armys UAC program n everytime we do drills on it My neck and shoulders hurt for a good week, it's more about pressure points, finesse n speed movement on the ground or enroute to the ground than strength, but if you already have strength it is really brutal fast, watch the first UFC if you wanna see a good example of how BJJ can be applied by a Master of it

Howdy- for background, I have studied martial arts for 20 years, and hold black belts in several. Styles include karate (two styles), Tae Kwon Do, Tang Soo Do, kickboxing, and aikido.

I agree that there are some "non contact" martial arts that do not do a good job of teaching practical skills. For them, it's about looking pretty and playing tag. Having said that, they do typically bring students to a higher level of physical fitness, which might be all they need.

For someone who isn't terrible flexible, I would not suggest Tae Kwon Do (again, speaking in general terms.) In aikido, you learn to use your body in natural ways (all joints work in arcs, and aikido is big on circular motion.) The most work in aikido, if done correctly, is in getting up from the mat from the falls- the techniques themselves don't use much energy (again, when done correctly.) In my aikido school, you remain a white belt until reaching black belt (while moving up in the kyu ranking system.) I do think that the Krav Maga and the various American combative styles have useful teaching, and would love to study some form of escrima/arnis and/or kali.

Regarding the colored belt/black belt systems (kyu/dan)- they are relatively new, being created by Jigaro Kano, the founder of judo, as a way to keep track of the skill of the various students. That was in the late 1890's, I believe. It was picked up by other arts, including those in Korea, where it is the gup/dan system. Prior to that, there were certificates that a head of a system would hand out to denote various levels, ending in the Menkyo Kaiden (I think that's how it's spelled) meaning the student had a complete knowledge of the system and could teach on their own.

At the least, being physically fit will help deal with the stress of a self defense situation, even if actually using your techniques isn't required.

This post has been edited by sandanbob: November 23rd 2009 9:40 PM

TKD as as stepping stone to Hopkido.

In my Dojang, it was required to have a minimum of three belts in TKD to learn the basic moves before you could take Hopkido.

Hookido is the Korean version of Aikido which is Japaneses. Its based on the fluid movement of water or basically using your opponents own energy against themselves. The Japanese arts tend to be more still legged, short punch, take more hits, and kick not as high compared to the Korean Arts.

My instructor was a Grand Master who was raised in a Dojang in Korea, three time national champion, ex-Tiger Division, and his belt (when he wore it) handed down for generations. It was one very old tattered thing, he took great pride in.

He went back to Korea.

Tj