teaching myself a martial art for fitness

i would like some help choosing a martial-arts style primarily for fitness but also for self defense should that need ever arise

i "studied" tae kwon do when i was little and got up to brown belt, but i wasn't serious about it and i have forgotten most of it

kung fu appeals to me but something like kickboxing doesn't so much; anyone have any opinions on what might be a good style for me?

keep in mind i would want to teach myself via the internet primarily; i don't want to take formal classes at a dojo or travel to shaolin lol

there is no style, there is no form, there is only JEET KUNE DO

in all seriousness:Bruce Lee's literature on fitness, thinking, martial arts, enjoying life and being a fucking jedi should more than fulfill your requests.

those are good places to start

i always thought akido(sp?) or hapkido are awesome, its all amount using your body's flexibility to divert harmful energy and direct it against them in the way of throws, leg sweeps, etc etc.

such an awesome art.

  On 12/29/2009 at 4:42 AM, Smettingham Rutherford IV said:

i always thought akido(sp?) or hapkido are awesome, its all amount using your body's flexibility to divert harmful energy and direct it against them in the way of throws, leg sweeps, etc etc.

 

such an awesome art.

that being said i would need a partner for that and this is more of a dolo project i like aikido too my roommate in college studied it

  On 12/29/2009 at 4:42 AM, Blanket Fort Collapse said:

there is no style, there is no form, there is only JEET KUNE DO

in all seriousness:Bruce Lee's literature on fitness, thinking, martial arts, enjoying life and being a fucking jedi should more than fulfill your requests.

those are good places to start

expressing the human body: that sounds like just what i'm looking for but does it have diagrams or descriptions of techniques? philosophy me o god plz but also gimme practical

last thing I need to say is I'm not a bruce lee fanboy because of his movies, I respect him because of his dynamic way of thinking, there is vary few sources of that which you seek that will be give you as much of an wide variance of information and limitless tactical approach.

id say jeet kune do would be a good choice then.

i took taekwondo, and i dont remember it being particularly strenuous...more like memorizing stances and movements.

yes the art of expressing the human body is a great book, it is not hard to follow and should be a perfect jumping point to start from in progressing your physical health

as well as mental health excuse me

man i just started jogging 5 miles a day 6 days a week, im startin to feel fucking wonderful. good luck to you in the exercise.

parrot kwon fu is an ancient form of parrot-based stealth combat, perfected only by the few who understood the intricacies of discplining and maintaining the parrots fur

i've always wanted to learn Kendo but have never had the time.

my only advice is to study in a class. without learned people to correct your form and intention you will probably not get the full benefit of the art.

i would steer clear of the dodgy "learn to kick ass" type of places and find one that is centered on peace. aikido is a beautiful form. i also had a good experience with judo.

if you can find something called shim gum do, that was my favorite, and once you learn, it is practiced solo. it is not too widely spread however. (if you want to be a badass, you can sign up for a residency and learn directly from the founder in massachusetts. a close friend of mine lived there for three years and learned so much. i've wanted to do it for a while, i just get wrapped up in other stuff.)

  On 12/29/2009 at 6:46 AM, A/D said:

my only advice is to study in a class. without learned people to correct your form and intention you will probably not get the full benefit of the art.

 

i would steer clear of the dodgy "learn to kick ass" type of places and find one that is centered on peace. aikido is a beautiful form. i also had a good experience with judo.

 

if you can find something called shim gum do, that was my favorite, and once you learn, it is practiced solo. it is not too widely spread however. (if you want to be a badass, you can sign up for a residency and learn directly from the founder in massachusetts. a close friend of mine lived there for three years and learned so much. i've wanted to do it for a while, i just get wrapped up in other stuff.)

i'm pretty out of shape and i was asking my roommate about this and he suggested judo for my body type

where i live it might be difficult to avoid the "learn to kick ass" mma testosterone bullshit places though

  On 12/29/2009 at 5:12 AM, Rambo said:

parrot kwon fu is an ancient form of parrot-based stealth combat, perfected only by the few who understood the intricacies of discplining and maintaining the parrots fur

remember the first rule about parrot kwon fu... NEVER TALK ABOUT PARROT KWON FU!

if you actually want to get into shape id suggest brazillian jujitsu

thats if you don't mind rolling around with other people of your gender

alot of people who arent confident in their sexuality arent

You want to learn martial arts online.

Best. Troll. Ever.

teach yourself tae-bo with billy blanks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlYXg7veliU

Not to burst the lol bubble but I don't think anyone should believe with enough ambition they cant teach themselves anything in this day in age. The future is now, limitless information is currently available without going and paying someone to force you to learn it.

blanket-

you want me to believe that one can become proficient at a martial art in one's home, by oneself using only the internet?

lolbbq

it is true actually. You could learn at home if you are the type. Certain people will need more hands on help than others because they are less able to notice their own flaws but you can learn at home. In fact there are mixed martial artists in the UFC that learnt at home for years.

did you read this thread at all?? he said he primarily wants to start have a motivating goal for fitness and secondarily for self defense, I don't seem to read anywhere that he wants to be an mega turbo uber proficient competitive martial artist fighting in underground MMA throughout asia in less than a year...

is it even possible to go about doing what he described he wanted to do?? no your right its fucking impossible... or maybe not hmmm

hmm what would one need to do to start themselves on the path to become a decent martial artist without going to a dojo right out the gate:

surround yourself with information pertinent to the path you see best:research, read, research, read

be in excellent shape:go the fucking gym, go the fucking gym, go the fucking gym

surround yourself with tactical theory:research, read, research, read, think, read, think

refine technique's you have retained through ambitious active research:get some non pussy footing friends that would have fun sparring and learning a few things

then if one decides they want to further their path into martial arts making it more serious and needs external practice and instruction they can start taking classes at dojo's, rape defense clinics, whatever the fuck you want

but like I said earlier with enough ambition you could teach yourself beyond the basics of anything by yourself, none of this is feasible at all if one cannot motivate themselves and requires a schedule routine of someone helping babysit them through the beginning stages of the path to knowledge of that in which you seek.

blanket-

i dare you to show me the sound of one man sparring. trying to get exercise without a partner is pretty useless in MOST martial arts.

in fact, you couldn't even learn BJJ by yourself. how you going to practice an armbar without someone's arm?

if you want to learn bjj you need a partner definitely but you can still learn at home from a video

90% of the battle of everything is mental(post already being in physical condition)((hence:exercise:go to the fucking gym)

but sure your obviously right building muscle memory is important and not necessarily easy to build for martial arts by oneself. But its not impossible to loosely practice the movements that would be used to in the theory already retained and calculated in ones brain.

if you have a good understanding of my suggestion of Jeet Kune Do you should be able to see my perspective on the entire argument. Jeet Kune Do is not largely focused around muscle memory, its not about planning out routine's or tradition.

Jeet Kune Do is about progressively refining and widening ones tactical outlook to all situations not even confined to self defense or martial arts but to all dynamics/mediums what have you in existence.

I'm extremely tired Ive gotta take a nap I got shit to do in a few hours, otherwise I would be glad to sini out some more opinions you probably wouldn't read

Come on, don't be a douche. I read all your posts.

i got all my moves from soem old power rangers video