Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Hand to hand combat

I've often wondered what would be a good, all around type of martial art to learn that would suit the needs of an average joe like me on the streets.

Over at Hell in a Handbasket, James suggests boxing, as it is easy to learn the foundation to make for useful combat; even against multiple opponents, which is what my main concern would be. He has a very compelling video on that post that stresses his point. Go check it out.

Violent scumbags generally work in multiples, so a single based approach to empty hand techniques would be training to fail in my case. Also, I'm the exact opposite of flexible, and any attempt for me to do a ninja roll would result in torn things inside my body. While I'm sure you have to be limber, boxing doesn't look like it focuses on the more complex techniques that will require a greater deal of flexibility.

I will have to look into boxing in the near future.

3 comments:

David said...

Ooooh, this is a love of mine, right here. I heart self-defense training. Don't confuse "complex" with "ninja-style". You don't need to roll around like Bruce Lee in order to make an assailant look like they've been through a meat grinder when you're done with them.

Man, I've got to do some posts on self-defense. There's little that's more fun than disarming someone and breaking their bones at the same time. It's as awesome as cupcakes, only more violent.

Andrew said...

Boxing is exercise, not self defense. It totally focuses on the upper body, and kicking is not allowed. Not to mention the fact that most fights end up on the ground. Try Jiu jitsu or even regular Karate/Tae kwon do. Much more holistic and useful in the real world.

James R. Rummel said...

Thank you kindly for the link!

James