Self-Defence

[CHEESE-TACULAR]

who the hell is sherif??

[McReis]

dude, you'll never believe this, i got arrested yesterday...

Finally I see the justice working!

[6'bore]

Good old fashioned kick the crap out of every single one of them would do the trick.

[McReis]

Good old fashioned kick the crap out of every single one of them would do the trick.

My hero!

[spi-ti-tout]

who the hell is sherif??

Ummmmmmm....

[my porsche]

The only work out I'm doing now is pushups, pullups etc because anything major would screw my back. Then again can't do any of those with a broken wrist can I...

yeah but you cant do any of your otther optiomns either?

you can do bench press, lat pulls and tricep pulls easily without much back movement, curls etc, all things that will help boxing, im pretty sure the flips/twists/kicks/intense moans that are involved in martial arts would put much more stress on your back than working out

[CHEESE-TACULAR]

Ummmmmmm....

forgot smiley, and theres only one "f"

[Rockefella]

Just take steroids.

[Zondaboy1]

karate just sounds cool

[spi-ti-tout]

yeah but you cant do any of your otther optiomns either?

you can do bench press, lat pulls and tricep pulls easily without much back movement, curls etc, all things that will help boxing, im pretty sure the flips/twists/kicks/intense moans that are involved in martial arts would put much more stress on your back than working out

It's like not like my back can't handle those curls and stuff it's just nowadays I don't have much time for exercise so when I jump into them immediately it takes a while to get tuned. For that matter I think bench-presses, tricep pulls and the lot involve more from the back then a simple round kick.

[magracer]

I don't think the respect you'll gain by fighting them off will compare to that if you manage to offend and/or embarass them in pubic with your wits. One well placed word can hit them much harder than a series of punches. If you manage to do that they will leave you be.

If they use force be sure to defend yourself, and have the aggresive behavior seen by more people (or even get video). This will help you get them suspended or even kicked out of school. Is there something as a restraining order for kids? If there is, get one.

This solution has the advantage that it's applicable soon, whereas you'll have to wait at least a couple months if you want to be proefficient enough to fight them all with martial arts (even years).

[PerfAdv]

Ok a few issues here a few issues there and a broken wrist. For some reason I've always been the someone to pick on in school even though I sit in my corner reading a book because they know I'd get infruriated quickly after repeated disturbances. I always give a third chance for everything but after that I blow it. I'm an equal match for those in my class but more than not it's usually racism and equates to 5 against 1. I've decided I've had enough so in the summer I'm going to join self-defence classes. Now the question is what should I take up?

Karate: Most preferred, easiest to learn? Probably most will know it. I've heard it makes the joints weak in old age.
Bhagwa: Art of fighting more than 1 person at once.
Tai - Chi: As far as I've heard, learning how to make anything in your surrounding a vicious weapon.
Aikido: Disarming your opponent with harmony in mind - and learning counters for the same. I'm currently watching a video on the basics of it, very interesting.
Taekwando - Dunno what that is really but karate with more use of hands?

Give me some advice peeps. I'm not looking forward to becoming serious sam

For self-confidence marshal arts are good but to be good enough to use in actual combat it'll take time. You'll most likely be out of school and among better humans in college or work.

There are fights you can avoid and fights you can't. These are a couple of incidents that happened with my friends. One of my friends was driving of the freeway and a car merged ahead of him at speed (into him is how he described it). He braked hard to allow the merge and honked, the other driver shot him the bird. So, he returned the gesture. Now the guy slammed his brakes and almost caused an accident. My friend pulled beside him and said something like, "are you crazy?" Not the best thing to ask a crazy person because he replied with bleepity-bleepity-bleep...bleep,bleep. They pulled over on the side of the freeway. The nut pulled out a knife. Although my bud isn't a marshal arts expert, he kicked with a downward stomping kick on the guys knee and as he described it bend it backward. The guy lunged with his knife and put a gash in my friend's knee, luckily nothing more delicate/vital. His own knee bleeding and opponent on the ground in the emergency lane with busted leg, he drove off. The next day he was so scared of a reprisal as his car might be recognized, he traded the car for a different one. All for what? Because some loser can't drive...

The other was unavoidable. A spoiled kid had it in for another friend of mine, Julio. Girl issue. She rejected this guy and then was fond of spending time with J. This guy was nuts; once he climbed the sidewalk with his car and drove at J, coming as if to run him over. Another time he brought what seem like an entire school's worth of hoodlums with him. I was with Julio then, along with about 10 guys. The fight was called by this bloke to settle his angst; he wanted just to fight Julio. He approached and quick as spit, punched Julio on the nose with a wire ring, slicing very close to the eye. Blood was everywhere as the gang quickly dispersed, as this was on school grounds. Julio easily was the stronger at 180 pounds of menace against that kid but thought it wise not to fight back or risk getting killed by this mob. There is justice, because a few months later this out of control kid got into an auto accident and died after being in a coma for weeks. Ah, highschool...

Spi, avoid conflict and be patient. Those that live by the gun, die my the gun; sounds trite, I know. But I'm sure you aren't the only guy they mess with and sooner or later they'll find someone who'll "up the ante!"

[2ndclasscitizen]

I don't think the respect you'll gain by fighting them off will compare to that if you manage to offend and/or embarass them in pubic with your wits. One well placed word can hit them much harder than a series of punches. If you manage to do that they will leave you be.

That's all I ever do. Countless times I've had guys try to be tough and I've just torn strips off them and brought them right back down to earth, so much so that one guy who tried to get all his mates to back him up ended completely embarrassed because they all started laughing at him.

Spi, sounds like there's just a bunch of tools at your school, ignore them, or just get up and leave. I find the funniest thing is seeing the aresholes from my school working shitty jobs leading nowhere they've finished school and I'm at uni getting a degree. It's a nice feeling

[Pando]

People, when you give a choice you should back it up.

Okay man. The thing about martial arts is that it doesn't make you invincible and, technically, there are is BEST one. If you are a master of any martial art, chances are you can kick ass. Bruce Lee used to say that martial arts systems don't make a good fighter, they make a better one. All martial arts allows a person some potential. Without initiative, a person can not exploit the potential of an art in order to become better. Of course, you do not wish to master an art, but merely just defend yourself adequately. For this, you do not necesarily want to commit a large portion of your life to an art. You are looking for a quick fix, right?

People learn martial arts ussually for these reasons: self-defense (short-term), discipline (as a learning experience), actually love the arts (long-term commitment), competition (medium-term but intense training), and lastly for health reasons (to stay active, as a learning experience as well).

Tai-Chi is an extremely complicated and old art so it is probably not the best choice for your self-defense needs. In the long run, this could have the most potential out of all the other arts. However, in the short run, it is just good for health, not self defense. Tai-Chi is a complicated internal martial art that really doesn't require an athletic practitioner; but a skilled one. Only long term martial benefits, immediate HEALTH benefits though (not that you care now).

Taekwondo, as you probably can tell, emphasizes a lot kicking. This Korean art is very popular for MMA competitions along with Brazilian Jujutsu and Muay-Thai. For self defence, I guess this is average. BECAUSE of the art's competitive nature, it doesn't really incorporate many "cheap" techniques needed to defend yourself (ie. biting, headbutting, crotch striking/grappling, and other techniques illegal in competition). There is no honor required when defending yourself against five attackers. This art isn't the best at close ranges. Taekwondo practitioners ussually use their feet to keep the attacker away at kicking distance; useless when cornered. Unless you want to enter a competition, don't really pick this one. Taekwondo gives me an uncomfortable feelign that it is more of a SPORT like capoeira than a martial art like My Jhong Law Horn.

Karate is an Okinawan art that is probably has the most popularity out of everything else you have listed; and for a good reason too. Karate is a very broad art that is almost has a bit of everything: grappling, locks, kicking, striking, cheap tactics, discipline, health benefits...probably forgetting many. Jack of all trades but only a master of a couple. When I studied Shotokan Karate when I was younger, I knoticed that karate really uses waist rotations and yelling to generate more power from a regular punch. Very good for the long AND short term. Very scientific and technical, but thats because the dojo was heavily regulated and if you do not preform a regular punch with 100% efficiency, you can't get promoted. Now that I think back they were a bunch of nazis...

I don't know shit about Bagwhaahahahahahaha .

Aikido is "harmonous" in the sense that it doesn't really require a lot of brute force. Other than that theres nothing harmonious about it. It is nowhere near as "soft" or "internal" as tai-chi. You don't see a lot of Aikido competitors in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) competitions for a reason: a lot of their practical techniques (head locks, grapples, joint locks, joint holds, etc...) are illegal. Think of this as Karate, but without the striking and the competitive nature. More practical, but less potential in the SUPER long-term due to the lack of offensive strikes. But hey, you don't care about the long-term now.

In all reality, in a street fight (especially if its not 1v1) there is not "honour", okay? The shortest fix is (as someone said) getting a knife. If 5 people attack you and you have a knife... thats really an ODD-EVENER. And please, never been afraid to boot someone in the sack, punch to the eyes/neck, headbutting, or jewelry ripping. Pick up a rock even, hurl it at the bastards.

In the end, I guess I would recommend Aikido or Karate. Aikido has some obsolete kitana training though, which is kinda useless. Again, this is considering I don't know much about Bhagwa okay? If you do want to learn Karate, make sure that the dojo you go to is recognized by some karate "federation" or "assiciation" or whatever to avoid black belt mills.

Spi-ti-tout, what I am about to reveal to you is like... gold. I don't even know why im sooooo nice but I sent you a personal message on a quick fix. It is so golden taht I can't even post it here.

Basically I agree with you, on what martial art to recommend and for what reason. But I have to disagree with one thing; Spi, don't get a knife or a weapon, you'll only end up in trouble.

[spi-ti-tout]

I already have a small knife that looks (and has) a LED light but it's very unlikely to be taken out anytime soon. I also have a very thick, very strong, very jagged rope that I've kept at the back of my bag for the past few years and serves as an excellent whip at times - but even that hasn't been taken out. Embaressing hardly works because this isn't general picking on - it's racism and most guys are on one side. I've tried it - always do. The best thing to do really is learn how to defend - not fight as some of you folks seem to think.