#5. If the instructor's answer is, "Just do what I tell you. Once you develop the skill, you'll understand," then head for the door.

@@DagwoodDogwoggle Agreed!

I think learning martial arts and not training for self-defence and/or combat is a waste of time, because all martial arts stem from the need of defence or combat in the first place. I did Aikido for 10 years, and to a great degree I regret not taking fighting more seriously.

#1 to know what you want from your training is gold. Self defense is not combat sport is not health benefits, though one aspect can also support another. Rokas, what is your opinion about inner martial arts? You trained Aikido for so long but never mentioned such aspects as Chi Gung. I just read that ueshiba probably studied ba gua and therefore could do what he was able to do (but because of the history between China and Japan to that time nobody should know). Thanks! 🙏🙂

I think #3! Going around to "try before you buy" was my mentality. Since I'm starting martial arts late, I don't want to waste my years in a place I don't enjoy.

Haha, I'm always open to feedback! Thanks for letting me know. I'll lower its sound in the future, and potentially opt out of using it entirely

​@MartialArtsJourney I genuinely didn't notice it until I looked at the comments

@@adamspiveysame lol

Lol, didn't even notice until I read it. Now it drives me crazy too. Thanks 😂

Thank you for the reply Rokas

Good point. I thought the same thing watching the video.

I want to add something to your comment: Kendo has nothing to do with Samurai swordfight...For example there are several videos wich show what happens if a Kenjutsu and Kendo fighter on the same level fight. The fighting style's doesn't match because it's a different context, for once because Kendo doesn't use a Katana shaped like sword, which would be heavier and would allow for different skills. Second, for whatever reason the japanese took everything apart in times of piece during their history, so you have kendo moveset, kejutsu moveset and Iaijutsu moveset, and everything is taught differently and in different seperate schools. All that stuff should be learned as one whole thing. But they don't do it, which has lead to an extreme specification of these singular movesets. Third: Rules to gain points. It's the same in HEMA and sportsfencing. If you bend your martial arts for the purpose to make points, it's watered down. Now hear me out: Kendoka and sportsfencer can be extremely skilled. They are athletes. No doubt about that. But they only interact in a specific set of sportrules to gain points, which is a disadvantage and leads to a different martial arts than what it was supposed to be. I don't say one is better than the other. I'm clearly outclassed by every sportsfencer who has some experience and trained since childhood. But i don't care about that because that's not the system and context i wanna use my martial arts in. On the other hand if you're a Kendoka or a sportsfencer and you're really into the system of sports, i highly encourage to continue with these martial arts because almost nothing will train your body better.

@@Blutroth I think "nothing to do with Samurai swordfight" is a bit too much, but I understand your point. I practice both kendo and iaido and, honestly, I don't care much about "real swordfight", self defense or anything like that -- I'm into the culture and self development bandwagon (and swords, of course). Sure I'd like to learn koryu kenjutsu if I ever have the opportunity, but mostly because I like Japanese MA traditions and paired kata.

​@@BlutrothWhich videos do you refer to?

@@Blutroth I think you are mostly correct, but kendo as a competition for points has advantages over other martial arts that do the same (such as point karate or fencing). Firstly, unlike in fencing or karate, a successful kendo strike is considerably more likely to be debilitating or lethal than (comparing a punch, kick or potentially even a stab wound to cutting off a person's hand or disembowling them), so a point match doesn't necessarily take away from its effectiveness (although the best of 3 format is definitely not totally realistic). Secondly, point scoring in kendo isn't an objective "did they hit the target?" system, but rather it is up to the judges' discretion as to whether they believe a cut would have been effective. As such, a lot of technique is preserved rather than optimised away (although some definitely is lost) as judges must be experienced kendoka who often place a high value on tradition. I would also add that while I believe kendo is almost totally useless for self defence, as you will never be carrying a sword on the streets, it is not totally ineffective, as university kendoka have demonstrated that the incredibly small and fast cuts are still effective in tameshigiri (there is a video source for this, but I can't be bothered finding it myself).

That's really awesome to hear!

Happy for you!

Lulz I tore my ACL within 3 months, been recovering fine tho, will def come back

Thanks! Hopefully the new people will take some of these tips and apply it. I really wish I did! (*says while massaging his hurting shoulder*) 😂

I've been training shorin ryu karate for many years and teaching it for the past decade. I realized long ago that there were holes in the style...at least as it is taught today in the US. Frankly, I believe a lot of styles have become watered down due to liability concerns. As an instructor, even with insurance, you're always considering the ramifications of injuries, etc. (let the lawsuits fly!) BUT, with that said, I am also cross-training in BJJ with Judo mixed in there, and I've been incorporating aspects of those styles into my karate classes. I do have to acknowledge that some of the students are in the class solely for a workout, but for those who are interested in stepping up their game, I'm up for it. I love working throws and grappling, and it helps me get better by teaching it to others.

I think most people in this channel have.

🙏👊

I was by Bluue Sky (Chung Min BoupSa), originally healing, and fighting arts were taught together. As you age, the healing becones of greater importance. Many arts have separated over time, or the teachers withheld some knowledge. Acupuncturie and massage were included in sone arts, but the wide curriculum does not fit in many peoples modern world.

Is Judo hard on the body? I'm 35 and considering starting. I've been active my whole life so I'm not in bad shape, just wondering if I'll break my head lol.

​@@janzafar7577you'll learn how to fall. But try jiu-jitsu instead. You'll probably get hurt, but tap.

Agreed! I just meant that it's not preparing people for physical combat outside of the Dojo, but that's my bad.

​@@MartialArtsJourneya kendoka with a stic can be scary tho

@@MartialArtsJourney A lot of the old masters were using their experience from weapons for bare hand combat. You find a lot fighting styles beeing that like baji quan or xing yi which use moves from spear fighting but without spear .Karate has a lot of sword fighting without a sword. I think i made the proposition a few times already, cut a sword off the handle, then grip only the handle and try fight, i am sure you end up better than you did with your pressure testing of aikido back in the time.

@@MartialArtsJourneyI bet youll get your ass handed to you by an experienced kendoka with a stick

This is so opposite to what I believed growing up wrestling while being very worried about getting into a fight with a boxer as that's what was considered the most effective martial art until BJJ and MMA became popular. For me, grappling is so easy and straight forward I really can't remember not knowing how to take people down and stay on my feet or how to never get into a position on the ground that I can't use intelligence to turn into a dominant position. But now that I've mastered boxing after 9 years, I am starting to question my grappling skills are getting rusty as it's been advancing so much in the last twenty years

Depends on what you want, sport/mental perspective it's good to try a lot of what you mentioned but MMA is still not the real world...on the street you dont want to be on the ground, you learn grappling/wrestling to get up soon as possible...striking is more useful in the street...BJJ is overhyped in the internet but it's just a tool, useful of course but you always want to know how strike (maybe kick), a good punch can save your life...the faster you handle the situation the better, you dont want to fight in the ground for minutes...believe me

​@@quercusroburxthe three taps means your joint is braking or you are out of breath. It takes seconds if you are trained for that. Striking is a must but knowing how to fall and what to do in the ground is important.

I probably would have *gone and taken Shaolin kung fu

I've not done aikido but this aikido bloke was a bouncer for many years and got into many fights. He slightly adapted his aikido and said it was very effective in the street. ukposts.info/have/v-deo/gKZ8a5eYgqJ7p3k.htmlsi=bylqG-Lfr6IEByyO&t=8

@bootlegmegaboss3304 Do you like to read books on martial art?😁

@@jagger_claw I enjoy reading books in general, but haven't read anything on martial arts yet. Anything you'd recommend?

@@bootlegmegaboss3304 It looks like my comments here are getting deleted for some reason! Can we talk somewhere else?

Wait, do Goju Ryu guys actually spar?

@@Limemill yes we do. Spar, partner drills, pressure test techniques. The works

what do you mean by hard and soft styles?

@@brynjones3445 a soft-style is typically uses open hands and a parrying system and instead of a blocking and using the other persons strength against them. Some styles have both like Goju Ryu which means hard and soft or Hung Gar tiger is hard crane is soft. But depending on the person they may only focus on one over the other... Cobra Kai is hard Miyaigi Do is soft.. there is a karate movie called Kuro Obi that goes through the philosophy really well also. I think it's on UKposts. One of the actors are on the Kuro Obi world channel. Most sports are hard because it's not entertaining to be defensive. There may be someone who can explain it better than I can but once you recognize that you can easily point it out

@@nebriancoleman4704 If you hear bullshit like "using someone's strength against them", you should be running from that place anyways. Strength never works against you, even if you have no clze what you're doing.

@@MrCmon113 If you punch as hard as you can and I move Your energy is going in the wrong direction. Don't try to make things too overly complicated.

@@MrCmon113 yes and no. I agree tai chi and most these hand trapping systems have glaring forms but when it comes to close grappling systems( bjj or wrestling) u mainly do use ur opponents power against them, for instance the philosophy of push pull is very important. Or trying to time sweeps.

Agree... Well injuries are one off the reasons why I stopped MMA/BJJ (I do still little BJJ) and started to train more Aikido again. With Aikido I can still do Martial Arts and still maintain my physical condition and my skills (and even develope my older skills), but with less injuries altough our training is pretty hard.

@@ironjavs1182 In the 90's, Kyokushin, Muay Thai, MMA took over then scene. Point Karate went out of favor, but if you look at footage of Mikio Yahara in those Karate competition, these guy had speed, timing, balance etc, also their conditioning was also good, lean muscle everywhere. It won't take much to convert them into a ring fighter. Do we want to get punched in the stomach and head after 35 with our daily career and family schedule? We need something that's effective at fighting but train in a way that doesn't get us hurt.

⁠I’m really passionate about martial arts and always dreamt of starting one. Now I have the time and money and I’m thinking about aikido or taekwondo (and maybe hapkido if there’s a great teacher/dojo in my city), but mostly aikido because it seems more light, and I’m truly afraid of getting an injury as I love playing music more than life itself, and so far every other dojo seems hella competitive in comparison

I bet bjj is a lot less injurious than most popular sports like football, skateboarding and skiing.

Man as a Judoka and kickboxer, who has dabbled in just about everything and started as a kid with taekwondo I'd love to see more diversity in it's application and interpretation. I hope you have great success! One day I'd like to open my own judo, kudo, and no gi BJJ hybrid school I hope I can expand the arts in the way you are doing.

@@gajorg69 just keep going man, nobody can tell what you can or cannot do. Martial arts is about evolution through experience. You learn a fighting style from your master, but it doesn't mean you cannot learn others. All the teachings you have through your life in martial arts will develop your unique fighting style, that someday, you will teach others, that in the future will do the exact same thing. For comparation, it is just like the cicle of life itself: a single person, formed by the dna and teachings of its parents life experiences, that will have its own experiences through life and will teach these to its children, students, and the cicle begins again. I wish you success and a great martial arts journey for your life 🙌🏽

Which Taekwondo? ITF or WTF - if it is not ITF its not Taekwondo, the WTF Olympic style is not the original - Americans due to the conflict in South Korea got the watered down version of the real Taekwondo designed for soldiers.

@@DJ-st4rs not only this, but the fact that Kukkiwon and WT were created to form a sport-based style makes this point just worse. What i see is that martial arts evolve with the traditions and one's personal experiences through life, changing it's shape in the process. I do know that our taekwondo is just a sport and is not realy effective as a martial art, so, what i've learn for the past 22 years and what i am learning now will make my style unique, and this, my way of the taekwondo is the one that will pass to my students and will evolve through the next generations.

You know, I've though about Pa-Kua the instant he Said about searching It before joining in. I've did exactly that, and found things that made me reluctant to try Pa-kua. As a practicioner (or ex-practicioner) what are your thoughs about It?

​@@WillTower19 I still pratice Pa-Kua and teach it. Honestly, I truly believe in the Knowlegde/Filosophy and some tecniques for self-defense (that I tried and tested myself in pressure tests), but like Rokas says in one of his video - some martial arts are like running a bike. That's ok, it's good for your health, but you can't win against a racing car. Pa-Kua is not entirely for self-defense. It's a Martial Art with some tecnique for self-defense (in my opinion). And I try my best to teach this for my students - what are for self-defense and what it's not. I also praticed other martial arts, combat sports and self-defense system, to learn and see other point of views. And from what I learn, Pa-Kua has great potential and concepts for self-defense and also for fighting, like Aikido and other martial arts, but the instructors aren't good. They don't seek for Excelence (witch I believe it's the essence of Martial Arts - The Seek for Excelence). I recently take a knive-defense course from a krav maga school that the tecniques were so bad... Bad instructors are in all Martial Arts, Self-defende system and Combat Sports. Sorry for the big text, but I couldn't express my toughts in just one paragraph hehe

@@WillTower19 Well search here for Chi Arts Association or Bagua Jiulong both are pretty good and able for the streets

That's awesome! I'm so happy for you

I appreciate that Rokus!

🙏

Ačiū!