Which should I go with

[a;sdlfkjas;df]

Nah bro I hate fighting when your about 19 you would also know it gets pointless and you grow out of it. It was fun going around getting into fight with people in high school but theres no time for that now. Unfortunately tho there are still those same people who hang around train stations, shopping centers and in the streets generally looking to start shit all the time.

i feel ya...

but what i mean is... most mma places teach techniques too diverse all at the same time, they don't go over them properly, and focus way too much on just fitness n such.  an mma gym is somewhere to go AFTER u've reached a high enough level training in different schools that are focusing on specific arts such as a muay thai place or a BJJ place which focus specifically on those, not "mixed martial arts".

i understand.  however, i know that, at least "down here (within 100 miles of me)," you'll almost have to go to a mma gym to get quality muay thai and bjj instruction.  this instruction is separate from the mma instruction, i.e. mma class, bjj (no gi and gi) classes, sambo class, etc (this is how it works at a very well respected mma/boxing gym in the area.  there are other gyms that are more fitness/pure mma oriented).

melbourne may be in a different situation, but again, he may not have the "luxury."

[AznMagic]

dont eva go to karate. it is the worst you learn absolotly nothing

unless u go to a proper dojo.  and as we've went over in great detail before u, proper karate dojos are hard to find.

and yea proper mma gyms still run like that but i still don't think it's as good as going to places specifically for muay thai or specifically for BJJ.  but then again, as u said, he may not have the luxury.  it won't be the worst... it probably won't be too bad either.  but i've seen a lot of mma fighters... even professional ones sometimes... that are strong and fast and fit but have horribly messy technique.

[TheGodEmperor]

Owen4ever makes some astute points. One thing I wqould think about is doing japanese style karate/grappling because it is very versatile and can be a merger into other styles like muy thai and bjj. I've done 8 years of karate-do and judo and I've learned loads of useful strikes and takedowns. If you're a reflexes-quickness kind of fighter as opposed to a brute strength fighter, I would recommend a combination of the aforementioned styles. I've learned both submission and finishing, so, although Judo may be less effective a grappling style than bjj, it still suffices. Furthermore, judo focusses more on throws, which would tend to end a fight in the street as owen pointed out. Just some stuff to think about.

i'm personally not a big fan of karate.  it depends on the dojo.  some places will teach very well but 90% of the karate i see out there is the typical community centre karate for kids with a white guy that doesn't kno shit running the class just because he's maybe 1st or 2nd degree black belt.  that really gives me a negative outlook on this but i do admit, if u find the right dojo to train in, it can be very good.

but for practical street fighting i think i'd prefer to learn some things along the lines of krav maga, wing chun, hapkido, jeet kune do, and etc.

no I know what you mean....a lot of the dojos I see out there are shit....mine isn't and my sensei was trained in the top martial arts school in Japan (one of the few North Americans ever to be let in) and he taught at Zen Monasteries and shit. See the thing with me and fighting is that if I can avoid a messy situation, I will. I hate fighting, and I almost never lose my temper. I see martial arts as a purely self defence tool...as in, do what you have to do, block, retaliate quickly, and run the fuck away. Do not prolong the situation. Do not hurt people needlessly. I hate violence and I am relatively pacifist for a practitioner of martial arts, so this outlook works for me. All I know is that in a self defence situation, I can hurt the guy, or shock him, and get away, which is all I need since I'll never be the initiator.

oh i kno just what u mean.  see, my goal in this is to become a great "martial artist".  not a great MMA fighter... not a great street fighter... not a black belt in a whole buncha things, or nething else.  i just wanna be a great "martial artist".  that means being adept fitness wise, street fighting wise, sport fighting wise, also being adept at both internal and external martial arts, as well as taking in useful philosophies.

my view of a martial artist is that it is a way of life that stresses both internal and external aspects to make a person more adept in all walks of life. Martial arts for me is not offensive, it is defensive. My imperative as a sparrer is to never get hit...I dodge and block very well, and my only preferred strikes are counter attacks or a wicked double roundhouse kick that I pride myself on. So yeah Iagree with you  :cheers:

[moby]

dont eva go to karate. it is the worst you learn absolotly nothing

unless u go to a proper dojo.  and as we've went over in great detail before u, proper karate dojos are hard to find.

and yea proper mma gyms still run like that but i still don't think it's as good as going to places specifically for muay thai or specifically for BJJ.  but then again, as u said, he may not have the luxury.  it won't be the worst... it probably won't be too bad either.  but i've seen a lot of mma fighters... even professional ones sometimes... that are strong and fast and fit but have horribly messy technique.

i saw this fight with some pro karate instructor and a street fighter. the karate guy was jumping like 2 meters in the air with fly kicks and they guy just moved out the way and hooked him one in the stomach. he was out and the  street guy just sat on him and started laying into him allday until they stopped the fight.

[AznMagic]

dont eva go to karate. it is the worst you learn absolotly nothing

unless u go to a proper dojo.  and as we've went over in great detail before u, proper karate dojos are hard to find.

and yea proper mma gyms still run like that but i still don't think it's as good as going to places specifically for muay thai or specifically for BJJ.  but then again, as u said, he may not have the luxury.  it won't be the worst... it probably won't be too bad either.  but i've seen a lot of mma fighters... even professional ones sometimes... that are strong and fast and fit but have horribly messy technique.

i saw this fight with some pro karate instructor and a street fighter. the karate guy was jumping like 2 meters in the air with fly kicks and they guy just moved out the way and hooked him one in the stomach. he was out and the  street guy just sat on him and started laying into him allday until they stopped the fight.

a person actually well adept in the style of karate knows all sorts of hand techniques, kicking techniques, basic locks and self defence techniques, as well as various weapon techniques.

it's just that probably 90 or 95 % of karate practitioners are idiots and they let themselves be too contained by tradition and conventions.  being too bound by patterns and forms, they lack the improvisation skills required in a real fight.  there are still those that are very good fighters and also practice karate.  but there are different aspects to karate than being just a great fighter, which some are.  sometimes it's practiced for general fitness or health or for fun.  sometimes it's practiced to keep tradition alive.

but all that aside, u probably saw that because karate has been WAY watered down by being too popular with movies like the karate kid... then everybody started taking it everywhere and u get the stupid fuckers that have black belts n everything and can't do shit because they never learned from a proper sensei in a proper dojo.

[moby]

man you are one smart guy.

any way it is hard to think right when you are in a fight. you just think beat the fuckout of the other guy

[AznMagic]

man you are one smart guy.

any way it is hard to think right when you are in a fight. you just think beat the fuckout of the other guy

that's where something i said in the other section comes into account.  there are four stages to learning a skill.

unconscious incompetence (ur doing it wrong but u don't know ur doing it wrong)
conscious incompetence (u know ur doing something wrong)
conscious competence (u've learned a skill but u have to focus and think about it while ur doing it)
unconscious competence (the skill is learned to a point where u don't even have to think about it.  it comes naturally to you)

now ideally, when in the heat of a fight it's good to keep a clear head and be controlled.  that way u can maximize the potential of quelling the conflict before it gets out of hand.  whether by stopping it, running away, some kinda joint lock or simple standup grapple to control ur opponent or attacker, or anything else.

but sometimes that's hard to do when ur pissed off and u wanna just beat the muthafucka up.

in that case, ones that have practiced martial arts enough that they become unconsciously competent at their skills will obviously do better than some idiot swinging his arms around at ya.  u don't have to think.  u just do it because ur muscles remember the movements.

take the example of a footballer.  do you think any of the professional footballers at all have to think and focus on a 10 yard pass?  how bout when he has acres of space and is taking it slow, jogging up the pitch... do you think that footballer has to think about how to control the ball and let it stay with him as he moves up the pitch?

no.