Martial Arts & Fighting Forms | Asian American Poll

MARTIAL ARTS & FIGHTING FORMS
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

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WHAT YOU SAY

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The first martial art I became involved in was "Wing Chun Do" an updated version of classical Wing Chun. Had its good points like closed in hand-to-hand defense but the full front fighting stance seemed too stiff and not mobile enough for me. Only did it for about six months. Stayed away from martial arts for another 8 years till I signed up for WTF Tae Kwon Do. Suited me better and did it for a year and a half. WTF TKD is a good style if you want get a great cardio-vascular workout and learn all the dynamic kicks. TKD hand techniques are minimal and not emphasized. The full contact sparring of WTF TKD is excellent for confidence building and its close enough to real fighting to get a feel if the techniques actuallly work. My probelm with WTF TKD is the over emphasis on tournament style techniques rather than practical self-defense. The WTF(World Taw Kwon Do Federation) is an arm of the South Korean Government and tournament style is emphasized so WTF TKD could get a permanent spot in the Olympics. All well and good but not good for someone who wants to learn practical self-defense. No disrespect, but I didn't care for doing the poomse (forms) and the one-step sparring for self-defense was not practical. I'm not familiar with ITF(International Tae Kwon Do Federation) or ATA(American Tae Kwon Do Association) and traditional Tang Soo Do but I've read that they de-emphasize the tournament stuff and stick more to self defense. I'm hoping to get back to doing the martial arts but I want an art thats practical and I can stick with. I'm partial to Korean arts and would love to take Hapkido. My former TKD instuctor was also a Hapkido master but didn't teach it because of the WTF emphasis on tournament TKD. His former assistant instructor showed some of us Hapkido techniques when the head instructor was absent and Hapkido impressed me. Hapkido is a style that is pure self-defense. No forms and only practical sparring. Hapkido is related to aikido and uses many similar techniques like joint-locks, break falls and throws but also has the traditional Korean kicks. I hoping to get work in the LA area and the great thing is the abundance of Hapkido schools. Any opinions?
DrMidNite Saturday, March 02, 2002 at 15:26:14 (PST)

I just have to say I am tired of all this"kung-fu" is the best crap. In the real world its not the "style" but the person that is the "best" system. Yes training in any fighting art is most definitly going to give you an edge in a fight. BUT to many people get caught up in the "my style is better than your style" all that really matters is whose standing at the end. Finally, for me the most important element in being an effective fighter is what the word implies TO FIGHT..ie. EXPERIENCE. Like anything in life the more you do the better you get.
And I don't mean in a club or even in a controlled arena but ACTUAL throwdowns where your opponent wants to seriously attempt to f*** you up. In these situations you quickly realize what works and what doesn't. With this in mind the closest training "system"most applicable in real time combat in my opinion is the mixed/hybrid/systems of
combat.
Personally, for me combining boxing and judo in fights have been pretty effective and saved my ass more than once.

mexican judo Saturday, March 02, 2002 at 03:38:58 (PST)

NHB,

Are you a promoter for the UFC? Your unwaivering view sounds more like a spectator than and an actual practitioner.
AC Dropout Friday, March 01, 2002 at 11:49:38 (PST)

"size and strength is not a big advantage i am about 5-8" 165lbs and i have kick the crap out of jocks at my high school some were like 280lbs and powerfully strong yet they couldn't defend against my quick jiu-jitsu strikes to the face technique/speed will win most of the time against brute force ..and size doesn't matter much in a streetfight i mean just look at royce Gracie at 176lbs beating guys 50 to a 100lbs heavier than him in UFC.."

Royce Gracie was able to win due to his superior skills. However, once the bigger guys caught on to the same skills, Royce Gracie would not be able to do what he did. Size and strength is a huge advantage, if two fighters are of equal skills. There is a reason why there is weight classes in boxing, etc.
NHB Friday, March 01, 2002 at 10:08:20 (PST)

To all,

All this about power, speed, physical attributes.

Any of you guys noticed that when you fight with non-asian fighters, that they are actually intimdated by the fact you are asian.

Many times on the streets or in a TKD ring. I would notice some non-asian fighter being intimitated by the fact I was asian. I would of course take full advantage of the situation.

I just wanted to know any asians out there experience this also. Because only in the acedemic classroom and in fights, has the overall "asian reputation" proceded me to my advantage.
AC Dropout Friday, March 01, 2002 at 10:07:07 (PST)

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