Not exactly Arnis, but....

[amul]

The Martial Arts school which is one block west of me offers a 1-hour Tae Kwon Do class M-F, from 5-6pm. It isn't as exciting to me as Arnis, but it's extremely convenient, and wouldn't conflict with any of my regularly scheduled weekday events.

The reason I want to learn Arnis as opposed to any other is threefold: it's a street-combat style, meant to teach self-defense and not just competitive MA, it includes a number of weapon forms which are cool and portable, and it is designed to be taught in a way that makes practice a fun game between two people.

TKD, on the other hand, is conveniently available. I'll find out how much it costs later tonight, hopefully.

Encouragement, and reasons to look forward to learning TKD would be greatly appreciated.

Comments

[vorscott.livejournal.com]

Warning: This is something I know more than a little bit about.

It's all, all, all about the instructor. A really good instructor will teach you exactly what the difference is between competitive technique (kick them in the head, where it's obvious to the judges) and combat/defense technique (kick their knees backwards - it makes it hard for them to chase you when you run away). He or, sadly more rarely, she will let you push in the direction you want to go and focus in areas that are suited to you.

Any martial art can be taught as "flashy-cool", as "sport", as "street fighting", as "self-defense". I've shown people how Tai Chi, which looks utterly passive, actually teaches viable takedowns and control techniques.

So here's what I'd recommend. Go and check out the school and the teacher. Find out if this is a hard-sell, sign-a-one-year-contract-or-we're-not-interested-in-you operation, or someone who's teaching because of a genuine love of the art. A good tell for the former is someone who insists on selling you their school's branded uniforms - that's almost always a moneymaking scam. Sadly, TKD schools tend to be more prone to this sort of nonsense than most.

So what's good about TKD? TKD teaches some of the most practical, high-powered kicks you're going to find. A good TKD artist can break a femur with a kick to the thigh. Kicks below the waist are excellent for self-defense because they are extremely difficult to counter. They also tend to be immobilizing, done properly. TKD also has some very pretty forms (most people hear about kata, the Korean word is poomse), if that appeals. Many TKD schools also teach hapkido to advanced students, which includes more close-combat work similar to jujitsu. Some also teach staff or sword - staff is probably more common, and also much more translatable to handy real-world objects.

I warned you I know more than a little bit about this...