Martial Arts - Which Style is Best?

Martial Arts - Which Style is Best? This is the single, most asked question I get asked via email and in person. My answer is always: "what are you trying to achieve and what style interests you"? The answers to that question is what I begin to formulate my response to address. "It's all good", is an expression I hear around martial arts training halls, seminars, tournaments and elsewhere. It doesn't work for me. I have seen too many bastardized styles based on other systems, combinations of systems, and just plain B.S. "home made", "smoke and mirrors" styles where the Chief Instructor was a Green Belt (in reality) and put his salesman's skills, together with his limited understanding of a credible style, and then promptly awards himself a 10th Dan and makes up a laughable name for it. These are always a major hoot but our "good manners" prevent us from laughing, since the unwitting students love and believe in their Grandmaster "O Sensei B.S.er". They are not to blame. Quite honestly, the choice of a martial arts system is a daunting task. If you want to hook up with practitioners who will be able to instruct you in techniques, train your body, and speak into your life - you want to be sure. I believe that the student lends himself more readily to certain styles more than others. Stocky, stiff jointed types would probably hate Tae Kwon Do, but a flexible, lanky, body type might excel at it. The stocky, less flexible type might do better with Shotokan or an Okinawan martial art, which don't focus on aerial spinning kicks but rather, deliberate and punishing punches and kicks, on a lower line. I had an old Shorin Ryu (Okinawan karate) teacher who was tough as nails, but couldn't kick any higher than your waist. He used to mention that he didn't need to kick higher, to kick you in the face. He'd always laughingly say "I'll kick you in the stomach and when you bend over, then I'll kick you in the head". Strange, but oh how true! My recommendations are to DO YOUR HOMEWORK, you will want to stay for a few years or maybe longer, so go to several schools. Make these schools a good cross section of martial arts. Check out a few styles of Karate, a few Kung Fu, some grappling schools, and whatever else that may be available in your area. All will let you observe the class and give you access to the Sensei (head instructor) of the school. Most will offer some kind of "sign up" special, like a month free or a few free classes. This gives you a great opportunity to see what you will be doing, meet the teacher, assess the skills of the students attending, and help you decide if you want to invest a lot of time and energy (never mind the monthly fees) at this training hall. If you can line up about 6 or more schools of different martial arts styles, with different focuses and faithfully check them all out - WITHOUT JOINING - you will have a pretty solid idea of which one best suits your physical structure, your attitude, and your goals. Choose thoughtfully and carefully, because if you aren't having fun in your martial arts classes, as in anything, you will soon fall by the wayside - frustrated! Better to just go out and buy one of the high power stun batons on the market and crack open a brew, than spend a year in a martial arts style that you are not suited for. Good luck in your pursuit of the unattainable Grasshoppers - choose well!