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hap ki do is awesome. aikido is similar, and also cool. my friend is doing boxing right now and i guess the teacher/ coach works them REALLY hard. he says it kills him, physically, and I don't think they even spar much. Anyone do hap ki do cane fighting? http://www.canemasters.com/ i did two terms of it through community schools and it was super fun. I am rusty on my technique though...

My thing is Shotokan Karate. I've done that for... I guess seventeen, eighteen years now, which kinda freaks me out now that I think about it. I've also got I think four years of Ju-Jitsu (interesting), two of Capoeira (most fun ever!), and a few months of Krav Maga (undertrained assholes).

I'd really discourage taking a combat martial art purely as a healthy living thing... I mean, there are better ways to get in shape, if that's the goal - I know a lot of senseis of great skill and power who are still rocking substantial paunch even if they're strong under it - and the places that are really gung-ho about that sort of element are, as a rule, really poor teachers of the art itself. It's not what it's supposed to be about. The other weird joke of it is that the teachers who are really into conditioning are generally worse at getting their students into actual shape. If you're doing the moves right, in Shotokan or whatever, it can be incredibly draining and work all of your muscles at once, whereas lesser teachers often throw in a lot of aerobic exercises to make their students feel like they're doing more. If you really want to go through with it, decide to go into it looking to learn to be the best martial artist you can, throw out thoughts of anything else when looking for a school (avoid competition-centered places and anything with badass posturing), and find the best instructor you can, and you'll find that'll get you where you want to be.

I would actually strongly suggest Capoeira if you're mostly looking to get in shape. Not the most practical of the arts, though I still wouldn't fuck with the masters, but it's definitely the workout of a lifetime and a lot of fun. I need to start going back to that, actually...

Very well put, Antero. I know the adults at my kids' dojang are "strongly encouraged" to do aerobic training as part of their practice outside of class.

You play SF4 yet newark? Maybe my fond memories of sf2 are a bit fuzzy because I just couldn't get into SF4

I really want to take Karate again, I took it as a kid but quit after I got my uniform (who need to LEARN when you've got the kick ass uniform? ). My resent interest in it was probably sparked by my liking for the Karate Kid movies
And theres a studio near me that was founded by somebody named Miyagi!!! I took kick boxing for a while and that was a good workout (the instructor beats the shit out of you though ). I've taken Yoga and Yogalates, I'd go with the later if I were you, its just all around better in my opnion.

One of my friends has been trying to get me to take Krav Maga, which is focused on getting yourself out of real-life violent situations, not fighting per se. They teach you how to disarm people threatening you with guns, knives, etc. Another thought.

Most of the people I've met in real life that were into Krav Maga or Brazilian Jujitsu were pricks.

Tai Chi is actually hella awesome if you can find someone who teaches it as a martial art and not as aerobics.