Martial Arts/Self-defense for complete beginners

[glen-highland.livejournal.com]

My wife and I are thinking about learning how to fight off bad guys a few days a week after work. Can anyone recommend or share experiences with their karate/kung fu/jiujitsu/judo/capoeira/etc. school preferably somewhere in between Union and Davis? Sorry so vague, we don't have much to go on. We don't want anywhere cultish or overly spiritual.

On the same topic, we saw some pictures online from various schools where everyone is sharing sweaty foot juice. Is it pretty common to go barefoot? Is it a requirement? :-)

Thanks in advance!

Comments

[concrete.livejournal.com]

> between Union and Davis

> We don't want anywhere cultish or overly spiritual.

> Is it pretty common to go barefoot? Is it a requirement?

I know EXACTLY what you guys need. Somerville Boxing Club. It's open late, it's not cultish, you get to wear shoes, and you WILL end up with usable knowledge. It's by Market Basket. no, noone's going to destroy your faces. Noone is even allowed to touch your face until you get an amateur permit.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

Our school (Sityodtong, see my post below) has Coach Lyle from SBC come in to teach boxing. A great instructor.

The other plus about SBC is that its one of the most affordable gyms around especially compared to the expensive fees most martial arts schools charge.

[frederic.livejournal.com]

For Muay Thai, boxing, and ground fighting/MMA, there's Sityodtong in East Somerville (a little out of your prefered zone). Not cultish/spiritual at all -- effective fighting skills demonstrated by the gym's successes in Muay Thai and MMA fights. Not specifically self-defense.

http://www.sityodtong.com/

Some self-defense schools, like Krav Maga, encourage you to wear shoes (there's a Krav school in Boston). Most places demand that you're barefoot (for either your partners' safety or their padded floors). If you're really self-conscious of contact with sweat and other sweaty people, this might not be the right activity for you.

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

I watched a class at this school. Not really my cup of tea, but I have never seen another martial arts school with students as well conditioned. Whatever you study will be guaranteed to be almost completely useless unless you know how to handle an adrenaline dump. I think there's a model mugging school in Brookline. Bit of a hike, but I imagine it would be worth it.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i'd recommend "model mugging" or a similar course, rather than formal martial-arts study of any sort, for basic self-defense. see if the ymca or other community service offers such a class from time to time.

(i've been at mit kokikai for eight years, but as o sensei was fond of pointing out, in this day and age the bad guys tend to shoot you with a gun from fifty feet, or drop a bomb from forty thousand. spending years getting good with wooden weapons is somewhat silly from a "this will protect me from the bad guys" perspective.)

bare feet are common, as it's hard to stretch or exercise your feet in shoes, and practicing kick techniques with someone wearing sweaty socks is immeasurably more yucky and with shoes immeasurably more dangerous.

CW TKD

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

I would recommend CW Taekwondo in Central Sq.

They are a 501c3 non-profit. As such, there is no health club contract, and prices are very low.

They have their own studio right behind the Wendy's on Green Street.

They offer taekwondo and cardio kickboxing. Beginners classes to both are offered in conjunction with the BCAE/CCAE.

There is a high female to male ratio (over 50% female), so I've found women don't need to be worried about the wrong crowd.

I've been a member since October 2002 and can't say enough good things about it.

As per Eastern tradition, all classes on the mat are barefoot, in socks, or special martial arts shoes. But I can still assuer you that it's the anti-cult :)

Re: CW TKD

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

That's what I was going to say. They are the nicest ever.

Aikido

[catbird.livejournal.com]

There is a very good Aikido dojo on Mass Ave: http://www.neaikikai.org/ unfortunately they are a bit beyond my price range so I don't go anymore.

Aikido is not the martial art if you want to learn how to kick bad guy ass quickly (if you study for 10+ years you can probably pin/control pretty much anyone though). It will teach you quickly how to push the bad guy out of the way and get the hell out of there. They are excellent for teaching you how to fall without hurting yourself and how to get out of the way of a punch/kick/stick. It's mostly a throwing and pinning martial art. I really like Aikido because I feel like I can control an opponent without a lot of muscle and you get to make people go "thud".

I haven't run across any dojo's where you don't practice bare footed. In Aikido and Judo you practice on mats mostly so shoes are probably banned for that reason.

You might want to consider taking a quick tour of the dojo's in the area. Any dojo of repute will let you watch a class or even get on the mat with everyone before you pay a dime.

[hiddenbear.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if there are Jiu-Jitsu clubs around that are open to the public (MIT's isn't), but if you can find one I'd highly recommend it. American Jiu-Jitsu dispenses with all sorts of things that other arts consider the basics, but that don't have any real world applicability. American Jiu-Jitsu is 100% about self-defense, w/ the first lesson always being avoid a fight if at all possible. You'll learn effective strikes, effective blocks, and, if needed, the ability to cause serious damage. Nothing pretty, everything useful.

As for bare feet, I know that the MIT club allowed mat shoes when I was there.

[lauradi7.livejournal.com]

Davis Square Martial Arts (on Highland, very near to the center of Davis Square) has Kung Fu, and they also house
shotokan karate classes (taught by different people).

http://www.davissquaremartialarts.com/

[wildflowersoul.livejournal.com]

Chiming in on Davis Sq. Martial Arts- I take kung fu there, and it's excellent. The barefoot thing is pretty common, but I haven't caught any weird foot diseases in the past couple of years. The floor does get pretty darn sweaty, though.

Thanks

[glen-highland.livejournal.com]

Hey, this is good stuff, thanks everyone so far!
I'll report back in a few days/weeks/months... :-)

Re: Thanks

[ron_newman]

Be sure to read the comments for previous entries with this tag, as well as this one.

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

It's not quite in the area you're asking about, but I've been going to the Theodorou Academy of Jiu Jitsu (http://www.bostonselfdefense.com) in Watertown for three years now. Most people go barefoot, but a good number wear wrestling shoes, no remotely cultish but a great group of people, and very practical self defense. Sensei Nick is great! I can't say enough good stuff about the place.

But yeah, you do kinda need a car to get there as the one possible downside--there's nearby buses I think, but nothing too speedy and no T stations close by.