Have You Ever Taken Self-Defense Lessons?

I was in Tae Kwon Do for 3 years. I made it up to a orange belt with a yellow flag. I learned different forms and techniques from the grand master. He was a pain in the ass to deal with at times but he was cool. I joined the class because years ago when I was at middle school.

This girl I knew sent her brother and he's goons to beat me up. Her brother was a guy from high school and he came looking for me. When I was waiting for my mom to pick me up after school outside. I hear someone call my name I turn around then BAM! I get sucker punched in the face and got put to the ground.

Every student outside seen it and laughed. The brother and his friends laughed at me then ran away. I became a laughing stock at that school ever sense. I hated that guy so bad that I wanted him dead. My mom ended up following a police report on him, and thought I should take self-defense lessons.

Then that's where I ended up taking Tae Kwon Do. I was there until I got to the 10th grade of high school. Alot of fucked up stuff started happening in my life, and I went into a huge depression. Then one day I just quit Tae Kwon Do. Looking back on it I wish I stayed at the school. But at the time I wasn't there mentally I was just to depress.

Yea, I know how to use my crown.

I trained in Jukido Jujitsu for a few months. Not long enough to develop any real proficiency at any of it. My instructor, who was also a friend of mine, graduated from the university and moved away, so I wasn't able to continue. I still think about trying to get back into some sort of self-defense from time to time. I also trained Parkour, though not as part of organized lessons for the most part.

Wow, what a dick. Why would someone do that?

@mandude said:

Wow, what a dick. Why would someone do that?

At the time the girl I knew ask if I wanted to play a game called boss up. She didn't tell me what the game was and I said sure. I thought she was joking around then weeks later her brother shows up. Her brother was a gangmember and was known for beating people up almost to death. He was a tall guy and enjoyed hurting people.

I currently study traditional five animal, Seven Star Mantis, Wing Tsun and Shaolin Linked Fist styles of Kung Fu. It's not only good for self defence but it helps me clear my head and focus. I never really had a serious reason for picking it up but I felt like I needed some change in my life as I spend most of my time in front of a screen and it definitely gets tedious after a while. It feels good to train at something where I just need my body and nothing else. I am hoping to enter a tournament coming up to the winter holidays.

I took Gunkatta in my younger college days.

Judo + Taekwondo in middle school, yeah. Forgot everything that was taught.

I've taken a few different types of martial arts over the years. Taekwondo is what I have done the most--I have a second degree black belt. It has been always been something I've done to stay in shape and learn something interesting every week. Currently, I'm taking some Krav Maga courses because I curious about what they were all about.

I want to start taking jui-jitsu next year. My groundwork has always been a little weak because I prefer stand-up fighting.

@SpikeSpiegel said:

I've taken a few different types of martial arts over the years. It has been always been something I've done to stay in shape and learn something interesting every week. Currently, I'm taking some Krav Maga courses because I curious about what they were all about.

I want to start taking jui-jitsu next year. My groundwork has always been a little weak because I prefer stand-up fighting.

I actually want to take jui-jitsu too. I would love to learn different grapple techniques.

I"m taking Krav Maga right now. It is a lot of fun and a great workout!

@christ0phe said:

I"m taking Krav Maga right now. It is a lot of fun and a great workout!

Isn't it true that one of the main moves of that martial art to grab the enemies throat and slam them into the ground? Or am I thinking of something else.

What do you want to defend yourselves against, as in what kind of attack/situation? Easy answer would be gun / spray.

But if you're looking for a FANTASTIC sport to train for street defense I can recommend the 1500m run, perhaps combined with brazilian jiu-jitsu.

I've taken minimal Karate and Boxing classes, nothing serious but enough to know how to handle myself. I've also taken a lot of shooting classes as well, working with a local SWAT officer. Can't get enough of that stuff.

When I get some more money, I want to start Krav Maga classes.

@Jay444111 said:

@christ0phe said:

I"m taking Krav Maga right now. It is a lot of fun and a great workout!

Isn't it true that one of the main moves of that martial art to grab the enemies throat and slam them into the ground? Or am I thinking of something else.

Something like that. The whole point of Krav Maga is that it is defensive in nature, not offensive like a striking art like Karate, for example. Krav Maga is all about getting your off balance and taking your opponent to ground as fast as possible. It's pretty brutal stuff.

Growing up in Detroit I've always seen some crazy shit. At school I've seen some brutal stuff. I remember some things like a guy setting a girl's hair on fire, kids getting jumped on in the hallways, teachers getting beaten, shootouts at the school, people getting robbed, guys putting small bombs in the bathroom and more. So learning self-defense was a smart move for me.

Damn, if I was you I would just get homeschooled.

Don't you just shout "THAT'S MY PURSE! I DON'T KNOW YOU!" and follow it with a swift kick to the testicles?

@Eisen said:

I was attacked once in junior high by surprise. The attacker was my age, but had a good foot on me and weighed at least 70 lbs more than me ( I was one of the smallest in my class and him being the largest). He punched me the face and then wrapped his hands around my neck trying to strangle me. The rest of the class attacked him until they got him to stop. He was shunned by the school and ended up moving shortly after the incident (no one would talk to him after that.) I still don't understand why he attacked me. Thankfully I never had anyone ridicule me for it.

I never had any self-defense classes at that point, but probably should have taken one. I've been stabbed twice in the back (thankfully they didn't know how to attack properly) and bashed in the head with a bat.

Sorry to hear about that. Did they ever find who stabbed you?

I took 2-3 years of Karate while I was in elementary school, but nothing since then. Few fights I've been in since then I never really used any of the actual moves, but was able to manage the fight and get myself out of them without being hurt.

When I was kid/teenager judo, aikido and kendo...

I'm a Gun Fu master, like Christian Bale here

are you making a list of who to go beat up and who not to go beat up?

@braveortega said:

I'm a Gun Fu master, like Christian Bale here

That was like the matrix on steroids. That was some ridiculous action.

@Totori said:

are you making a list of who to go beat up and who not to go beat up?

In Tae Kwon Do the first thing I learned was self-discipline. So no and besides I'm not a violent person. I don't like to hurt people its not my style.

Ya it was called: beat the bully's or your father will kick your ass even worse than they did. It worked.

@MyNiceIceLife said:

I took 2-3 years of Karate while I was in elementary school, but nothing since then. Few fights I've been in since then I never really used any of the actual moves, but was able to manage the fight and get myself out of them without being hurt.

I know what you mean. There was some stuff in Tae Kwon Do I didn't use. Some forms I learned I couldn't see myself doing in a real fight. When a actual fight happens its so unpredictable, and me pulling off some of the forms I was shown. I probably would have ended up getting my ass kicked quicker.

Did the police report know that your mom was following it? The police report should take self-defense classes to ward off stalkers.

Did Karate while younger. Quit after doing the belt exam perfectly for the orange belt but they only gave me a half orange bullshit belt. I think they just wanted me to do more lessons.

Then my sister and mum started doing the adult class and that was extra lame.

There was a cop that knew the guy who attack me, and went to go confront him at the school he was in. He also ended up doing community service. As for he's sister she was kicked out of my school at the time. I remember she had a hard time finding another school HA HA HA. I wish nothing but bad things to happen to her and her brother. Fuck that bitch.....

No but Giant Bomb taught me to kick dudes in the dick.

I took several years of karate as a kid and I was alright at it.

Last December my friends opened a gym that caters for MMA and has different classes every evening. Started going to Wrestling + Brazilian Jujitsu classes and I love it!! Was nervious as hell at first but the lads and the instructors there are great. It's amazing the stuff you will pick up in a sort space of time. I really do recommend it to any one.

I practice Muay Thai

I watched the quicklook of that Kinect game.

I boxed for several years and am looking to get into Krav Maga, as I want a practical martial art. My experience with most people that have done karate/Kung fu/etc is that, in a brawl, it tends to just get your arse kicked faster.

At the very most I can bleed and hope to drown them in my own blood provided that I don't drown myself first. So no...I've got First Aid training though so at least I can save lives though which is more or less along similar lines.

Tae Kwon Do for 7-8 years when I was kid, did it until I got my black black belt. My master/instructer was soooo strict though; he was from Korea and didn't take any bullshit from anyone. He was very good though.

I'm a white guy who was always in good schools in a good neighborhood, so I never encountered gang members or violence-based social circles or the like, so I was always under the impression school violence was only portrayed in movies and sensationalist local news segments, something akin to paint huffing and video games influencing your kids. I mean, I knew it existed (it technically had to), but I figured it was less prevalent. Guess that's what you get when you live a sheltered life.

This all leads me to say that I did martial arts, but never to actually protect myself from possible threats. I took Kung Fu for a few years, then switched to TKD where I joined a newly-formed "Competition Team" with which/whom we trained harder than anyone at the dojo (which, sadly, was basically a glorified day school, which most of them technically are - there's a recent Cracked article that says they're known as McDojos) and went to tournaments and competitions. We got up to the Junior Olympics, all failed, and basically fell apart after; not because of the failure, but someone left for school, someone left for health concerns, etc.

@Roger_Klotz said:

Tae Kwon Do for 7-8 years when I was kid, did it until I got my black black belt. My master/instructer was soooo strict though; he was from Korea and didn't take any bullshit from anyone. He was very good though.

My master was from Korea too. He would smoke alot cigs but he was strict too. If I messed up a form too much he would kick the crap out of me. He's kicks was very painful.

Yes though I'd say to go with juijitsu, judo, kung fu, akido as to me they seem to be more practical martial art styles than karate & tae kwon do. Considering the number of fights you might wind up where you are on the ground or having to improvise, I think that karate/tae kwon do are just more showy/flash but best to just give a few a try each month to see what fits for you.

@falserelic said:

@Roger_Klotz said:

Tae Kwon Do for 7-8 years when I was kid, did it until I got my black black belt. My master/instructer was soooo strict though; he was from Korea and didn't take any bullshit from anyone. He was very good though.

My master was from Korea too. He would smoke alot cigs but he was strict too. If I messed up a form too much he would kick the crap out of me. He's kicks was very painful.

Mine carried a bamboo stick and would smack your legs if your stance wasn't right. However, he was more about psychological punishment, making us do an obscene amount of push-ups on our fingertips or run outside in the 110 degree Arizona heat for punishment.

I did for 2 years when I was in middle school but unfortunately because of our moving in a new city I had to quite.

@Roger_Klotz said:

@falserelic said:

@Roger_Klotz said:

Tae Kwon Do for 7-8 years when I was kid, did it until I got my black black belt. My master/instructer was soooo strict though; he was from Korea and didn't take any bullshit from anyone. He was very good though.

My master was from Korea too. He would smoke alot cigs but he was strict too. If I messed up a form too much he would kick the crap out of me. He's kicks was very painful.

Mine carried a bamboo stick and would smack your legs if your stance wasn't right. However, he was more about psychological punishment, making us do an obscene amount of push-ups on our fingertips or run outside in the 110 degree Arizona heat for punishment.

Damn, I'm glad I didn't have to go through that type of punishment. Then again I only took TKD for 3 years. If I actually stayed I probably would have seen different consequences if I messed up during classes.

I took a class when I was a kid to kill time during the summer but nothing serious. It was some probably made up thing a white dude with a creeper mustache taught us. Can't remember what country he said it was from, but all he did was break wooden boards in front of us and teach us a sit down 'defensive pose' that mostly looked like sitting with your legs crossed awkwardly. Biggest waste of money ever.

I didn't get bullied that much in school, which surprises me because I'm a huge dork and kind of flamboyant for lack of a better term. The one time that I did get attacked though I'm probably lucky I didn't get expelled or worse. A dude punched me in the face and called me a queer, and in return I grabbed his junk and squeezed. Really hard. Until someone pulled me off of the dude which took like, I don't know, a couple minutes? It was really awkward but hey, fuck that guy.

@Alkaiser said:

I took a class when I was a kid to kill time during the summer but nothing serious. It was some probably made up thing a white dude with a creeper mustache taught us. Can't remember what country he said it was from, but all he did was break wooden boards in front of us and teach us a sit down 'defensive pose' that mostly looked like sitting with your legs crossed awkwardly. Biggest waste of money ever.

I didn't get bullied that much in school, which surprises me because I'm a huge dork and kind of flamboyant for lack of a better term. The one time that I did get attacked though I'm probably lucky I didn't get expelled or worse. A dude punched me in the face and called me a queer, and in return I grabbed his junk and squeezed. Really hard. Until someone pulled me off of the dude which took like, I don't know, a couple minutes? It was really awkward but hey, fuck that guy.

You've reminded me of another martial arts school I went to before I took TKD. I went to this ghetto martial arts school, and my whole time there I learned nothing. There was alot kids and few adults. Alot of times we ended up playing Simon says and did exercises. I did sparring sessions without learning any combat moves. The first fight I went up against a man who knew alittle martial arts. I ended up getting my ass kicked by him.

The second fight they wanted me to fight a girl, and I couldn't do it. I let her attack me and the teacher knew I didn't take the fight seriously. So he took the girl out and gave me alittle boy to fight me. The teacher said if I didn't fight him he'll kick me out of the program. So as soon as the kid threw a punch I kick him in the stomach. He was about to cry then I felt bad. I told the teacher to go fuck himself and walked out of the building.

I took karate when i was younger. i don't remember much of it. i didn't like it too much.

i've been think about muey ti, or something. from watching a lot of UFC, i got a little interested in it. there is someone on the forum here who took a mma fight. sadly he lost the match.

I thought the Karate outfit was really cool, so I stayed on long enough to get an outfit then left.