Your style: Strength / Weakness analysis
I saw this question elsewhere and thought that it is an excellent thread to have. So I am asking the question:
What do you consider to be the strengths of your particular style and also if you feel this style has any weaknesses.
This can in terms of combat or internal analysis.
The strength of Tai Chi Chuan is that it uses the opponents force to the maximum and you don't have to rely on a lot of strength to apply. The weakness is that many are not prepared to put in the hard work required to gain these skills, most practitioners cannot fight as they spent all there time practising only one aspect "Hand Form". So the weakness is not actually in the system it is it's appeal to mostly those who wish to train for health only. Mind you if it is improving health then I would say that is a strength also. As a fighting art in the hands of a hard working spirited individual then it is an extremely useful subtle and scientific method of self defence!
Karate :-
Firstly, although it is not an attribute of the style, Karate is probably one of the most well known martial arts out there and therefore developing yourself in it is a lot simpler than a martial that is less popular. No matter where you relocate to, i'm sure there will be a karate club. Also the wide range of people and sub-styles within karate amounts to a huge variety of techniques.
Some of the less popular styles are more difficult to find resources, i'm talking books, good instructors, good fellow students etc. In Karate you can almost guarantee that anywhere you go.
Karate trains core body strength, flexibility and cardiovascular ability. A great all round martial art. There are competitions too, which some styles do not have.
The style has been built and developed over hundreds of years, fine tuned in so many ways by the highest level martial artists so by learning it, your learning a piece of history and culture of Japan.
I have to say though in many Karate styles the movements are limited and a bit rigid.
The strength of the wing chun system is its ability to simultaneous attack & defend and its speed.
Some people think that its weakness is its effective only at close range its not its effective at long range to you must understand bridging the gap to control & close down an opponent.
Wayne Hunt
Well let me do Taekwondo:
As someone else said regarding their style, you get to learn about the culture. Well I think Taekwondo does have this learning the Korean culture side to it, but it is less set in traditional hostoric rigid ways. As it is a more modern martial art in has many more fluid movements.
Taekwondo is great for the fitness, the kicks look awesome in my opinion too. Also you get to enter into many competitions which a lot of martial arts deny you.
The problem with Taekwondo the way I see it is that it's not that practical in real life situations. That's not to say all of the methods taught are not, in fact many clubs teach a lot of self defense within taekwondo classes and I have known many people in Taekwondo who have had to use their skills that they learnt to fend off attacks in real life. A spinning back kick might sound in practical in real life, but i've seen it actually work extremely effectively - but this was against a normal person, perhaps not as useful against an experienced martial artist.
I think that in the hands of a good natural kicker such as General Choi Hong Hi the art can be very effective in a real life situation. I think the only problem is not many are natural kickers who can maintain good balance, and snap the leg back fast enough to avoid being thrown or swept. Competition is good for developing spirit, many styles avoid competition or indeed realistic sparring. Seems to me they are swimming on land.Originally Posted by SimonB
Kenpo karate is a great martial art. I've not been in it that long but I can say I took careful consideration when choosing a martial art before deciding on this.
Kenpo is really made for real life self protection and takes a lot from other martial arts out there and conmbines joint locks and throws and hitting very well.
The only problem I would say with it is that there are many schools out there which teach garbage and call in Kenpo but it's not the authentic martial art that it should be.
One of the reasons why I want to post this is to say Kenpo is a martial art I would really recommend and if taught correctly, there are no weaknesses within its teachings and principles as far as I can see.
I started learning Martial Arts when I was inspired by Bruce Lee and the Kung Fu TV series with the late David Carradine as a kid. At the age of six I began learning Judo, at seventeen I switched to Shotokan Karate. Following thereafter I studied Shu Ku Kai Karate, Tai Chi Chaun, Lotar, (Krav Maga) Kickboxing and Taekwondo under coach of the Australian Olympic Taekwondo Team. I finally came to the conclusion that Zen Do Kai is the best as it is not restricted in its outlook or it's techniques.
Zen Do Kai Freestyle was developed in 1970 as a break away from a Goju Ryu style Karate school and was formulated for people working in the security industry. Zen Do Kai was of necessity a real world martial art and many of the Traditional Karate techniques were replaced with more effective and simpler methods.
Traditional Martial Arts usually have a single minded way of performing techniques, handed down through the centuries, which are, in many cases, more beautiful than effective. Zen Do Kai was developed to be totally effective, constantly adapting to changes, a Free Style, where anything that works is embraced and techniques that don't are discarded.
Essentially Zen Do Kai is similar in philosophy to Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. An amalgam of the most effective elements of many fighting styles, but the roots of Zen Do Kai are in Okinawan Karate, rather than Chinese Gung Fu where Bruce Lee's roots lie.
Zen Do Kai is always evolving, constantly adapting to the modern world. It takes many of its fighting techniques from Muay Thai Kickboxing, but also borrows self defence techniques from Aikido, Jujutsui, Judo, Taekwondo, Kung Fu, Western Boxing and anything and everything that works. Every person that comes to Zen Do Kai, brings with them their own influences. ZDK grows with every generation into a more and more relevant and effective system of self defence and that is why I believe Zen Do Kai Freestyle Karate, Kickboxing & Mixed Martial Arts is the BEST.
Weaknesses of Zen Do Kai?
In my opinion, none, but I would like to see more ground fighting techniques incorporated.
A very interesting thread, thanks.
English Martial Arts have some great strengths. It is fantastic at close range, strong striking and standing grappling components. It teaches a system of combat that can be applied to any combinations of weapons or unarmed. It provides a defensive framework that focuses primarily on your safety before defeating your opponent. It translates very well into modern self protection. It also provides a moral framework for daily life.
There are a couple of weaknesses (or perceived weaknesses). Firstly the defensive nature is thought by some to be a problem as it limits the way attacks are delivered (that could be an article in its own right) to the safest possible methods. More importantly there is little to no groundwork. From a self defence perspective I dislike the tendency of MMA to go to the ground quickly. On the street it is simply asking for trouble. But leaving it out of the toolkit altogether is possibly a little foolish...
ashley (07-29-2010)
Yes I understand that. In Tai Chi Chuan we spend most of our time training to be rooted. Even if thrown or taken to the floor we roll as quick as possible to our feet. Groundwork is neglected. I agree with you that it is certainly not wise to be rolling around on the floor in a real situation and I have first hand experience of this. Tai Chi has 13 tactics, 8 of which are uses of force, these uses of force can certainly be applied on the floor as after years of training the body knows no other way of fighting. But actual ground fighting practice is neglected. The Chinese often call it dog boxing and have the idea it is quite unsophisticated to be rolling around on the floor like dogs. I have a an older Tai Chi brother in Tai Chi Chuan who started off as a stand up full contact San Shou fighter who then decided to cage fight and also train others to do so using Tai Chi. He became British champion at Vale Tudo but had to practice ground fighting from other systems to suit the sport. I think the rules of this game are in favour of the ground fighter and real martial arts are not designed for sport fighting. The wearing of gloves for a start take away most of the Kung Fu skills. I know for San Shou competition you have to train techniques that can be applied whilst wearing boxing gloves, and all the dangerous stuff has to be trained out of you so you don't apply it.More importantly there is little to no groundwork. From a self defence perspective I dislike the tendency of MMA to go to the ground quickly. On the street it is simply asking for trouble. But leaving it out of the toolkit altogether is possibly a little foolish...
Martin Austwick (06-08-2010)
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