I'm considering taking some sort of martial arts class, mainly for the health and stress relieving benefits, and the self defense doesn't hurt either. Also, a class might be more beneficial because there's a group of people to motivate each other as opposed to just working out by yourself where you don't always have that motivation.

So here are some questions:

- What type of martial arts is the best all around for better health, stress relief, strength training, losing weight and self defense?

- Which martial arts school (in the Baltimore area) offers the best training at a reasonable price?

- What IS a reasonable price per lesson?

- Anything else I'm missing?

Thanks,

Warren

 

to answer no.1 - I recommend hapkido

 

subscribing...
Warren, I've been considering this myself. Great questions......

 

Any martial art that you take will decress stress and improve your overall health. What you need to look for in a school is what they have to offer in terms of training, credidation, and organization. I've trained and have taught classes in Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Tae Kwon Do. Each have their benefits. I used to train and teach at Evolve Academy in Gaithersburg and Rockville, in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and made the U.S. National Kickboxing Team 3 years in a row. What I tell most of my students when looking for a school is organization. Is there a clear path that they have set for you in order to achieve your goal? Is their competitive drive on the same level as yours? This last one is important. Many schools devote a lot of training time to competition as opposed to just folks in there to just get in shape and not training for any type of competition. Compare the schedules to make sure they offer what you want each week, and how many hours per day and how many times per week to work with your schedule.

There is a school in Baltimore called the Baltimore Martial Arts Academy. When the U.S. National Team trials hold kickboxing trials in Richmond, they always have a decent contigent competing. I don't know much about their academy, in terms of schedules, fee, and how orgainzed they are. Always ask if you can run a free trial period to make sure that school is right for you. No decent school/academy will say no to this request. After all, this is about you. You want to go somewhere that is comfortable for you.

There is not one better martial art than the other. Each one has it's own discipline. You have to ask yourself what you want to gain out of training and devoting your time. Do you want to train in an art that is made for real life defensive training or do you want to train in forms and ancient art for discipline? Do you have a competitive drive to enter tournaments? There are a lot of things to consider when trying to find a school. Each school is different and each school is acredited differently. Make sure you do your research in each acredidation as some schools will create their own acredidation that is bogus to lure in clients and students. You will need to consider how much time you want to devote to that school also. The more time you put in, the better the results you are looking for. When I trained for competion, I trained 4 hours a day during the week, and 8-10 hours on Saturday and Sunday. And that doesn't include working out at the gym either.

As for pricing, it varies from school to school. There is no set scale. You will find out that you pay for what you get. A good school will typically hover in the $80-$150 a month range. Typically you will also be paying for how many hours you want to train per day and how many days per week. You will need to consider that you will also be paying for uniforms, gloves, and sometimes even pads. For instance, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu unform will run about $80. That's just for training. For competition, you'll want to invest in harder fiber material gi, and that will run you about $250. So it can get expensive. Again, this is only for example, as in other martial art disciplines, you may not have to invest as much to get involved.

Good luck in your research. If you need anything else, feel free to ask me and I'll try to answer as best as I can.

Peter

 

nice breakdown peter!

 

Don't Fcuk with Peter

 

your search is going to be very limited, especially in the baltimore area. for this reason, expect to pay premium for memberships.

to answer your first question, i will suggest muay thai. for example, have you seen jack osbourne(ozzy's son) lately? the boy went to thailand to be disciplined in muay thai and came out in much better shape. he also lost a lot of weight.

if you want to be more confident and learn better defense, i will suggest krav maga. it's what a lot of foreign soldiers use. this discipline will teach you more real life situations, so don't expect as much hardcore training(cardio and such) as you would with muay thai.

another thing to consider is a simple kickboxing class that's offered for free if you join certain gym clubs(golds gym for example). and maybe you can join other classes such as cycling and jump roping. just something to consider rather than spending big bucks($100 per month) on a good martial arts school.

aside from martial arts, i'll also suggest boxing. you can't go wrong with this sport. just like muay thai, boxing will really kick your butt into shape.

i'm not familiar with the baltimore area, but mario mazagatti(ref in the ufc) has a school in rockville, md. it's mainly jiu-jitsu, but he also offers muay thai and other disciplines. i don't know if he has a website, but you can always google it. hope this helps.

 

If you're talking about Yamasaki in Rockville, I would not recommend it. I trained there for 2 years before myself, my brother, and the head BJJ instructor left to start his own school. Our academy actually went head to head with Yamasaki in a tournament and all of our students placed in the top 3 of every weight class. Yamasaki had none. It's not that their core training is bad, it's their way of treating their students and organization is weak. There are better schools out there, IMO.

I've also trained in Muay Thai in Thailand for a year. My parents left me and my brother there and all we did was train in Muay Thai. IMO, it's one of the more practical stand up for real life. BJJ, is more practical if the encounter ends down on the ground. Again, this is all real life scenario encounters. A real BJJ class will have you losing more weight than Muay Thai. BJJ involves a lot more wrestling, so you will be losing weight if the proper school is selected. Again, do your research, attend free trial offers, and choose what is best for you. I'm more into the competitive aspect of training, so that may not be what is best for you, and that's what I look for in training.

 

It's Mario Yamasaki. Steve Mazagatti is the other ref. Mario owns Yamasaki in Rockville. Again, not recommended.

 

great insight. and thanks for clearing that yamasaki thing up. i knew it just didn't sound right.