Which is the best martial arts form to take up?

A considerable part of my life was devoted to Taekwondo. I recall a time when I thought of little else. I loved everything about it... the sparring, the camaraderie amongst teammates, the discipline, even the bruises that came with the territory. And of course, the fact that I was learning self-defense was a major factor in my taking it up in the first place.

~~ The crime rate in the country (even back then) was enough to make anyone paranoid.~~

Enter college, a whole new world... Bombardment with new ideas, some "heretical" by my Catholic high school's standards. A new life.. new priorities.

There was a choice to be made... and come 3rd year of college, I made it. "Sacrifices must be made..." said the Pharoah in The Prince of Egypt. :(

Two years went by, and on my second-to-the-last-sem in UP, I heard about UP Sangkil Karasak from a collegemate.

Two years without an exercise regimen took its toll on my body... my muscles weren't toned, my immune system suffered, and I felt so darn heavy and tired all the time.

So I decided to GO FOR IT! (It helped, of course, that the training schedule fit my own already-hectic schedule perfectly)

And now I wonder why it's taken me this long to discover this amazing martial art form. Best of all, its OUR OWN!

Taekwondo has its merits, but I have to say that from a practical viewpoint, arnis is far superior. Heck, a taekwondo jin can't even come close enough to an arnisador to do any real damage! Plus, taekwondo (being a sport) instills all these rules inside a student's head (no kicking there! that's illegal! you'll be disqualified from a match!) such that when the student encounters a real-live street fight, said student might even hesitate to strike in vital areas (and we all know what that means...).

However, there is another form of martial arts that I am interested in taking up. The following was taken from that most reliable of sources (cough, cough!), Wikipedia:

"Krav Maga ("contact combat") is a self-defense and military hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel, which assumes no quarter, and emphasizes maximum threat neutralization in a "real life" context. It came to prominence following its adoption by various Israeli Security Forces and is now used by military and law enforcement personnel, as well as civilians, around the world.

In some countries, a simplified version is often taught in civilian self defense classes. This excludes numerous 'more lethal' or forceful techniques taught in a military or police context, because of legal proscriptions restricting the teaching of hazardous or life-threatening techniques without appropriate legal authorization."

Basic principles

In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules, and no distinction in training for men and women. It is not a sport, and there are no specific uniforms, attire or competitions. All the techniques focus on maximum efficiency in real-life conditions. Krav Maga generally assumes a no quarter situation; the attacks and defenses are intended for potentially lethal threat situations, and aim to neutralize these and escape via maximum pain or damage to opponents, as rapidly and safely as possible. Crippling attacks to vulnerable body parts, including groin and eye strikes, headbutts, and other efficient and potentially brutal attacks, improvized use of any objects available, and maximizing personal safety in a fight, are emphasized.

The guiding principles for those performing Krav Maga techniques are:

• Neutralize the threat
• Avoid injury
• Go from defending to attacking as quickly as possible
• Use the body's natural reflexes
• Strike at any vulnerable point
• Use any tool or object nearby

According to a description written for the self-publication media site Associated Content, the basic premises of Krav Maga are:

You're not going to care how much damage you're going to cause.

• Cause as much damage as possible and run.
• Do not try and prolong a fight. Do what needs to be done and escape.

The basic idea is to first deal with the immediate threat (being choked, for example), prevent the attacker from re-attacking, and then neutralize the attacker, proceeding through all steps in a methodical manner, despite the rush of adrenaline that occurs in such an attack. The emphasis is put on taking the initiative from the attacker as soon as possible.

Darn, I wish the sem break were here, so I can practice arnis! It's so embarassing, for the past couple of months the only time I get to practice is when I am in the arnis training room at the DMST.

I look forward to learning more techniques, and eventually, be good enough to apply them in a sparring session.