Boxing, for instance, is built upon throwing punches with gloves and tape on. Being grabbed isn't a possibility in boxing, so you'll learn habits that a grappler would love to take advantage of. Also, gloves and tape changes everything about how you fight that can get you in trouble if you don't have them on. Boxers keep their gloves in front of their face to use as a shield. Without gloves, an opponent could simply shove your own fists in your face. Getting punched in the bare hand also really, really sucks and could cost you a fight right there. Boxers throw wide, round punches with a lot of power. Half of that power is going back into your own hand and the bones in your hand are a lot smaller than an opponents jaw, so you could very easily break your own hand. You can't fight with broken hands. A quick, accurate strait punch to the mark or button is a lot more effective if you're fighting without gloves and tape on. Those powerful, slow, wide round punches also leaves your elbow out, which is vulnerable to being twisted into a lower key lock or armbar if your opponent is able to parry or slip the punch.
A martial art that's more designed for self defense would be better. Any martial art that claims to be good for self defense should, one way or another, teach you three steps to defending yourself: Survive, Prevent, and Finish. Survive an opponents attack, prevent him from attacking again, and then finish the fight (which can include running like hell). You can move back a step but never skip a step. Many martial arts focus on that fancy takedown to finish an opponent but skip that crucial step 2. Also, be wary of martial arts that require opponents cooperation. Aikido has a bad habit of this. I often see demonstrations in Aikido where the instructor shakes a students hand while the student does a forward roll and they call it a throw. There's a lot of martial arts that includes mysticism that only works against other "believers". In the end, the best survival strategy on the street is to dodge the assailant's attack, jab a finger into their eye, kick them in the groin, and run like hell.
Good luck!
if you can find a gym boxing , karate or jiu jitsu are pretty good , it takes a lot of discipline and commitment and any good trainer will not teach you boxing , karate or any of the martial arts if you just want to fight but if you want to learn to protect yourself and also learn discipline and how to avoid fights they'll gladly train you
being afraid is more about fear of the unknown and not having confidence than about not knowing how to fight though and the world is not as dangerous as you might think from TV shows or the news since they just mention the bad things and the crime rates are the lowest they've been in over 120 years
even getting a dog can help you feel safe or walking with a friend
That's right...........IMO, a martial art, would be great. Now, I'm a big guy and after working and retiring from the telephone company, I got a job as a court security officer We were trained by US Marshalls. They needed a volunteer for a court room training scene and PICKED me. lol, I was supposed to be seated in the gallery and get upset and cause problems in the court room. The US Marshall stood next to me and said ,"Ok, get up" he then proceeded to apply pressure to an area between my neck and shoulder and I couldn't move. Case in point...................learning martial arts, more than one and being serious with it will benefit you a lot more in the long road of life than boxing will. There are martial arts whereby You use the weight of your opponent against him , being a small young lady. Good luck.
Boxing and karate are great to learn for anyone.. you will learn discipline and get great balance. But you also need to learn Brazilian Jui Jitsu, especially as a girl, because if some bigger stronger male tries to hurt you, you need to understand how leverage works.. and Jui Jitsu will make you a master of using leverage to beat someone much bigger than yourself.
Boxing would be a great sport. for self confidence and excersise. so i'd advice you to do boxing because its alot more easier to pull of in a real fight if you had to than karate is
go with boxing but carry around a pepper spray too
I am a 14 year okd girl and I want to be able to go somewhere by myself and not be scared. I thought something like boxing, karate, I would prefer boxing. We live near downtown and I just am naturally jumpy. I was just wondering if there was something besides what was already mentioned, I want it to be fun but useful.
