What kind of martial art should I take (judo, karate, kendo, or jujitsu)?

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Klman

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I'm a college student and for the sake of trying something new I am thinking about joining a martial art club here at Penn State. I consider myself quite athletic, and I play the usual soccer, basketball and weight lifts. I love sports and nothing could be a better sport to try/learn about than martial arts (and it helps with that ever popular resume by joining a club). While looking at them I thought Kendo and Karate looked the coolest. If I don't get any reasonable answers then I may just stick to my usual routine of lifting weights and playing pick-up bball and IM soccer. Thanks!
I forgot to include Taekwon-Do with that list....
 
skip them all and take Kung-fu San-Soo. it's like the dirty fighting of the martial arts world and i have seen in person a 95 lb kidney dialysis patient drop a 200lb man in about 5 seconds with it. it was crazy
 
It depends on what you want to do!

Kendo is very cool, but of limited functionality unless you are going to walk around with a sword all the time. Lots of fun, though.

Karate is good, great exercise, and generally useful for self-defense. No real complaints, but realize that different clubs emphasize different things - some focus on weapons, some on self-defense, some on forms, etc.

Judo is mostly a sport - for defending yourself it is somewhat limited and only really good against a single attacker - but it gives great competition opportunities.

Jujitsu is the most focused on actual fighting, but is (like judo) focused on one attacker at a time. Most MMA fighters study at least some jujitsu, and they choose wisely.
 
Funny, I took my first martial arts training at Penn State, but that was many years ago.
Check out the different clubs and talk to the instructors. Join the one that you like best, not just the one with the best sales pitch. If you liked Kendo and Karate, then just choose between those two.

Think about what you want to get out of it. Kendo is really cool, but it might not do much for you if you are thinking about self-defense (unless you plan to carry around your shinai or a katana all the time).
 
Kendo is stick/sword fighting - I think you mean Kenpo a type of Karate.

If Kendo is available, I'd take it. Just for the fun and coolness factor. Plus a trained man with a stick will almost always beat a trained man without a stick.

Judo - Opponents engage with each other and try to use leverage and balance to throw their opponent. There are no punches, no kicks, all throws.

Ju-Jitsu (Brazilian and Japanese) - More of a grappling on the ground system. The object is to submit your opponent through joint locks or choke holds, using a combination of your arms and/or legs.

Karate - Karate originates in Okinawa. There are many different types of Karate (ex. Shotokan, Gen-wa-ki, Kempo, Kenpo, Kyokoshin, Goju, Isshin-Ryu). It usually also incorporates weapons training. Empty hand Karate utilized punches and kicks.
 
I would take all of them.
Judo and jujitsu are kind of the same, it focused mostly on grappling and submission attacks such as chokes, throwing the enemies, joint locking, ect. that tries to force the enemy to submit but also kicking and hitting too, but it doesn't teach fighting skills like karate, mostly grappling. You only need to take one of those because they are kind of the same.
Kendo is just Japanese sword style, I don't think you really need to take that.
So take karate along with judo or jujitsu. That way, you will learn how to fight along with grappling and throwing skills. It's really useful in fights and when defending yourself:)
If you only take one class, you will lack the other. Kendo is not really necessary. But if you only want to take one class than I'd go with karate. It's fighting and teaches how to hit, where to hit, and how to defend yourself.
But of course, if you really want to learn the real thing, you can go train in Japan. It's brutal there, they don't fool around or go easy on you.
Good luck!!!:)
 
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