Which MA in UCD??

J77

Hey guys,

Have quit rugby as it took up way too much time and now i'm looking at doing a MA next semester In UCD.

I'm looking for something that's very practical and sparring/competition based. I did boxing last year for fitness but I didn't find the sport very interesting. I also did some kickboxing over the summer which I quite enjoyed as it was practical (no punching of the air at any stage - not that there's anything wrong with that, just not what I'm looking for). I've had look at a few Lau Gar kickboxing trainings while at the gym but they didn't seem to be doing much except shadow punching/kicking and very basic fitness exercises.

Would TKD perhaps fit the bill? Does anyone know if competition and sparring are a main part of the club in UCD?

Thanks Guys!

unknown13

Boxing is the only one, really. Judo and MMA are gone. Karate and TKD do patterns. Lau Gar is semi contact, which isn't practical IMO.

hidinginthebush

I can tell you the shaolin kung fu club isnt competition based at all (been in it 3 years and counting). of the other clubs which spring to mind and haven't been mentioned, from what I've read here, the tai chi club seem to be tied into san shou (spelling?) which is a multi-disciplinary martial arts competition (though I could be wrong on all of this, I humbly stand to be corrected). So they could be worth making contact with.

Also, while you want to get into sparring, no clubs gonna have you jumping into the ring until you've shown at least some aptitude, so while you want to avoid the shadow boxing, the sad fact is you'll have to put up with at least a few weeks of it before getting to free-spar.

I will ask you though, to give whatever you settle on a chance, take the time to talk to some of the more senior people there to see if its something you might like. Try to stick with one for at least the entire semester. You'll be surprised at how you can grow to genuinely love something which may seem boring or repetitive at first glance.

I hope you find something that you can stick with for a long time, taking up a martial art will be one of the best decisions you make!

Doug Cartel

I think UCD have a freestyle wrestling club, you should check that out.

J77

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm open to doing shadow boxing at the beginning, that's totally understandable.

I've seen youtube clips of the tkd club in competition. Would they be a good club to join for what I'm looking for?


EDIT: I wouldn't really be into wrestling, more striking (punching/kicking) based competition.

smacl

Haven't trained there in many years, but so far as I know Niall Keane is teaching the UCD tai chi club, and I'd guess he's more than willing to teach sparring if that's what your into. See midway down this thread for an example of one of Niall's guys competing in the Irish san shou nationals.

unknown13

The best thing to do now (since semester 2 is pretty close) is to go and ask the clubs yourself on re-freshers week.

Doug Cartel

J77 wrote: »

I wouldn't really be into wrestling, more striking (punching/kicking) based competition.

Have you done much grappling?

Zen65

Hi OP,

The Shotokan Karate club in UCD teaches a balance of hand/fist strikes as well as kicks. The training includes more than simply kata (patterns), but also covers kumite (sparring) which is done semi-contact and is built up progressively from basic, to semi-free sparring and then free sparring.

The club also runs separate self-defence classes.

The captain of the club is also an ex-boxer, so he could give you his perspective on the move from boxing to karate. Talk to Ben at the Refreshers' Day stand.


Regards,

Z