Explain how Judo is not a soft art?...because it is.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

Well you already mentioned great MA and people gave you good advice. So ill talk about other stuff:
1. The MA you study (especially the full contact ones) does not matter as much as the frequency , As Geoff Thompson wrote in his book, if you think training twice a week is enough to make you a tough street fighter you will be disappointed. I think a minimum of three times a week is required to get those fighting reflexes and form. So make that an important issue while choosing.
2. I see a lot of young dad's and family men coming to my boxing gym, relatively late in life, and definitely not your regular young clients. I have noticed that this new "need" to be the protector of your family, with the lack of confidence in one's abilities drive them to start doing a relatively tough MA like boxing.
The problem is that they usually don't lest more than a few good months, and though they improve, and get an ego boost, i don't think they gained anything substantial. My point is, don't born quickly. Don't start going 5 times a week like a man on a mission just to burn out, and stop altogether after 4 months.
When choosing, choose the most comfortable art/place. If you have a half alright Karate or traditional JJ 5 minutes from home, with good guys that are fun, and an option to train enough and with enough realism, i would go for the latter especially if it means not driving for almost an hour (back and forth) even if it is to an excellent boxing gym.
You need to think of this as an important and constant Hobey/passion. Basically most of your fitness should come from your MA.
Find a place that fits best with your schedule and life stile.
P.S if you like kicking, do MT. A good knee with an elbow is a powerful combo even against a big black guy. You can always improve your boxing with some sparring with ex "boxers" that train with you MT. Good luck.

I second that, the art is not as important as your training. However I would definitely meet the teachers, and try a few classes. A lot has to do with how the instructor teachers and what skills you'll learn. Some dont' train you they simply show you the movements and take your money. Combat drills are essential for a street fight. You want it to be reflexive.

If you can find it you might want to find an MMA school, do your research but many of the ones I see focus on real life combat situations.

Ultimately too you want to do a style your comfortable with and feels natural for you. Granted you can become more natural with it the longer you train.

Boxing: Good foundation and probably the quickest you'll learn to defend yourself. Nothing fancy straight to the point. Once again though depends on your coach.

Muay Thai: Make sure it's a real Thai school and not American kick boxing and it can like wise be very effective though most of the training and condition can take years.

Judo: Personally I would do jiu jitsu over Judo. Judo though it can be effective it's a soft art where as jiu jitsu in my opinion is more street worthy. Judo in many schools has become a "sport"

Escrima: or Kali as I'm heard the art often called is pretty brutal, however most of the best techniques require a stick and short knife.

mentally preparing yourself is very helpful, work on your physical conditioning and be aware. don't be a victim of circumstances.

Also bare in mind no matter what you study or for how long a single bullet will end it. Be smart when confronted.

[Naszir]

Muay Thai: Make sure it's a real Thai school and not American kick boxing and it can like wise be very effective though most of the training and condition can take years.

Judo: Personally I would do jiu jitsu over Judo. Judo though it can be effective it's a soft art where as jiu jitsu in my opinion is more street worthy. Judo in many schools has become a "sport"

Escrima: or Kali as I'm heard the art often called is pretty brutal, however most of the best techniques require a stick and short knife.

I'd like to ask you a few questions about some of your recommendations, some of which I definitely agree with. Boxing is a great skill set for self-defense. Anyone with a little training won't be afraid of getting hit.

I am not sure what you meant by watered down american kickboxing. OP is in Canada, which has some amazing muay thai.

My main issue with what you said was judo vs jiu jitsu. For basic self-defense, I would personally rather train judo. If the jiu-jitsu you are speaking of is Japanese, with the exception of one school that I know of, you won't be doing nearly as much practice with application in a resistant setting as you will in judo. If your intention was about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I maintain the same position but for different reasons. In BJJ we spend 90%+ of our time on the ground. We do work take downs but certainly not to the degree that judo does. That said both are viable, I just think, as the transgendered woman in Israel proved when she was attacked, a seoi nage on the street will take a lot out of your opponent.

As for eskrima, there is a great amount of variation in FMA. Some schools will have you sparring fairly quickly, others will have you doing everything in a nonresistant fashion. Something that helped me immensely was not the offensive stick and knife work but the defensive stuff, especially Marc Denny's Die Less Often. This is a great series to work on attributes and techniques to survive an encounter with an armed attacker.

OP, as others have said, good luck to you. I hope you find a gym that gives you what you need and I also hope that you never find yourself in that situation again. Pace yourself, man. You mentioned being on a ship, would it be possible for you to do pad/bag work when you're out? What about weightlifting? I am just trying to think of things you can do in your time away from training that can help at least keep your fitness level up.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

I'd like to ask you a few questions about some of your recommendations, some of which I definitely agree with...

Fair enough I'll answer a few questions about my recommendations :)

I am not sure what you meant by watered down american kickboxing. OP is in Canada, which has some amazing muay thai.

I'm not saying American Kickboxing is watered down just that it has been push to more of a sport in many schools. Muay Thai I would say is a different system then kickboxing. Best way to know what I'm talking about is to look up a muay thai fight online and then watch an kickboxing fight. If you get some hard core Thai training there are conditioning with doing microfractures to the shins so they heal stronger for example. In American Kickboxing you can't use knees or elbows. It's just that Muay Thai is more brutal in my opinion and I would recommend it in a street fight over American Kickboxing. I am not saying Kickboxing is not bad ass nor that the fighters are not worth there salt. I'm just recommending to find a Muay Thai school.

My main issue with what you said was judo vs jiu jitsu. For basic self-defense, I would personally rather train judo. If the jiu-jitsu you are speaking of is Japanese, with the exception of one school that I know of, you won't be doing nearly as much practice with application in a resistant setting as you will in judo. If your intention was about Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I maintain the same position but for different reasons. In BJJ we spend 90%+ of our time on the ground. We do work take downs but certainly not to the degree that judo does. That said both are viable, I just think, as the transgendered woman in Israel proved when she was attacked, a seoi nage on the street will take a lot out of your opponent.

Yes I'm referring to Japanese Jiu-jitsu, many of the techniques I've seen utilize throwing the oponent while maintaining a standing position or a higher position and isolating joints to causes breaks. Where as Judo you tend to be on the ground and is more grappling involved. I am not saying Judo is not affect or good, all I said was in my opinion i would go with Jiu-jitsu. just a preference.

As for eskrima, there is a great amount of variation in FMA. Some schools will have you sparring fairly quickly, others will have you doing everything in a nonresistant fashion. Something that helped me immensely was not the offensive stick and knife work but the defensive stuff, especially Marc Denny's Die Less Often. This is a great series to work on attributes and techniques to survive an encounter with an armed attacker.

I can agree here.

[Scrapper]

Blaze, your understanding of judo is tragically flawed. There is nothing soft about it.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

Blaze, your understanding of judo is tragically flawed. There is nothing soft about it.

Oh? Explain how Judo is not a soft art?...because it is.

[goodlun]

I second that, the art is not as important as your training.

The art and the way they are trained are largely linked.

If you can find it you might want to find an MMA school, do your research but many of the ones I see focus on real life combat situations.

MMA schools tend to focus on sport. Now nothing wrong with that at all, but you can't go and say something like

Judo: Personally I would do jiu jitsu over Judo. Judo though it can be effective it's a soft art where as jiu jitsu in my opinion is more street worthy. Judo in many schools has become a "sport"

As well as nominate two other Martial arts that train mostly for sport IE Boxing and Muay Thai.
So either accept that yes Martial Arts that compete heavily in sport are good for self defense because they train in an alive manner or lurk more post less.

[BlazeLeeDragon]

The art and the way they are trained are largely linked.

They can be, however I believe the training largely depends on the instructor. I feel good solid training in Karate would be better then a fluff school training in Ninjitsu. Not everyone trains or teaches the same. I find there is a large variety in how training goes from school to school.

MMA schools tend to focus on sport. Now nothing wrong with that at all, but you can't go and say something like

Well like I said from what I have seen. which is why I also said to do some research. I recommended mix martial arts because the idea was to mix up different fight situations to make a well rounded fighter.

As well as nominate two other Martial arts that train mostly for sport IE Boxing and Muay Thai.
So either accept that yes Martial Arts that compete heavily in sport are good for self defense because they train in an alive manner or lurk more post less.

I was not bad mouthing Judo, I was saying Jiu-jitsu in my opinion is a better choice. I also said that Judo is effective. Yes Boxing is mostly sport, but your at least learning hitting and dodging. Muay Thai though it can be trained as a sport there are still schools who train it as combat. Many but not all the Judo schools tend to focus on take downs, however in a fight situation, the fight doesn't stop there. I know there are good Judo schools but like said I simple recommend Jiu-jitsu over Judo.

and lurk more? come on what is the fun in that?

[Scrapper]

Blaze,

Judo is practiced at full speed and full contact from your first class. You will spend a significant amount of training time getting smashed and bashed at full speed. That's not soft. It is brutal on par with wrestling, boxing, and jujitsu (I've done all of them).

Judo is no softer than any other full contact, fully alive art.

That's what makes it a good self defense art. It starts with a strong standing clinch game, and ends with a comprehensive ground game; all trained in an alive manner. Calling it soft is like saying a power lifter is overweight. You think you are right, but you don't really understand what you are looking at.

[goodlun]

They can be, however I believe the training largely depends on the instructor. I feel good solid training in Karate would be better then a fluff school training in Ninjitsu. Not everyone trains or teaches the same. I find there is a large variety in how training goes from school to school.

Sigh, you don't get it. I highly doubt you have been from school to school or for that matter style to style. I have trained at 3 BJJ schools, 1 GJJ school, 3 Judo Schools. They all taught in the same way this is because its integral to the art. The concept of Randori and aliveness is built into the system. There is quality control system built in to this type of instruction. All of the instructors have been trained using more or less the same methodology. Yes some of the instructors are better at instructing than others but at any of those schools your going to learn the art in a quality setting with quality instruction.

Well like I said from what I have seen. which is why I also said to do some research. I recommended mix martial arts because the idea was to mix up different fight situations to make a well rounded fighter.

You have no freaking clue do you?
You should do some research start with Vale Tudo, the Gracie Challenge, UFC 1-10, Pride ect. Mixed Martial Arts is a term for a Combat Sport whos biggest promotion is currently the UFC.

I was not bad mouthing Judo, I was saying Jiu-jitsu in my opinion is a better choice. I also said that Judo is effective.

A very uniformed opinion, maybe you should get more information before you start recommending things to people.

Yes Boxing is mostly sport, but your at least learning hitting and dodging.

As opposed to throwing, controlling, choking, and limb destroying?
Maybe you may want to go back to the 90s and look at Grappling vs Striking.

Muay Thai though it can be trained as a sport there are still schools who train it as combat.

Muay Thai is the sport. There is no "combat" Muay Thai. Muay Thai is an effective fighting art. It is not some ancient battle field art.

Many but not all the Judo schools tend to focus on take downs, however in a fight situation, the fight doesn't stop there.

Sight, Judo does have a standing focus, but it doesn't neglect ground work, they work on pinning techniques, choking techniques, and joint locking techniques with aliveness against a resisting opponent. Also most fights will end with a good judo throw, even if they don't a judoka is going to be fine on the ground against anyone who isn't a BJJ guy.

I know there are good Judo schools but like said I simple recommend Jiu-jitsu over Judo.

That is because you don't know **** about Judo or Jiu-jitsu

[BlazeLeeDragon]

Blaze,

Judo is practiced at full speed and full contact from your first class. You will spend a significant amount of training time getting smashed and bashed at full speed. That's not soft. It is brutal on par with wrestling, boxing, and jujitsu (I've done all of them).

Judo is no softer than any other full contact, fully alive art.

That's what makes it a good self defense art. It starts with a strong standing clinch game, and ends with a comprehensive ground game; all trained in an alive manner. Calling it soft is like saying a power lifter is overweight. You think you are right, but you don't really understand what you are looking at.

Soft means using your opponent's energy against them. It means your not muscling all the movements. Tai chi, pakua and wing chun are other examples of soft arts. The reason I said Jiu-jitsu is recommended over Judo is that most of the techniques I've seen used are bone breaking and joint dislocations. where as with judo I see alot of tumbling and falling with them to a ground grapple position. I did say in my original post that Judo is effective but i would recommend Jiu-jitsu over judo.

Judo: Personally I would do jiu jitsu over Judo. Judo though it can be effective it's a soft art where as jiu jitsu in my opinion is more street worthy. Judo in many schools has become a "sport"

here, judo throws, they fall to the ground on top of the opponent https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOV3qVIEFng

jiu-jitsu throws they stay standing in a lot of them http://youtu.be/TLztV4pHZKM

that and most of the jiu-jitsu guys I talk to that showed me some of there throws showed me how you do joint locks and breaks which are illegal in judo tournaments.

So again, I say it was only my opinion based on my personal experience as limited as it maybe with Judo and Jiu-jitsu