Surfing and Fighting............

Try ice hockey. Fighting wont be as beneficial fitness wise as ice hockey will for surfing shape. Besides, fighting is in you or its not. More guys new to studying fighting got their asses pummeled by guys that got it in them naturally.

 

Well don't ever be in real situations and take a fighting stance. You lose right there. You mentioned you were interested in it for benefitting surfing, I thought, and you mentioned self defense. Now its that you "dont care", so why not google fighting forums?

 

Any sort of martial art training should help with balance, flexibility, and 'sense of positioning,' all of which are necessary for surfing. Good for the core and legs, too. I took Hapkido and Taekwondo in college and had a lot of fun with it. I took a few classes with the kids a couple of years ago, too, and it was a great workout.

Go for it. Try something new. It's good for your mind, body, and spirit. An overall feeling of 'freshness' can't hurt your surfing.

 

Hey bro. As a Beachbody coach I can tell you that P90X will do wonders. Insanity will also help out mega. These will both help develop your aerobic, anaerobic, balance, flexibility and sense of well being. You can always jump in and get Turbo Jam or Turbo fire...while not actual fight training, they do follow more of a kick boxing routine.

Like Mikey said though, any of the MA will never be a bad thing and there is none that I can say would be better than any other...Good luck.

 

Screw all that meathead crap. If you want to learn balance, flow, flexibility and agility you need to get into Capoeira. You should also get into break dancing. Both are full body workouts, greatly strengthen your core, they require a very heightened sense of body awareness and teach you how to find multiple balance centers no matter what position you are in.

 

I would highly recommend Jiu Jitsu. Everyone knows that most fights end up on the ground. If not Jiu Jitsu will help move it to the ground asap. I lost a lot of weight when I started training in Jiu Jitsu. Great cardio work. Good luck!

 

Rex Kwon Do...Do you think anybody thinks I'm a failure because I go home to Starla at night? Forget about it.

 

"Wax on, Wax off"

 

I kick boxed for years, before that, it was judo first, starting at 5 years old, then tae kwon do, kung fu, and self teaching myself JKD. To feel in shape like I do when I play ice hockey twice a week, I had to put in twice as much time in the dojos to experience the same feeling of stamina and strength. Its why I recommended ice hockey. Being able to know how to fight most my life allows me a little more leverage in advice to you, wouldn't you think? If you really just want to learn to fight due to recent interest, thats fine, but your focus is wrong. If you really want to be a better surfer related to another exercise routine, follow anothers advice, like avoid "meathead" thoughts of fighting (MMA fighters dont 't just do fighting related exercise to keep their S&S) and try yoga, rock climbing, cycling, speedwalking, dumbell exercises, and get a balance board and weighted hoola hoop.
Otherwise it seems to me it's something else you are unsure of in your life if you keep feeling a need to learn to fight. Then you should be honest with yourself and others and your feedback wanted will hopefully be more in line of what you want to hear.

 

How much of a work out you get is going to depend more on the instructor(s) and how the classes are run than the particular style you choose. I would suggests finding out what's available in the area. Check out a few classes from several places and go with the one that best fits what you're looking for.

 

Joel Tudor's First hand talking about Ju Jitsu... I saw it too. 75% of surfers where I live now do Ju Jitsu... In fact there are 2 dojos that overlook my home break and at least 3 fight circuits on our 212 square mile island. Insane. Drop in and if the shallow heaving waves don't get you the boyz will. I want to start training as well but the 200 pounders are built like a brick sh!thouse but I'm built more like 200 lbs of the Pillsbury dough boy. They all say its good for stretching you out and good for general in shape-ness. Quite a few of them do MMA as well and we even have internationally ranked fighters from an island of less than 150,000... as evidenced by the local surf brand also being a local ju jitsu/ MMA brand check it...... island values interview at a ju jitsu tournament ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKw3h9coBDI

 

kenpo 5.0. I've been taking kenpo for 8 years now and love it. great for real world fighting situations but a little weak on ground fighting. 5.0 adds ju jitsu elements to give a better ground game. All martial arts stress flexibility so that is a huge plus and if you spar alot you will get a great cardio workout, plus it helps for those pesky kooks who keep dropping in on you

 

Dude, these guys are sending you down the wrong road. not really bad advice, you need to join either the army or the marine corps. make sure you tell the recruiter you want to be a ground pounder, the king of battle. then just wait your turn, go to afghanistan, come back in better shape than any wussy fitness program could ever do for you. there is no better way to get in shape then humping 90 lbs of gear through the mtns when when some misguided jihadist is trying to kill you.

 

Sign up for BJJ, that stuff will totally work you.

 

any martial art will improve balance, flexibility, reaction and awareness. Unfortunately, most who study the arts lack the single most important trait, humility. You know who I am talking about, all decked out in tapout gear, telling all of their friends about it, walking around with their chest all puffed out. They type that must assert dominance in every situation. Don't be that guy, there is always SOMEONE tougher than you, so give it up.

Also, commercial dojo's are a waste. Find someone who really knows the art and will teach you in their back yard. In a dojo yellows teach whites, greens teach yellows, etc.

So do it, any art, stick with it, be weary of big dojo's, and please, dont be a ****bag.

 

If you are in Monmouth county, you should check out the Power Center in Redbank. I have heard great things, and thinking about taking a class ot two when I get a chance.
http://www.njpowercenter.com/

 

Yoga

Yoga IMHO is the best workout for surfing, look for power vinyassa.

As far as fighting is concerned I have found that different Sensei's have different approaches even within the same school. For example, one Tae Kwon Do sensei provided a highly aerobic 'workout' while another Tae Kwon Do sensei was more focused on speed and precision of kicks. I do kempo right now and it doesn't really translate to surfing, just toughens me up.

Now this isn't a fighting style but I would recommend Tai Chi if you are looking to be more centered and focused. If you can't focus your energy on the task at hand study the internal martial arts.

Now forget everything I just wrote and go find out for yourself. Everybody is different (no one likes this statement but it is true). What works for me probably won't work for you. Most studios (yoga and martial arts) offer introductory rates... go 'surf' different studios till you find what works for you.