Martial Arts

I took a karate class at my college that was very nice. If you live near a university, maybe look into what they have to offer? I know at mine they have several classes that are open to the public to join for a fee.

I did Taekwon do for years, and a little bit of judo on the side... I have to say that the most important thing that you need to look for in a martial arts club (ANY of them), is the atmosphere and if their teaching style suits you.
One club I was in was very family oriented, the other had just recruited a pile of people cross training for MMA (which quickly dropped the family friendly atmosphere at that particular club).
Some clubs are very competitive, others more supportive and others yet will be suited only for those who have trained for some time.
Most clubs DO offer a few free classes to try it out... and figure out what suits you the best.
Good luck! and have fun!
Marg

I do Tae Kwon Do..LOVE IT!!! its not just about kicking,

...be prepared to do lots of kicking...

I do Les Mills Combat some and Love it!

BJJ for life.

Krav Maga

EDIT: if your looking for the spiritual, meditiation stuff... you wont find much of it here. its more like a mixed martial arts class, just what works. but they do weapon disarms and other stuff that might be more applicable in the real world

The dance studio my girls and I go to offers Mixed Martial Arts - I wasn't sure what that entailed. There's a Jiu Jitsu place right next door, too. I'll be popping into both tonight.

I want to learn how to defend myself, work on my focus, strength, self control, balance and inner.........I can't think of a word here - peace maybe? I really enjoy meditation and if I can combine that with movement (sort like yoga), that would be awesome.

I don't necessarily want to be a powerhouse, but I won't say no to that, either

Thanks for all the input!

If the jiu jitsu place has a website, I'd be happy to take a look and give you my impressions on whether it looks like a legit place to train.

I do Tae Kwon Do..LOVE IT!!! its not just about kicking,

...be prepared to do lots of kicking...

thats the best part!!! who doesnt love kicking the crap out of people and its a good thing!

Take into account if you have any injuries or joint issues going on. If you do, you might be best off with the 'soft' martial arts - judo, jujitsu, aikido etc. Personally I really like muay thai and took some classes in it before. Might try krav maga one of these days too.

The place by my house is Judo - that's "soft" right?

I feel really (ridiculously) nervous about this, I have no idea why.

Softer... lots of throws and stuff but normally onto a nice soft mat on the floor.

No reason to be nervous. I've always done TKD and there are always new people coming and going. Most the time folks are especially friendly to the new people. It sounds dumb but the more new folks there are the cooler we look in our black belts, so we want to make sure you have fun and keep coming back.

So try it and see if it's a fit. FIrst few classes are always rough. A good school will NOT force you to sign a long contract. Within a month though you'll know if you enjoy it and the people there.

Love my Taekwondo! I have grading on Saturday. I started at the beginning of the year and never thought I'd be kicking above my head, doing flying kicks, or mastering patterns!~ It's so satisfying and it makes me want to do other exercise to get fitter, so I'm better

I've been training for almost eleven years now, in karate, taekwondo, and kendo.

Each form has it's own "thing." In Taekwondo, they do more kicks, and focus on speed and agility. You'll learn to use your hands and such as well, but it's not a big focus. In Karate, we focus on practicality and being well-rounded. You won't find a karate student jumping around the way you will in TKD, but their moves are strong. Neither of these forms traditionally teach grappling, which is fighting from the floor. For that sort of thing, you'd want Jujitsu. See what I mean?

As a hint, anything ending is "do" (aikido, karate-do, judo, etc,) is focused more on the art involved, while "jitsu" forms are more martial, focusing on the fighting side. If you don't see "jitsu" or "do", it's probably safe to assume it's a "jitsu" type of form, focusing on hurting people or not being hurt than looking pretty.

I did mostly Tae Kwon Do when I was in high school. I mean it was a mix of Karate and TKD. You know, the building say karate but we did a lot of TKD.

I liked it, I didn't practice it outside of the 2x a week then. I was in great then, granted I was also a high school kid so go figure. lol. Flexibility increases, i could do horse stance for hours, stuff like that.

MMA is big now. It may have what you're looking for. If you want something zen like, Tai Chi is your bet. Hit up the chinatown of your city. You'll find some community news/event for martial arts, sometimes at a great price. I know the vietnamese churches in my area offer the vietnamese martial arts, VoViNam. Some local churches offer TKD at reduced prices. Traditional chinese kung fu can be found near chinatown too.

I'd look into a place that is focused on teaching and educating. Hence I liked a lot more of the Asian community center or church type places (or even continuing ed at a local community college). My karate place stopped teaching us really and was geared towards tournaments and stuff, recruiting black belts from other places, and basically we put on our pads and became hitting bags and practice dummies for guys to prep for tournaments. it would have been okay if it was one or twice, but it started to drag that way for months. My blue collar dad took exception to that, he felt our money was better spent else where. So do watch out for the places that focus on tournaments, they might not give you the attention you'd like.