Give and Take

Excellent but a little brutal. You will learn all the nasty moves that Judo bans. Although, in terms of training them, apparently the techniques aren't quite as effective because we don't train against resisting opponents. i.e. there is no sparring.

All of the techniques are very good for self defense and will work in normal clothes.

Some examples of things we are taught at white belt:
- 4 hip throws
- 1 sweeping throw
- 2 arm locks
- 1 leg throw
- basic kicks, blocks and punches
- 5 ground hold-downs
- 3 defenses against front strangulation
- 2 defenses against rear strangulation
- 2 defenses against front hair grabbing
- 1 defense against rear hair grabbing

Mind you this is taken from two schools, the individual syllabi are not so comprehensive. Most of the techniques are trained against a punch, from front strangulation and back strangulation.

There are also non-syllabus techniques which are just mean (really easy and really brutal) but I won't list them because it was luck of the draw and one off training. e.g. hair throws and double arm locks.

One thing is, there are hundreds of styles of Jujutsu so don't just jump into a school without doing some research. Most Jujutsu schools are excellent and hard to find but there are generally no quality control standards. Some schools focus on striking to begin with, some on throws, others on locking limbs and still others on ground fighting. Generally Jujutsu will cover all ranges of fighting by black belt but as I said, there are no guarantees. Try looking for a school which focuses on grappling to start with so you aren't covering material you already know (striking).

My advice is that Aikido would complement your TKD well also, but WC will probably not add as much to it because it is also a striking art. Judo is also an excellent grappling art as is BJJ and Hapkido. Even wrestling (Olympic/Freestyle) is well renowned as a grappling art today.

Good luck whatever you choose.

I agree with Leo when he says that you should take another art that compliments your current fighting ability. I myself take an art called Moo Gong Do, and want to take Brazillian Jiu-Jutsu to help with ground fighting. Moo Gong Do is derrived from Taekwon-Do but is slightly different. And just incase you are interested I am going to put a litte synopsis on the art in the next paragraph because it is so little known in the MA community compared to say JKD or Taekwon-Do, and one of the ten principles of the art besides respect for man and teacher etc, is to spread the poplularity of the art in the community. But you dont have to read it.

It was developed by a Korean man about fifty years ago when he went from South Korea to the US to persue his goals of a new art. The art is less centered on fighting than today's Taekwon-Do and has much more emphisis on philosophy and spirituality. In fact to get your next belt you must write three short reports before you can advance. When I heard this I thought that Moo Gong Do would be an ineffective style with too much emphisis on poetry but I was wrong... really wrong, like looking up at the ceiling and thinking "HEY! despite all this philosophy and emphasis on spirit if he finishes this move and really does crack my skull open then I guess the art aint all that bad." wrong. And yes we do learn how to crack open skulls, and gouge eyes, and pop open knees, and break ribs, and noses, and arms, and etc etc etc...all within the first few belts. I have found that while most martial arts teach how to perform a technique it takes good teachers and a certain level of trust to show you how to apply it for certain degrees of efficency. My teachers have had no problem in teaching me clever uses of a knife hand if I get into a sticky situation but they have emphasised and know that I understand the worst thing I can do is get into that situation in the first place. I am babling on now so I am going to shut up soon cause you might not care.

My final words are if you are thinking "hey this martial art sounds alot like most of the others" thats because it is. Many of the great masters who have crafted the older arts thougth just like Dae Young Kim who made Moo Gong Do. The deep philosophies are the same but I feel that many people do not put enough emphasis on them like they should. Now it seems all there is to some peoples MA arsenal is movements that they see only as techniques, while in Moo Gong Do every move that you can perform has a deep spiritual story that one of the masters would be happy to explain to you after class. "my advice though is dont ask a question about one of the techniques' story unless you want a really long explenation.

Thanks for the long reply Leo_E_49. Really helpful. Another art I was considering was judo. I was leaning more towards the other two, but Judo is another I looked into a lot and thought it would fit me pretty well.

Wing Chun was actually at the top of my list as the next art to take. Probably because im so facinated with its hand techniques and trapping. I've also watched a lot of the training on the "Wing Chun Dummy" and it makes me like it that much more. Its kinda like before I started taekwondo, I looked into it, saw some videos of it, and was hooked. I loved the kicking techniques and board breaks. I had to join it.

Do you think I would be happy joining Wing Chun, or do you think I would be better off with one of my other two choices? Knowing what you know now, since Judo is just like jujutsu(without all the nasty moves), would've you still gone with jujustu over aikido?

Thanks

You won't benefit from Jujutsu or Judo if you are longing for Wing Chun. Although it may not provide the instant advantages that a grappling art will, you should go with the art you really want to go with. If you are really enthusiastic about it, you will gain more from it and will achieve much. So go with what you are most enthusiastic about. Maybe later after having studied WC you will feel the same about a grappling art.

Thats probably what i'll end up doing. I got a long way to go though. Who knows, I might stay in taekwondo for the next 10 years, or longer. In that time, my decision could completely change. Im just curious what you thought about it. For now though, im gonna continue to put all my effort into taekwondo.

Thanks for the replies. As always, they are very helpful.