Which is the best martial art(s) for a jedi

lol very true..

it's kinda interesting you mentioned anatomy/biophysics/biomechanics...i took anatomy/physiology in high school....and studied biophysics/biomechanics as a means to pacify my curiosity....one of the first classes i took in college was psychology/sociology...if you know how people think and why, you can better anticipate their movements....that and you learn just how powerful the mind really is, when these knowledge bases are combined with each other and a philosophy as well as a martial arts style the results can be incredibly effective

How about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour ?

Now I'd break my neck trying this but most folks are more agile than I am physically at least.

Br. John wrote:

How about http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkour ?

Now I'd break my neck trying this but most folks are more agile than I am physically at least.

Don't try it then Br.John DO IT.

Do or do not, there is no try;)

lol it isn't called parkour anymore....now they call it freerunning
it is definately difficult, i can do some of the stuff, however due to knee problems and age starting to catch up to me i have to watch what i do....but it definately pushes your strength, endurance, and agility

I understand it goes by both names, parkour is what it was originally called in it's country of origin, France but in English speking circles it's generally called freerunning.

Personally, though I have very little training in it, I like the underlying philosophy of Jeet Kune Do (invented by Bruce Lee). In this style, there are no \"forms\" or \"styles\" for it to work: one only learns to feel what the energies within you and around you demand, and then you allow them to work with your intent, and you move.

YouTube about Jeet Kune Do , Bruce Lee teaches someone who is blind some of the philosophy.

Official web site

JKD vs. Traditional Kung Fu (think of this as the Star Wars movie version of a demonstration... it's at least entertaining and emphasizes some of the differences).

Thought Bruce Lee was by all accounts a martial arts legend, my admiration is for the philosophical aspects of JKD and how it relates to the Force.

I think the best martial art for a Jedi (or for anyone) is an art that firstly requires lots of sparring, so that you know you can fight. I've been in several martial arts schools that teach lots of kata and choreographed two-person techniques, and rarely spar. These schools consistently produced terrible fighters. The best way to get good at fighting is to fight, so find a spparring heavy school.

Secondly, find an art that has a focus on improving some aspect of yourself that needs it. Do you need more spiritual training? Go for Aikido or an internal form of kung fu. Looking to get in better physical shape? Kyokushin karate, boxing, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu all heavily encourage physical training, and many schools actually require it.

Really, there is no one-size fits all answer. Just look at yourself, figure out what it is you need from martial arts, then go choose one. As long as it meets the two criteria above, you can't go wrong.

true not all styles rely on sparring, however kata isn't entirely bad it's main purpose is to show you how moves can be arranged into combos and how some techniques can be used to defend or attack. of course one should never rely solely on performing a kata to protect themselves since kata requires visualization of an opponent following a specific set of movements and most fights are abrupt and static at best. while physical sparring can be beneficial so can visualization training (where you meditate and visualize various possible occurances and possible counters). another drawback to sparring within a set system (a school) is that everyone will be using the same techniques and it can become quite predictable. as a teen i studied shuri-te and several other styles, my shuri-te sensei always left a 30 minutes section of class just for \"what if\" scenarios which allowed us to experiment with various defensive situations. when i got home i would then use visualization, shadow sparring and i would spar with my friends who each knew different styles which gave me the opportunity to not only gain experience against other styles but to learn them as well.

you can see my views of bruce lee's contributions in this thread somewhere.

It's true that kata are useful; I'm not knocking them. I'm mainly speaking about schools that do nothing BUT kata.

As for defending against a variety of attacks, it's true that you do need variety in your training, but that's not too hard to find nowadays. Very few serious martial artists train in only one style, especially since the rise of MMA has shown us what happens to the guy who puts himself in a box by only training in one aspect of fighting.

very true...although i use to like watching the ufc back before everyone used basically the same collection of techniques...it was interesting watching a sumo face off against a kempo, or jiu jitsu against kung fu, oh well those were the days