Both.
I had/have no formal martial arts (ma) training. Sure I participated in about a year of mandatory Army Combatives, but it was mostly PT and simplified Brizilian Ju jitsu (BJJ), see I can't even spell it
But guns, especially military pistols, I became very comfortable in application.
So about 6 months ago, as more of a challenge to myself and to get back into shape, I took an MMA class. This past week we just finished my third 6-7 week session; I was feeling pretty good. I now know I have one really good kick, powerful knees, decent elbows, but never want to 'punch' anyone in the head.
Anyhow, after talking with several folks and doing some research, my interests (for non-gun) self defense came down to: boxing (I'm too old), karate (too traditional, one dimension), Jeet kun do, Keysi, MMA (to sports like), BJJ or Krav Maga. I just today took a 3+ hour Krav Maga special class called multiple attackers. I'll just say this much for now- wear a cup, expect to be bruised, exhausted and fight harder than you think you can.
While continuing research to find the right self defense MA for me, I found this very alumina ting discussion: http://listverse.com/2010/05/15/top-10-martial-arts-for-self-defense/
I think you will find their final 5 interesting, and the 'bonus' even more so...
I had/have no formal martial arts (ma) training. Sure I participated in about a year of mandatory Army Combatives, but it was mostly PT and simplified Brizilian Ju jitsu (BJJ), see I can't even spell it
But guns, especially military pistols, I became very comfortable in application.
So about 6 months ago, as more of a challenge to myself and to get back into shape, I took an MMA class. This past week we just finished my third 6-7 week session; I was feeling pretty good. I now know I have one really good kick, powerful knees, decent elbows, but never want to 'punch' anyone in the head.
Anyhow, after talking with several folks and doing some research, my interests (for non-gun) self defense came down to: boxing (I'm too old), karate (too traditional, one dimension), Jeet kun do, Keysi, MMA (to sports like), BJJ or Krav Maga. I just today took a 3+ hour Krav Maga special class called multiple attackers. I'll just say this much for now- wear a cup, expect to be bruised, exhausted and fight harder than you think you can.
While continuing research to find the right self defense MA for me, I found this very alumina ting discussion: http://listverse.com/2010/05/15/top-10-martial-arts-for-self-defense/
I think you will find their final 5 interesting, and the 'bonus' even more so...