Is it worth taking up one martial art for a year before switiching?

I ultimately want to do ethier Wing Chun or Ninjutsu? I have taken a class in both, and they appear to be the most practical in terms of a real street fight. However, as I'm away for the year and there are no classes in this area, I am unable to take ethier. Tang Soo Do classes are available here. Would it be worth taking that for a year and would it help towards other martial arts classes in anyway?





Thanks

Is it worth taking up one martial art for a year before switiching?
In general, I've found that taking any form of martial art, as long as the instructor is dedicated to doing their job well, is worthwhile. As others have said: it'll keep you in shape, improve your flexability, and increase your hand-eye coordination. And really, unless you're training for 8 hours a day, it's not like you'll learn anything in that time that will prevent you from learning a different style.





However - to be blunt: streetfighting is about being jumped from behind by three crackheads wielding lead pipes and rusty knives. You're not going to see them coming, and most unarmed fighting techniques aren't particularly useful against that. Self-defense is about social awareness (not getting into the situation to begin with), de-escalation techniques (being polite), and disengangement (running away). And while I think learning the martial arts has a lot of value, it's only tangentally related to what I describe above.
Reply:Yes most definitely. It will get you into the rhythm and make you more well rounded in a fight. Mixed martial arts style gives you more tools to work with even if you are basic in one type. You never know if you will love it when you try it and pick it up later :)
Reply:definitely take the tang soo do classes. it's worth it, you still learn from the teacher even though you may not get into the fine details of the art in one year. you will still learn at least the basics, and also all of the philosophies. and if you don't do anything for a year, you're definitely going to slip. and anyway, even if you hadn't taken martial arts before, you will be at an advantage at the one you take next because you will have already been studying, and all arts have SOME similar moves, as there are only so many things you can do with the human body. and also you will be better at the techniques that aren't similar because you will have obtained some of the grace of a martial artist already, and that helps greatly.
Reply:Taking any martial art would be benificial if you want to continue learning in the future. On the note of practicality, jujitsu, boxing, muay thai and wrestling are much more effective in a street fight or in MMA for that matter than kung foo.





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Reply:IMO any fighting discipline that you can learn some techniques from is a plus that will help your overall fighting style and chances of winning a real fight. Plus it will help you keep in shape and focused on fighting in the interum of learning the styles you really want to learn.
Reply:You should deffinately do Tang soo Do for the year. In my honest opinion, Ninjitsu is not practical in terms of real street fighting, it was used a long time ago primarily for stealth attacks. Wing Chun is alot better as far as street fighting goes. However, i would be looking at muay thai or BJJ, they are the superior fighting arts (which is why they are the heavy basis of all UF/MMA fighters). As for Tang soo do, you may love it for the year and want to continue it after that. You probably need more than one class to make up your mind, try as many martial arts as you can to widen your knowledge! Good luck!
Reply:yes
Reply:how about this.. it will only teach you how to learn... the other guy mentions boxing and MT.. those are the best arts to learn if you want to be "effective" in a year... the other styles you mention are very effective, but "one years worth" will only get you started... I say yeah go ahead, but you study one style for a year (like tang soo doo, which is a good style) you wont be a good fighter, then when you switch styles... they will show you something completely different (and probably contridicting to what you learned in that year) and then as the years pass you will understand a lot more, then the training you had will become of some use to you... good luck and get started... it is better than sitting on your couch :)
Reply:Yes.





Go here http://www.monstermartialarts.com to find out how to properly cross-coordinate and understand them once you have two arts.





The owner of the site (my instructor) has 40 years experience in about 15(?) different arts.