This is probably the topic in this series that has the most mainstream play on the sub, however I thought that talking about it at a bit more length might be helpful for some. The practical appeal of learning how to fight/defend yourself is fairly obvious, and there are other benefits as well, including the conditioning aspects of some fighting styles. However, I think that there are numerous less obvious benefits of training, including the self-confidence that most practitioners have in their physical interactions with other people, the discipline that one develops when working towards a long-term goal, and, maybe most importantly, the exposure to, and camaraderie with, other men, who I would generally presume to be somewhat more likely than average to exhibit RP attitudes and behaviors.

Generally speaking, I don't think that which martial art you do matters much, although I am sure some of the jiu-jiteiros among us will disagree. However, lack of Ultimate MMA Technique Supremacy notwithstanding, I would probably recommend BJJ, for a couple of reasons. (N.B.: I have limited my set of possible recommendations to those that I perceive as having at least a modicum of practical use "on the street", which actually excludes a fair number of styles.) First, given its current popularity in the MA community, it is (relatively) easy to find a good gym; note that it's popularity also means that it is easy to find bad gyms, so beware . . . Second, note that I chose a grappling style as my primary recommendation because it allows nearly-full speed and force sparring, which in turn allows one to get much more realistic practice with the techniques, which I don't generally think is possible with striking styles. If you are really set on learning a striking style, I would probably go for Muay Thai. I know that it's a little more difficult to find a teacher in some parts of the country, but if you can find a good one, it will be a great style to learn. Just don't come complaining to me when you get knocked out during "practice" . . .

Unlike the tactical training that I discussed last week, there is no low-cost alternative in martial training available to the general population. Some universities have martial training for students at little to no cost, but in these cases, you will necessarily be limited to the style(s) they teach, which, in my experience, are typically the ones with little to no practical value; a little bit of searching the interwebs can suss out which these are, and thus prevent you from wasting your time if you are serious about doing something useful . . . However, if you find you really like it, you may find that it completely supplants your typical gym workouts, at least for a while, which would mitigate some of the cost.

Next week: Cooking