most practical martial art for self defense

shadowcomplex

Ive heard judo, thaiboxing , boxing and bjj is where its at , i can only commit to one, does mixed martial arts incorporate bits of all of these in one class

Chris Dowling

All are extremely effective when trained properly and as with most things different people suit different Styles, so my advice would be try a class see if you like it the try that !

Peetrik

Yep, MMA is without a doubt the best choice if you want to be a good all rounder without weapons.

Tom.D.BJJ

In my humble opinion, Boxing is the best thing to learn for self defence. You learn how to take a punch and also how to give one. Both are equally important.

The learning curve is a lot faster than anything else too.

Chris Dowling

Peetrik wrote: »

Yep, MMA is without a doubt the best choice if you want to be a good all rounder without weapons.

I have disagree, mma may be the best choice for you but may not be for shadow, different people , different builds, different, aptitudes to learning all affect how effective an art can be

Peetrik

Tom.D.BJJ wrote: »

In my humble opinion, Boxing is the best thing to learn for self defence. You learn how to take a punch and also how to give one. Both are equally important.

The learning curve is a lot faster than anything else too.

The exact same could be said of MMA, Thai and a few others, its all about how they are trained. Boxing has a good name because *most boxing clubs include a focus on fitness, solid basics and heavy sparring, not because "Boxing is the best".

Chris Dowling wrote: »

I have disagree, mma may be the best choice for you but may not be for shadow, different people , different builds, different, aptitudes to learning all affect how effective an art can be

I don't train MMA myself but I still firmly believe that MMA is the best choice for anyone that wants to be well rounded, regardless of build, grappling/striking preference etc. You can focus on whichever aspect (ground, middle, stand up) of fighting you wish within MMA as it includes all these aspects.

Undoubtedly if you focus all your time on just striking then you will be better at striking than someone who splits their time training ground & striking (MMA), but if you want to be "good" at everything then MMA is without a doubt the best choice IMO.

thegreatiam

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Ive heard judo, thaiboxing , boxing and bjj is where its at , i can only commit to one, does mixed martial arts incorporate bits of all of these in one class

Yes, mma incorporates all of these and more.

joining an mma club will give you access to striking coaches (thai boxing and western boxing usually, but there may be other disciplines involved) and grappling coaches (BJJ, wrestling and judo, amongst others).

You will be able to take classes in each art separately or they will mix them together in a 'MMA' class.

Find a club which has a good schedule for you, and a good reputation and go to some classes. Most places will offer beginner classes.

RainMaker

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Ive heard judo, thaiboxing , boxing and bjj Krav Maga is where its at , i can only commit to one, does mixed martial arts incorporate bits of all of these in one class

Surely that's what you meant! :P

oc_pl

Talking your way out if it is the best option, failing that IMO boxing fast hands and being fit you'll beat most joe soaps.

cowzerp

Been well rounded has to be MMA, Most realistic when the **** hits the fan, Boxing, Hit hard fast and stay on your feet.

1 month Boxing and you will be handy enough for most situations, if you have the balls in the 1st place that is to fight back

Carvin

The main advantage of MMA, other than how diverse it is, is the realism of the sparring.
If you want real self defense, doing a competitive contact sport would really help.

DarkHorse1

Ninjitsu

Niall Keane

Without a doubt, real kung fu.

Has the most diverse training of ranges - striking, wrestling and weapons.

We dont talk of boxercise when considering boxing, likewise one should discern between mcdojo sh1te and the real stuff which has as much sparring and full contact competition ad anything else.

The advantage?

Because it deals with everything, it had tailored techniques that fit all and had the history to have worked on training method that ingrain the responses, hardwored into your nervous system - at the quote goes - "it happens aaaaalllll by itself, there is no "I" " ;-)

If you train ranges separately, it stands to reason you will unconsciously separate them and so be slower than you possibly can in mixing the ranges and lack being fluid and innovative in response. Also you "get away" with bad habits that limited rules protect from being exploited.

So for self defence i believe experience and training to compete full contact in as little rules as possible essential. BUT sport fighting is a tool, just like forms, it carries limitations, (no punching the back of the head, no hitting with the heal of the hand, no kicking a downed opponent - these are nothing magical or far fetched, not talking eye gouge bs)

Most people believe multiple opponents impossible to deal with, but though not a great situation, there are training methods that allow for harm reduction, and gung methods that allow one to swallow more punishment. These are not practiced for sport arts, they have no real relevance to such. A focused athlete should reduce the scope of his practice to what serves him if he wants to win or achieve top results. This is part of a kung fu mans training, some years focused on sanshou etc.

Anyway, just some food for thought, personally i believe any art practiced well will serve one, just thought id counter the populous MMA/ UFC is the only thing brigade that has become like spam in recent years. Its not new, its not complete, it doesn't have universal standards, nor are its concepts original, check out the writings of General Qi in 1644!

cowzerp

Carvin wrote: »

The main advantage of MMA, other than how diverse it is, is the realism of the sparring.

O'k, MMA sparring is probably the furthest you could get to a real fight, not saying MMA sparring will not help of course it will as it does cover all ranges of hand to hand combat, But odds on you having to defend leg kicks in a street fight, Wrestling shots and Arm bars etc are slim to none, in most cases what you will encounter will be lads windmilling there hands like lunatics and maybe a head lock or 2 thrown in, good basic Boxing beats windmilling easily.

Carvin

cowzerp wrote: »

O'k, MMA sparring is probably the furthest you could get to a real fight, not saying MMA sparring will not help of course it will as it does cover all ranges of hand to hand combat, But odds on you having to defend leg kicks in a street fight, Wrestling shots and Arm bars etc are slim to none, in most cases what you will encounter will be lads windmilling there hands like lunatics and maybe a head lock or 2 thrown in, good basic Boxing beats windmilling easily.

I was talking about the intensity of having a person actually hit you with a closed fist while there possibility of being taken down is still there.
And I've seen leg kicks and tackles in street fights.

Good basic boxing beats windmilling, so does anything tbh.

arybvtcw0eolkf

shadowcomplex wrote: »

Ive heard judo, thaiboxing , boxing and bjj is where its at , i can only commit to one, does mixed martial arts incorporate bits of all of these in one class

If they were the only options opened to the op I'd suggest;

1. Boxing

2. Muay Thai

3. Judo

4. Bjj

In that order.

cowzerp

Carvin wrote: »

I was talking about the intensity of having a person actually hit you with a closed fist while there possibility of being taken down is still there.
And I've seen leg kicks and tackles in street fights.

Good basic boxing beats windmilling, so does anything tbh.

I've seen hundreds of fights and only times i have seen them hit the ground was when 1 lad was dropped or if they grab headlocks and fall over!!

you're watching to much UFC!

And anything beats windmilling does it?! try kick someone who is swinging like a lunatic at you, It's not the easiest thing to do i can tell you.

Or maybe try karate style blocking a big windmill, best of luck with that!

pearsquasher

Self Defence for civilians is a behavioral issue. Their own behavior is more likely to get them into/out of trouble than learning to fight.

Self Defence for security personal involves a whole range of issues including mostly knowledge of the law and use of force and excellent verbal skills.

Self Defence for medical personal and mental health workers is another ball game - not injuring but disabling a "client" - being a factor. Very hard to manage.

All martial arts can increase your ability to deal with incoming assault but does any cover the three broad areas a above? The last two will definitely need weapons work in there.

Bujinkan deals with the last two very well I feel, having trained with many senior practitioners involved with such areas using their training to inform their careers and vice-versa.

By the way Bujinkan integrates strikes, grappling and weapons on the physical level in a unified holistic method. (Rather the jamming this striking art with that grappling art)

laoch na mona

anything you train at continuously will help that said grappling might not be the best in a street fight (might not be one on one or they could have a knife you do not want to role with a guy with a knife) so for pure self defense I would say boxing, kickboxing or MMA because it is all about fitness and sparring there are no patterns or kata like in traditional martial arts

SEANoftheDEAD

I'm gonna throw my 2 cents in here and suggest Traditional/Japanese Jiu-Jitsu.

It covers strikes, throws, submissions, grappling, defense, weapons and sparring.
Practice these elements on a regular basis and you'll have an arsenal at you're disposal that will get you out of most situations that occur when out and about.

DarkHorse1

Thai Boxing is a fabulous discipline. I think the use of training in armed to arm combat with weapons is essential in a defensive context.

Mellor

Chris Dowling wrote: »

I have disagree, mma may be the best choice for you but may not be for shadow, different people , different builds, different, aptitudes to learning all affect how effective an art can be

What sort of builds does MMA not suit?
I appreciate that some people take to some martial arts quicker than others, but imo most of the time, these people would have exceled at any style they choose. I think we all know the type if people I'm talking about.

smacl

Most practical also depends on how much time you're willing to dedicate to your training. If you have the time, something that incorporates striking and grapplling makes sense, whether it be thai, mma, or san shou. If you only train a couple of times a week, boxing will be better, down to being simpler to learn and apply while still being highly effective.

Ramunas

Thai Boxing and wrestling