What type of martial arts should I practice?

[Lathan]

I would like to get in to learning some form of martial arts. Anyone here have any experience in that area? Which would you suggest? I'm not interested in competing or anything of that nature. Just as something fun to do and also for self defense. Something that can actually be used in a real life scenario.

I think I have it narrowed down to a few (in no particular order):

-Muay Thai
-Boxing
-Krav Maga
-Jiu Jitsu (not sure which kind)

These are the ones I that have caught my eye the most so far. Which would you suggest out of these? Also if you have a better suggestion I'd be happy to hear it. Thanks

 

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[Vigilante]

Krav Maga in my opinion is the only real fighting skill.

It always amuses me when I see a 9 year old black belt in Karate.

Because... with two Krav Maga classes, any normal 9 year old could probably kick the 9 year old black belt's a$$.

"Wait... you're just supposed to stand there..."

If you are serious about personal defense being your primary motivating factor, in my opinion there is nothing comparable to Krav Maga.

@Kung Fu Steve are you still around?

 

[DeletedUser394]

@Kung Fu Steve are you still around?

He was recently kidnapped by a group of latvian models.

 

[Lathan]

If you are serious about personal defense being your primary motivating factor, in my opinion there is nothing comparable to Krav Maga.

Krav Maga is the one I'm leaning towards the most

 

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[DeletedUser394]

I've done Muay Thai and wrestling in the past. Wasn't crazy about getting kicked in the head every day, so wrestling was a lot of fun to me.

Try some out and pick the one you enjoy the most. Most gyms offer 1 week trial memberships.

 

[Lathan]

Wasn't crazy about getting kicked in the head every day

lmfao...not exactly my idea of a good day either

 

[7elusal]

I draw inspiration from the art and principals of Aikido. Use the attackers momentum, off-set balance so attacker is 100% dependent on you for support, neutralize in ONE shot without any chance of secondary attack/retaliation.

A friend of one who leans towards krav maga and "do what you gotta do and do it fast and dirty" suggested aikido is 'nice' though doesn't apply in real world situations. She doesn't understand aikido. I'd like to see an adept aikido master get taken down by some thug on the street with a knife.

 

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[codo3500]

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is the ultimate in one-on-one self defence; doesn't really work with multiple opponents. Muay Thai is the best striking art in my opinion - anything with hard sparring is what you need. I'm not against Krav Maga, but have heard it's hit and miss with the schools, anything that is just 'drilled' and not properly practiced and sparred goes out the window when adrenaline kicks in and everything is going crazy - you just don't form the pathways in your Central Nervous System to react properly unless you've actually sparred.

Source: Worked for years as a bouncer, have trained in multiple disciplines

 

[jon.a]

I draw inspiration from the art and principals of Aikido. Use the attackers momentum, off-set balance so attacker is 100% dependent on you for support, neutralize in ONE shot without any chance of secondary attack/retaliation.

A friend of one who leans towards krav maga and "do what you gotta do and do it fast and dirty" suggested aikido is 'nice' though doesn't apply in real world situations. She doesn't understand aikido. I'd like to see an adept aikido master get taken down by some thug on the street with a knife.

Aikido

 

[Lathan]

Muay Thai is the best striking art in my opinion

Yea but in a fight a lot of people in a street fight like to tackle. My only issue with muay thai is it seems to only be striking. What happens when a bigger stronger has you pinned down? I thought about combining two different disciplines.

Was thinking brazilian jiu jitsu for ground work. Thanks for the tips concerning sparring/central nervous system. Great advice.

 

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[codo3500]

Yea but in a fight a lot of people in a street fight like to tackle. My only issue with muay thai is it seems to only be striking. What happens when a bigger stronger has you pinned down? I thought about combining two different disciplines.

Was thinking brazilian jiu jitsu for ground work. Thanks for the tips concerning sparring/central nervous system. Great advice.

You really only need 6 months of training in each to be competent to beat 99% of people you'll meet on the street. I was lucky enough to find a school that taught both; most MMA schools will these days I would imagine.

 

[TJPB]

 

[miked_d]

It always amuses me when I see a 9 year old black belt in Karate.

Because... with two Krav Maga classes, any normal 9 year old could probably kick the 9 year old black belt's a$$.

The kids get out of it what they put in as most studios are black-belt factories. The children are there because their parents chose it.

My son got his black belt in American Tang Su Do at the age of 12. Most of the kids could not defend themselves from a nerf ball but a few were really good. My son was good but towards the end wanted to do Jiu Jitsu.

Try an MMA studio that will introduce you to several styles. You will probably like some styles more than others.

 

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[SeanyHang]

Krav Maga is VICIOUSLY awesome in my opinion. Depending on where you are there are probably "MMA" gyms in the area which have several different sensai's/trainers that specialize in several different practices. There isn't a "best" martial art per se.. but there are best martial art techniques to know in certain situations. Jiu Jitsu is in my opinion the best for if you're in a one on one type deal and ESPECIALLY if it goes to the ground.. Wrestling is the best for shooting and sprawling.. boxing is great for handwork and muai thai is awesome for throwing some bows and knees into the mix.

Again, there's not a "best" but there is a "best-for-a-situation" and "best-for-you".

 

[poro78]

I started with Krav Maga and moved to Muay Thai.
Liked them both, but Muay Thai was better for me, because I am lefty and I prefer standing on my feet and hate the ground work.
MMA or BBJ would had been another choice, but as I said - I hate the ground work.

Anyway, a bad instructor can ruin any martial art/combat sport, so you just have to try what suits you.
I had good instructors in Muay Thai, couple of amateur and professional world champions with good coaching skills. They knew their stuff and how to pass the knowledge, how to motivate a fighter and I truly enjoyed every single session.
Unfortunately I had to quit few years ago when I broke a piece of bone off my elbow (at work, not at gym) and it didn't heal properly.

 

[NoRetreat]

Full Contact either MMA or Muay Thai

 

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[Polarbeans]

Muay Thai

I've practiced and competed in Boxing and Muay Thai.

Both are fun but the latter is more compelling to me. You wont get kicked in the head unless you drop your guard or practice with a real douche.

There are hardly kicks to the head in competitions either. Perhaps if you search "highlights" or something like that on youtube..


You get an amazingly ripped body after one or two seasons if you stay commited. I had many friends from the sport who has traveled to thailand to live at a fight camp for a few months and learn the real old school. Which is also an adventure

 

[Digamma]

Muay Thai and Krav Maga, together. With good instructors, you'll become a monster in less than a year.
And of course, a good lifting routine.

 

[Durete]

Self defense wise, I think these are best for self defense, (In no particular order)

Full contact japanese karate.
Muay Chaiya(or their sports version: Muay thai is fairly decend aswell)
Krav maga.

For all 3 counts: Get a real teacher, not a mcdojo one. All of them have good teachers, and all of them have really bad ones.
I used to be a member of a karate dojo, and we used to do crosstraining with other fighting styles on a regular basis, so far karate outshined all of them for pure self-defense purposes.
But in the end it is all about how serious you are about it, how good your teacher is,and how good your sparring partners are.

ALways talk to the teacher first, make sure his main objective is actual self defense.
All 3 of the above arts will teach you to defend against different weapons. will teach you how to maim, knock out, and kill people.
All 3 will teach you to fight several opponents at the same time, and how to defend yourself against cheap shots. (Eye pokes, kicks/hits to the throat and to the balls.)

I would suggest sticking to 1 art, perfect yourself in it and cross train against other arts. Do not mix different arts.
As the saying goes "The men who chases two rabbits will catch none."


What to avoid:
- Arts that only train while wearing gloves. the actual Muay, karate and krav wear no gloves. Gloves will teach you bad form. Just look upon professional boxers in real fights... 9 out of the 10 will break their hands.)
- Arts that focus only on sparring and power, and not on technique. (Youré only as good as your technique.)
- Arts that do not train against weapons.
- Teachers that do not accept challenge
- Teachers that do not let you improvise attacks and defenses to see how it works.

I've had many of the wrong ones. and had a few good ones.
In the end I think that full contact japanese karate is the most well-rounded martial arts, as it trains you in all different forms of training. weapons and non-weapons.

 

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[Lathan]

I would suggest sticking to 1 art, perfect yourself in it and cross train against other arts. Do not mix different arts.
As the saying goes "The men who chases two rabbits will catch none."

What about doing one art most of the time but maybe once a week incorporating another one to the mix?

 

[Blackadder]

In my humble opinion....

Krav Maga: if you are after a workout that has real world self defense capabilities

Aikido: If you are after an art that can be used by even the oldest of men to throw some young snot into a wall

 

[Durete]

What about doing one art most of the time but maybe once a week incorporating another one to the mix?

I personally would suggest not.
The techniques that you use in one art is often not optimal for the use in another. So learning two different things means that you will get sloppier technique than needed.

I used to practice muay thai and karate at some point. The karate technique (bare fist) strikes made me suck in muay thai, and afterwards the totally different style of strikes in MT made me suck in karate. In the end I became a worse fighter. Sure I knew the different ways of thinking and learned the clinch. but since it was a mix of different styles I got worse under pressure.
Remember the quote "You do what you train for."

So it's just a lot better to stay with 1 art, explore it, learn everything there is to know about it, and test it under fire.(Training vs weapons, multiple opponents and cross training vs other styles.)

If you do insist on training multiple styles, I would suggest taking 1 striking art. (Karate is by far the best one for this) and then a secondary art which follows the same basic moves as the main art. For example karate and Aikido(Which is origionally a sword fighting style) have the same forms of standing, and bassically the same lines of attack. But then again aikido and karate came from the same art (Japanese Jiu Jutsu) split their ways and specialized in their specific form of the art. (Karate being the empty handed version, even while karate does use several small weapons, and aikido being the 'Samurai'sword fighting art.) Today's Jujutsu is sadly no where close to being the origional art. (Same that muay thai is the watered down sports version of Muay.)

 

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[Ricoboxing]

boxing....

source
just look at my username LOL

but in all seriousness, the reason why i think boxing is effective is because of all the sparring done in the gym. Thats the only way you'll know how to react when you get hit in the face or have an opponent swinging at you and trying to take your head off.

 

[Formless]

All of them if you can.

If not, Muay Thai, Krav Maga and practice some basic stand up grappling.

The problem with Krav is that it teaches you tricks, not fundamentals, it neglects them, horribly. You want a good base with the tricks and mentality of Krav Maga or a similar RBSD style.

If you want to train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for Self-Defense, be intelligent about how you train. Train to STAND, SWEEP OR SUBMIT FAST. Don't lay around playing guard. Don't go looking for rolling heel-hooks. Train as you would fight in your chosen arena.

 

[Lathan]

Thanks for all the tips. Just got a glock 19. Solved that problem.


















...Kidding.

 

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[edward222]

I suggest WingChun my friend.... WingChun will kick everything who stands in your way.

 

[Digamma]

Thanks for all the tips. Just got a glock 19. Solved that problem.

...Kidding.

You jest, but if I lived in a country where it's actually viable for private citizen to carry for self defense, I would get one.

 

[Trevorjc]

I suggest WingChun my friend.... WingChun will kick everything who stands in your way.

I second this, i did it for a couple of years until work made it not possible to go regularly.

No competition, no sport, just dirty street fighting that gets the job done, but any martial art will be good against an untrained opponent providing you have had a good teacher and the classes have involved regular sparing.

 

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[Yasai]

If you want a composite/synthesis:
Jeet Kune Do (based on its philosophy).

 

[Lathan]

You jest, but if I lived in a country where it's actually viable for private citizen to carry for self defense, I would get one.

Oh I plan on it.

@Trevorjc @edward222 Isn't wing chun some sort of kung fu? Honestly kung fu was last on my list :/ I always thought it was comical. I didn't think it would actually work. Thought it was just for movies. Heard an interesting talk with Joe Rogan talking about kung fu as well. He, as well as some other highly trained fighters like bas rutten, eddie bravo etc were saying how none of it works in a real situation.