I want to get into martial arts, which one should I go for?

[ZeeBrahs]

Stfu dude, i've been boxing for 7 years and been doing MMA (muay thai/jiu jitsu and wrestling) for 3, and a good wrestler would be able to take you down and manhandle you easily and you wouldn't be able to do chit about it, unless you were also well versed in BJJ or wrestling.

GTFO *******, maybe they could take your scrawny ass down, but I'm 210 pounds and actually lift, so I can "bang with the big boys".

[Zamakaze]

GTFO *******, maybe they could take your scrawny ass down, but I'm 210 pounds and actually lift, so I can "bang with the big boys".

Lol a 170lb wrestler would rape you, srs. I know you think you're tough **** because you took one boxing class but that's not how it works.

[ZeeBrahs]

you took one boxing class

Herp derp, already said in this thread that I am a COMPETITIVE amateur boxer hoping to go pro.

[Zamakaze]

Herp derp, already said in this thread that I am a COMPETITIVE amateur boxer hoping to go pro.

I take it you haven't seen the Couture vs Toney fight.

[ZeeBrahs]

I take it you haven't seen the Couture vs Toney fight.

That is ONE fight. And Couture is a three-time D1 All-American. Comparing him to the average person with minimal wrestling experience is laughable.

[max1122]

"balance, flexibility, coordination, core strength etc. " <- martial arts that emphasize stand up work = boxing, kick boxing, judo, muay thai, wrestling, any of these will definitely help you develop those characteristics that you seek. And about street fights, if you're still new at this, chances are you are not going to use most of the techniques learnt in class. Adrenaline rush will get the best of you and you'll probably end up swinging stupidly.

I'd say try out those martial arts mentioned ITT, and see which one(s) you like and stick to it. Each one is useful in its own ways when it comes to self defense. The important thing is you have to enjoy it. I wouldn't like it too much if I was to do a martial art just so that it can save my ass on the street (well, that's nice too, but I'll stick to it if it's enjoyable to me).

been Doing Judo for 5 months right now, and it's still extremely difficult to say the least. 2nd week, i got thrown like a rag doll, on top of being pinned, choked, etc, to the point where it hurts just by slightly coughing. Can't imagine getting thrown like that on the street (if possible)

[Zamakaze]

That is ONE fight. And Couture is a three-time D1 All-American. Comparing him to the average person with minimal wrestling experience is laughable.

Brb i'm not talking about the average person idiot. I'm talking about a collegiate wrestler or even a good highschool wrestler, or someone with a year of BJJ minimum. Of course some ******* with 2 months of wrestling experience isn't going to do ****. Not to mention you are not as good of a boxer as James Toney, either.

Edit: Also, Couture got that takedown so easily lol, he literally was not even trying.

[Ashen]

GTFO *******, maybe they could take your scrawny ass down, but I'm 210 pounds and actually lift, so I can "bang with the big boys".

lmao I know 125lbers that would wipe the floor with you


Grappling is rock to boxings scissors.

[ZeeBrahs]

Brb i'm not talking about the average person idiot. I'm talking about a collegiate wrestler or even a good highschool wrestler, or someone with a year of BJJ minimum. Of course some ******* with 2 months of wrestling experience isn't going to do ****. Not to mention you are not as good of a boxer as James Toney, either.

A year of BJJ isn't chit either.

lmao I know 125lbers that would wipe the floor with you


Grappling is rock to boxings scissors.

And you know that for sure?

[Zamakaze]

A year of BJJ isn't chit either.

And you know that for sure?

A dude with a year of BJJ would take you down and either break your arm or choke you out with ease.

Edit: you are also an idiot because you have never grappled nor have you fought a grappler. You are talking from a one sided perspective.

[ZeeBrahs]

Edit: you are also an idiot because you have never grappled nor have you fought a grappler. You are talking from a one sided perspective.

Herp derp, don't make assumptions. I was a HS wrestler and I do Judo and Krav Maga.

[Phal4nx]

Most fights start on the feet so yeah someone with a striking background is going to have the advantage first. But once a good judoka or wrestler gets a grip on you, your going to hit the pavement really hard and it will be over.

[ThatRussianDude]

Most fights start on the feet so yeah someone with a striking background is going to have the advantage first. But once a good judoka or wrestler gets a grip on you, your going to hit the pavement really hard and it will be over.

[Phal4nx]

^^

Exactly

[Zamakaze]

Lol fuking skinny *******s, would wreck them both

[YourMadBrah]

Some of the responses in here make me want to commit suicide....
Krav Maga- Wouldn't recommend it
Wing chun- Lol just no it's so unrealistic it's unbelievable
Boxing- Yeah but it is kind of one dimensional but that might be all you need in a street fight
Wrestling- YES if you are a pretty good wrestler vs average affliction hardass you will be able to control the whole fight
Judo- Yes you can just rag doll people if they get to close to you and getting hip tossed onto concrete doesn't feel to good
BJJ- Definitely a good martial art to learn but for just street fight purposes idk since you don't really want to break somebodys bones
Muay Thai- Hell yesss you can definitely kick in jeans, plus elbows and knees are devastating. Get the average person in a Thai clinch and they are basicly phucked

So I think the best combination is Muay Thai and wrestling but any martial art will give you a pretty big advantage so just pick one that will be the most fun to you

[Zamakaze]

Some of the responses in here make me want to commit suicide....
Krav Maga- Wouldn't recommend it
Wing chun- Lol just no it's so unrealistic it's unbelievable
Boxing- Yeah but it is kind of one dimensional but that might be all you need in a street fight
Wrestling- YES if you are a pretty good wrestler vs average affliction hardass you will be able to control the whole fight
Judo- Yes you can just rag doll people if they get to close to you and getting hip tossed onto concrete doesn't feel to good
BJJ- Definitely a good martial art to learn but for just street fight purposes idk since you don't really want to break somebodys bones
Muay Thai- Hell yesss you can definitely kick in jeans, plus elbows and knees are devastating. Get the average person in a Thai clinch and they are basicly phucked

So I think the best combination is Muay Thai and wrestling but any martial art will give you a pretty big advantage so just pick one that will be the most fun to you

Taking somebody down in a streetfight and wrestling them isn't that great of an idea because his friends can jump in and you will be vulnerable to getting stomped on and kicked.

[Chocwhey]

Find a school that's full contact.

That's all that matters when it comes to "self defense."


People will say "Oh TKD sucks for self defense, or this type of karate sucks for self defense, etc. etc."


If you ever get in a real fight, you are not going to use 99% of the techniques you are taught.


You are going to throw a few punches and so is the other guy while both of you look to throw the other to the ground. Once you're on the ground you're going to roll around and try to throw some more punches.

One's going to win the other's not.


So your best bet is to take any martial art that gets you use to seeing and feeling someone come at your full contact.

Be it Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, whatever.

Agree with this man to an extent, I believe if you learn concepts rather than techniques then you will be a far more successful street fighter, I think of techniques just as examples of concepts for stand up fighting.

Wrestling > any other martial art for self defense

Seems a little bias with that username

This.
Muay Thai is badass but you have to be an idiot to throw kicks in a street fight. So if you're just looking for something that will help you in a street fight, plain old boxing should be plenty.

And yes, I realise mma and krav maga might be better because they're very all-round but the problem with these sports is that it takes years of practice to master them. Whereas with boxing, it should only take you a couple of lessons to learn how to throw a strong punch and how to defend yourself from them.

Wrong on many levels

Thigh kicks are obviously fine. However, if you attempt a head kick that ISN'T wide-open in a street fight, you're a fool.

Herp, obviously.

the fuk? brb kicks are amazing in a street fight. judges the other guys defense and ability and phases him with zero damage to you. In a street fight my chin is the farthest thing from a guy. (mainly outve the fear of a good punch)

also while boxings badass and i respect it, most wrestlers for example would wreck a boxer in 7 seconds flat.

Don't feel too safe with leg kicks, big mistake when someone nails a good check on you, especially if you come across someone who can utilize knee destructions, will snap your instep or even shin in half, the same goes for anything, I just don't like the part where you said "zero damage to you".

Would you say being a more experienced boxer helps you in a street fight? Or just knowing the basics of how to punch properly would be just as good?

Ofcourse, this goes for all arts.

Doubt it. I'd love to see them try and go for a takedown while I do a switch step outside and deliver an uppercut to their WIDE-OPEN chin (cause you can't go for a takedown while protecting your chin).

Imagine getting hit with a hard uppercut. Now imagine falling into the same uppercut. Good luck surviving that.

And the reason I'd also recommend Judo is because the takedowns utilize your opponents' momentum and bodyweight against them to take them down, meaning it'd be hard as fuark to attempt a takedown on a Judo practitioner.

Hypothetical fighting on the internet, cool!

I started with Judo, it has a lot of flaws, I benefitted more from the ground fighting side than the stand up. Attempting a takedown on a Judo practitioner might be a lot easier than you think seeing as there are no leg takedowns in Judo anymore, meaning that a strictly Judo player will have little to no defense for as aspect that is not part of their training. Here's a little history lesson, leg take downs used to be legal in Judo, until freestyle wrestlers began migrating into the sport and dominating the sport with them.

Think of Bruce Lee's approach to street fighting, there is no superior art, the more time you spend sparing the better you will become at reading your opponent, acting under pressure, and using what is most effective in the situation that is presented to you. The problem is that if you are boxing, and you spend all your time sparing boxers, you will become very good at fighting boxers but you wont be able to see a takedown until you are on the ground, and the situation repeats itself with every art.

You need to decide what your main goals are, from what you have listed in the OP you could pick just about any sport fighting system.

[ErydayT]

Boxing is a good place to start, especially if you are looking for self-defence. As stated in this thread however there are many styles all of which have distinct advantages and disadvantages, anyone who says "their" art is the best and can beat every other art every time is delusional. I started with boxing and quickly caught the bug, I now train whatever arts I can, Boxing, Muay Thai, Kali, Wing tsun, Panantukan, Combat Submission Wrestling, the more you know the better. I would suggest looking more at the instructor than the art honestly. I was fortunate enough to find a "backyard" school with a one in a million instructor who really knows his stuff and loves teaching it to others. The teacher makes all the difference.

[YourMadBrah]

Taking somebody down in a streetfight and wrestling them isn't that great of an idea because his friends can jump in and you will be vulnerable to getting stomped on and kicked.

Yeah I was going to add that but if he's with friends too then it's probably the most beneficial skill and even if he isn't with friends his take down defense will be good so that won't happen

[AVOJAMACADA]

Don't feel too safe with leg kicks, big mistake when someone nails a good check on you, especially if you come across someone who can utilize knee destructions, will snap your instep or even shin in half, the same goes for anything, I just don't like the part where you said "zero damage to you".

.

well potentials always there yeah but id rather my leg and shin out then my jaw in a unknown fight. Like i say...in a random fight its a good way to judge the other guy in the beggining and really (specialy as im a soccer player) a killer leg kick can inflict serious damage and most guy wont suspect a kick.

Although your right, but ive never come across a guy who can check and guard and quick outside leg kick.

[ZeeBrahs]

I started with Judo, it has a lot of flaws, I benefitted more from the ground fighting side than the stand up. Attempting a takedown on a Judo practitioner might be a lot easier than you think seeing as there are no leg takedowns in Judo anymore, meaning that a strictly Judo player will have little to no defense for as aspect that is not part of their training. Here's a little history lesson, leg take downs used to be legal in Judo, until freestyle wrestlers began migrating into the sport and dominating the sport with them.

Leg takedowns are easy. The technique really only needs to be taught once and there's no thinking about it. You can just...do it.

I like Judo because you can utilize your opponent's bodyweight and momentum against them. I'm still not even close to an expert or anything (Judo is my latest endeavor), but I know enough boxing/wrestling/Judo/Krav Maga to hold my own in a street fight.

But realistically, if you have the proper punch biomechanics and can defend yourself, the rest usually comes from your natural instincts and adrenaline (srs).

[Boffothe]

Really, in my opinion, the best way to do things is to look at all of the high-percentage sparring martial arts (ie boxing, BJJ, Muay Thai, judo), and then narrow it down with practicality.

What schools are near you? What are the quality of the schools? If you have a decent BJJ school but an amazing Muay Thai school near you, that should influence your decision. It's fairly hard to find real judo training or a wrestling school that doesn't cater mainly to kids, so you have to mainly look at what is practical near you.

Use online reviews and google the teacher's names, watch a class at each school if you can, etc.

[Romanus122]

Don't even believe this

He is right, do anything where you know and accept you are going to get hurt/maybe bleed.

Fighting on the streets is psychological. If you know you might get hurt and you know you might see your own blood and can fully accept this, then you stand a better chance of winning. You need to learn to get hit and learn to get hurt.

[bigdaddy0381]

Op, give them all a try and see what "fits" you the best. I have studied a a lot styles/disciplines over the last 20 yrs and if something doesn't feel right then move on to another. I have done every thing from Philippeno stick fighting to wing chun and it took a while to find what would work with me and how I like to fight.


Also, to people who study/train in true martial arts is there a such thing as a block?

[muruku]

Judo.
Was forced to take it up during my secondary school days. Really enjoyed it in the end.

edit.
Judo has leg takedowns, it used to be my speciality minor throw.


my major used to be harai goshi, coach switched me to one arm later on.