I want to learn how to defend myself/fight Reps for good answers

[Nooblifts]

What the title says pretty much. What would be the most effective fighting style I can learn to defend myself? I was looking at Muay Thai, it looks pretty impressive. On the other hand, people always say boxing or wrestling. I'm not sure what to pick, just asking you guys what the most effective one is to protect myself. Just a little more information, I'm not the type of guy to start fights, I usually walk away from fights. But if someone was to come up to me and try to attack me, what would the most effective defence of fighting style be? Reps for best answers! Thanks guys!

[Ryanbsupreme]

What the title says pretty much. What would be the most effective fighting style I can learn to defend myself? I was looking at Muay Thai, it looks pretty impressive. On the other hand, people always say boxing or wrestling. I'm not sure what to pick, just asking you guys what the most effective one is to protect myself. Just a little more information, I'm not the type of guy to start fights, I usually walk away from fights. But if someone was to come up to me and try to attack me, what would the most effective defence of fighting style be? Reps for best answers! Thanks guys!

Street fighting is a whole different story than martial arts lol. But I'd say the most effective is of course boxing, building agility as well as power within punches.

[Nooblifts]

Street fighting is a whole different story than martial arts lol. But I'd say the most effective is of course boxing, building agility as well as power within punches.

Thanks repped

[Jbtyson]

There is no best way to defend yourself. You can go train in martial arts or wrestling, but when you get jumped, none of that matters. If you must pick something to train, I'd go for Krav Maga. But really, the only way to get good at fighting is to get your ass kicked a couple times. After that, you learn what NOT to do - which is far more important.

[datderecreatine]

Boxing. Mainly because you do get to spar. If you don't spar you will never have experience in 1 on 1 combat. If u spar you will be able be calm in a fighting situation.

It's like practicing everything but not fighting. What is the point if u never fight? It won't magically happen if u never take a punch to the face

[Nooblifts]

There is no best way to defend yourself. You can go train in martial arts or wrestling, but when you get jumped, none of that matters. If you must pick something to train, I'd go for Krav Maga. But really, the only way to get good at fighting is to get your ass kicked a couple times. After that, you learn what NOT to do - which is far more important.

Lol thanks repped

[Nooblifts]

Boxing. Mainly because you do get to spar. If you don't spar you will never have experience in 1 on 1 combat. If u spar you will be able be calm in a fighting situation.

It's like practicing everything but not fighting. What is the point if u never fight? It won't magically happen if u never take a punch to the face

Repped

[MuscleMigraine]

I'd go with boxing

[C0nor]

I train in kickboxing and if a fight comes the best option is to walk away,run or try defuse yourself from the situation not that I'm scared or anything its just the safest option, but I have that security that if needed to protect myself I could do that with ease
I'd say doing a mixture of Mauy Thai and bjj/judo would be a decent start as it incorporates the two main components of mma and or fighting, if you somewhat enjoy being a physically fit beast as well as taking the sport seriously, and not just to try brawl on the side I'd say its the best option

[TruKnight]

if your talking practical survival skills, then krav maga.

but try and stay out of fights op.

[Tbillionaire]

[xBONExCROWNx]

Boxing
And when in a fight, fight to kill. Don't throw a single punch to hurt the other person, throw each and every strike with the intention to kill. It's them or you getting your face busted to hell. Why you?

[Jaywalking]

@ EVERYONE WHO SAYS BOXING IS OPTIMAL I HIGHLY DOUBT HAS BEEN IN A STREET FIGHT BEFORE.

Boxing is a sport. A great sport to build agility and speed, BUT YOU DO NOT BOX IN A REAL FIGHT. You kick, and "fight dirty", you do whatever it takes to run away. In boxing, you learn to take hits. In martial arts, you do whatever it takes to not take a hit, and instead use that against your opponent. You do NOT want to PURPOSEFULLY take a hit in a street fight. While it may be helpful to learn to take hits, you do not want to in an actual fight.

I think someone mentioned Krav Maga which is a great idea. If you get into martial arts pretty soon you'll realize that it's a lot like lifting: It does not matter what program you are on, as long as you get bigger and stronger. Similarly, it does not matter what specific art you learn, rather how you tailor the arts you learn to your own body and use them to achieve kinesthetic awareness of how to defend and how your body reacts best.

So do a bit of everything but specialize in some form of a martial art.

[peteeee]

muay thai

[RuiBarbosa7]

Muay Thai is far more deadly in a street fight than boxing I would say.. Because, it's dirty.. ( punch, elbow, kick, knee) + Muay Thai fighters are trained to feel pain.. In pro fights they get kicked, kneed and elbowed in the face and carry on like nothing happened. I would also advise you to pick up some sort of ground fighting, as a lot of street fights end up on the ground

[SamSix]

go with either boxing or ju jitsu. a real life confrontation is either starts with two people squaring off and it turning into a fist fight, or one resorting to a take down at which point the fight ensues on the ground. more often than not though most peoples natural reaction is to fight in a standing position

[Khabaal]

Honestly, anything that promotes a lot of full contact sparring and improves your footwork. Most common place you'll find that is in a boxing ring. The problem with applying any martial arts is that there's normally a lack in the literal application. If you want to improve your chances in a real life situation, you have to create a simulation that imitates that situation. In other words, practice makes perfect. If you don't practice utilizing space and keeping balance while someone is trying to knock your lights out, you're not gonna do it with the pressure on through anything but dumb luck.

As the above poster mentioned, grappling training (be it wrestling, bjj or whatever) is useful too. If for no other reason than to possibly avoid being put into strangle holds or having limbs broken.

[datderecreatine]

@ EVERYONE WHO SAYS BOXING IS OPTIMAL I HIGHLY DOUBT HAS BEEN IN A STREET FIGHT BEFORE.

Boxing is a sport. A great sport to build agility and speed, BUT YOU DO NOT BOX IN A REAL FIGHT. You kick, and "fight dirty", you do whatever it takes to run away. In boxing, you learn to take hits. In martial arts, you do whatever it takes to not take a hit, and instead use that against your opponent. You do NOT want to PURPOSEFULLY take a hit in a street fight. While it may be helpful to learn to take hits, you do not want to in an actual fight.

I think someone mentioned Krav Maga which is a great idea. If you get into martial arts pretty soon you'll realize that it's a lot like lifting: It does not matter what program you are on, as long as you get bigger and stronger. Similarly, it does not matter what specific art you learn, rather how you tailor the arts you learn to your own body and use them to achieve kinesthetic awareness of how to defend and how your body reacts best.

So do a bit of everything but specialize in some form of a martial art.

Boxing is the art of hitting and not getting hit. Boxing may be a sport but I have no doubt in my mind I could still knock your ass out with or without gloves

[Rethon]

mma

[Aaron6foot6]

boxing and wrestling together i used to box i wrestle now boxing is good for speed and agility and wrestling is good for grappling/taking down ur opponent

[ForestGrump]

Deffinitely MMA (mixed martial arts). It incorprates Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling and Judo. Reccomend it greatly.

[ZakiBrah]

I used to do taekwondo , and now I compete at MMA competitions over here .. I know im pretty much better than anyone my age @ school , but the problem for me with street fighting is always the numbers/weapons .. there are rules at sports , not at street fights tho .. they get to (dirty) kick you .. use weapons , and outnumber you hard .. so this has nothing to do with training .. sure I can take out a kid my age 1 on 1 anytime , I even do well at 2v1's .. but street fights , ugh ..

[trs5]

Try a few martial arts and find the one best suited to you

[Ryanbsupreme]

Got my black belt in taekwondo, you learn plenty of interesting techniques for self defense during that period.

They teach you everything from...
-What to do when being choked from behind
-When someone has you at gun point
-When you're being surrounded by a group of enemies
-Ways to disarm opponents from their weapons. etc

[NicholasMango]

Do Muay Thai and Ju Jitsu.

Ju jitsu gor grappling and groundfighting/submission holds.
Muay Thai literally has the strongest strikes of any martial art. (Some of them overlap. But Muay Thai is BRUTAL.)


If you know those two martial arts, you are gonna do well in ANY fight vs an untrained thug.


Just my two cents.

[Jaywalking]

Boxing is the art of hitting and not getting hit. Boxing may be a sport but I have no doubt in my mind I could still knock your ass out with or without gloves

I was told by a boxing friend that it's fine to take some hits, I guess he's wrong so apologies for the misinformation.

If you honestly think you can win a street fight with purely your arms and some legwork and not utilize any kicks against your opponent then if I were you I'd keep my ego in check.

[TaxusBaccata]

lifting heavy barbells is good to make you better at fighting

[xBONExCROWNx]

@ EVERYONE WHO SAYS BOXING IS OPTIMAL I HIGHLY DOUBT HAS BEEN IN A STREET FIGHT BEFORE.

Boxing is a sport. A great sport to build agility and speed, BUT YOU DO NOT BOX IN A REAL FIGHT. You kick, and "fight dirty", you do whatever it takes to run away. In boxing, you learn to take hits. In martial arts, you do whatever it takes to not take a hit, and instead use that against your opponent. You do NOT want to PURPOSEFULLY take a hit in a street fight. While it may be helpful to learn to take hits, you do not want to in an actual fight.

I think someone mentioned Krav Maga which is a great idea. If you get into martial arts pretty soon you'll realize that it's a lot like lifting: It does not matter what program you are on, as long as you get bigger and stronger. Similarly, it does not matter what specific art you learn, rather how you tailor the arts you learn to your own body and use them to achieve kinesthetic awareness of how to defend and how your body reacts best.

So do a bit of everything but specialize in some form of a martial art.

if everyone in this thread got in a fight you would be the first to get your ass kicked.

[letsdothisbro]

I did this special type of Kung Fu when I was in a boarding school in Asia.

We were trained that we couldnt stop until the opponent was completely down. Basically to kill lol

was pretty fukkin intense

[Often]

Muay thai hands down. I've been training muay thai for a while now and it's most useful for defending yourself/fighting imo.