Most practical martial art?

[Nikajo]

There isn't really a "most practical" martial art. No fight can be predicted before it happens, it depends on the relative skills of each person and even more importantly their mindset when the fight begins to take place.

Some people also do far better at some martial arts than others. You need to find whats right for you. Personally I've been doing Aikido for years now and I'm loving it, although it takes a very long time to actually become proficient at it. I'm looking into training in something striking oriented along side it because I don't think I could punch an old lady without hurting myself (i'm joking on both counts there ofcourse).

It would be worth trying out a few and seeing which one you like best. Don't be afraid to keep switiching until you find something that suits you. And if you're really interested in self defence - get fit! It will make you more confident, better able to handle a situation and less likely to be attacked in the first place.

Some good marial arts I'm aware of are brazillian jiu jitsu (excellent for one on one), muay thai and krav maga. Judo is pretty good and aikido if you train for a long time (trust me, i've met some old men that could break most people in seconds). There's tons of martal arts out there though. Have fun!

 

[Xanadu84]

Probably Krav Maga. After all, as a modern martial arts, it draws on a variety of other Martial Arts for effective techniques, and rather then developing into a style focused around a sport, it remains focused on neutralizing by any means necessary. Also, given its background, you can be assured it is battle tested. Sambo is also up there, but I would go with Krav Maga over it because Krav Maga seems to be more comfortable around possible weapons. Ive just read some and observed some however, I'm no expert and could be wrong, and I'm willing to hear why I'm wrong from a more knowledgeable source. MMA actually gets 3rd, because like the above two, it's a modern style that draws upon a variety of other styles, and allows the individual to develop a style perfect for them. However, it falls behind because it is developed for a sport, not simply winning by any means necessary.

Of course, the practitioner counts for far more then the style.

 

[teisjm]

Run-fu AKA parkour should be able to help you out of most situations.

I train ninjutsu myself, and so far it seems (close to half a year only) it seems pretty damn effective. I like the fact that a whole lot of the moves involves breaking peopels bones without a lot of trouble, in a serious situation you might not care a lot about your opponents well-beeing, so if you can neutralize one of his limbs (by breaking it) victory should be pretty easy after that.

 

[marurder]

Hap Ki Do

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

The great featherweight bodybuilder and mediocre actor Bruce Lee was not a fighter and we probably shouldn't take his advice on the subject.

Train with aliveness and you'll get out of a martial art about what you put into it. Train compliant demonstrations and silly things (lol chi sao) and you won't even get that much. And anybody who tells you he can teach you to defeat weapons or multiple opponents is lying, deluded, or both.

And who cares what Krav Maga was designed for? It all sounds the same anyway. "Martial Art X was designed to quickly overwhelm a dangerous opponent by striking the most vulnerable parts of his body with your strongest weapons, using technique rather than strength...bla bla bla." Like there's a martial art out there that concentrates on dragging the fight out as long as possible, by caressing your opponent's most durable body parts with your tensest muscles. Krav trained with aliveness is cool, some schools teach compliant junk, but on the whole most of them are pretty good. Judge it as an individual gym, not by what it was "designed for." Toyotas were designed to go faster when you step on the pedal on the right and slower when you step on the pedal on the left, and we saw how well that worked out.

And let me end by inviting everybody who really cares to www.bullshido.net for much more serious (and profane) discussion of the subject.

 

[ttankzero]

Having said that, it also depends on the situation. If there are weapons involved for instance, or how bad you want to hurt your adversary. I'd say that in general a good (kick)boxer will probably beat a good judoka, but he has no choice but to severely hurt his opponent. A judoka might be able to neutralize in a less damaging way.

Did you see the first couple seasons of UFC?

Grappling will TOTALLY surprise and overwhelm a kickboxer who isn't ready for it. You just have to learn to feint and then shoot.

Krav Maga is a little bit impractical to practice to a point where you can make it muscle memory. You can't practice using it in any sort of live, full contact sparring situation because of the injury to your fellow practitioners that successful techniques would cause.

Because of this, it's difficult to judge if you could use it while someone was actually stabbing at you or repeatedly jabbing to establish distance, and you also run the risk of over-estimating the effectiveness of your techniques. Generally, a good jab >> a complicated deflection and attack maneuver.

Jeet Kun Do, Wing Chun, and Aikido are great in theory, but also don't translate well to situations against people who are trying to box or wrassle you. Muay Thai and Judo work way better against resisting opponents.

And don't fall into the fallacy of believing that training to fight dirty will make you a better street fighter. An accomplished Muay Thai fighter/boxer will be way better at blocking groin kicks/eye gouges/ear pulls and also way better at picking targets and weaving through defenses, meaning they're the ones who will be more successful poking eyes and destroying your lineage.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

Probably something like Judo would be the best for the sort of situations you described..Any punches thrown can quickly be turned into a throw and putting them on the ground. +1 already for you. Then just go MMA style and try and snap their arm or something lol

having done judo for 10 years i would back this up, judo is (meant to be) a non lethal martial art, but in a fight its a bloody effective one. a typical judo encounter involves your oppenent walking straight up to you, grabbing you by the lapels and throwing you over your shoulder. if that happens to someone not expecting it they are so shocked you have time to get the fuck gone.

As a knockdown karate practitioner I know what you mean. I can pummel somebody just fine and take a beating but I don't really have any subtle ways to incapacitate say, a drunk friend short of knocking him out or pounding on his organs until he doesn't want to move any more. I'd have done Judo from the beginning if I had it to do over again.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

Ninja's kick some serious ass. They have a "whatever works" attitude. Which means they encorporate guns.

 

[Milney]

I study the modern, yet strangely mystical art of "Tek'nol ogi".

It generally revolves around the manipulation of objects with ones hands to overcome any aggressor.

Moves such as:

"Tai Zar"

"Tier-gaas"

or in some parts of the world,

"Haand gon".

Most effective, no matter the training of the opposition.

 

[Banhaze]

Experience. Experience is the best martial art.

 

[Tharwen]

In all seriousness, running. I really don't think there is any single martial art that will help you in every situation and your odds start to crumble as weapons and superior numbers get involved. But if you can seriously book it, running increases your odds of survival the further you get from someone. Hell even against superior numbers and weapons you have a better chance by just running.
Take a page out of Doctor Who, hes survived 900 something years. How? Running.

And there's that regeneration thing, too, not that that matters, though.

 

[ttankzero]

I study the modern, yet strangely mystical art of "Tek'nol ogi".

It generally revolves around the manipulation of objects with ones hands to overcome any aggressor.

Moves such as:

"Tai Zar"

"Tier-gaas"

or in some parts of the world,

"Haand gon".

Most effective, no matter the training of the opposition.

So long as it's practical and legal for you to use these techniques, as well as you being in a position to draw the technique out before arousing suspicion.

Granted, if you don't have the second caveat most types of training aren't going to help you much either.

 

[PopcornAvenger]

Well, if you're gonna include guns, I'd say the most practical martial art is marksmanship, lol.

 

[ethaninja]

Ninjutsu. It works on balance and confidence, instead of strength and damage. I've seen a migit take down a group of giants using it.

 

[heyheysg]

Parkour.

If they can't chase you, they can't hit you

 

[Skratt]

In all seriousness, running. I really don't think there is any single martial art that will help you in every situation and your odds start to crumble as weapons and superior numbers get involved. But if you can seriously book it, running increases your odds of survival the further you get from someone. Hell even against superior numbers and weapons you have a better chance by just running.
Take a page out of Doctor Who, hes survived 900 something years. How? Running.

I like it. I never understood why people stay and fight if they don't have to. Even in defensive training they tell you to take your out and run away if the opportunity presents itself.

 

[bladeofdarkness]

it depends on what you mean by "practical"
if its street level defense then Krav Maga
if its combat sport related, you're going to want a mix of ground fighting (jujitsu, judo, systema) and stand up quick hit (boxing, muai tai)

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

There is no most practical just how you apply what you know. Also Krav Maga is by far not the most practical it is all about doing proper unnecessary damage yo your opponent and you WILL end up in jail if you miss use it. As there are lot of things in that style that are all for kill shots.

 

[Nikajo]

How about aikido?

its very defensive so not that practical

It's only defensive if that's your mind set. I've seen some flowery aikido that may work in the land of the fairies (yes I am being very sarcastic) but I've also seen some downright nasty stuff, even had some of done to me. Read "Angry White Pyjamas" by Robert Twigger, that shows you just how brutal it can be.

 

[Lord Monocle Von Banworthy]

it depends on what you mean by "practical"
if its street level defense then Krav Maga
if its combat sport related, you're going to want a mix of ground fighting (jujitsu, judo, systema) and stand up quick hit (boxing, muai tai)

What makes all those sport arts suddenly stop working when you step out of a ring?

Also, when and where has Systema been well-represented in combat sports? Sure you don't mean Sambo?