Prepare for the Wall!
Western Standing Arts.
Western Arts such as Bare Knuckle Boxing, Savate, Conventional Boxing, Kajukenbo and American Mixed Martial Arts; are directly effective.
They have little or no philosophical elements and little or no spiritual elements.
Most of them are blatantly flawed, but nevertheless effective. You'd need to KNOW the flaws in order to tear them open.
"Self Defence" Arts.
I strongly disagree with the existence of self-defence arts, but they are an option. I believe that if you need to learn these, you should be in the military/special forces, otherwise you should EARN your power. You should EARN the right to be able to do what they do. None of this "I don't want to spend the time, I just want to learn how to tear out a throat or kidney and leave it at that." No. Fuck you.
...sorry, I digress.
Systema, Krav Maga, McMap are the 3 biggest one's you'll find. They all work. Without question.
Most people get over-confident or arrogant because it's "formed by the military". So be aware of that.
Western Grappling Arts.
BJJ, Wrestling. Two biggest examples.
They excel at 1v1. They excel at ground work.
Unfortunately, most fights (in my experience) DO NOT go to ground. These arts are also pretty shit with weapons, and close to useless against multiple opponents.
Eastern Arts.
- Most, if not all, have a spiritual or philosophical element to them which - in my opponent - is a positive thing, and if it's actively being taught during class time - and you're a hardcore skeptic or a verificationist - I'd recommend you stay away.
NOTE: ALL EASTERN ARTS ARE STREET PRACTICAL. HOWEVER - it WILL take time to understand them and apply it. Some arts are easier than others, and whatever is most natural to you will factor into it's understanding as well. If you're good enough - It WILL work. Forget about what others say.
Japanese Arts.
Karate (and it's many forms), is a standing art. It's very power directed. It's very discipline oriented.
It'll work if you put in the time and the art is natural to you, but be prepared for a lot of criticism, and a lot of bruises.
Ninjitsu, for the most part a standing art. It's focus is only a lot of 'critical' strikes, hits to the biceps, shoulders, and throats. Though this NOT, and i repeat IS NOT exclusive to ninjitsu. The moment you strip away 'sport' from any Eastern Art, it becomes very violent and very brutal.
Ninjitsu also likes a lot of weapon training, and few pretty cool tricks and is a solid art.
It's hard to find, and begone of your preconceived notions of what a 'ninja' was.
Kano Jiu Jutsu: Effective. Pretty cool to know...but you've got to be really fucking good, with well developed reflexes for this to work on the street. Just do BJJ if you want something like this.
Korean Arts.
The two biggest ones are Hapkido and Taekwondo, they're almost indistinguishable from each other. Hapkido just features more locks and shit.
"The art of the fist and foot", is more or less "the art of the foot". It's practical so long as you're:
1. Fast.
2. Have good peripheral vision.
3. Don't wear skinny jeans.
Chinese Arts.
External.
External Arts are things like the Shaolin Boxing, Long Fist, Praying Mantis, etc.
It's very hard. Very powerful.
Don't get caught up in the forms, and so long as you're not doing it as a 'sport', the pretentious arty crap is dependant on context. Don't flourish your hands and squat down into a long stance before a fight.
Though mid-fight, the flourishing of hands and the transition into stance could quite well fuck someone up.
Internal.
Internal Arts are things like Tai Ji, Wudang, and all that.
These work, and are the most brutal, angry and vicious art I've seen practiced to date.
You'll face 2 major problems though if you wish to pursue this -
1. Yourself.
2. Finding a good teacher.
You'll be discouraged by the time it takes to get good at these arts, you'll be discouraged by people mocking you or the art. I promise you, if you go through it, it'll work.
My students have all said the peaceful chinese monks are the biggest trolls to grace the earth.
There's 3 main forms of Tai Ji, Chen, Yang, Wu. Wu is violent. Pick Wu. The issue with Wu however is it's only taught in the context of fighting other Wu practitioners. Just experiment a little bit with 'current' fighters or styles, and you'll realize the shit works.
The South East Asia Arts,
Muay Thai + Silat + FMA
Muay Thai is a bastardized sporting version of Muay Boran, which features grappling and a lot of broken bones.
Muay Thai however, still works. It works very very well. If you want basic stand up survival, do Muay Thai for like, 3-6 months.
Silat, I have little experience in, but I'm don't they're vicious grapplers and knife fighters.
Same with FMA, greatest knife fighters in the world, and you pick up amazing speed. They're arrogant as a ************ though.
That's the gist. An overview. So if I've missed out your art or I've missed out information like Wing Chun, THIS IS AN OVERVIEW. Relax.
Hope this helped!
...by the way, guess what I practice/teach
QUICK EDIT: Do what's natural for you. Do what you enjoy. It'll always be more effective, and you'll want to be there. If Boxing was natural, and Muay Thai wasn't, you'll always be better at Boxing. Regardless of the technical deficiencies present.
