Practicing a martial art is a great way to become in shape and develop other talents as well. The time and effort you put into training them will pay dividends in numerous ways. Because of this, their fame continues to grow all around the world.
Self-defense is an essential part of martial arts and one of the main reasons they were developed. Thanks to the proliferation of mixed martial arts (MMA) events like the UFC and Bellator, we can now see nearly every style of martial art in a safe, realistic, and stress-tested setting. By doing so, we were able to gain a deeper understanding of their efficacy.
Based on:
- effectiveness,
- duration and steepness of the learning curve,
- availability of individual martial arts and combat systems
I have compiled a detailed list, from least effective to most effective, of the top martial arts for self-defense.
Noteworthy is the fact that martial arts can be highly powerful; but, if they are not widely available, I may have placed them lower than others that are less potent but more accessible.
This article will assist you in making an informed and useful decision whether you are interested in the subject or are attempting to decide which one to train. That way, you may pick a style that works best for you in realistic street situations. Continue reading if you’re curious!
11. Taekwondo
Korean martial art Taekwondo was created by Choi Hong Hi and a small group of military leaders and trained fighters. During and after World War II, it was established to help establish Korea’s martial arts community.
The aesthetics are rooted on Choi Hong Hi’s Theory of Power. What he has described is a more successful kind of martial arts than any other, based on a set of facts and hypotheses grounded in reason and Newtonian physics.
One of his key insights was that the force of a strike grows quadratically with speed but only linearly with the moving object’s mass; this led him to conclude that strength is less important than speed when it comes to striking.
Our legs can deliver faster and heavier hits than our arms, and this fact inspired the birth of a martial art predicated mostly on kicks.
Although this is what makes TKD special and different from other arts, it also makes it less effective than the others on our list. It is absurd to expect a hypothetical martial art to provide the most powerful strikes known when used for self-defense. In a street battle, a jab is far more valuable than the most powerful roundhouse kick you can conceive.
The question is, why is it the case? Okay, well, there are a few explanations. The most significant of these is that there is typically not enough room to perform kicks. It’s not just the individuals you see or the wall to your right that I’m referring to. Also, I’m referring to relative terms. Standard drunk or mugger will not stand where you can easily kick them.
If they have a knife, hands, or clinch on you, you’ll have to constantly recede from them to get in a good kick. It’s true that TKD has shorter, closer-range kicks, but they’re seldom utilized and never put through their paces in a competitive setting.
Besides the obvious range mismatch, TKD isn’t subjected to enough pressure testing. Because of the point system used in TKD tournaments, practitioners rarely use forceful or assured kicks, preferring instead to touch the opponent’s legs here and there to collect points.
There’s an overemphasis on kicking in TKD that’s a mistake since understanding simply one technique isn’t enough in a fight. Fighting styles like grappling and boxing may swiftly escalate, rendering your knowledge useless.
Despite the fact that TKD is not as successful as other martial arts in the street, it is nevertheless an impressive art form. You’ll get insanely flexible, agile, and powerful, and you won’t lose the ability to defend yourself against the vast majority of individuals you’ll ever encounter. But that doesn’t make it any more effective than other forms of art.
Even though Taekwondo serves as a solid foundation for many renowned martial artists, such as Bas Rutten and Valentina Schevchenko, it is ineffective on its own.
One of the main reasons TKD is not higher on the list is that not many people know about it. Although it can be found in virtually all major cities, the vast majority of people will not have access to adequate dojos to learn one of the world’s most popular martial arts.