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.
10. Combat Sambo
Sambo will be discussed as the next martial art. Sambo is a form of Russian martial art that was created in the Soviet Union (USSR) in the 1920s to train soldiers in close quarters fighting. Combat techniques include striking, kicking, clinching, throwing, grappling, wrestling, and more, much like modern mixed martial arts.
However, Sambo does have a few issues. The Russian people, not Sambo itself, are what really set Sambo apart from other martial arts, as many individuals in the global martial arts discourse have noted.
To give an example, I’ll start with the most obvious: Sambo is the official fighting system of the Russian military, one of the toughest in the world. Considering this, its reputation is sky-high to begin with. Additionally, the majority of Sambo practitioners are either Russian or Kazakh or otherwise originate from these two countries or neighboring regions.
Simply stating that it matters if the martial artist is Russian or not is not a sign of racism or bigotry. Because of the country’s poor economic condition, which has persisted for almost a century, its citizens are expected and even expected to be far more resilient than their Western counterparts.
Their feistiness and resoluteness translate to a strict regimen in the weight room and the ring, which is why Sambo is regarded as a magnificent art form. Not to say it isn’t; it’s in the top 10, after all; only that its prominence there isn’t always attributable to the quality of the artwork.
Sambo may be thought of as “militarized MMA.” Blending elements of boxing, wrestling, and grappling, it is a unique martial art in its own right. The problem is that it isn’t as extensive in every one as it might be. Although not the primary factor, this is one of the reasons why Sambo is so low on the totem pole.
The most essential explanation has little to do with the work itself or the Russian mentality argument, but it is still startling. Reason for this is accessibility. For those interested in learning a martial art, Sambo has the lowest availability rate.
Most of the globe, including the United States included, has an extremely limited number of educational facilities. Though reliable statistics are difficult to come by, it is estimated that there are just a dozen or so operational schools in the entire country. Finding a good first school is difficult since good ones are so uncommon.
If you were to spend a few months or years learning Combat Sambo in a Moscow dojo, you would emerge from your training as someone who is more than capable of defending yourself, even against other trained fighters. But its limited supply puts it below other arts on this list.
9. Karate
Karate, one of the most popular styles of martial arts in the world, comes up next on our list. It’s actually Okinawan, and not Japanese as is commonly believed. Okinawa is currently a prefecture of Japan, but it was once an autonomous nation and the birthplace of Japanese martial arts as we know them today.
While detailed accounts of the origins of Okinawan Karate are few, it is believed that the martial art may be traced back thousands of years to the Chinese dynasty and even farther to the Philippines. Shotokan, the most widely practiced form of karate today, was developed and popularized by Gichin Funakoshi, who is hence regarded the “creator” of the discipline.
Karate is a catch-all word for a wide variety of martial arts sub-disciplines, the most well-known of which are Shotokan, Goju-Ryu, Kyokushin, Shito-Ryu, and many more. The quality of the training and its practical efficacy are both significantly influenced by the particular school and branch.
Shotokan Karate is a highly effective and formidable martial art that has developed over time to compete with Western Boxing. Shotokan is a martial art that may give a good foundation for self-defense despite its typical failure against most Western styles.
It has a lot of strong, straight punches, blocks, and kicks. The fact that it progresses in a linear fashion is also a major point of contention. It lacks spontaneity and is unrealistic in that it is extremely formal and sequential. However, if you commit to training at a reputable dojo, you will get many benefits.
In spite of its widespread adoption, Shotokan Karate isn’t always the most efficient form of self-defense among the various Karate forms. Kyokushin is given the honor rather than Goju-Ryu because to its greater prevalence in the popular imagination.
Many people consider Kyokushin Karate to be the backbone of the martial arts world. It’s not flashy and there aren’t a lot of big moves, but Kyokushin competitors are “living tanks” because to the emphasis on full-contact practice, competition, and conditioning.
While Kyokushin, like Shotokan, is more than enough to protect you from most individuals with ill intent on the street, it is far from the most effective art out there if you want to become truly skilled at fighting/self-defense.
Karate’s low ranking can be attributed in large part to the proliferation of “McDojos,” or “McKarate Schools,” that are little more than money-making enterprises that offer watered-down versions of the original art for the sake of profit and hand out belts like they were candy.
If you live in an area with access to a decent Karate school, which you probably will, then you should definitely enroll in classes. Doing so will provide you with a solid foundation from which to launch any future conflicts.
8. Judo
Judo follows karate as the next kind of self-defense. It’s one of the most well-known styles of martial arts, practiced by everyone from mixed-martial-arts competitors to the president of Russia.
Jigoro Kano created judo in Japan, and it’s widely acknowledged as one of the first forms of formalized martial arts in the nation. This is why Jigoro Kano’s reputation as a martial arts pioneer is so strong. He was instrumental in the development of Judo as a sport and in the establishment of several academies dedicated to teaching martial arts.
This style of martial arts relies heavily on throws, locks, sweeps, and other grappling-related techniques. There are very few real strikes and many more fake ones. Since fighting isn’t the goal of Judo, several competitions prohibit it.
Judo’s greatest strength and its worst flaw both lay in this lack of multidimensionality. As our arms and hands developed to grip and hold, rather than attack, grappling is a fighting style that comes more naturally to humans. Like Judo and other disciplines have shown, focusing on this element of people is the key to developing a powerful fighting style.
However, putting too much emphasis on one facet of human combat capability is a bad idea. Judo isn’t higher on the list since it’s an unbalanced art that doesn’t use hitting. Judo is near the top of the world when it comes to sweeping and tossing people to the floor, locking their joints, and holding them down, but it doesn’t make it the best.
Judo, despite being unbalanced, will always be among the most successful martial arts because of two factors: its widespread availability and its practical usefulness.
There are judo dojos in every major city. There are often several Judo dojos in major urban centers, and even in medium- and small-sized towns, you can typically find at least one. You may probably locate a Judo dojo (school) not too far from where you live if you decide to give it a try.
By “realistic efficacy,” I mean the most basic concept: the foes are putting up a fight. Despite the fact that the grappling makes the fights unbalanced, it is always done against a fully resistive opponent who is trying their best to implement the same or comparable techniques on you.
By training with what amounts to full realistic power, Judo is put through its paces. Instead of engaging in point-sparring, as is common in Karate and other martial arts, this sort of training can better prepare you to deal with genuine attacks in the real world.
Despite its flaws, judo is incredibly successful because so many brawls on the street escalate into grappling conflicts. Yes, a few blows are launched with fists and feet, but in seconds, someone will close the distance and it will be grappling time, when the Judoka will totally prevail in 99% of situations unless the opponent is likewise trained in another technique.
7. Boxing
Unfortunately, self-defense articles rarely give boxing the prominence it deserves. There was never one particular point in time when boxing became popular in the West, but its roots may be traced back thousands of years to ancient civilizations.
Humans have been using this strategy for centuries since it is one of the most “natural,” or instinctual, methods to fight. Movies like Rocky increased the sport’s appeal among young people, but boxing has never lacked fans or competitors.
As is widely known, boxing is exclusively a striking art. Even the punches have to stay below a certain belt line, which is often located in the lower portion of the stomach.
What makes boxing so powerful is also its greatest weakness; it only uses one dimension. It places such an outsized emphasis on striking that it develops an artistic tradition around it, albeit at the expense of the rest of the body.
Boxing is useful for self-defense because it teaches you a wide range of abilities at a high level, including how to fight effectively and how to knock someone out.
Not everything you do involves punching bags and speed bags. Boxing relies heavily on footwork, which is among the sport’s most challenging aspects to perfect. You can’t “dance around your opponent” like Muhammad Ali if you can’t retain your distance and adjust stances effectively. You’ll become remarkably nimble and swift on your feet (I often wondered where that expression came from…) as a result of practicing this technique.
Training in boxing may improve your hand-eye coordination, overall fitness, cardiovascular health, and many other areas, all of which are useful in self-defense situations.
Boxing is also notable for being visually impressive. Let’s pretend several bad guys are out to get you. Since you can’t think of any other option, you decide to fight the first one. After knocking them out cold or neutralizing them with a solid hook, you realize that they are utterly untrained.
The remaining assailants will proceed with far greater caution now that they know you’ve been spotted. However, this may not be the case with techniques that emphasize grappling because going to the ground is often the worst possible option when facing several attackers.
Boxing doesn’t employ the legs, grappling, wrestling, takedowns, ground-and-pound, or really anything else but striking, which is why it’s not higher on the list. Even though it’s really helpful and efficient, it’s still not the ideal choice because it just considers one dimension.
However, if you practice in boxing for a year or more, you’ll feel confidence in your abilities, and the sport is one of the most popular in the Western world. Boxing is one of the most widespread sports in the world.
To protect yourself, you need to master the basics of boxing, which are not difficult to pick up until you reach the professional level.
6. Wrestling
Western wrestling, also known as Greco-Roman wrestling and French wrestling, is an ancient sport that may be over 15,000 years old. Cave paintings portray this type of fight, suggesting it may be as old as humanity.
One of the greatest heavyweights of all time, Daniel Cormier, is just one of many prominent and successful UFC fighters who got their start in wrestling.
Although it is its own distinct discipline, wrestling is rooted in the grappling arts and aims to control an opponent once they are on the ground using a variety of techniques (footwork, throws, sweeps, etc.).
The rapidity with which takedowns may be executed is a key factor in wrestling’s effectiveness. Wrestling may lack strikes, but it more than makes up for it with the wide variety of takedowns you can learn at every wrestling club.
Attackers in a self-defense situation, which typically takes place at a bar or disco, will often try to demonstrate their “dominance” by posturing for a fistfight, kicking, or knocking their victim unconscious.
Wrestling becomes relevant at this point. An attempt at a double-leg takedown can be executed in a split second, catching the opponent by surprise. You get to pick what happens next since someone untrained in wrestling or other ground- and grappling-based martial sports has no idea what to do once they’ve fallen to the ground.
As an added bonus, this martial art is easily accessible, with classes offered in most Western cities and across the United States’ educational system as an extracurricular option.
The fact that wrestling takes place on the ground or extremely near to it puts it in a lower tier of martial arts. This may be the best spot to subdue an opponent in a one-on-one combat, but it may not be the best place for self-defense in general.
If your assailant has any allies around, you’re in for a rough time on the ground.
Despite this, wrestling is one of the most efficient martial arts for self-defense training because it boosts one’s self-assurance, physical power, and mental steadiness in addition to teaching one important abilities and tactics. When put together, they allow anybody to compete successfully against an overwhelming number of untrained opponents.
5. Muay Thai (and Kickboxing)
Muay Thai is the next style of martial arts to be discussed. Despite their differences, I place Kickboxing on par with Muay Thai and think it’s just as effective, therefore what I say here applies to both of these fantastic martial arts.
The origins of Muay Thai, also known as Thai kickboxing and Thai boxing, may be traced back hundreds of years, if not more. It’s a kind of close-quarters fighting originally created by the Thai people of Thailand in Southeast Asia.
Kickboxing, or American Kickboxing as it is more often known, is a martial art that combines elements of boxing, karate, and other styles. Its origins may be traced back to the 1970s. But it’s based on Muay Thai, so I’m going to treat it the same and give it a comparable rating for this review.
The name “the art of 8 limbs” is a reference to the fact that in addition to fists and feet/shins, elbows and knees can also be used to deliver blows in a match of Muay Thai. This is why Muay Thai is so effective for self-defense; it is also one of the reasons why it is so adaptable.
Because of its emphasis on bone fitness and intensive training of the most successful striking methods of probably any martial art, Muay Thai is to stand-up combat what Jiu-Jitsu is to grappling. It’s the best and most popular form of stunning art, period.
In addition to the aforementioned advantages, the art’s adaptability greatly enhances its usefulness for self-defense. Muay Thai offers techniques for every range, from long kicks to short elbows to chin shots to jabs in the middle.
The clinch, the most close quarters form of stand-up combat, is also emphasized heavily in Muay Thai. Both fighters have their opponents pinned down by the arms, head, and shoulders in an effort to land some low blows. There are several contenders for the title of finest stand-up clinch art, but Muay Thai stands head and shoulders above the rest.
This adaptability is really useful since it means you can fight in any temper without having to go to the floor. The inclusion of throws allows for a comprehensive education in self-defense.
The availability problem and the steep learning curve prevent it from moving up the list.
While Muay Thai is gaining in popularity daily, it is still not widely practiced. While you can find a boxing or wrestling gym in just about every town or city, Muay Thai facilities are noticeably harder to come by.
The learning curve is also quite steep and challenging. Those who want to follow the traditional Muay Thai road may face a great deal of hardship and conditioning on the way there.
4. Jiu-Jitsu
Now at number four on today’s list are the styles of martial arts most favored by well-known experts and practitioners in the fields of martial arts and combat sports, such as Jocko Willink and Joe Rogan. Given that many of its most influential pioneers only died within the last few decades, Jiu-Jitsu may have the fastest ascent of any martial art.
A Brazilian named Carlos Gracie crossed paths with Mitsuyo Maeda, a Judo legend and world champion, at the close of the 20th century. What is often referred to as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) or Jiu-Jitsu (JJ) in the English-speaking world has its origins here.
Carlos Gracie, after learning everything he could from Judo, collaborated with his brothers to create this cutting-edge grappling style. In many people’s eyes, the finest martial artists working today are those who excel at ground combat.
Jiu-Jitsu is a very effective form of self-defense because it relies not on luck or brute strength but on strategic planning and precise execution of techniques.
Jiu-jitsu proponent and one of the most listened-to podcasters in the world Joe Rogan often makes the point that even the greenest of fighters can knock out a champion with a single, well-placed punch. Although luck may play a role at higher levels, on the ground it is all about talent.
Jiu-primary Jitsu’s focus is on takedowns, making up for its lack of attention to standing combat. If a skilled Jiu-Jitsu practitioner manages to take their opponent down to the ground or even just take control of them while they’re standing, it’s probably over for them.
In a purely defensive scenario, you may avoid a boxer by running away, as Jocko WIllink has stated on several occasions. Even if you can’t evade an attacker, you still have options if someone comes at you with the intent to fight. However, once they have you in their grasp, you have no choice but to try to escape.
Since it excels in solving problems that can’t be avoided and can only be handled by violence, he thinks everyone should start with this art form.
3. Krav Maga
Krav Maga, a military combat technique developed to train individuals to deal with dangerous situations, has been awarded the bronze medal for its ability to teach people to defend themselves in extreme environments. Its credibility stems in part from the fact that it is the method of combat taught to the Israeli military.
Krav Maga was created by Imi Lichtenfeld, a Hungarian martial artist based in Czechoslovakia. He designed it to be an instinctive method that could aid people in the harsh environment of Eastern Europe before World War II.
Surprisingly, it’s not the level of mastery one can get with Krav Maga that makes it so popular. One of its primary drawbacks is that it doesn’t have any. Its superiority lies in its intuitive nature and its grounding in genuine self-defense scenarios.
No matter what kind of martial arts you study, you will inevitably run into some sort of governing structure. No elbows to the face, no knees to the crotch, no punches to the throat, etc. Krav Maga is the polar opposite because it was developed for self-defense. Krav relies largely on attacking an opponent’s weak places in order to rapidly and effectively render them unable to defend themselves.
In this regard, Krav Maga is unparalleled among combat arts. It’s simple and natural to pick up, and most experts agree that six months of practice is all it takes to feel confident in any street brawl. This won’t turn anyone become an expert, but it should make them feel safer on their way home after dark.
Krav schools also teach a wide variety of non-violent self-defense strategies, including verbal de-escalation tactics and trapping and concealment methods. The practitioner of Krav Maga will eliminate any danger if the soft skills fail.
Krav Maga has no real drawbacks other than the fact that it cannot be made more advanced and, more crucially, because it does not include sparring. It teaches you the fundamentals of martial arts, which is fine for 99.99 percent of self-defense situations but may not be what you’re after.
Another major drawback is the inability to put your skills to the test under stress (i.e. sparring), which can lead to overconfidence and potentially dangerous situations.
2. MMA
Mixed martial arts (MMA), which is rapidly growing in popularity, comes in at number two. Mixed martial arts (MMA) is what spawned organizations like the UFC and Bellator and has shown to be the ideal way to put various techniques to the test.
Mixed martial arts, or MMA, isn’t just one thing. Simply said, it’s a procedure in which one strives to perfect one’s fighting skills in every way possible. For this reason, it is important to place a premium on all forms of combat that have been developed by humans so far, including striking, wrestling, grappling, and more.
The all-around quality of MMA is precisely what makes it rank second best. I’ve gone as far as saying that boxing and wrestling are two examples of martial arts that suffer from a lack of depth due to their singular focus. But such is not the case with mixed martial arts, which instead emphasizes perfecting every aspect of one’s fighting skills.
MMA is not deficient in any respect. Of course, this implies that a mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter will not be the greatest at any one thing, but being the best at anything isn’t the point of fighting in competition or, even more so, self-defense.
You need skills in both stand-up combat and grappling to be truly prepared for self-defense situations. If you want to learn a self-defense system that will make you nearly unstoppable in the streets, look no further than mixed martial arts. You obtain the takedown and submit them on the ground if a skilled boxer assaults you, and the same goes for them if you’re attacked by a novice. The power of mixed martial arts lies in this.
There are several locations where one may engage in mixed martial arts (MMA), since the popularity of the UFC and similar events has resulted in a surge of interest in this type of combat training. The fact that each student’s training plan may be tailored to his or her own goals is just one more way in which mixed martial arts (MMA) excels.
1. Krav Maga + MMA
You may be wondering, “What could possible follow after MMA?” You may try incorporating Krav Maga into it. Though a mixed-martial-arts (MMA) fighter will certainly defeat any single-discipline fighter, an illegal-moves expert who is also an MMA fighter will be an unstoppable force.
One thing that is missing from mixed martial arts is unlawful techniques. Your priority in a self-defense situation is to escape harm’s way and protect yourself and any bystanders.
Mixed martial arts will give you the self-assurance to handle practically anyone on the street, but Krav Maga may help you out with all the maneuvers which are forbidden in MMA if it comes to a life-or-death situation. If self-defense or community protection is your first priority, you cannot do better than this combo.