Best martial art for self-defence?

Question

For defending oneself from a mugging, kidnapping, bar brawl, which is the best martial art to learn?

DOES ANYONE HAVE A WELL INFORMED ANSWER, BASED ON PROVEN EVIDENCE, OR IS EVERYBODY JUST COLLECTING THEIR TWO POINTS!

Sorry for my previous SHOUTING, I put this after only getting the first useless 10 answers.

I'm going to let the best answer go to a vote on this.

Based on the arguments I've read here, it looks like the best ones are:
Krav Maga, Judo, Boxing, Kick-boxing, and Ju-Jitsu.

Answer 1

for defending yourself on the streets or in a public area the best self defense system (not neccessarily martial art) is krav maga: http://www.kravmaga.com/krav01.html
there are also dvd available that are comprehensive and easy to use: http://www.centuryfitness.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=10051&storeId=10051&categoryId=13941&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=13756&crumb=13501-13753


Krav Maga is the official self defense system of the Israeli Defense Forces, and has been taught to hundreds of law enforcement agencies and thousands of civilians
in the United States. Krav Maga is a simple, effective self
defense system that emphasizes instinctive movements, practical techniques, and realistic training scenarios.

for instance... someone grabs you by the throat... where do your hands instinctively go? to the area of danger, right.. they go to the throat..

so in krav maga, you use that instinctive response and turn it into a defensive movement.. you use that as a pluck, you pluck the hands away slightly to combat the initial danger of being choked out..

simultainiously you knee strike to the groin (a person has their hands at your throat they will be in a squared stance, primed for a shot to the groin)..

two shots to the groin, followed by multiple strikes to the face, the person will be to injured to continue the assault, giving you a chance to retreat...

honestly i think if you are looking for self defense this is the best system for that, which includes basic defense, defense against a gun and defense against a knife.

good luck!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

Everyone who does martial arts always considers the one they do to be the best. You must try several and then decide which one suits you best.
I used to do shotokan karate which is often sport based and has a long stance which is not particularly useful in a spat. I now practise goju ryu which is much more practical - it has various short based stances, lots of open hand strikes and is very effective at close quarters.
The main thing to remember is to give your self the opportunity to escape the situation rather than stay and fight! Forget kicking someone 'in the stones' - it is incredibly difficult to do this well and you'll probably just end up annoying them - if they don't catch your leg and up end you! If do you need to protect your self, aim a hefty kick at the knee, it will hurt wherever you catch them! Then run, they won't follow you!.
Another useful skill is self preservation - sorry, I can't remember the proper title, but it includes building a 'fence' around your self so that you are not a good target!
Try out some and chose what suits you. Good luck - and enjoy learning it!

Answer 4

Everyone on here takes the "high road" when talking to someone interested in learning Martial Arts... yes a gun is best for self defense... and you shouldn't learn Martial Arts to learn how to fight.... but all the people that are taking the "high road" got into Martial Arts for those reasons... they wanted to know how to defend themselves and or wanted to know how to fight... Honestly any Martial Art would be great for you, and you will find many other positive benefits that you weren't even looking for... if your fear of a man 2 or 3 times your size finding you in a dark alley is what motivates you, passive isn't going to help you... attacking may or may not.... there are many types of Martial Arts out there (and the quality of the schools varies widely within each)... All i can suggest is that you do some research in your area and find the best fit for you.... Your comfort level with the instructor and the atmosphere is far more important than the style they teach... don't sign a contract with anyone, i don't care how good of a salesman they are.... you have the right to change your mind and say hey "this isn't for me", wish you the best of luck, the hardest part is showing up...

Answer 5

You've got some good answers here, mostly people will give the art that they do as best without knowing much of the other arts.
O.K. Heres my unbaised answer.
Karate or Aikido for a self defense situation. These arts let you take control of the sitiuation and end it how you want to. People only get hurt when things get out of control. Karate is powerful punching, blocking and kicking. Aikido is standing grappling and throws.
Brazilian ju-jitsu is best for a fight that has gotten out of your control and gone to the ground. Once your rolling on the ground, theres no better art that BJJ.
Krav-Maga is the best art for street fighting. It is a very intense art developed for modern day soldiers to kill quickly. It is dangerous and deadly and should only be practiced by adults.
Tae-Kwon-Do and Kung-fu are both showy, flashy arts that are good for tournaments but not for self defense. Kung-Fu uses too many over dramatized moves and leaves your defences open too much. Tae-Kwon-Do uses alot of kicking. If your in a real life situation your feet should NEVER leave the ground. The first kick might hit them but after that all they have to do is step in closer and your defencless.
Mixed martial arts teach you some of each but you never really master anything. The way to be a mixed martial artist is to do one art for years, then start another one while continuing the first and grow from there.
I would go with BJJ, Krav-Maga or Karate.
Hope this helped, I tried to be objective.

Answer 6

If you want to know what's the best for self defense then don't look for a style in particular look for what martial arts schools are near you and then ask which styles will be best for you out of those styles. In martial arts everyone is so focused on which style is the best but the truth is its all about what fits your body type. I've trained in at least one martial art invented in every continent (except Antarctica) and the styles that are the most practical involve all stages of fighting. Striking, countering, grappling, and flexibility.

Answer 7

Okay, the reason why you are getting a wide variety of often unsatisfactory responses is because there is no one, right answer to your question.

First of all, the name of a particular martial art or style is meaningless in a self-defence situation. For example, you can use the same front kick that is used in karate, kung fu, kickboxing, etc. to kick someone in the groin, so what does this mean in terms of which type of martial art is the "best"?

You also have to understand that even individual techniques do not come with guarantees that they will work. Real self-defence situations just have too many variables. Getting back to the groin kick, it will not work if you miss (of course) or if the other guy is so pumped up on drugs that he doesn't feel pain. Grappling techniques can backfire if there are multiple opponents or if the other guy is hiding a knife. And so on and so on. This is why you should never take seriously an instructor who tells you a technique is "guaranteed to work".

So how to answer your question? For what it's worth, I think you should worry less about "what" to study, and focus more on "with whom". Choose an instructor with a level head, who can teach you not only how to fight but also how to avoid a fight. Train hard, and hopefully you will acquire not just the physical techiniques but also the mental skill to analyze how to best deal with real situations as they come up. Of course, you can use the same skill in handling confrontations that are not violent -- in school, your workplace, with your family.

This, in the end, is the real goal of studying a martial art, and is why we call it "a way of life".

P.S. - If you are truly only interested in self-defence, get some pepper spray or a gun.

Answer 8

Hi I do not beleive in a supperior martial arts style but rather a supperior martial artists. I have been doing karate since the age of 8. I have done a bit of jujitsu (great for groundfighting) and judo. Personally I prefer karate but thats just me I love all martial arts in general it's great for self esteem and depression and of course self defence. The best style is the one you feel most comfortable with.

Answer 9

I have trained in Karate and Wing Chun to a very high standard (many years) and although I really enjoyed them I thought that there was too much to each move.
In a fight, seconds count, you are not after getting people into locks or holds. I am really impressed with Boxing. The hands are the first form of defense and a solid punch to the chin should provide enough time to make an escape.
There is nothing wrong with running and the idea is to not let your mouth get you into a situation in the first place.
Luckily, I have never had to use any techniques - and I hope that I never will - but I feel pretty confident with Boxing.
I hope that my thoughts help you to decide your course of training - whatever you choose is more useful than watching the t.v.

Answer 10

Any form of developed CQC. What i do is take what i learn from each martial art i know and make it applicable. Like watching the karate kids big deal they hit its so low. when your disarming you don't think you react you don't even have time to act 75% of the time. people say its impossible thna you've never been starign down the barrel of a gun. Disarm hurt kill if you have to think later. theres no time for error or thinking if you can learn this and any form of martial art its the discipline tha keeps you alive. As for with a knife people will stab you i nth back cry and grab later stop the assailant with any means possible worry about jail later. people gotta learn no one cares about you but yourself and maybe like three other people. Especaily the people behind a gun in fact 7 out of 10 people would just be liek s.crew it this is already armed robery or armed assault might as well get a murder call. i know i'm going to teach a closed quarter combat situation course not one night. because everyone fails once tahn you gotta pick up from square one and try harder.

Answer 11

HanMuDo, a system developed by Korean Master Dr. Kimm. Check out his site. It is a style developed to allow you to counter any martial arts style or attack.

Anyone who would make a comment that taekwondo does not teach self defense does not know a thing about martial arts...and the claim that even a master of tkd cannot defend himself in a serious battle, well, is pretty ignorant about martial arts in any form or fashion...