What are the pros and cons of each martial art style?

Question

I don't really want to know which martial art is best... but I do want to know the strengths and weakness of each martial style that way i can choose what I want to learn first based on that. And which arts I should avoid because of useless flashiness. I want an effective style. What are the pros and cons of each style?

No need to list EVERY style, just list the common good ones that are effective.

Answer 1

Hi Steve,

In short it would be impossible to compare and contrast the pros and cons of each individual martial art, as this would require an individual to have mastered every art that is in practice today. However, having said that I would like to offer some guidelines that may help you find the art for you.

I agree with most of what has been said in as much as looking at the local schools and finding a style that fits you. I also agree that it is mostly the practitioner that makes the style not the style that makes the practitioner. The exception to this rule is that if a school focuses primarily on flash or tournaments then they probably will not be as effective on the street as an art that focuses on good fighting ability.

The thing to look at when visiting a school is the advanced students. Following are some questions you should ask yourself when visiting. Do the students appear as though they can use their art in a real life situation? Does their movement look solid, smooth, and powerful, or is it disjointed and weak? Can the senior students teach? If not then the teacher may not be able to successfully communicate the subtleties of the art. Does the teacher encourage advanced students to have their own flavor of the art? If not then the teaching may be by rote not allowing for individual strengths and weaknesses. I am sure others can come up with other critics that will help you choose a school.

As far as what makes a good art with the fewest general cons for you to study in large part depends on you. What do you expect to gain from studying? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What aspect of the martial arts appeals the most to you? Would you prefer an art that is more flowing or one that is more rigid?

When looking at individual arts, a complete art will have all of the aspects mentioned by the other posters. A complete art will have grappling (chin na, tui te, joint locks), it will have throws as in judo or aikido, and it will cover "stand up" fighting. Additionally it should cover the three main areas of a fight, i.e. long range, medium, and short range or inside fighting. Lastly while there are some good "new" martial arts that incorporate all of the above-mentioned aspects do not discount the older traditional arts. If the art has a long history then it has been proven effective over many generations. In these arts I suggest that you examine the lineage of the instructor. The better the lineage the better the chance is that they will have a more complete transmission of the complete art. Keep in mind though that a famous practitioner of a famous art is not always a good teacher.

Hope this helps. Good luck in your search.

Jim

Answer 2

pro for all of the is self defence, fitness, strength and confidence. capeoira is a very fun martial art and you will build up a lot of strenght and fitness really quickly aswell as balance and learn some cool tricks/techniques. but it isnt very practicle and it takes a long time to become decent. i did one other people can do the others. there are a lot of martial arts so dont expect to find one best one. also if you are looking for a martial art to start and you want to know which one you like most try looking around your area see what there is then post this with a smaller list. also you should goand do trial classes most schools have a free lesson or month or somethign likke that.

Answer 3

There are really too many martial arts to put down on here, but as I have done, I would tell you to take two or three at once. For example, I am in the military. ( as you can see by my pic) As a Military Police Officer, I knew that I would be in fights and everything, just like civilian cops would, so In addition to boxing since I was a child, I took Muay Thai, Judo, Val Tudo, and grappling. Keep in mind that You need to be well rounded if you plan on taking this to another level. Being versed in a defense, offense, countering, and throwing martial art will make a difference than just taking karate.

Answer 4

There isn't enough space here to explain every martial arts style. Do you have a particular one? If you want effective, you'd have to be good or master at least 2 - 3. Break it down to a standup form, take down form, and ground fighting. Stand up is like American boxing, Muay Thai, karate, kung fu, etc. Take down forms are like judo or shoot fighting. Ground fighting is forms like jiu-jitsu, sambo, graeco-roman wrestling, etc. Some forms combine two of these elements such as jiu-jitsu and sambo (take downs and submissions). There's one eclectic form that is very young in comparison to the traditional forms but does combine skills in all these aspects. Look up kajukenbo. It's a combination of karate (standup), judo (take downs), jiu-jitsu (submissions; nasty ones, too.) and bo-fu or chinese kickboxing (standup). Check it out. It's the form I practice and study. And it's pretty effective. At least I can see how it can be. Then again, I'm a free-style fighter so this form fit my skills like a glove.

Answer 5

I've basically broken each Martial Art into one of two groups of fighting.

Standing Game: these Martial Arts are the largest group that include: all forms of Karate, Tae Kwon Do and Tang Soo Do (has flashy kicks and attacks, but are effective in using basic attacks) Krav Maga (one of the most Vicious disciplines because it was developed as a descendant of Ninjitsu)., Capoeira (looks flashy due to the movements, but is very effective and powerful in it's kicks) Most if not all forms of Kung Fu or "Chinese Boxing", & Muay Thai

these kinds of Martial Arts, have weaknesses due to the fact that strikes can be limited if the fight goes to the ground or the opponent knows how to counter their efficacy. and that their strengths are while the individual is on their feet

Ground Game: these Martial Arts have their strengths with the joint locks and manipulations and submissions techniques, especialy if the fight goes to the ground which is always a possibility. while there is some striking, there are some that have no striking and rely solely on the positioning and joint manipulation to win.

these Martial Arts include Judo (has no striking, but relies on the submissions and positioning to win) Jiujitsu (has limited striking, but also works on the joint manipulations to win), Hapkido and Aikido (these Martial Arts use both the Standing Game and Ground Game aspects in combination with throwing your opponent.

each Martial Art is going to have it's strength and weakness, there is NO "perfect" Martial Art. the best thing to do is check out several classes near you to find out which one interests you the most.

every Martial Art is effective, it just comes down to the individual who trains in the discipline, if they train poorly, then they'll learn the techniques poorly.

because in truth there aren't any "flashy techniques", they've been deemed as such because of the nature of the attack, which it's often used as a devastating finish to an opponent instead of looking cool to impress any bystanders.

but you also have the "hybrid" Martial Arts that combine two or more disciplines like Kajukenbo (as rockhound mentioned) which can incorporate both of these fighting aspects into one discipline.

I hope this has been of some use to you

Answer 6

You will be limited to the styles within the area you can drive to. No one can tell you which school or style is best for you. You will need to visit the various schools, learn about them, watch a class or two at each one, and decide for yourself which style and school fits your personality and need.

Answer 7

Karate Pros...Good defense and offense...powerful strikes
Karate cons...limited speed, linear motion, point of impact at full extention limits power of blows, broken movements leave openings and lacks fluidity of transition from one technique to another, forcre agains force blockiing techniques damages muscle and bone.

Kung Fu Pros...Good speed, offense and defense excellent, circular motion allows for more fluidity in transition from one technique to another and better evasive techinques, point of cantact at half to 3/4 extention allows more power in strikes. circuilar movements allow force in strikes to be redirected. Develops good balance and agility.
Kung Fu cons...lack of teachers willing to teach full practical applications.

Judo pros...Good defense techniques, develops agility.
Judo Cons...lack of real life training scenarios, most judo schools train to fight only against those using judo and mostly for competition. Lack of diversity in techniques. Limited Offensive techniques.

Aikido pros...excellent defense, economy of motion, good speed and agility, develops sensitivity to opponents energy.
Aikido cons...limited offensive techniques


Tae Kwon Do pros...Good speed and power, balanced defense and offense, includes angular motion.
Tae Kwon Do cons...Point of contact at full extention limiting effenciency of strikes, too many teachers don't teach use of power, limiting effectiveness of strikes (sometimes even sacrficing strength for speed).

These are the most common styles you may encounter...and this information is base on MY experiences with these styles, and the teachers I have encountered of the last 30 years. As noted, some styles I didn't say much abour the cons of the style because the instructors didn't teach application sufficiently, which seems to be a recurring theme in some styles.

There is also one con that encompasses ALL styles that i ahve encountered, and that is the fact that teachers withhold too much information about just what the techniaues can do, thus making it more likely that if someone HAS to use what they've learned, the incidence of accidental injury will increase significantly. If there is a particular style that you were looking for, contact me here and I will pass along what I know about it.

Answer 8

Effective for actual street fighting or the tournament circuit or for personal self-confidence?

MMA-style training would be the most obvious choice for street fighting effectiveness because it employs the best techniques from each fighting art.

Answer 9

Aikido:
-no offense
-doesn't require much of your own strength
-emphasis on controlling enemy from making further attack in 1on1.

Taekwondo:
-Both offensive and defensive
-Require higher stamina
-emphasis on Inflicting pain to enemies least defensive point.

Boxing:
-require less devotion(other than training)
-gets to taste more of other's attack first
-emphasis on fast punches and footwork,simple

Wushus(many styles):
-more useful in a fight,immediate changes of attack and defense with least difference(could be moving less)
-kinda flashy,less effective training methods(takes long time)
-emphasis on attacking and ready for defense

Karate:
-full Offense,strong muscles
-no defense, VERY! vigorous training
-emphasis on mental training to sustain attacks with the body

Answer 10

If i listed every style...we would be 50 years old when we are through with it...however, the wing chun and the chinese kungfu is an excellent choice....