What's the best kind of martial arts for a female who wants to learn self-defense?

Question

I am 24 and petite (about 5'1 and 115 lbs). I want to start learning martial arts mainly for self-defense. Which style of martial arts is best suited for this purpose?

Answer 1

Hi. Well I will be honest as I can with you. There is no one style that is better than another. Its is like finding the right pair of shoes to fit you.

You should go and check out the differant schools and self defence places within your range. Ask to try a week out of classes and see which one is for you. Only a good teacher can give you what you are looking for, not a specific style. Each have their methods of self defence.

Sure I think that learning pressure points and the weak joints of the human anatomy would definately help someone your height and size for you cannot count on brute strength to hurt some larger men or woman, but using pressure points and soft spots such as the throat, knees, areas that can never build up muscle to protect themselves making them as vulnerable at any height and weight.

First thing to learn in self defence is AWARENESS. Know where you are, who is around you and if it is a potential danger spot. by staying aware you can avoid like 90% of possible problems just by not being there. IF ever forced to have to use force to protect yourself, stun them quick and fast with what your teacher shows you, BUT do not stay and kick their butt, RUN and get help or call 911 go into a public place, do not try and beat your attacker, stun them enough to get away and yell out FIRE FIRE, never yell help, more people will respond to FIRE unfortunately.

It also never hurts to carry Pepper spray on your keychain as a back up for multiple people. JUst make sure it is legal in your state.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

The most important part of learning a martial art is finding a school and instructor that you like enough to stick with the training. It takes a while to learn any martial art well enough that you can use it as effective self defense.

That being said, I, myself, am a very large man. I have practiced several different martial arts (tae kwon do, kung fu, aikijutsu, capoeira, kali). The only martial art where my size was NEVER an advantage for me was in the filipino martial arts (Eskrima/Arnis/Kali).

Kali focuses on weapons, but all weapons techniques are simultaneously taught as empty-handed attacks as well. It's hard to explain how this is done until you take a class and see it. Also, the techniques involve a great deal of trickery, speed, and deflection of force. My first instructor weighed about 100 lbs less then me and could throw me around the gym without breaking a sweat.

The best Kali fighter I have ever met was a 55 year old woman and she was pretty much your size. And she had arthritis. And she beat stuffing out of me.

While my primary martial art is capoeira, I believe I learned more about self defense from Kali than from every other martial art I studied combined. And I would much rather get into a bar fight with The Rock then a 100 pound girl who looks like she knows how to use a butterfly knife.

If you look for a filipino martial arts school, you should note that Kali, Eskrima, and Arnis are three names that are, for a beginner at least, essentially interchangeable.

Answer 3

Either one or neither one. That is the Truth. First of all you need an instructor who can teach you a real martial art for the purpose you need, whether for self-defense or what your need. A master or School who teaches for the sake of money, sport, competition, and gives you ranking as for e.g., black belt with a short time, are McDojo. Stay away from them. You will learn nothing. The Main keys of Martial Arts- 1. There is no best style in Martial Art. And even no style is more powerful or better than another the individual makes it better or worse. 2. Martial Art does not depend on body type, whether you are brawny, skinny, tall. 3. There is no age bar in martial Arts, each art has a starting age, and no ending age. 4. Each art has its advantage and disadvantage and different targeting point, like ground, stand up, or all or something different or Hybrid. So if we see a grappler beats a striker and vice versa and then we compare the striking art with grappling art then we are surely wrong. 5. Each art depends on the practitioner how good he practices. And the instructor how good he teaches the learner. Any art would work on street if you are taught to use it. 6. Either Martial Art can be effective if taught correctly. Finding the better master and a legit school is the best approach towards a Martial Art. 7. Any art can turn you fit from unfit and have good conditioning, tough and extreme and be physically demanding if you do it the way it should be. 8. The result of the fight does not depend on the size of the fighter. The result of Fight of different arts always varies, as it’s the practitioner. 9. Any art can give another art tough competition if you are taught how to do it. Your mastery and training matters not the art. 10. “The strength of the arts depends on the skill of the fighters using them” I would suggest you to visit the martial art school and observe the classes. See how they are doing, how is the master doing. Ask your questions and clear your doubts if you have. And see which school or Art has met your needs and join that one. IF YOU ARE SAYING PURE SELF DEFENSE THEN I'M GOING TO BE IMPARTIAL HERE SAYING "KARATE" OR "AIKIDO" .. .... .... .. Good Luck!

Answer 4

I am 5'2" and 116 lbs so we're about the same size and age. I have taken many martial arts including tae kwon do, aikido, issynryu, shotokan karate and now American freestyle karate. Out of all the martial arts, I am totally loving American freestyle karate. They don't just teach one traditional style but combine many styles including the ones I mentioned above as well as kickboxing/boxing and fitness. They also don't focus on the Japanese or Korean terminology. There is a huge emphasis on self-defense and almost every technique we learn is explained on how it will work in a street fight and how high you kick is not as important as making sure you can do the technique correctly. A kick to the groin can be as effective as a kick to the head! They do teach forms (or katas) and still have points and free sparring but usually only after you master the basics and learn control. If you are looking to learn self-defense then look for a school that teaches free sparring so you can get used to getting hit so if heaven forbid you get attacked, you're used to getting hit and don't freeze up if it happens. You can practice self-defense drills all you want but you know what to expect. In free style, you have to stay focused and keep your guard up so it's the closest and safest way to prepare for a real-life encounter at real speed on the streets.

Answer 5

If you want to learn self-defense, make sure that you actually practice some type of sparring and/or fighting and not just self-defense techniques -- even if you learn all of the techniques in the world, self-defense involves MOSTLY avoiding getting hit or stabbed or shot. If you get hit in a fight, and get wobbly or pass out, all of the techniques in the world will be useless, in my opinion.

Personally, from your description, I would recommend strarting with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as a base, learning to control your opponent and position yourself in a live fight situation, and adding to that a more self-defense art like Japanese jiu-jitsu, vee-jitsu, or Krav Maga that will teach you where to hit your opponent to do the most damage. Some Jeet Kun Do or mixed martial arts schools will teach you a combination of martial arts, and that might be an option also. Good luck and whatever you train, have fun. That will affect your life much more than any system of martial arts.

Answer 6

For someone your size the best martial art is no doubt a weapon system if your goal is truly self-defense and not to become a great "hand to hand" fighter.

Depending on your age and area and other factors your best bet is in fact a CCW permit (carry permit) for a handgun.

If for some reason this is not pleasing (not everyone is comfortable learning or owning a firearm) then I would suggest you learn to use a knife. Carrying any bladed weapon also brings with it legal issues however for a 5'1 inch 115lb FEMALE you have got an advantage of believability that a cop will buy if you are in the right or might be in a grey area even you will get the benefit of the doubt if you handle yourself properly.
Knife fighting is very practical and not too difficult to pick up. You don't need fancy flashy crap knives like a switchblade or worse a butterfly knife (gag- they should be illegal because they are garbage knives not for the reason they are in many states), I have seen experts whip out a lockblade and flip it with thier thumb as they pull it from thier pocket or belt in one motion, and that is something you don't need a partner to practice and can do at home.

Instead of that if you don't feel comfortable carrying a knife, then I would suggest a small concealable stick like a jutte (which can be substituted for any small wood or metal stick of like size).

You should supplement your weapons with an unarmed MA, because the truth is that maybe you won't always be able to carry, but someone your size is definately going to have a huge disadvantage against even an average sized male or female opponent. A weapon will make things equal or in your favor.

Answer 7

I would recommend a grappling art like Brazilian Jujitsu. Reason being is that most woman don't stand toe to toe and duke it out. Most likly if you get into an altercation you'll be grabbed by some guy much bigger then you, to either be raped or robbed. You'll want to break whatever hold he has on you (maybe break one of his limbs in the process), and get the hell out of there. Forget the movies where the woman karate fighter takes out the 6'2'' 230lb guy with a kick to the groin. Doesn't happen that way in real life. If you want practical then think practical.

Answer 8

There isn't ANY ONE particular Martial Art that is a "best fit" for a person of a particular body type, height, weight, strength, or handicap (ie injury).

And just because someone TELLS you what discipline to try DOESN'T mean that it's going to suit your personal ideas (because a lot of people just blurt out disciplines because it worked for them and has become their personal favorite discipline so that shows a bias or partiality) about what YOU want out of learning a Martial Art, nor does it mean that the discipline they reccommend will have a school in YOUR area.

It's more of choice as to what Martial Arts school(s) are available to you in your area (up to a 15 minute drive away, if necesssary; unless you prefer something more local than that).

Choose at least three schools that interest you and watch some of their classes, if you think you like the class; then find out if they have some trial classes (without the hassle of being asked to sign a contract to take the class afterwards) up to a weeks worth to make a decision.

If you like the class after the trial classes and you're comfortable with the instructor, then enroll in the class.

And it's also more to the point of what you plan on getting out of the discipline, as ANY Martial Art will teach you self defense; it's not the type of discipline that matters how well you'll learn to defend yourself. But rather how well you apply yourself in training to perfect your techniques and how well the instructor's teaching style works for the class.

what you really have to do is watch out for McDojo schools or "belt factory" schools because they usually have a high turnout rate of students, meaning you won't learn the discipline all that well.

these schools often have "young" black belts (usually several of them will be 9 or 10 yr old kids, or some that're very high ranking which should be RARE if they are that high up in rank; unless the child started studying the discipline since they were 4yrs old), or boast that their students make their 1st degree black belts inside of ONE year (which the average time to recieve a 1st degree black belt should be more like four to five years).

they'll also try to get you to sign a contract for 6 months or more, or try to get you to pay down a large sum of money for just that length of time.

and you shouldn't be fooled by how many tournaments their students have won or awards they have garnered through competition because competition is the LEAST aspect of Martial Arts to be concerned about.

So basically these types of schools will "give" you a belt rank every few months as long as you're paid up on their outrageous monthly fees and won't really learn much in self defense.

Answer 9

Check out the many video clips on the net and you will soon see that krav maga will be an effective form of self defence for you. In its tactical form you are trained to respond with your natural instinct to fight or flee. If your reaction is to fight, you disable your opponent as quickly and agressively as possible, then flee. Running away is a good instinct to have ! As krav maga plays to your instincts it will be quicker to learn, but it does mean you will be trained to hurt people. Real world street-style Karate modified for women would also be good.
As women are stronger from the hips, a method based on you being on the ground and kicking out is also very effective, but really only against one assailant. There are women-specific self defence classes based on this principle.
Whichever way you go, chose a school that does classes specifically for women. Running away (if you can) will still be your best option, so take up jogging & don't wear high heels !

Answer 10

I suggest Tae Kwon Do. I'm not a very large guy and don't have much of a build, but it doesn't matter much. If you have a skilled instructor, you will learn how to properly use your momentum and center of gravity to effectively strike much harder than someone three times your size.

For example, I can barely bench 80 pounds (I can hear the snickering already...), but I shattered a concrete brick Saturday with the palm of my hand. It was my first attempt and brick breaking in the 5 weeks I've been doing Tae Kwon Do. When done properly, the power of your hit has little to do with you strength.

Also, a large part of Tae Kwon Do requires learning various self-defense techniques. These range from simple "break and run" techniques to the more complex "counter and control" techniques. Even at a low rank, you will learn techniques that can be semi-lethal if done properly. Many of them are even simple to learn.

I strongly disagree with carrying a weapon. Relying upon a weapon can leave you undefended if you are caught unaware and/or unarmed. You are your own best weapon. Besides, carrying a weapon can also cause a lot of legal headaches...