Best martial arts to learn?

and running

but first of all learn the art of not being noticed.
I go to some very rough areas in very rough pubs and never had so much of a sniff of trouble.
Learn the art of not staring or looking where you shouldn't.
If you make eye contact with somebody make sure you never make that eye contact again.

And look like a victim when avoiding eye contact ? Victims get targetted, the last thing you want to do is look like one.

The idea is to make eye contact but not for too long in the same period.
 
best to avoid and walk away. but sometimes that is not an option.

most martial arts will help you in a street fight, although it's not like the movies ;). i am baffled by the people who claim otherwise. clearly they have not done martial arts to any serious degree and probably not gotten into many fights. the ultimate warriors were the 7 man shaolin formation. this has been used in combat in the past to devastating effect (spears, swords etc...) however not practical in todays streetfight. on top of def or offensive moves, martial arts will ensure a good physical condition and most importantly keeping calm and focused in fast moving environment. but reality of fights is you don't always win, in fact you have to learn the hard way ;)

Yeah sure... but you need the experience from real fights before you can start putting that training into real practise... your gonna lose a few fights first.

When I was at school most of my mates did kick boxing, judo/karate, etc. some of them we very good at it too and 9/10 I'd beat any of them in a real or play fight just because I was more agile and had been in a lot more real fights than most of them. Its even more tragic when one of them thinks they can handle themselves against 2 drunken brawlers because they've done karate for 10 years and gets beat to a pulp because they didn't run away.
 
Perhpas you don't tbh...

There are plenty of martial arts out there that do attempt to teach knife defence - a previous karate instructor did so and so did the ju jitsu classes I attended.

That's fine in the right context, i.e. "if all else fails, this will give you more of a chance than you would otherwise have had".
 
I'm looking to learn how to take care of myself. I'm wanting to primarily learn how to quickly subdue an opponent, not how to do flying kicks etc. Does anyone have much experience with this and can recommend one?


simple and brutal - boxing/muay thai/kick boxing.

don't bother with karate or similar as you need space to do it. it's not practical in bar/confined situations. likewise aikido is good but takes ages to master.

once you train. learn control and learn that if you have to use it in self defence it is moderated and minimal reasonable force. so if for any reason you cant talk yourself out of a situation you can handle it....

one of the biggest reasons for losing a fight is the first time you get hit.... shock makes you freeze in disbelief that you just got hit. the three listed will get you used to taking knocks. and you can then decide on fight or flight.
 
And look like a victim when avoiding eye contact ? Victims get targetted, the last thing you want to do is look like one.

The idea is to make eye contact but not for too long in the same period.

I'm 52 and I'm a 10th Dan black belt in knowing where not to look.
There is zero you can teach me about avoiding conflict.
 
All the instructors I've had have always said that if someone does pull a knife/gun on you, then you're usually best off just handing them your money.

Forgot this. I've had two excellent instructors, one Wing Chun one Ninjutsu, and both said this.
 
Agreed - I never really carry cash anyway, and cards can be cancelled in seconds. Without question the best way to defend yourself is to avoid fighting, and it's very, very easy to do - unless you're twoblacklines, who's constantly under deadly assault like he's the main character in a 70s kung fu flick.
 
When I was at school most of my mates did kick boxing, judo/karate, etc. some of them we very good at it too and 9/10 I'd beat any of them in a real or play fight just because I was more agile and had been in a lot more real fights than most of them.

You're basing your argument on the effectiveness of martial arts on the fact you beat your mates in a play fight or the odd scrap in a school playground....

How many people with no martial arts training have done well in say the UFC? How many times have you seen dwayne the chav who thinks he's a bit handy & regularly gets into fights on a friday night in 'teh streetz' take on some brazilian ju jitsu guy and win.
 
The point he's trying to make is simple - learn all the forms and all the techniques as much as you want, but until you actually become used to putting them into practice in the real world you may as well not know them.

Related analogical example: I lapped the Nurburgring many many times on Forza2 & 3 before going there for real. Didn't make me any better at lapping the place for real.
 
The point he's trying to make is simple - learn all the forms and all the techniques as much as you want, but until you actually become used to putting them into practice in the real world you may as well not know them.

I completely accept that if your martial art involves punching the air - in that case its a very valid point.

I'd very much dispute that if your martial art involves actually fighting people at full contact.

Related analogical example: I lapped the Nurburgring many many times on Forza2 & 3 before going there for real. Didn't make me any better at lapping the place for real.

A better analogy would be an amateur racing driver who trains/races 2/3 times a week on racing circuits going up against a chav who's burned his mates off the lights a few times etc.. in a 'street race'.

Who do you think will win in 'teh streetz'- the guy with loads of time on the track who knows how to handle a car, how to race. Or the chav who just drives recklessly in general.

Now think about an amature boxer, thai boxer, MMA fighter etc.. in great shape etc.. going up against some local wannabe hard man in 'teh streetz'.
 
Nah it'd be me with my Forza experience versus the chav, for the best analogy - in this analogy-world I believe an amateur racing driver's experience of /actual/ racing would lead to a martial arts guy with /actual/ street experience - which isn't the original case, it was for someone inexperienced.
 
Nah it'd be me with my Forza experience versus the chav, for the best analogy - in this analogy-world I believe an amateur racing driver's experience of /actual/ racing would lead to a martial arts guy with /actual/ street experience - which isn't the original case, it was for someone inexperienced.

A racing driver likely hasn't got actual street racing experience - this is irrelevant tbh.... he's still got racing experience....

Ditto to the martial artist who fights in a cage/ring.... he's got plenty of fighting experience
 
Yeah and anyone who fights in a cage/ring clearly knows how to handle themselves in a street fight.

Again.

The case was merely about those who have learned the theory but never put it into practice. This is most martial arts students, I suspect.
 
Yeah and anyone who fights in a cage/ring clearly knows how to handle themselves in a street fight.

Again.

The case was merely about those who have learned the theory but never put it into practice. This is most martial arts students, I suspect.

So completely changing the argument now.

The original statement that I took issue with was

No amount of martial arts training will really prepare you for a proper street fight...

My stance is that any martial art involving full contact against a full resisting opponent will prepare you very well for a 'proper street fight'. In fact I'd say your average 'proper street fight' involving an untrained drunk person will be a hell of a lot easier than say trying to out box a boxer in the ring.
 
You're basing your argument on the effectiveness of martial arts on the fact you beat your mates in a play fight or the odd scrap in a school playground....

How many people with no martial arts training have done well in say the UFC? How many times have you seen dwayne the chav who thinks he's a bit handy & regularly gets into fights on a friday night in 'teh streetz' take on some brazilian ju jitsu guy and win.

I'm hardly basing it on the odd scrap in the school playground... your examples aren't great you just can't compare UFC... and some chav taking on street wise fighters is another story again... granted there are cases where its useful...

my point is doing a few courses of martial arts does very little to prepare you for the first time you get unexpectedly assaulted in the street and until you've been through a few real rough and tumbles your not going to be able to effectively use that martial arts training in a real fight... things just don't work out in a street fight how your trained in a dojo.
 
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