Hey guys I’ve never posted in this section before but I had a question that pertains to combat sports. My college has a ton of fighting and martial arts clubs and I’m thinking of joining one of them. I was wondering what type of martial arts or other combat style you guys would suggest that is relatively simple. I’m not looking for anything flashy or anything, just basic self defense that could be useable if ever needed. Thanks.
Do you want something for the street/self defense or would you like to compete in it as a sport someday?
I’m really just looking for general street or self defense to build a decent base, not really competition right now, but possibly later.
Gun Kata/Gun Sau aka Juu Kun Do (way of the gun) imo.
also effective, Glock-Jitsu
I go with wrestling or judo then. In my opinion, the ability to stay on your feet and/or take down and control an attacker is the most important thing in self defense situation. And this is coming from a boxing/BJJ guy.
[quote]Melvin Smiley wrote:
I go with wrestling or judo then. In my opinion, the ability to stay on your feet and/or take down and control an attacker is the most important thing in self defense situation. And this is coming from a boxing/BJJ guy.[/quote]
I agree, most of the time when your attacked its sudden at closer then punching range. This is coming from a Tia quan do guy
A good boxer will win a street fight a lot of the time becasue so many wanna be tuff guys and muggers only use there hands. If your already in college its to late to become a great wrestler. But BJJ and boxing is a great basic combo.
[quote]Xen Nova wrote:
Gun Kata/Gun Sau aka Juu Kun Do (way of the gun) imo.
also effective, Glock-Jitsu
[/quote]
hey now…lol.
For good base I would go with either boxing and just wrestling or judo. If possible take up muay thai…it pretty much covers everything for standup…plus learning the clinch is one of the best things to learn for self defense IMO.
I’ll have to agree with the above statement, and recommend Muay Thai. Training at a good boxing gym wouldn’t be a waste of your time either. Either of these options will teach you how to use timing and distance, two universal concepts in all manners of fighting. You’ll also learn how to take a hit and keep on keepin’ on.
That said however, time on a judo or BJJ mat would do you a great service as well. Learning how NOT to go to the ground and escaping from that terrible position (on the street) when shit went wrong and you ended up there is a valuable skill.
Basically, find a good MMA gym. In this day and age, a decent one shouldn’t be too hard too find. A good MMA gym will give you a solid base in all of these ranges.
Good Luck!!
What do they offer? In my honest opinion if it has a string of japanese/chinese word in the name steer clear. If they have everything, I think the general consensus is that Krav Maga is the best for straight up survival/self-defense; MMA is the best thing if you’re looking for more sport oriented but still useful in a scrap (This is my recommendation no matter what because you can actually practice under duress, try that with an eye jab to crotch stomp).
If they dont offer MMA i’ll echo everyone else and say wrestling + BOXING/kickboxing; I think its important to add a standup art in there, I prefer boxing for a street situation. Being able to keep a fight standing wont mean shit if you can’t punch, and youre certainly not going to be looking to take anyone down…Oh and most importantly for self defense, hard and fast sprinting!!
My understanding of mugger tactics is that they use weapons and/or additional assailants…
I
Judo FTW.
My advice would be to take up Muay Thai, or Wrestling. Judo would be good too if you have access. It is pretty easy to find qualified instruction in those arts and they have a pretty shallow learning curve.
I do brazillian jiu jitsu, but I would recommend Judo as great self defense. It is a nice mix of takedowns and groundwork. Also, I would add in some boxing.
In general, one good grappling art (i.e. wrestling, BJJ, Judo) mixed with one good striking art (Muay Thai/Kickboxing/Boxing)is needed to fight competently. By good, I mean one that trains regularly with full contact.
Also, for self defense, you should be using these skills to aid you in GETTING THE FUCK AWAY FROM YOUR ATTACKER!
did you just hey now me? lol
good info on this thread
Agreed. I’m learning much from this forum.
Screw “style” find a GOOD TEACHER that is able to put up with you.
For self-defense do not take karate, kick-boxing,or tae kwan do
(basically any kicking based art) unless you can find an EXCEPTIONAL teacher, not so good in close quarters.
Decent Judo and Jiu-Jitsu schools do not seem hard to find.
Tai Chi chuan works too, if it is taught as a martial art and not a hippy art, done right it’s a lot muay tai with dirty tricks,joint locks, and knee-breakers thrown in for good measure. Can you tell I’m biased ? 
Unless club and pub fights are different in the states i would stay clear of your traditional forms they look impressive but most fights ive been in or seen at a pub (yea i know i was in the army we get into our fair share of pub fights) happen quickly and some one is normally tackled to the ground or you are king hit or jumped and will end up on the ground. Apart from Tia boxing its pretty straight to the point and brazilan judo is also good because it involves alot of ground work.
Traditional judo on the other hand is useless and you need extremely fast reflexes for it to help you in the modern fight unless you have been doing it for along period of time and im talking 10 years or so.
Boxing is good if you are the attacker, and by that i mean you are toe to toe and you get the first hit in but again if you are taken to the ground you don’t really have anything to counter it.
Ideally you would want something that teaches you to fight on the ground and on your feet something like Krav Maga its very good and give you a lot of options. There is a few black ops fighting schools and all that kinda stuff. Look around and try a few out as with all fights 9 times out of 10 its the crazy guy that is going to come out on top and not the person who is a black belt in something
Learning wrestling/ju-jitsu/any kind of form based entirely on grappling and ground work won’t help you as much in an actual confrontation as it theoretically seems.
The circumstances of most confrontations requires you to distract, maim, or incapacitate your enemy (or ENEMIES which is another reason ground work and grappling is a terrible strategy to rely on) effectively enough or long enough to GET UP AND RUN AWAY.
People with real experience in “street fights” will tell you that the last thing you want to be doing in a fight is rolling around on the ground with a guy when he pulls out a knife, or trying to lock a joint while his buddy is grabbing a blunt object.
I would echo recommendations for boxing/kickboxing or just general self defense techniques that teach eye/throat gauging and emphasize speed and brutality to allow for safe escape as soon as possible.
I would also echo the recommendation of having a gun, and generally just avoiding bad places. As they say the easiest way to avoid a fight is to not be there when it happens.
My 2 cents.
Self defense is so subjective and hard to define. People say that most fights end up on the ground and then in the next breath say you shouldn’t take a fight to the ground because most fights involve multiple attackers. In reality if you punch someone in the face you get a broken and lacerated hand and open yourself up to disease transmition. A lot of people carry weapons and the butterfly guard dosen’t work well when someone pulls a knife.
So in the end find a school that is really good and enjoy yourself.
I second the KM recommendation.
Muay Thai is great for self defense as it teaches you to use the hardest parts of your body (knees, elbows, shins), and clinch skills that I think are very important for the street. Obviously this is assuming you have a good Muay Thai teacher, there are alot of guys teaching what they call “Muay Thai” that is nothing like the real art.
Obviously something like Judo or wrestling would also be good to teach takedown defense and how to get back up with someone on top of you.