What martial art do you believe works

[Link]

Yeah, Link, you make some great points. Particularly about the fitness. Oh, I've seen some really weak, floppy or obese and unhealthy people doing martial arts - they get up to a high dan grade, but they probably can't run a few laps round the dojo!
Also, you're right about talking and running being priority options. The way you compose yourself in the street and the choices you make regarding routes to your destination and attire can help tremendously when it comes to avoiding confrontation. Confrontation is really best avoided!

I liked your point on the pressure testing too, that should be a key part in any self defense system, you often get guys that have done a bit of Muay Thai or BJJ and think that they're the bee's knees only to find that under pressure everything they've learned has dribbled out of their right ear,

The martial art I currently do is probably most similar to the street fighting style that you did, we do ground grappling as well as sparring (called free fighting in the system I do) and are taught that anything goes including bites, headbutts, pressure point manipulation as well as the usual joint locks, throws, strikes etc. etc. The idea being if someone has tried to strangle/attack/kidnap you then you are justified in doing whatever it takes to escape including breaking bones, drawing blood and kneeing bollocks so hard that they end up sitting in the assailants mouth

Holy shit, Link. Is your master also my old master?

Haha could be! I think there are a few grizzled old veterans out there that teach in a similar fashion.

[Mousy]

Yeah, Link, you make some great points. Particularly about the fitness. Oh, I've seen some really weak, floppy or obese and unhealthy people doing martial arts - they get up to a high dan grade, but they probably can't run a few laps round the dojo!
Also, you're right about talking and running being priority options. The way you compose yourself in the street and the choices you make regarding routes to your destination and attire can help tremendously when it comes to avoiding confrontation. Confrontation is really best avoided!

I liked your point on the pressure testing too, that should be a key part in any self defense system, you often get guys that have done a bit of Muay Thai or BJJ and think that they're the bee's knees only to find that under pressure everything they've learned has dribbled out of their right ear,

The martial art I currently do is probably most similar to the street fighting style that you did, we do ground grappling as well as sparring (called free fighting in the system I do) and are taught that anything goes including bites, headbutts, pressure point manipulation as well as the usual joint locks, throws, strikes etc. etc. The idea being if someone has tried to strangle/attack/kidnap you then you are justified in doing whatever it takes to escape including breaking bones, drawing blood and kneeing bollocks so hard that they end up sitting in the assailants mouth

So, maybe there are classes out there like my old one. That gives me hope.
Yeah - if I got into a bad situation and I really had to, I would choose to go overboard with my reaction rather than not react enough and end up seriously hurt - or worse. If it would save my life, I would rather pick up something I find in the street, like a bottle or suchlike, and use it as a weapon, even if that can be considered rather dodgy and over the top self defence. I would never say that I'd be fully prepared for anything - after all, my size would make fighting a 6' bloke really difficult - but I would fully intend to do whatever it took to attempt to escape.

[Animavore]

The guy I used to train with teaches in England and Spain. Although unlike your guy, Link, he did do the whole chi thing. He did teach that to high-tail it was better and even taught that you can train for ten years and some hard nut could come straight of the street and still beat the crap out of you.
There's a couple of things that don't fit in with my guy though. I left him because he was into a couple of dark things and he charged too much if you wanted to learn the really cool stuff. I didn;t agree with that shit.

[PsychoSerenity]

Déjà Fu.

[JimC]

Déjà Fu.

The martial art that kills you over and over again....

[Link]

He did teach that to high-tail it was better and even taught that you can train for ten years and some hard nut could come straight of the street and still beat the crap out of you.

That's the important thing to learn, there's always a bigger bastard or a better fighter or just someone who gets the drop on you when you're feeling hungover and weak. It's always better to talk your way out, walk away or leg it.

If someone came up to me with a knife and said "Give me your fucking money" I'm not going to try and to disarm him and then beat the crap out of him, I'd reach for my wallet and hand it over before waiting for a chance to leg it. No matter how many ways I could have gotten that knife off of him and flipped the situation around, £40 and some cancelled bank cards are not worth as much to me as my life is.

[owtth]

I've always been a fan of a quick head-butt followed by a hasty retreat.

[Trolldor]

Always been a fan of learning as I go.
The hardest lesson to learn is keeping your cool.
Ever since I finally managed that, I've wanted to learn properly. Problem is there are too many McDojo's around. Mass lessons, mass technique, mass style and mass training - you advance because you can remember a sequence and you've been there long enough. It's all about Mimicry. Good for fitness, not so useful in a fight.

[AnInconvenientScotsman]

I'd agree that Aikido is the most effective for the average person. I've been competing in judo since I was eight, but that's a sport and useless if you're fighting somebody who knows how to fight.

But as Bruce Lee said, "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it."

[Santa_Claus]

Against me?

Pretty much anything would work..............

But you'd have to kill me.

[Randydeluxe]

To the OP:







If I had to describe what works best in the name of one fighting system, I would say it's Krav Maga.

Secondly, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

What's more fascinating about this discussion every time it comes up is that people will answer with the only flavor of MA they've ever trained, which isn't very helpful. I've seen a lot of guys who trained a lot of different systems throw down, and most anything that teaches you to properly redirect aggression and escape is very useful. Generally speaking, people who want to fight will find each other and fight, and the person who has the most experience actually fighting will win.

[drl2]

(I remember posting in a similar discussion a while back... maybe it was in the old days on RDF?)

The best martial art involves being nigh indestructible and able to spontaneously produce sputtering explosive cylinders at will. Sadly, the one true master of the art has never passed on his knowledge.




I did a few years of "American Kenpo" training a while back under this organization. It's very much a "keep what works and throw out what doesn't" system that has no qualms about eye gouges, elbow snaps, groin shots, and stomping on achilles tendons, and they start some knife and club training early on. At the time I last attended a class, the knife training seemed rather formulaic and not too useful, but it was a relatively new aspect of the training and I'm sure it's been refined/improved since then. They specialize in high-speed rapid-fire strikes that can look like light slaps until you experience being on the receiving end of one.

I've personally been hit by Paul Mills, and I can attest to the pain the guys in these videos were feeling. He pointed at myself and two others, said, "attack me", and there was a blur and a series of concussive noises and all three of us were on the ground in agony, though none of us could be sure exactly what had happened.

(These videos aren't that great, but they're what I could find.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8nJLcAB ... re=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e38wp_o_ ... re=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhHJGHQl ... re=related[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Uv_8EbR ... re=related[/youtube]

[Link]

To the OP:
If I had to describe what works best in the name of one fighting system, I would say it's Krav Maga.

Secondly, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

What's more fascinating about this discussion every time it comes up is that people will answer with the only flavor of MA they've ever trained, which isn't very helpful. I've seen a lot of guys who trained a lot of different systems throw down, and most anything that teaches you to properly redirect aggression and escape is very useful. Generally speaking, people who want to fight will find each other and fight, and the person who has the most experience actually fighting will win.

The thing with Krav Maga and BJJ, is that, in my area at least, a lot of the classes are filled with dickheads, I've been along to a few classes of both when looking for a new system to train in and so many are filled with guys in tapout T-shirts that think MMA/UFC is "Fucking Awesome dude".

In that respect if you aren't a fan of the UFC then in my experience you're generally treated as a bit of an outsider as both of these have been highly publicised as of late as the go-to MA's for those that wish to get into MMA/UFC style fighting.

I completely agree with the point you make with regards to the bias that people have toward their own chosen style but I think that's to be expected, After all you're more likely to sing the praises of something that YOU enjoy and that you feel works for YOU. Going back to a point made earlier I think it depends entirely on the individual and what they're after, Personally i'm after an MA with practical applications, a dojo that is full of people that I get on with and respect and something that is focused on the fitness aspect, when I tried Krav Maga and BJJ at max only two of those requirements were met.

Randy, out of interest have you trained in any MA's? I'd take it from your post that you may have done some Krav Maga or BJJ but didn't want to assume, If so what are your impressions on the people that generally train in those two styles? Do you get a lot of tapout shirt wearing dicks in your neck of the woods?

[drl2]

The thing with Krav Maga and BJJ, is that, in my area at least, a lot of the classes are filled with dickheads, I've been along to a few classes of both when looking for a new system to train in and so many are filled with guys in tapout T-shirts that think MMA/UFC is "Fucking Awesome dude".

That problem was always short-lived at the place I went to. The owners of the school were both short, not-at-all-dangerous-looking women who'd been all their lives under some very accomplished instructors. So whenever some new arrival started showing attitude, he'd be "invited" to spar with one of them. The subsequent thorough thumping he'd experience would either adjust his outlook right away or send him packing.

[sandinista]

Like has been said before, there is really no "best" martial arts, just good students, and a good teacher. For "street" defense, IMO, it's best to know how to diffuse the situation. If that fails, and if you are in real danger, its best to know some kind of traditional art. Something not bound by rules and something that incorporates weapon training. Within pretty much every art there will be good clubs and not so good clubs. Depends on what you are looking for.