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The Best Martial Arts Styles For Street Fighting – Associated Content

This is one of my highest viewed articles on martial arts. I explore the differences between several major styles of martial arts, address what it really means to be good at “street fighting”, and explain the best techniques from each martial arts style.

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Ground Fighting Vs Striking

There are thousands of martial arts styles in the world, but the most popular ones have made it as far as they have because they hold elements of combat significant to tradition and power.

Taekwondo

This is currently the most practiced martial art in the world, the national sport of South Korea. Taekwondo is the bread and butter of striking. It is essential in building speed and strength through conditioning, and exceptional in increasing flexibility. It is not hard to learn, but very tough to master enough to make it practical in a real life fight. The basis of Taekwondo is kicking, and more specifically, high kicking.

High kicking should be left to the elite.

High kicking is never recommended (above the midsection of the opponent) in a street fight. Only the most experienced and conditioned fighters can pull off these kinds of kicks to make it effective – and it’s rare enough for the simple word of advice: just don’t attempt it. Taekwondo teaches a lot of kicking to the chest and midsection though, which you can get away with. The midsection is a good place to kick because a broken rib can end the fight by itself.

A favorite of this art is the roundhouse kick. It is extremely powerful compared to a punch. Your legs exert more than twice the force of your arms, and when combined with speed, footwork, pivoting, and hip motion, this kick can easily damage break ribs, damage internal organs, and knock the lights out of people. When aimed at the head (extremely rare because the higher the target, the tougher), it can cause concussions and even death.

The secret to delivering the perfect roundhouse kick is not simply the strength of the leg muscles. It is the torque generated through the pivoting of the back foot, twisting of the hips and shoulders, and a whipcrack snap of the shin upon contact – all this must happen at the same time. It must be a harmony of collaboration, a result of different powers. The legs are only extensions of the body, and no muscle can work alone.

The time it takes to perfect the roundhouse kick can be minimal, it’s all about technique. Without technique, speed and strength do not reign supreme.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is one of the rawest martial arts in the world.

This is one of the toughest and most dangerous arts to learn – and rewarding. It hails from Southeast Asia, from various countries, including Thailand. Think of this as Taekwondo minus high kicks, aggressive boxing, and the ability to use knees and elbows all combined. It is also a striking art and is the epitome of the ‘hard martial art,’ which employs the use of techniques through physical power. Roundhouses are also integral here but make use of the shin more, in contrast to the face of the foot in Taekwondo. This is a perspective of Muay Thai’s low kicking style, where as Taekwondo kicks are aimed higher; hence, using the face of the foot for more reach.

In a nutshell: Shin roundhouse kicks are powerful, but require heavier conditioning. Old masters are known to train their students by having them kick tree trunks repeatedly. The bones of the shin gain calcium deposits, weakening the nerves and increasing bone density. This toughens the body as a whole.

If you want to be a good street fighter, take some lessons in this. The knees and elbows are the bread and butter of this art, and extremely important in in-fighting, which is what most street fights are. It is quick, brutal, and ruthless. You have to realize that in street fights, it’s not a boxing ring. You don’t circle your opponent, looking for openings and staying at striking distance. You have to make your openings.

When he lunges for you, push kick to shatter his kneecap, close the distance, double jab to open the combo, right hook the side of his head, blinding roundhouse to the ribs, and finish with an elbow strike to the jaw to knock his head into the hard concrete.

That’s Muay Thai.

Boxing

Learn this. No matter what type of fighter you are, learn boxing. Your arms may be weaker than your legs but they are much, much faster. Boxing teaches people how to punch, which the vast majority of people can’t do properly. This art (yes, this is an art style) is the bread and butter of street fighting in general.

The heavy weight boxing champion of the 20th century.

In street fights, you will rarely use your legs, if ever. In adapting to frantic and speedy situations, humans rely on punching the most. Some of the best moves in combat take root in boxing: the Jabs, Hooks, and Uppercuts. Jabs close the distance and open up the combos. Hooks are the power punches. Uppercuts are those integral shots that can overcome the opponent when he’s cornered and tries to defend his face. Uppercuts are not easy to block.

Boxing is underestimated because it doesn’t sound like a mysterious, mystical, and stereotypically uber martial art. And it’s typically not Eastern, which is why people don’t take it seriously. But it’s undeniably one of the best styles out there.

Kendo, Silat, Kali

If you happen to own a stick or cane at all times, learn these. It’s self-explanatory.

Wrestling, Jujutsu, Judo

Ground fighting is more important than striking. This includes grappling, joint locks, throws, and submission techniques. Most street fights are up close and personal, ending up on the ground. The best fighter knows how to hold his own on the ground. Size is preferred but doesn’t mean anything compared to speed, agility, and knowing how to use the opponent’s weight against himself. These arts are closely related and are much tougher in conditioning than the previous three striking arts listed.

Judo specializes in throw downs and submission techniques.

They also teach you more specifically, how to break bones, joints, and even more specifically, how to kill. They are dangerous. Watch an Olympic wrestling match. Hell, watch a high school wrestling match. The fighters you see there, despite no fancy martial arts experience or belt rank attached to their name, are some of the most formidable fighters in the world. On the ground, they would tear the average person apart.

There are ‘less’ fatal joint locking and grappling arts like Aikido and Hapkido, which reign from Japan and South Korea, respectively.

Why does ground fighting usually trump striking?

The average human, without any specialized training, is still very dangerous as a striker. The punches can be sloppy, the elbows can be inaccurate, but it doesn’t take many hits to the head to do knock someone out.

Look at it this way. The average human has a moderate knowledge on how to fight on two feet. But the average human knows little on what to do when he’s in a submissive position on the ground.

Now if you take the average striker against an average ground fighter in a fight upon two feet, the striker will have the upper hand but the ground fighter will know enough to hold his own. Specialized skill can only compensate a bit, real fights are unpredictable. The striker does not have the finishing advantage.

Now if you take the average striker against the average ground fighter in a fight on the ground, the striker will get pulverized. The knowledge on how to handle oneself on the ground isn’t as ‘common’ or ‘mainstream’ as punching and kicking – that’s the truth. The ground fighter has a huge upper hand.

And you know how often real fights go to the ground. That’s why it’s best to have both worlds to survive in each.

Tony Jaa in Tom Yum Goong - The Protector

The Judgement – Which Style Is the Best?

Some of the best styles to learn how to fight are the most overlooked. To be a good fighter, you have to be able to strike and dominate the ground. Weakness in one makes you weak as an adaptive fighter.

However, most often than not, in a fight between a striker and a grappler/ground fighter, the ground fighter has the advantage. Once the fight goes to the ground, it’s over. All it takes is closing the distance.

In Olympic non-full contact sparring and demonstrations in which the guy being demonstrated on just stands there, nothing is informative. If you want to learn how to fight, watch MMA fights, like in UFC or Pride Fighting. Boxing is also informative if you want to understand footwork.

Bruce Lee regretted giving Jeet Kune Do a name because it was a concept that rejected the strict structure of martial styles in favor of an eclectic understanding of combat.

Learn how to dominate both battlefields and you win the battle. Do not attempt the moves at home and sign up at your neighborhood dojo or dojang. You might be choosing something you were destined to be.

The style does not make the fighter. The fighter makes the style.