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by Scott Heritage

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The truth of the matter is that there is no singular martial art that will help you to defend yourself better than the rest in all situations. All of them have their particular strengths and weaknesses, and despite what some martial artists will tell you, there is no single martial at that offers a complete defense system.

For example what happens to a boxer when his opponent is too close for him to punch effectively. Or the karate master who has been wrestled to the ground?. The answer is that they lose fast for all their training and skill in their particular discipline. There4 are some martial arts however that are more effective than others for defending yourself in a street situation.

Jiu-Jitsu has been touted as the best martial art for street use, although its techniques are largely based on grappling, and fighting from your back, or on the ground. Which can be extremely effective, although in some situations wouldn't work, IE more than one attacker, or non suitable surroundings to go to ground. One on one however this can be very effective, but because you can never be sure of what will happen in a street situation it does have its limitations.

Several of the techniques also don't factor in things like your opponent biting or gouging you, which of course is fairly likely to happen in a street situation. Several of the locks can also result in the opponents limbs being broken or with them being chocked unconscious, which can be construed as more then necessary force is the police are involved.

Being able to disarm armed attackers is largely featured in styles such as Krav Maga. Which originated in the Israeli army for use with terrorists and can be effective in some situations such as if you are attacked by an armed assailant. This too has its faults as although it allows for multiple attackers, it features heavily on disarmament, and things such as size or strength of opponent are under looked. As well as this many of the ending sequences of these moves are to either kill your opponent or to use their own weapon against them. And while this might be fine for use against terrorists of course, it might be frowned upon in common usage against some stranger in a bar or on the street.

The traditional martial arts such as Tai-kwon-do, kung fu and karate all work fairly well in street situations, as they all feature striking techniques and allow for physical disadvantages when faced with a larger, stronger attacker. They do not however have enough emphasis on grappling, or close fighting.

Also several maneuvers and much of the kicking side of these disciplines need space to perform, something which may well not be possible in a street fight or if you get pinned in a small space (the famous Bruce lee sidekick for example requires at least a good few meters run up to perform the kick, which of course isn't likely to be found in a real fight). Tai-Kwon-do particularly requires a lot of room to perform a lot of the moves because its emphasis is highly based on elaborate kicks and very little punching.

Boxing has its uses, as being able to punch much harder than the other martial arts will enable you to do great damage to opponents with limited space. The downside of course being that there is no grappling training, joint locks or kicking in boxing, making it incomplete as a defense system. Meaning no matter how good a boxer you might be, if an opponent manages to get you to the ground or locks your arms up, you are in unfamiliar territory and your offense has been completely neutralized. Of course a very fast boxer can potentially hit an opponent and knock them out before they get close to them. However if you have been ambushed then your opponent might already be too close for you to strike them effectively, which puts you at a disadvantage.

Slightly more effective than boxing is the art of Muay Thai, which focuses on powerful kicking but also uses boxing as a secondary skill. Although good as a striking art it is similarly limited as boxing alone is when the fight goes to the ground, although up close it is effective as it uses clinching to pin the opponent so you can knee them, which most opponents wont expect if they are untrained.

It also has the advantage of being longer distance then boxing because of the range of the kicks as well. This can mean that you can strike an opponent from further away before they have a chance to hit you first. Most people will also not expect a high kick to the head either, so it has a good chance of landing generally.

In conclusion then we can easily see that no single martial art has the answer for every situation. And that the best method for self defense is to learn either several different styles, or train in mixed martial arts (as popularized by the sport of cage-fighting). Which will give you a range of techniques, and will enable you to have confidence in every possible situation. This is a blend of several styles usually mixing skills such as mui thai. Some form of grappling (usually either wrestling or Brazilian jui jitsu) and boxing, although sometimes other styles such as judo are also utilized.

Learn more about this author, Scott Heritage.

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