If you are thinking of taking up some kind of martial arts training then it is really important that you pick the right style for you. There are literally hundreds of different martial arts around, and they all have different qualities, strengths and weaknesses, and suit different people. Sometimes people will ask, what is the best martial art? But the fact is that there is no answer to this question, because the best one will depend on the kind of person you are and what you hope to get out of your training. There many different reasons to begin training in a martial art, from sport and competition, to health and fitness, to improving confidence, discipline and self control, but the one that I want to concentrate on here is self defense. But even if you refine the question to the one in the title of this hub - what is the best martial art for self defense - there still isn't a single answer, so to be fair and accurate whilst giving visitors to this page the information that they came here looking for what I am going to do is to go through a list of the most common martial arts and look at the pros and cons of that style for self defense, and what kind of person they might and might not suit,

Mixed martial arts, abbreviated to MMA, is actually a combat sport, which began life pitting the practitioners of different martial arts styles against each other. But it has gained such popularity in recent years that there are now many dedicated MMA gyms which run classes teaching the particular mix of Jiujitsu and Muay Thai, with other bit and pieces thrown in, that has proved to be most successful for the majority of fighters in MMA fights.

Of all combat sports MMA is the closest to a real fight, starting out as it did as a 'no holds barred' fighting competition. But that doesn't mean that what works best in a cage fight necessarily works best in a street self defense situation. Although the kind of martial art taught at most MMA gyms will hold you in good stead if you ever need to use it to defend yourself, more so than other martial sports (like boxing for example) it is not ideal. For a more detailed article on why this is the case take a look at Why MMA Doesn't Work On The Street, publised on the street-fighting-techniques.info blog.

Kung Fu is actually the most difficult one to asses, because there is a huge variety in the different styles and traditions. In actual fact kung fu is not a martial art at all, but a name which is given to any martial art from China, all of which share common elements, but have major differences to.

This variety is also the great strength of kung fu. Many styles of Chinese martial are developed with a particular end in mind, or a particular kind of person to whom they are best suited, rather than as a general purpose art for all people. So, for example, Wing Chun kung fu, one of the most popular styles in the west, was developed by a women to allow a smaller and physically weaker fighter to be able to beat larger and stronger opponents. So if you are either a women, or a short slim built man, then I would say that Wing Chun kung fu is the best martial art that you can do for self defense. If you are thinking of going to a kung fu class then it is well worth speaking to the instructor and doing some research on the internet before hand to find out about the particular style taught at that class. Here is a list of Kung Fu Styles

Jiujitsu has a heavy emphasise on grappling and on restraint techniques, rather than striking and so on. It is used by police and military trainers in many countries and is probably the ideal martial art for bouncers, security guards and so on.

Whether this is the best method of self defense for you probably depends on what kind  of situation you are most likely to find yourself in, and what kind of person you are. Someone with average or above average strength might find jiujitsu good against a lone mugger, or to deal with a drunken idiot that decides to have a pop at you. Grappling and restraint, however, are not ideal against multiple opponents, so if you are worried about gangs of neighbourhood youths attacking you then this may not be the best choice. Also you do need a certain amount of strength to be able to control people in this way, so smaller individuals may not have as much success with it.

Muay Thai is another martial arts that is primarily a sport rather than a method of self defense, but a good class will include some self defense applications, and if you want a good balance between fitness and self defense then this may be the one for you.

As a traditional martial art, like kung fu, karate does have much more of an emphasis on self defense than many modern martial arts. One of the great things about karate is that most clubs do include plenty of sparring to give you a feel for what it is like to be in a real fight, as well as teaching you the traditional 'katas'. You are sure to get a good all round training from karate, and it is also very good for building both discipline and confidence, so if you  think of yourself as a bit of a wimp, or perhaps a bit of a coward, and you want to toughen up and learn how to look after yourself then karate is a good choice.

The Korean martial art of Taekwondo is best known for its flashy kicking techniques. This can make it a high risk style of fighting in a real life situation, because big powerful kicks are very effective if they hit, but they are often easy to dodge and leave you dangerously open to a devastating counter attack. For these reasons most people would say that Taekwondo is perhaps not the best martial art for self defense. But showy techniques do have their place. When I was a young teenager, when the only martial arts I had done was a year or so of Judo, I was out with a friend when some older teenagers came over and tried to mug us. My friends did at lot of very impressive jumping spinning kicks into the air and then said o.k., lets have a fight then. They all ran away without a single punch begin thrown.

This is a modern martial art developed by Israeli special forces by studying many different martial arts traditions and picking out what worked and throwing away the rest, so it is clearly a 'reality based' martial art to be used for self defense rather than sport. The only thing is that clearly the Israeli army face different challenges to the ordinary person in the street, so what they have created is very good indeed for defense against weapons attacks, but although it does also work very well for hand to hand fighting, it is perhaps not the best.

Another traditional martial art with a strong self defense component, ninjutsu, the martial art created by the ancient Ninja clans, is one of the most fluid and creative martial arts I have experienced. You probably will not get the military style drilling that you might expect from Karate, but ninjutsu can be very good at teaching you the principles of self defense and then how to apply them in your own way. So if standing in line doing the same simple drill over and over again doesn't appeal to you, then this could be an effective alternative.