by Anonymous on October 3rd, 2006

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What is the best type of martial arts for self defense, judo, jujitsu, or karate?

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by Takei-Shihan on November 8th, 2007
There are over 400 different styles of Karate, some are just a sporting game, some are very good for self defense, some are not much of either.

Judo is a sporting game based on the actual war art of Jujitsu. Jujitsu is a very good self defense system that uses pressure points and joint manipulations and has been used in the past by soldiers to kill other soldiers during times of war, so it is well proven to work ... Aikido is a newer martial art that is mostly based on the far more ancient Jujitsu, but somewhat simplified and improved ... Brazilian Jiujitsu is also a newer martial art that is also mostly based on Jujitsu with a higher emphasis on 'take downs' and ground grappling rather than standing joint locks & breaks ... Ninjitsu (or Budo-Taijutsu) is also related to Jujitsu, but is far more encompassing and has deeper internal developments and higher spiritual aspects to it, as well as including much more detailed anatomy, physiology, nutrition, herbal medicines, poisons & their antidotes, healing accupressure massage, and many other things not found in Jujitsu.

... of the three arts you ask about, I can only recommend Jujitsu ... but there are other arts I would recommend over it ...

More important than which martial art is the person who will be your instructor. Even a great martial art can be ruined by a bad instructor, so I suggest that you find the instructor near you who is the highest skilled, most experienced, and best at teaching. You will learn more and learn faster from a full grandmaster than from a new black belt who is just starting his teaching career. Find the best teacher nearest you and learn what ever martial art or blend of martial arts that this person teaches.

__________

A warrior's greatest weapon is and will always be WISDOM, therefore we should keep our minds even sharper than we keep our swords!
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by -Icy- on July 6th, 2009
tai chi
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by Anonymous on July 4th, 2008
Forget what all of these others are saying. What you're looking for is called Krav Maga, which is taught to every Israeli citizen.
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- But that's not defense, that's all offensive not defensive.
  
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  by -Nicko- on July 6th, 2009
- ROFLMAO! Ya right, show me where KM fighters kick butt in MMA tournaments. I can point out a lot that get their arses handed to them.
  
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  by AylJudo on October 22nd, 2009
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by Kal-El on November 8th, 2007
Capoeira :)
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- Uh yeah. Do those flying kicks in an icy parking lot and you'll soon have your face bashed in on the bumper of the nearest pickup truck. Try head kicks while sitting.
  
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  by answerman on November 9th, 2008
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by BobSaccamano-is-back on November 5th, 2006
I have studied various martial arts, some more than others, and would have to say that it is a mistake to limit yourself to just one style. Try to find a school that has an instructor trained in a few martial arts and make sure they know what works on the streets(my instructor was a bouncer for a number of years.) If I had to just pick one, I would say not just jiu-jitsu but brazilian jiu-jitsu. Although bjj derived from jj , they are quite different now and brazilian jiu-jitsu is strictly grappling on the ground. The basic principle is that 99 percent of street fight situations end up on the ground so that's where you train plus it requires minimal strength and flexibility. The moves are based on leverage more than strength so it makes an especially good martial art for women to train in.
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by john graymatter on November 2nd, 2006
When I began to study jujitsu the sensei said the martial art that would work best is the one you are good at. Sounds sort of flaky at first but it makes sense. I would spar with people from a judo class and can say that it was more of a sport than self defense. As a jujitsu student I had more "street" techniques that were just plain mean and dirty that could be used during a fight then the judo students had. They were more focused on what they were allowed to do during a competition and the jujitsu students were focused on what they could do to hurt somebody. That is just my experience and jujitsu encompasses a very large variety of techniques. But I'll give the judo guys this much, they were much more comfortable ground grappeling than jujitsu guys were. At least until the jujitsu guys started grabbing throats and twisiting wrists!
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by dumdum on July 6th, 2009
That was very good to give me a DR because I asked for the word "best" to be defined. Such a term as used is very subjective. I would surmise that several advocates of the one they like consider that one the best. +5 because plus points are just as worthless as a DR but at least I have the backbone to say why.
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by RC loves ice cream on July 6th, 2009
Sudo-ku
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by dumdum on July 6th, 2009
Define "best".
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- It was very unreasonable to get downrated for this. You're right, best doesn't mean much by itself.
  
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  by Galeanda on July 6th, 2009
- Thanks - I see you are around a bit. Will throw some of those pointless points your way. I just can't get rid of all of them.
  
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  by dumdum on July 6th, 2009
- Niiiice cabin, house, estate? We have one by a lake in the Ozarks which I love. Yours must be father north , with the snow coverage. You willing to trade straight across sight unseen? I thought not.
  
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  by dumdum on July 6th, 2009
- LOL!!! We live in a smallish log cabin in upstate New York, feel like we're always on vacation living here, wouldn't trade and we've got a list of waiting house sitters :-) But thank you very much for the compliment!!
  
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  by Galeanda on July 6th, 2009
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by Thunderin'Joe on July 3rd, 2009
Go to a MMA gym and find out.
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by username on December 25th, 2008
wing chun
preserve the fluids in the body to be strong.
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by CT on December 25th, 2008
It depends on the amount of time and effort you put in...not the art itself!!
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by boxing tiger on November 9th, 2008
One reviewer said Krav Maga, forget the rest. No disrespect intended, but I would say as far as the unarmed techniques go, Krav maga is good. The knife defence is suicidal however. All this business about sprawling your body back which takes away your base and crossing over punch arms which negates force. I know someone will say Krav Maga is battle tested, so must be true, but is all it's techniques battle tested? Isreali soldiers win cause they are well trained with automatic weapons and have modern equipment, not because they know Krav Maga!
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- They win because they have Apache helicopters, heavy tanks, heavy artillery and napalm air-strikes to use against militants armed with AK-47s, home-made rockets and perhaps the odd teenager with a sling.
  
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  by AylJudo on October 22nd, 2009
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by Needs some coffee on July 11th, 2008
The one you will stick with, practice and acutally learn to use is the best. So, almost any style could be for you.
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by Hideki on July 4th, 2008
Try some out and find out ^^; I say, whatever suits you ;D
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by nickster on July 3rd, 2008
ive found studying jujitsu is very benafical as its already been said in a fight your chance of ending up on the floor is pritty high. personaly i find it very difficult which is the fun part. its a martial arts like akido that doesnt rely upon strenght but technique which is benaficial for some 1 that isnt built like a brick wall.
it does require alot of determination which is one of the reasons why i see many new starters never come back after their first session.
but great fun.
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by Anonymous on October 29th, 2006
Strictly self defense: Judo

The others treat it more as an art form than as a practical method of self defense.
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- Judo is a sport just like Jujitsu
  
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  by UltimateFighter on November 17th, 2006
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by Anonymous on August 20th, 2009
It all depense on what you are good at .
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by Dipstick08 on August 20th, 2009
I think you need to ask Chuck Norris........
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by Anonymous on August 20th, 2009
It depense on what your good at and how well you do in it , but these are the ones i would think are good , 1 hand to hand combat 2 brazilian ji jitsu 3 kungfu .
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by The0Rising on February 14th, 2008
I do Karate myself, and I have always felt that Karate provides a good allround technique. The kicks are strong, and so are the punches. Blocking is an essentianal part of Karate and it works well. However, I soon discovered that Karate isnt very good at taking people down to the ground, grapplework, and putting people into locks and holds. Soon found that out when I did Kung Foo. Good for sparring though
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by wthing8 on October 23rd, 2008
This one
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by answerman on November 9th, 2008
I've studied karate and am currently studying hapkido. Hapkido has roots in jujitsu. It is mean and vicious. Judo also comes from jujitsu, but leaves out a lot of the joint manipulation and focuses more on throws and is getting more tournament oriented. Martial sport. The self defense techniques I learned in karate were neat back when I learned them. It required more strength than hapkido, and is nowhere near as vicious as hapkido. Of the 3, my vote is jujitsu. Anything related to jujitsu is going to be pretty nasty. Look at Aikido, also.
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by tomtom on January 6th, 2008
what you really need is a defensive martial art and an attacking one, i would say aikido and jujitsu although they are similar you learn alot of attacking moves in jujitsu.
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by UltimateFighter on November 17th, 2006
Judo is a sport so is juisitsu if u want self defense take a self defense class like commando krav - maga
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- I take offense to that, there is sport jiu jitsu and then that intended for self defense
  
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  by BobSaccamano-is-back on November 19th, 2006
- I'd like to see more KM students try to assert their "we're a real martial art" claim by walking into a BJJ or judo class and laying down a challenge. We've had a couple. They're always amusing.
  
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  by AylJudo on October 22nd, 2009
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by greger on November 8th, 2007
If you really want to defend yorself why dont get a gun.
I do judo myself, and yes it is possible for some close-up combat self defense, but really it is a sport.
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by EL1 2 on October 29th, 2006
Aikido is generally the most defensive one. It is purely about using their own energy against them.
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by ConservativelyLiberal on November 9th, 2008
I would suggest Krav Maga. It was designed by commandos for self defense in real life, not a sporting arena. They took the nastiest parts of all the worlds best fighting styles and blended them into this one functional system. As a civilian it's the absolute best possible system out there. IMHO. But you need to look into all the systems and see if one style works better for you, because you'll revert to your natural instincts in a fight, and it's easier to use techniques that feel natural to you.
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- Commandos use guns, knives, grenades - whatever comes to hand. They aren't famous for their hand-to-hand combat skills. If it comes to hand-to-hand, then they've screwed up royally.
  The fact that some soldiers use it is as relevant as the fact that some tankers learn boxing. About as relevant to their line of work.
  
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  by AylJudo on October 22nd, 2009
- You're correct that commandos use anything at hand, as should anyone interested in self defense. As for commandos not using hand to hand unless they've screwed up, that's untrue. Quite often in a crowded market in the middle east, there's no room to pull a gun, or drop a grenade, so when attacked, hand to hand is the only defense you have. As for them not being famous for their hand to hand skills, that's your personal opinion and is not shared by myself, or most of the Marines I served with. But to each their own.
  
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  by ConservativelyLiberal on October 22nd, 2009
- "in a crowded market in the middle east, there's no room to pull a gun" - ya, that's when they call in the heavy artillery. Or an Apache, to fire a Hellfire missile into the crowded market. What's your point?
  
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  by AylJudo on October 22nd, 2009
- No one calls artillery in on a market, but since you're either ignorant jackass, or a lying f***head, I'm done wasting my breath on you.
  
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  by ConservativelyLiberal on October 22nd, 2009
- Actually - it's the truth. Sad, but true. Been done many a time by the Israelis.
  
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  by AylJudo on October 22nd, 2009
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by wolfhammer on December 25th, 2008
The best thing that you can do is crosstrain. Different styles offer different advantages. Some highlights are: Krav Maga, of course, for downright efficiency and viciousness. Savate for excellent incorporation of punches and kicks; it has the best use of kicks I know of. Pentak Silat for it's deception and working on both the high and low line. And Jeet Kune Do is the best to learn biomechanics and energy conservation.
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by ConservativelyLiberal on July 6th, 2009
Depends on you. If you're aggressive you'll want a slightly different art than those based on defense. All around best self defense for every day situations? Krav Maga.
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by user deleted on July 6th, 2009
Kung Fu.
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by Adz3r0 on July 6th, 2009
It depends on what you're partial to. I like Akido.
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by jin jang on July 3rd, 2009
I think Kendo is.It builds integrity ,stamina,one pointedness,and grace.
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by Don Gorgeous George on June 13th, 2009
Jujitsu seems to be the most important in MMA, but for the average person on the street, some Muay Thai might be good.
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by Google a Foo Fighting COAT on December 25th, 2008
I would guess karate.
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by shushiboi on June 13th, 2009
will in my personal view, all matrial arts teach you some good technics but you got to think, which one will you get more benefits, dont let those kung-fu moves fool you, because fighting is not about fancy moves, but the best ways to harness &,in you'llearn fromistakes.what i'll recomend to you in ierenc)is mauy thai because, not only you'll learn some usefull real life combat moves, but you'll also learn how to toughen up your body to defend not only yourself, but others and take these videos for example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJAR1vjgJAU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPNue2qRpSE
also you'll notice that mauy thai fighting positioning is also usefull in combat, teaches you the most effective blows, at the same time it also teaches you not to keep your gaurd down, it also disciplins you more, in a way you'll have more resistance & the first step to master it's ways and to me this is the best way for self defence because this is aint no joke, also another martial arts thats also kind of usfull i'll recomend is capoeira because it teaches you nice tricky moves that will trick your opponents and not you then jujitsu and so fourth, but the most i recomend you is experiment from all of them and the one you feel most comfortable with is the one you go for, but to me to you i'll say mauy thai, but be aware that theres alots of styles, but the best ones are the primative ones & take these vedios for example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJAR1vjgJAU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPNue2qRpSE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAkzjktJsc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeNyVbpA1j4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtGE8-T2ufc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvcxqkPO6x4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAfpFx_b4hQ http://www.vidarena.com/index.php?video1=muay+thai&video2=judo&action=match http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ztRrlUPnHk
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by Anonymous on October 3rd, 2006
You would be better off learning vulnerable points on the body and how to hit them, rather than depending too much on the rigidity of a sport martial art.

Kenpo, hapkido, and krav maga could be good options for you, really anything that shows you effective methods of attack and defense rather than how high to throw a roundhouse kick.
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What is the best type of martial arts for self defense, judo, jujitsu, or karate?

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