What Martial Art is the most effective?
We’ve all seen the films, Transporter, Ip Man, The Raid, Ong Bak and Rush Hour to just name a few. Where a single martial artist punches and kicks their way through crowds of meaningless goon, beating those goons like they owe them money. All masters of their craft, none of them share the same martial art style and yet they’re effective, why is that? Well its because they are all films you silly sausage you! I’ve spoken the effectiveness of certain martial arts before and unfortunately, not all martial arts are created equal, some fighting styles are vastly more effective than others. A quick word of advice, if you go to a martial arts gym or dojo and the instructor says they don’t spar because its just too ‘deadly’ LEAVE. Every martial art that is effective features some form of full contact sparring. So do your homework and find a place that has some form of full contact sparring.
Many people will say that Brazilian Ju Jitsu is the most effective martial art, and while I don’t think its the No1 most effective, its certainly up there for me, maybe in the top five for sure, maybe even top 3, I would even say that every martial artist should train it at least once in their lives so they know how effective it can be. But no, what I’m going to say is going to be controversial, but there is NO MOST EFFECTIVE MARTIAL ART, there is always a trump card for every martial art, for instance, BJJ is a very effective martial art, once on the ground, but what happens when someone knows takedown defence, for example a wrestler. I have seen a very accomplished BJJ Brown belt shoot for a takedown, had it immediately stuffed and was then lit up like a Christmas tree. Luckily the fight ended as quickly as it started and no one was seriously hurt, but my brown belt friend was seriously shaken by his failed takedown. So what’s my point? Well, that there is no most effective martial art but rather a most effective combination. BUT what if you have time to only study one martial art? I would suggest for you to study a combat system like Sambo or Sanda. These are self defence systems that blend striking with certain grappling techniques like sweeps, takedowns, chokes and holds. Fun fact for you, one of the martial arts John Wick uses is Sambo.
Of course you might say, Jay, you didn’t answer my question, what martial art is the most effective? And honestly, id have to say, the most effective martial art is the one you train, remember earlier when I made that joke about all their styles being effective? Well that was half a joke, if you study a martial art, devote your time to it and DO spar, you will be far more effective than someone who knows absolutely nothing about fighting. So keep that in mind. While we all want to see some wizened master emerge from the mountains in Tibet and talk about the supremacy of his style then turn into a tiger and maul everyone in a fifty foot radius, that’s not likely to happen. Id study the shit out of that style though if it did.
Going back to my point before about studying both grappling and striking, I would genuinely say, Boxing and Wrestling may be the best skeleton for a most effective combination of two styles, you have the ability to control the pace of the fight, to dictate whether you stay standing or go to the ground but then you would also have the ability to absolutely sha-ting your opponent, though really quite basic, id say this is potentially the most effective combination, of course you could make the case for any grappling and striking arts mixed and it would probably be a good argument for your combination, this is just my humble opinion, of course you could always just LEARN ALL OF THE MARTIAL ARTS, LIKE A MARTIAL ARTS VOLDEMORT! Or Kaiba from Yugioh, either/or.
To conclude, the most effective martial art is the one you spend time practicing, a combination of two martial arts is even more effective than one and that a martial arts Voldemort would be rad because he’d probably punch Dumbledore in the dick. Remember to stay civilized and train hard 😊
