Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat that have been practiced for a number of reasons. These range from self-defence, military and law enforcement, competition, physical or mental or spiritual development, entertainment and of course preservation of cultural heritage. Martial arts roots have long been associated with the fighting styles and arts that came out of East Asia but can also refer to combat systems out of Europe from the 1550s. There is no doubt about it however, these days everyone should be training some sort of martial arts whether it’s for self-defence (which is probably the biggest one), or simply to stay in shape.
So, what’s the best martial arts to train? Well, a military perspective will probably do well to shin light on this. Martial arts have long been deployed in modern militaries and in fact the deployment of martial arts have expanded. Much of this is simplified into military training of hand-to-hand combat, which is actually a solid foundation of fight training. The entire program can be broken down into two simple categories of moves, striking and grappling.
Striking is a directed physical attack with a part of the human body that is intended to cause blunt trauma or in some cases penetrating trauma upon an opponent. As a result, there are many different variations of strikes including punches, kicks, and even headbutts.
On the other hand, grappling is defined as gripping or seizing the opponent. It is a technique that is used at close range to gain the physical advantage over an opponent by imposing a position or simply causing injury. Grappling also has many variations and can consist of everything from takedowns to ground control of an opponent.
Based on striking and grappling use in the military, it would be difficult to not consider the following martial arts:
Wrestling – wrestling can be misconstrued as fake or more entertainment based thanks to WWE and the like. However, wrestling is actually the basis of clinch fighting and involves many other grappling techniques. If you want to truly learn throws, takedowns, joint locks, pins and grappling holds then you should definitely be learning how to wrestle. Interestingly, the entire basis of wrestling is to gain and maintain a superior position over your opponent.
Boxing – boxing is simply the basis of striking, you are forced to repeatedly punch an opponent. If you can master your punches, you can master striking. Boxing is more structured than just throwing punches, but it’ll force your body to learn how to position itself rather than simply just throwing a punch to be the most effective.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – modified by Brazilians (the Gracie family), who got the basis from Japanese martial arts, this is easily the most popular martial art in the world. BJJ has many rules if you are considering it from a competitive standpoint. It is held in high regard in military and law enforcement corners because it focuses on the deployment of holds, chokes, joint manipulations and locking of joints.
Muay Thai – sometimes Muay Thai gets simplified into simply kick boxing but it is so much more than that. Muay Thai can be incredibly violent and focuses on kicking, cinching and other hitting techniques. Interestingly, it also utilizes forms of grappling, forcing users to learn a variety of skills to build a good foundation.
Krav Maga – although not as popular as the options above there is something to be said about Krav Maga. It draws from BJJ, boxing, and karate and can be an incredible foundation. This is especially true if you are considering a martial art for self-defence as it was originally created solely for that purpose. Unlike the other martial arts, Krav Maga has no rules and is there for incredibly violent.
So, which one would be best for you? Well, that will all depend on what you need it to do and how much time you want to invest into it. The nice part is that almost all of these martial arts intertwine with one another one way or another. They also all have a low barrier to entry which means you can easily and quickly jump into any of them.
Happy fighting!
Ben