Which martial art should I learn for self-defense?
The context is that I'm working at night, often at weekends, and I'm constantly having to deal with aggressive drunk dudes, as I work in a place surrounded by bars. It's kind of a hostile atmosphere in general, and every week I witness a fight or two so it's a bit unnerving.
I immediately thought of boxing and Krav Maga, but I've been told by people that both are kind of useless in a street fight. I don't need anything fancy or something that takes too long, just something practical.
I'd also appreciate if you guys could dump any material you have about self-defense techniques of any tradition, maybe some literature on muscle memory, good youtube channels and all that.
If it's for work, find out your legal liability for doing certain things. Where I am, it's safer to choke someone out than it is to ko, legally. I cross a bridge into another state, it's the exact opposite.
Wyatt Reyes
Don't do karate
Jace Brown
>live In Canada >its better for me to let Abdullah rape my family, stab me, and take all my shit, than to try to stop him
Hunter Reed
...
Logan Walker
Fair point, but still. Unless you plan on becoming a killing machine who can also erase evidence, it's good to know what consequences your choices bring.
Cooper Butler
BJJ will let you control somebody for real, Muay Thai will teach some good striking and keep you safe.
Jackson Campbell
Boxing arguably best for fighting multiple opponents good combo of defense and offense etc etc
Eli Reyes
if anyone here dare's to say jui jitsu then I have words for him
nothing more since you'll not be able to do shit anyway
Kayden Green
Yep. MT for striking, BJJ if things get taken to the ground.
I dunno what kind of people you'll be fighting, but either in itself will be incomplete in terms of self-defense.
Anthony Barnes
bump
Isaiah Phillips
For real, JJ won't do shit for you in a real fight. Shaolin Kempo is way to go
Samuel Johnson
Krav Maga
Buy a knife, aim for weak spots. Self-Defense is about killing the attacker as fast as possible.
Josiah Baker
>I immediately thought of boxing and Krav Maga, but I've been told by people that both are kind of useless in a street fight Krav Maga yeah, but boxing useless? Are these people handicapped?
John Cook
krav maga is not useless in a street fight
> I don't need anything fancy or something that takes too long, just something practical.
thats like the opposite of km
Eli Gomez
>I'm constantly having to deal with aggressive drunk dudes, as I work in a place surrounded by bars. It's kind of a hostile atmosphere in general, and every week I witness a fight or two so it's a bit unnerving. You'd be an idiot not to take precautions.
Julian Martin
>Judo >Wrestling >BJJ And >Boxing >Kickboxing >Muay Thai
Pick one from the top and one from the bottom. Ideally make your choice by which of the schools near you have the best instruction.
Also realise that each of these have a learning curve and it might be a while before you could reliably defend yourself on da streetz
Bentley Russell
Just learn to fight. I know it sounds silly. Find a dude you know who is good at scrapping. Ask him to teach you. If you want to be good at fighting, it's not about special moves. It's about learning to asses the situation, act quickly, and incapacitate the other person as fast as possible. If it means you poke them in the eye. Then poke them in the eye. If it means tripping then, then do that.
Hudson Perez
ignore this retard if you want to not be in prison
Wyatt Hill
Just do MMA. It is a discipline of its own now
Hunter Davis
Krav Maga is exactly what you want
Brandon Reed
Krav Maga really really depends on the teacher. Some are pure shit. Boxing is always a safe choice. Combined with some kind of clinch-based art like judo, BJJ, sambo, that'd be great. But if I were to choose one and only one I'd go with boxing
Julian Stewart
It's not fool proof on either side, but chances are any Krav trainer worth going to has been to Israel. If you can't find any pictures of them there, ask to see some.
Caution: High chances of it being awkward based on autism.
Cooper Anderson
Any grapling discipline first (wrestling, sambo, BJJ, judo) beccause most of the drunk fights are essentially grappling, then learn how to strike (boxing, kickboxing, muai thai), or do MMA.
Luis Adams
brb learning boxing and bjj
Grayson Allen
You don't know anything about REAL KM my man. Sorry. It's piss easy to learn
Luis Watson
Any decent system worth their salt has the Israeli experts come to you to teach the EXACT same things. 1 person flying to you makes more sense than 300 flying to them. Where is all this shitty KM info coming from? Is it an American thing bc you guys basically fucked Krav up over there?
Jayden Green
I would recommend judo, be careful about throwing people who doesnt know how to ukemi, they might get hospitalized or paralyzed for life.
Owen Young
PROTIP: I would recommend learning a martial art, but to also get some form of defensive weapon.
Drunk assholes often hunt i packs and you don't want 5 dudes coming at you together. Then you have factors like weight-class, opponent's skill etc. Fighting IRL is not like the ring and you need to stack the deck in your favor.
Samuel Lewis
Muay thai and bjj.
Jace Phillips
I do Kyokushin and this meme checks out. It's a fun costume though.
Daniel Parker
Boxing for kiting and striking and any grappling shit.
If you're fighting more than one dude, kite and punch (you can't kite and kick at the same time), if you're fighting one dude, then wrassle/punch.
Ryder Foster
This is wrong
Ethan Jenkins
Be able to throw decent punches in rapid succession while maintaining balance. Maybe a headbutt and a couple knees.
This video is the holy grail. Look it up don't know how to imbed on iPhone. This guy take 2 guys like they are children.
Jonathan Kelly
boxing and BJJ is all you need
Christopher Jones
Fuckkk
Lucas Campbell
Kickboxing and some kind of grappling art (wrestling, judo, bjj, etc). You don't want to strike anyone unless you really have to, and you need to be prepared to defend yourself if a fight goes to the ground, which in real life it often does.
Hunter Robinson
I'm very happy with jiu-jitsu I think it can work well for you too
Nicholas Brooks
this
learn how to throw a kick and punch
don't listen to these memelords you don't want to grapple in a street fight you will get stabbed or get their fluids in your body (blood, spit, ect) (possibly getting AIDs)
You ant to be as far from them as possible
Jackson Ramirez
>I immediately thought of boxing and Krav Maga, but I've been told by people that both are kind of useless in a street fight
knowing how to actually throw punch and defend against them is useless? nobody knows how to fight that doesn't train, that's a fact. just look at fights online when random people fight. they don't guard their face and they just flail around. if punch does connect it usually isn't enough to knock someone out because they don't know how to properly deliver it. if you train boxing for at least a year, you will win against virtually everyone who doesn't train.
KM is good and bad. it's only good if you learn it by being in special forces or similar. it's brutal and used to inflict as much damage as possible in the least amount of time. it's the best self defense art and its focus is on killing someone or mortally wounding them but you will never learn that as a civilian unless you know someone who trains it. you're better off picking up something like BJJ for ground game.
not to mention 9/10 KM places are trash and meme with shitty instructors.
pick up boxing and bjj and you have all bases covered.
Gabriel Hill
bjj is a meme. Face it guys.
Isaac King
that's why best self defense is cardio. no street fight is fair and knowing all types of martial arts won't help.
there was a guy some time ago that posted here who was good at BJJ? and he got fucked up by random guys because someone hit him from behind and later woke up in hospital.
fighting in real life is not like movies and it's best if you stay the fuck away from it. nowdays everyone has knives or bottles and can fuck you up with a single lucky stab or cut.
stay away from fights should be your priority. if someone you are forced then find a way to get out of it and run the fuck away.
Owen Robinson
>stay away from fights should be your priority
definitely but theres times when you can't be a cuck. Especially if you're out with your wife or family and you have to fight someone, they do happen.
And fighting in real life not on tv is different definitely, you don't know who you're fighting and one little thing change everything, like if you punch him in the nose and his blood gets in your eye or mouth you will get aids and that is forever.
Tyler Wright
Boxing, you don't want to grapple or throw kicks a street fight and risk balance. Having legs focus exclusively on movement keeps you safer while your hands have more than enough aggression to handle normies.
Dylan Anderson
Real answer is >concealed carry Or better yet >open carry If that's not an option (Canada) >Belt knife If you really want to learn a self-defensive martial art >boxing If you don't actually feel the need to retaliate and just want to minimize harm >cardio and climbing
Any other answer is a meme, if you really want to keep yourself safe, take no chances, bring the bigger gun.
Jaxon Nelson
>they might get hospitalized or paralyzed for life.
One of the reasons I'm kind of afraid of going with Muay Thai is because every street fight using MT I've seen, irl or online, ends with the person who threw the last kick desperately checking if the guy he knocked out if he's alive.
Cameron Garcia
anyone that says boxing is useless in a street fight is a fucking idiot. If you know your 1,2,3 you can beat your average schmo. If you are smaller you probably do want to learn some type of grappling though.
Oliver Allen
Learn how to run. Seriously. Constantly be aware of your surroundings and easily avoid bad situations.
I remember walking late at night downtown and from a distance noticed a group of rowdy shaved head dudes all wearing wife beaters. Guess what my next move was? Cross the fucking street.
Guys, especially drunk guys have these huge egos and feel they need to prove something, more or less just huge insecurities. They often end up dead or severely injured, and for what? To prove to others they are tough? Others who forget about them the very next day?
Fighting is not like in the movies. One wrong punch or kick can leave you paralysed, brain dead, or worse.
So just run. Guy yells at you and calls you a pussy? Fine. Who cares what some no name faggot calls you. Your life and health are more important.
Kayden Davis
Why no MMA? Is MMA a meme or what's going on?
Samuel Kelly
Or get the best of both worlds, do cardiovascular and learn to throw a punch. Then when a gang of drunks try to fight you, you run and then turn around a sucker punch the daylights out of the fastest one. Rinse and repeat.
Kevin Watson
Ju jitsu and kick boxing
Liam Morgan
Those are all MMA
Julian Williams
Anything you can get down to simple muscle memory, boxing is a easy start, but so is muay thai. Both get you used to being hit and takes that fear out of the fights. Then I'd advise getting a gun or knife. Hand to hand skills only help if thats the scenario. Its also to have good ground game in order to get up off the floor if you happen to end up in your back you must know how to stand quickly, or just lay there and hope they don't try and stomp your face in.
Anyone who says one martial art is better or worse than any other is an idiot. They are the same when you put effort into learnin them. There are some thay are easier to grasp sooner than others, but you become proficient in any martial arts you have better hand to hand skills than most people that you nay run into. Also if they are intoxicated that makes things sooo much easier.
Fighting in self defense is not about hurting someone else, its about saving yourself. If you go into it thinking you're just gonna fuck someone up, you tend to not hit as hard nor try as hard to fight. But if you enter the fight thinking "im gonna die, i must protect myself" you're more likely to fight with all you got and more in order to survive.
It's all in the mindset.
Gavin Jackson
Should I pick up two martial arts or is that gonna impede progress as a beginner and delude the whole thing?
Jace Gray
concealed carry in canada will get you in jail
Justin Edwards
If they don't overlap in modalities you will be fine, boxing and judo don't overlap, so you won't get any habits from one that will fuck you over on the other. Muay Thai and judo overlap, so it is better to go with muay Thai and bjj.
Blake Campbell
It really wont slow any learning down, as long as you make sure you practice alot on each. Its not good to overwhelm yourself too early though. Id start with one then once comfortable probalbly after a couple months, I'd move to dabble in another.
You basically only need to find a good stand up 3-6 swing combo you can dish out very fast. That can be in any stand up type martial art, then you can do either bjj or wrestling. Mostly to learn how to control your body while on the ground.
You'd be surprised that almost 80% of hand to hand bouts end up on the ground. So its always good to know how to move your body while laying down. Or in a less dominate position on the ground. Its also amazing how little people know how to move while on their backs.
Brayden Ross
God tier : MMA, Combat sambo, kali( if your weapon is a knife), Pistol Good: Kickboxing, Muay thai, Meh tier: Boxing, Jiu jitsu, Sambo, Krav Maga I am a fag tier: Karate, Taekwondo, Consider suicide tier: Aikido
Leo Ortiz
Are you trolling? You do know what MMA stands for right?
Nolan Thomas
Everyone is aware that it is missing parkour on the ameridote branch, but no one cares.
Isaiah Adams
>boxing >not having bad habits
Do you realize the majority of boxers are awful at punching? They telegraph their punches they may as well have a bright light on their heads saying "im swinging".
Aiden Price
MMA isn't a martial art, but a mix of martial arts. Kind of like how dinner is a burger, fries and a drink. You can replace the components, like replacing fries with onion rings and it will still be dinner, but there is no 'one true dinner' rather just different ways to make it.
Elijah Gray
Is it possible to learn boxing at home( I know that it will be nowhere the same as being in a gym) or any other useful martial art for that matter?
Zachary Evans
systema
Brayden Fisher
If you practice enough and have the proper gear its possible. But it helps to find at least one or two people to spar with. You learn fast that a heavy bag don't hit back. So anyone can look good at hitting a heavy bag fast and efficient. But to be hit back and the target isn't moving .
Oh, it helps if you have space for it as well. It's difficult to do things safely in a small apartment.
Jace Brooks
>proper gear What do you mean by proper gear? I don't even have a heavy bag and is it really that needed. >You learn fast that a heavy bag don't hit back. So anyone can look good at hitting a heavy bag fast and efficient. But to be hit back and the target isn't moving . Well, like I said already I know that I won't be really that good versus opponents without going to a gym but isn't it possible to learn everything like proper stance, punches, and really work on your power and speed alone?
Easton Sullivan
>be ameriburger >first example of a dinner that comes to mind >write it down: "Kind of like how dinner is a burger, fries and a drink"
Justin Reyes
Oh, you said just boxing.
Yeah, you can shadow box for form. Also theres good learning videos (not only on youtube) on youtube that are very helpful. FightSmartTrav, is a good one but he teaches mostly mma style self defense. FightTips, is more dedicated to boxing style fighting. Both have very good information that you can do basically by yourself for the most part.
I would work at getting the gear slowly, piece by piece. I had to do that too, but it's worth it. I have accumulated enough gear for 2 ppl to do mma and/ or boxing.
Lucas Scott
Power = weight + velocity
So if you dont have weight you need speed to increase your power. Its simply left to physics at that point.
Nicholas Brown
>just boxing Well I want to train like boxers do but I don't have any equipments and really can't afford them right now but will try to in the future for sure. >FightSmartTrav, is a good one but he teaches mostly mma style self defense I have no problem with that too or any other art for that matter as long as I can practice it by myself.
Owen Gray
Definitely possible. Everyone starts somewhere.
The guy at FightTips is probably a bit better for youtbe vids since he posts alot, but fightsmart has his own website and great information.
Josiah Russell
>letting people walk all over you because the courts favor muslim immigrants over actual citizens >muh hate crime
Sometimes I swear I will never understand my fellow Canadians.
Mason Price
Thanks, I really appreciate the help.
Luis Torres
do you know what you're talking about? Muay thai clinch is so fucking compatible with judo. You also say that boxing and judo don't 'overlap' but what does that even mean to you? In most striking arts your back leg is the dominant one, whilst in judo the you keep your dominant leg in front. All martial arts have their own body positioning and stances, so there's always going to be overlap.
Jack Nelson
Sorry, but no, it's pretty much impossible. Anyone who has trained will tell you this. There's just too much nuance and specific knowledge to fighting arts, and small mistakes can lead to major injuries. This sort of stuff really must be done at a club or gym with an experienced coach, or you risk hurting yourself and others. Your learning will also be greatly impeded without someone to spar with, and with no one to correct your errors, you're likely to engrain some really bad habits.
Jeremiah Perez
mate its perfectly legal to use lethal force here, its all about how you justify it which every lawyer will tell you.
we have de-facto stand your ground laws and you are never under any obligation to retreat if you feel genuinely under threat. you just need to keep things proportional.
people mostly get in trouble because the escalate too quickly or give stupid justifications.
Austin Scott
Striking and grappling of your choice.
Boxing is probably going to become effective in the shortest amount of time for striking and unless you're elite throwing kicks can be dangerous. Lose your balance, get caught, etc.
Judo can also become effective pretty quick and focuses on putting people on the ground quickly. I would not want to be thrown by a judoka on pavement. Wrestling is also a good option.
Skip bjj because it takes time to learn and rolling around on your back and head on concrete is risky.
Truth is training in anything will put you ahead of 90% of people.
Christopher Roberts
This guy's got it. Looks like those 2 lists go from easiest to most difficult to learn.
It doesn't matter what type it is so long as you can spar full out. You need to get the shit beaten out of you so you're at least a little familiar with how you react.
Charles Lopez
MMA is definitely it's own martial art nowadays.
Jaxon Sanders
Do karate. But don't do Shotokan karate.
It all really depends on your teacher. Traditional karate is great, modern sports karate is 50% bullshit mixed with 50% ritualized bullshit. Traditional karate is basically a structured approach to self defense.
Also: Boxing is always useful for training, but you can also fall into the trap of not learning how to use your legs. Low kicking is useful, being able to guard your lower body too.
Chase Ward
If you want real karate, do something like this. oshirodojo.com/
And stay away from McDojos.
James Walker
The answer entirely depends upon your body mechanics.
I do Jeet Kune Do because I'm a 5'7 140 lbs dude, so for me, it's a martial art that I can rely on that won't involve me grappling with a 400 lb guy on the ground.
Krav Maga is extremely effective, but it is NOT A MARTIAL ART because it relies on solely fighting to STAY ALIVE. That means you'll have to rely on what is typically seen as "fighting dirty" - knees to the groin, bashes to the face, anything that can quickly disable an opponent who is fully intended to kill you.
Sebastian Bailey
If you do jkd its kind of a lifestyle thing, if you're not following Bruces renegade taoist philosophy you're just doing mma not jkd
Hudson Johnson
How could boxing be useless?
Jackson Powell
Guy's insightful as fuck.
Hudson Jones
they say boxing is useless because a bjj guy will just grab you
Matthew Reed
Oh my god that's the most autistic thing I've ever read on Veeky Forums.
Michael Anderson
Yeah ive learned a lot from him as a person. He had really high standards and was definitely a winner.
Luke Hernandez
>tfw america >tfw we fascists now >tfw I can kill abdullahs on the street if I even spot them
Tyler Myers
Learn kickboxing, bjj, and sprinting and jogging If it is 1v1 just use kickboxing into bjj If there is more guys use kick boxing if you think you can win vs them If there is too many and you don't think you can win then sprint away
Brayden Sullivan
Anyone have any good websites or youtube videos to teach me good boxing/kickboxing technique? I don't expect to learn how to fight, but i want to learn how to throw punches, kicks, and combos with decent form yes i know how autistic this sounds
Levi Ortiz
What is ameridote? looks like a shit tier meme lads -_-
Grayson Roberts
Tbh this.
"Learning mma" is like pouring water on powder to make instant 'soup'.
Better to chop your own 'carrots'/'celery' etc to make your own 'soup' on how you like it.
Austin Murphy
expert boxing and a guy named Fran Sands both have pretty good videos and articles explaining the fundamentals.
Kayden Rodriguez
We have threads for this now faggots
Jeremiah Bailey
thank you just looking for something fun to do in the spare time
Landon Turner
Proper boxing is all you'd need. You'd be really surprised how technical and efficient it is. Plus you also learn how to get hit. A drunk guy is going to be off balance, unable to throw correctly and have a gut full of alcohol. Boxing will teach you a few things about slipping in and out of someones reach, making you as a target hard to hit as well as being able to read basic body language to know when the fist is coming. A lot of people out there aren't interested in maiming someone, and this is a fair position to take, just one swift punch to a drunkards stomach will usually just put him on the ground. If he's had enough to drink you might make him throw up. I promise you'll feel a lot more confident with some boxing under your belt.