Would you recommend a striking art or a grappling art more for self-defense?

Question

If you had to choose just one between a full-contact combat sport that is just stand-up striking or grappling which would it be for self-defense?

I am more a striker than a grappler. But, what about all those early UFCs all the grapplers taking the strikers down?

I know an answer would be MMA because it combines the two but, I don't care for the MMA gym atmoshphere.

Which one would you choose? Those available in my area:

STRIKING: Boxing, Kickboxing, San Shou
GRAPPLING: Judo, 10th Planet JJ

Answer 1

definately striking.however i would suggest an art that teaches both such as karate or japanese ju jitsu.you cant compare ring fights(that have a ref ,available medical attention and security)to real life self defence.

Answer 2

I would favor a striking art but it really depends on the instructor and the school and their approach to self-defense. A good one will teach awareness and avoidance and stress that over testing your skills or being caught in a situation where you might have to. The main reason why I say striking is that grappling and wrestling takes you off your feet allot and gives you not as easy of a chance to run and get away. In a self-defense situation you want to be able to disengage and run or get away from your opponent in most cases rather than sit there and slug it out or get into a no holds barred wrestling contest. By remaining there in a situation where you have to defend yourself you are betting your skills and possibly your well-being and life against your attacker's and being able to disengage yourself quickly and run is the smarter more prudent thing to do. You no longer have the element of surprise if you remain and have not gained the upper hand in short order and then your adversary may not be so easily beaten. This is one of the reasons why awareness and avoidance are so important so that you can better avoid those situations where you won't have to test your skills only to find out that you come up a little short.

Answer 3

Bushido, and Jabber gave you great answers. I have studied Ju Jitsu for many years, (although I've never heard of 10th Planet) and while it is primarily a grappling Art. I have found myself in situations where it was enough. I have also been in situations where if Ju Jitsu was all I knew I'd have been put in the hospital, or worse. I do recommend a blend of both grappling, and striking Arts for self defense. I think that relying only on one, or the other may put you at a serious disadvantage should you find yourself in a serious combat situation. Personally, I'd recommend Boxing, and Ju Jitsu. This is of course just my opinion. Choose an Art, or Arts that fit your personality. You'll probably find those easier for you to dedicate the time required to become proficient.

Answer 4

You must remember, that in self-defense, the objective is TO ESCAPE. This has been stressed by many with real life street experience, such as Marc MacYoung and Geoff Thompson.



That being said, you cannot run away while engaged in grappling on the ground. Geoff Thompson, as a bouncer, re-counted an incident in his bar where two fellows were grappling on the ground, and one of them got knifed repeatedly by on-lookers. Marc MacYoung has re-counted several instances where two guys were grappling on the ground, and one got stomped by onlookers. Neither believe in grappling as a first-response, as it is does not account for multiple opponents (often a reality!), does not allow quick escape, and can be dangerous if the assailant is armed (which you may not know at first glance!)



I believe that some essential ground skills, if you happen to get taken down (such as escaping from mount, quickly getting to your feet, etc) are VERY important. Otherwise, how will you react if you do get knocked down and someone's on top of you smashing your face in?



HOWEVER, because the objective of self defense is to escape, a strike-based offense, followed by quickly sprinting away from harm, is much more safe than going in for a takedown and grappling on the street with someone. Grappling prevents immediate escape, opens you up to friends of the assailant, and puts you in a very dangerous situation if the assailant has a knife (you don't grapple with bladed weapons, this a very bad idea).



Running away (sprinting away!) should always be the prime objective, the goal of self defense is safety. Strikes allow for this more than grappling does, though I still believe some grappling training is important, in the event if you get taken down.



Never confuse the ring with the street, they are very different. Ask soldiers or law enforcement questions like this, they are the ones who regularly deal with these realities (martial artists tend to hypothesize about a lot of things that have no real experience with) - this can be very dangerous!



P.S. From the training options you mentioned, I'd say kickboxing would be a great bet, along with some practical groundwork as I described. You also want a training program that practices against resisting opponents (not just punching and kicking in the air or against a static opponent) - because that will condition you correctly for a real conflict, which will surely involve a resisting opponent!

Answer 5

I would recommend grappling for self-defense. Reason why is that anybody can get lucky with one punch/kick and take you out, but you need skill to dominate on the ground. However, if you were thinking of being an MMA fighter, I would say Striking..

Answer 6

Six of one, half a dozen of the other. If you learn properly, whichever you do, you will learn to counter the other. Grapplers know how to handle grappling and striking and vice versa. It all comes down to how you handle the situation you find yourself in.



Personally, I find Muay Thai to be the most effective striking art(aka the most lethal) and Aikido most efficient for the best grappling(aka the most debilitating). I have been doing combat Tai Ch'i lately and I find it to be pretty effective.



If I were to take one into the ring, it would be striking, you have the ability to maintain control of the fight more if you are moving around instead of stuck to one spot. Just my opinion.

Answer 7

first off UFC isn't self defense. It isn't even close.



They both have their advantages. Personally I like strikes more, because as small as I am, it's just not practical to be trying to throw opponents to the ground.



However if I were a bigger person, I'd be looking into throwing more. If I can get them on the ground quickly, I can escape.



However, it won't matter what size I am, I don't want a style that teaches me to wrestle on the ground with opponents. Throwing them quickly is fine, but trying to wrestle with them, especially if there's two of them, well that's just stupid. I also don't want a striking style that teaches fancy kicks and punches that look all pretty, but seriously.

Answer 8

@Garret, thanks for mentioning our art, but we are not Krav Maga with traditional martial arts roots. We are a traditional martial art, with titles, uniforms, salutations, belts, forms, and respect and discipline is taught. We are just the "Hawaiian street fighting art" and we just have crazy training methods. And because of those crazy training methods, not too many people stay in Kajukenbo and that's why nobody's ever heard of Kajukenbo. And when Kajukenbo people compete, they follow the rules of the competition. Benny Urquidez follows the rules of kickboxing, and Chuck Lidell follows the rules of the UFC. Or else they would be disqualified. What was shown on Fight Quest was just a few Kajukenbo schools getting together and having a bit of fun. The basic rule is don't deliberately do anything to hurt your sparring partner because you want him to come back to train next week. But sometimes things get a bit out of hand. But it's never intentional. Kajukenbo is good for self-defense. But the training is vigorous, brutal, violent and painful. And most people cannot handle it. It takes immense dedication to go back week after week. If there's a hardcore Kajukenbo school in your area, check it out. If not, check out the Karate, Kung Fu and Tae Kwon Do schools. Best of luck in finding the martial art that suits you.

Answer 9

like Jim G, Bushido, and Jabber said i would recommended a style that has both, all karate styles some kung fu, japanese jujutsu and some others do both.

grappling is not always ideal in self defense. especially when there is more then one. but at the same time if some one grabs you, you need to know how to escape. grappling isnt just ground fighting there is standing grappling as well. in order to properly defend your self you need both.

Answer 10

Striking. Kickboxing particularly. Because in a self defense situation, there may be more than one enemy, and then a grappling art can get you killed. You can only fight one person at a time...

Answer 11

I'd say striking...

In a "real" self defense situation where you can't prevent escalation into physical contact, you may want to consider that:



a) You want to end the situation as quickly as possible, and also to get away quickly. Being able to finish the "fight" (i.e. put yourself in a position where you can escape) while still standing is obviously a good point. Remember that in a self defense situation, your objective is not to "win", but to prevent harm to yourself. So, your objective should be to get away as soon as possible. No sense in lingering around waiting for the more, uh, "badguys" to arrive.

b) "Real" self defense situations often involve facing multiple adversaries. Again, the best way to deal with one attacker and finishing in a position ready to face the next is in a standing position. When you are dealing with several attackers, taking one attacker to the ground is an open invitation for his buddies to do some real nasty things to you while you're busy.

c) As stupid as it may sound, grappling may expose you to other dangers as well: rough concrete/gravel, exposed nails/other sharp thingies, broken bottles, etc. Choking somebody who wants to knife you but cutting your head on a broken beer bottle doesn't count as a "win."



That being said, knowing how to handle being taken to the ground is a definite plus, so cross training in judo (or BJJ) won't hurt. You may also want to consider taking up aikido (or similar arts) that can introduce you to joint-locks and small-circle throws against strikes and ways to "manage" multiple attackers.



But still, my vote is for striking arts.

Answer 12

Maybe Wingchun is another alternative. Wingchun is truly a combat martial art, is a scientific and theoretically based martial arts form. The specialty of a wingchun practitoner is close range combat. Wingchun utilizes well-coordinated angular deflections with simultaneous attacks. A wingchun practitioner is agile yet powerful, delivering quick, close range punching and kicking skills rather than locks and grabs. These are what demonstrated in Ip Man movie. Because wingchun is based on the concept and principles of simplicity, economy of movement, and economy of energy. Wing chun is a no nonsense martial art.

Answer 13

I practice baguazhang so Im more of a striker too. I would suggest San shou for you to try out, it's even used in the olympics if Im not mistaken.

Answer 14

In a street fight, the fight most likely wont got to the ground(in my neighborhood, its all gangbangers and they belive in knocking you out with punches).



but the fight may go to the ground if they fight dirty.



i would think Muay thai is best for self-defence because muay thai uses elbows, punches, kicks, kness



my fav fighting style is muay thai.



i also forgot to mention, you shin is a really strong bone in your body, and your leg muscules are also really strong, because you use it to support your weight throughout the day, so knowing that, your legs would be really effective in a fight.



but dont expect to be good, or decent after you go to the gym for a month. i go to the gym 6 TIMES a week, atleast 4 HOURS a day and i started to get "slightly better" about 6 months in.



and im comparing myself to Pro MMA fighters.

the gym i go to has a lot of pro MMA fighters, such as: Wanderlei SIlva, Sidney Silva, Jorge Lopez, Vitor Vianna, and much more.



so dont think the MMA fighters that i compare to are "weak"



if you were to really start training, you would have to think they way i think because if you think you are good just beacuse you compare to someone who is smaller, or never trained in anything, etc... you are not going to be sucessful because you will think you have trained hard enough, but in reality, you really havn't.



the way you know if you have learned good, and effective, spar with someone your size, similar weight. and experience.



hope this helped you.

Answer 15

For self defense, I would definitely go with boxing and judo. Boxing would definitely help you on the feet and if he was hurting you there, judo would allow you to throw him to the ground.