whats the best martial art?

I have been involved in martial arts my intire life (sence i was 7). I have studied judo, many forms of karate,jujitsu, and am now teaching aikido and iaido/kendo. I was just wondering what the other members thought, and why.

It depends what your goal is. If you want to fight one-on-one, cross traing in boxing, Thai-boxing, wresling, and ju-jitsu would be best.

Martial arts in the artistic sense, I'd go with Chinese wushu/kung fu. It's forms are beautiful. Chi kung/Tai Chi forms are good for self balence and health.

Brazilian capoeira is just plain fun and acrobatic.

The way you look at martial arts reflects what you see as "best." Think about what you want out of it and decide for yourself. There is no need to limit yourself to one aspect of the arts.

Well, I have been practicing a martial art called Krav Maga for quite a while now. It is used by the Israeli Defence Force and teaches practitioners how to respond to situations that they are most likely to be faced with in the real world, including how to counter knife attacks, how to disarm armed assailants and how to react in bar brawls and muggings. There are no formal stances or moves and no philosophical teachings, but I can assure you it can be extremely effective in real-world situations.

I chose Krav Maga because I was disillusioned with Tae Kwon Do here in Australia which, at least at the club I was at, was focused almost solely on competitions and displays. Which is fair enough, but I really wanted something that was going to be practical and would be effective when and if I ever needed it. Krav Maga is just that.

You can learn more about it at the International Krav Maga Federation

if you truely know martial arts, you would knwo there is no "Best" martial arts. As your progress thru your training you pick up things from other styles until you reach a point where you have achive a level of excelenace. You might get to the top of the mountain by a differant path, but that does not mean how you got there makes you better.

Having said that, some styles have differant advatages and disadvatages then others. Some are better for differant body types. For short stocky people I suggest Chinese styles, for lanky people I suggest Japanese styles. For grappling I suggest Kung fu san soo, just because Grandmaster Ron Van Browning is such an excellent and entertaining techer and good friend of mine. FOr Stick/knife fighting I suggest Escrima becasue I was taught it by the Late Grandmaster Remy "The Professer" Presas

Personally I have more of an attraction to styles that have been around for more then a centuray, since it has a larger base. It is fairly easy for an accomplished fighter to create and become the master in his own style, it it harder to create a tradition that can go back centuries and withstand the test of time. Too many times i have seen people who have gotten a black belt in a style act so arrogant yet forget taht getting a black belt is just a start of a much longer journy.

Having said that there is nothing wrong with using the newer styles to create a foundation of skills to help you find your path along the mountain. But personally I have foudn the Flexability you gain, and kicking ability found in Tae Kwon Do a great place to start. Grandmaster Ron Van Browning himself has admited his jealousy in how flexable my legs are, and the sense of balance I have gained thru my years of learning Tae Kwon do.

But then again, you should really ask yourself what you want to personally gain from learning martial arts, and find a style taht suits you best, and that you will enjoy

FYI I have practiced martial arts for over 15 years and hold a 3rd degree black belt in Tae Kwan Do, black belt in Escrima Stick fighting, black belt in Kung Fu San soo, and Black belt in Okinawan Weapons

whats the best martail art to learn to use a sword as a weapon? (not like fencing when one just uses the sword; but a art were one uses the whole body)

Good answer Jehosephat.
As far as your question Blue_sky_9; I would have to say kendo. It envolves a lot of trickery, as well as an occasional body check(slam into your adversary). It also teaches that you dont have to cut someone in half to win the battle. The problem is that there are so few of us teaching it. Altho the "sport"is growing. You might want to check out the local university, Or ask if any one in your area teaches Iaido. It can get expensive (having to buy the armor and all, as well as a traditional uniform), but i'm sure you will find it well worth it.

The best martial art is the "art of fighting without fighting". Chew on that one, lets see who gets the refference....

My preference is Kempo.
It is a no nonsense art. If you are going to use it against an opponent, your opponent IS going to go down and stay down. It is an art that does not tries to subdue, disarm, or even to contain your opponent(s). It is so purpose is to do as much damage to your opponent as possible as quickly as possible to ensure that they will not be attacking you again anytime soon.
If a person wants to use a martial art, then why only try to disarm the opponent, all that will do is allow the opponent to continue their attack.

As for artistic style though I perfer Tai Chi it is one of the most serene and relaxing things that you can experience!

There really isn't many styles of martial arts that sooely focus on swordsmanship. It was mainly broken down by countries, time, and type of weapons used.

I really dont like Kendo because it is a "point" based style. That is it is more of a "touch" type style, istead of killing not to metion strikes can only be "scored" when moving forward. Usually the only option you have is to train under a master of the sword, and learn THIER stlye of sword fighting

Skippytc, I have yet to see a black belt of "RunFu"

Martial Arts is a set of skills, manuvers, and learned abilities. How you use them is up to the person learning them. one of the best leassons I have ever taught was when a person thought he used them for the right reason (to defend himself) and then tell him how could have avoided the situation all together and never had to use it at all.

Pride and confidance in yourself and your ability as a Martial artist, is usually all you need to defend yourself in a situation. I have been in a street fight, and could have lost my life. But instead of patting myself on the back about how well I defended myself I often think about how I could have avoided the entire situation and not gotten anyone hurt

Originally posted by skippytjc
The best martial art is the "art of fighting without fighting". Chew on that one, lets see who gets the refference....

Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee.


Best art - I would say Brazilian Ju Jitsu. They challenged the world and proved it. Now the whole world of martial arts and the "extreme" style hybrid fighting has evolved from that. The world watch 175 lb (smallest guy) Royce Gracie defeat all challengers for a few years before people started to train in the grappling/ground game, because they saw the how effective it could be.

Up until then, many people thought the striking arts or "hard" styles were best. Now blending the two (striking and grappling) is where the hybrids came from.

I’ll give you the same advice I’ve given others over the years who have asked that question. The best martial art training is going to be that training which gets you into the best shape. Martial artist focus on styles too much. Your fighting style doesn’t mean squat if you lack the physical conditioning to use it for any length of time.

Find yourself an American school that emphasizes conditioning above all else. Most of these schools are mixed fighting schools but some come in other flavors. If you are not working a minimum of one hour each day building your cardiovascular and muscular strength and eating right you’re almost wasting your time at a martial arts school.

First get yourself into top physical condition then worry about martial art styles.

Originally posted by Jehosephat
There really isn't many styles of martial arts that sooely focus on swordsmanship. It was mainly broken down by countries, time, and type of weapons used.
The art of Iaido, is focused on the japanese sword (katana). unfortuinatly most of the more modern styles concentrate on what are known as "formal katas". If you really want to study sword combat techniques you will have to find a sensei who has been trained in Iaijutsu. You will probably have to do some traveling to do this. I would not suggest that you go to japan for this tho. The reason being that Americans are still looked upon with a lot of discontent, and you will be taught an inferior (or watered down) style, if you are allowed to study at all. email me if you want to talk further.

[edit on 8-9-2005 by only onus]

Originally posted by skippytjc
The best martial art is the "art of fighting without fighting". Chew on that one, lets see who gets the refference....

The only "peacefull martial art is Aikido. It is a true self defence. It is widely known that if you put two aikidoest in a ring to battle it out, nothing will happin. As they would be waiting for the other to make the first attack.

Zed got it. Bruce Lee, Enter the Dragon.

I did Kenpo Karate all through my teen years. Hard and lots of striking, not very fluid or gracefull.

Bruce Lee? The inventor of Jeet Kune Do. That guy was amazing, could move so fast they had to slow his movements down on film or you couldn't see it.

Although Discovery had a thing with a guy who trained by/with Bruce Lee, what he does every day is punch a steel plate metal thingy 100x a day, why steel? He showed the camera people why with a coffee table, one little tap and the thing shattered. This guy was like 80 something and was famous in China for helping the police deal with crime syndicates. WHile I'll never be that good, but shows like that have me working out, like Celebrity Fit Club, or hell just seeing a football game, realizing how strong these guys are and how weak/fat I am is enough motivation.

Akido was develoepd by a Master when he got in fight with a friend and didn't want to hurt or harm him. In order to learn or practice it the style requires a person as an attacker. as I stated wouldn't it be better if you never had to fight at all?

In fact in order to make akido "competitive" they created Judo

I would have to say Kung Fu is probably the Height of Martial Arts both physically and mentally.

June Keet Do is probably the height of Kung Fu - but it was unfinished unfortunately.

However, for myself, I believe a mixture of Karate and Jujitsu will be the absolute best I can learn - for combat and "chi" focus - as I am starting later in life.

To me Krav Manga would be one the "worst" martial arts because it only teaches one how to do deadly moves - with no gradient to allow appropriate force.

I am sure it is probably not taught that way, but I hear that was its original military centered intention.

Umm... I have done Okinawan Shoryn Ryu and Fencing... Fencing is fun but...you would hardly ever use it in a realy self defense thing...Okinawan Shorin Ryu is awesome because like...the first Kata we learned was showing us how to take on 3 guys at once...so you learn how to defend yourself right away.

I allso learned some other fighting stuff based on watching (and studying) shows and people fighting...you can learn stuff by watching it, even if it is fake

I have also learned a lot from jsut watching fighting. But too often it takes someone who is trained who can take in a fight in as a whole, an awarness of each person's body position, balance, and arm position. Kind of like how a chess master would percive a board as a whole, and not as just individual peices.

Really is intersting to look at movies and see how real or fake the fight sequances. Saw one where the "hero" broght his arms up high for a power blow, while his opponent was in low guard position and could have gutted the hero three times in the same fight.

your right jehose, it would be better if we never had to worry about fighting. But reality sayes otherwise. I have(as earlier statted) studied many styles. An to be truly you have to know how to use an opponets size against them. I mean we have to be realistic. I am 150lbs. And it is obsurde to think that I could knock out an opponent who weighs 350lbs. or more. Ore to do any real damage to him by using strength/strikes alone. I have studied judo, and was a regional champion.
Yet still I would be foolish to think that I could throw(effectivly) a person who is a lot larger than myself. That is why they have weight classes in tournys. and not matches based on ranking. That is why I have become such an advocate for aikido. Expecially for older persons, Or those who are physically challenged. If you have never checked it out you should. It uses physics (in a sense), and can be done by anyone. Even a child can learn to keep themself safe from anyone.
I have a class where I teach seniors self defence, and would challenge anyone to try to grab one of my students (an older lady of 5'2", weighing 102lbs). they would end up on the ground with their wrist broken.
As far as jeet kune do, Their was a studio where I live. It is very effective, But you have to be very fast, and very accurate. It is extreamly hard to learn how to strike someones punch, or to kick someones kick.