As we are in the survival forum, the answer is extremely simple -

Krav Maga

The Israeli defence force utilises it, and in my personal experience, is the most effective form of self defence.

The main thing to remember with self defence is this - keep it simple. The problem with many martial arts, is the use of fine motor skills - which, when the adrenaline is pumping, is hard to recall.

If you can train, and build gross motor skill actions, they will be easier to recall and effect in a self defence situation.

If you're serious about learning self defence, Krav Maga is without equal (in my experience).

Back in the day, Vale Tudo matches were held with almost zero rules.
Vale Tudo means "without rules".
This is the early days of MMA, and no gloves, etc were the name of the game.
The best VT fighters trained Muy thai kickboxing techniques, and BJJ chokes and submissions.
Those guys were Bad Dudes... and some of the best hand to hand fighters on the planet.

Best Martial art system will be debated for centuries to come.. and who knows.. the best is subjective to the situation IMHO.

Imo, the two best martial arts to use in a street situation would have to be either Krav Maga, or if you can find it, Muay Chaiya (Boran), the ancient style of Muay Thai.

CBA to find my earlier post, but wanted to suggest ninpo, whether it be bujinkan, jinekan or genbukan. quite effective, and, of course, ninjas have the cool factor to boot

You guys should check out some Silat. that stuff is simple and very brutal in application. Noticed a lot of military systems are very similar to Silat. To me Silat seems like the quickest way to destroy a human being.

Originally posted by Darkice19
You dont kneed to know any form of martial arts to survive a fight. Just be friends with a Ninja and keep him close to you at all times.

This. Seriously

I studied Shorin Ryu for a few years,.
I had the honor of working with Sensei Tadashi Yami$hita
and Neil Stolsmark..
I was interested in the history of the art., and the combat skills were a bonus.

I think martial arts training is great for cardiovascular fitness and the development of self discipline, but in a real world fight all the choreographed movements just don't work. I grew up fighting on almost a daily basis, and I've met very few people who will continue to fight once you've smashed their nose or stomped on their rib cage a few times. It's hard to fight when you're eyes are tearing up and you can't breathe.

I always considered fear as my greatest enemy. No matter how big or tough you are, you still get scared in a fight. Being able to master that fear is the key to winning.

If I had to choose a martial art system though, I'd go with Krav Maga. It looks about as close to the real thing as you can get. It's not about fancy kicks or punches, it's about making the most out of what you've got and being able to walk away afterwards.

The definition of a martial art is an activity that is used for the purpose of combat. Therefore, my favourite would be pistol or rifle shooting. That way, you keep your opponent at a nice sfae distance when you engage.

the point of the "art"
is to train the movements of defense and attack.
It IS very useful in having the ability to defend yourself..
Simple Blocking technique can keep you from that broken nose

i would have to go with wing chun (simply because its the only one i know)...
no fancy stuff and very effective....but as far as fighting goes best to avoid if possible,and secondly the art often isnt the reason someone wins a fight,its more about the individual,some people are just freaks....bruce lee as an example won almost every fight he was in not so much because of wing chun,he was just a freak,incredibly fast...he could kick a person in the head before they could punch him.....

peace

GOD, please people, stop harping on MMA. That is NOT real fighting. They have many rules outlawing whole styles of kung fu and arts, such as no tiger claw for tearing muscles from tendons, no eagle talon for breaking small bones. My tai chi instructor went to china on one of his teaching trips there, and was invited to the underground fights there, which are NHB. NO fights went to the ground, because if anyone tried to do a hold for a take down, their fingers or wrist were quickly broken. He also watched 2 deaths and many fractures in the ring that day, which he claimed was not unusual there. These are people who have spent their whole lives in the pursuit of martial excellence, not some fools in the ring who got 6 months of standup and 6 months of grappling, and a few doses of steroids. I am quite sure that any scrawny little siaolun monk, even a 50 year old, could tear through most of the MMA lineup, and not even break a sweat. MMA is for mostly young, immature testosterone heads who feel like they have something to prove, not for elite masters, and to assume they are masters is ludicrous.

For me....I have taken traditional kung fu, Yoon chi kung fu, wing chun, jiu jutsu, and tai chi. I have to say, that while i think the tai chi is my favorite, and the kung fu provides me with greater overall ability, i think the wing chun is the most devastating and practical. It teaches you to be comfortable fighting in a zone where most people are not (very very close, like in your face), it helps program lighting defense and counter, and really trips up the opponent with lockups, not to mention getting one comfortable with devastating elbows and alternative hand strikes. Not to mention that crazy looking little old chinese man on the discover channel show, who from a relaxed position slammed out that short punch with WAY more force than that huge american boxer half his age. He was wing chun....crazy 1 inch punch.

Pexx is completey right. MMA is BS for an actual combatative altercation. I know you guys see some scary looking guy on an MMA fight and think hey this is the real deal not like those karate dorks in the dojo. But it simply isn't how things are done in the real worl. MMA isn't even a mixed martial art. it's just kickboxing with jujitsu thrown in. MMA is a SPORT> not self defense.

I watch the fights and mostly I see bad strikers and even worse grappling. anderson silva...good for an MMA guy. crappy as a fighter in comparison to some serious combatitive types out there. It is a myth that fights go to the ground. guess what all fights start standing up. most end that way too. don't believe me then ask a bouncer or a bailif. they see REAL fights every day and they usually don't go to the ground. BJJ is just a trend. it's just simply bad jujitsu. A old school judo or jujitsu guy from japan would cream those guys. MMA is a fad.

I do Bak Mei and Silat, have studied Qi GOng and Iron Palm techniques. I have found that NO...and I mean NO MMA guy does well when faced with Silat. hell even muy tai guys don't do too good when faced with it. wanna know why. cause Silat is ment for the battle field. Not a ring. think these MMA guys can fight on the street guess again. the old adage holds true. you fight the way you train. if you train for sport you fight like your in the ring and you get killed when it gets real. You have to train to take a guy out with severe. and I mean severe mechanical damage to the other guy in a second or so. training to do anything else is a waste of time and dangerous to your health. (not talking about ji ben gong, and conditioning or working on muscle memory by moving slowely, that stuff is a seperate issue its great and has it's place) people laugh when they think tai chi chuan. guess what the bouncer at the club down the street doesn't. that what he's probably training on.

I have found the grappling is down right foolish with anybody stronger than you. I can literally simply pull my self out of 90 percent of every jujitsu move. are you going to grapple with sasquatch or a gorilla. probably not. so why would you think it's going to work against the equivalent human, built like one. guess what it doesn't. striking hard to the face and knees is what works. it's what the militaries around the world train in for a reason.

I say check out guys like joseph simonet, Al dacascos, kelly mccann. people who know how to break a man fast. they teach effective MA. you can learn from them what it really means to know a MA. or simply get on a plane and fly to foshan or hebei and simply go to the local parks. or take a trip to malaysia and hang at the parks there. you will learn real MA. and it won't look like the crap on tv, or the MMA fad/hipsters. MMA get real guys . . . no literally get real.

paxx like you I have been on the receiving end of the one inch punch.. it's no joke. that punch will send you flying. plus it's awesome cause if you can touch the guy you can deliver it. it's like a point blank bullet to the body. And wing chun, southern praying mantis, and bak mei-hakka arts. effective all of them. and yeah the elbows. elbows are the swiss army knife of the body. elbows can and will do anything.

One finger karate, it stops them all, big or small