Post: #1

For striking, I still think there's nothing better than boxing.

I want to learn Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. I gather that's one of if not the best ground fighting out there.

Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and Boxing combined would make someone a good fighter I think.

Does anyone do Krav Maga regularly or tried Sistema?

What martial arts do you guys consider when combined means you're a complete fighter able to handle yourself in all situations?

Post: #2

I feel a combination of Judo and Muay Thai is deadly.

Post: #3

Krav right here. If you want to fight professionally what you have is fine though I would add in wrestling (even though it takes A WHILE for someone to get good considering how many wrestlers there are out there) and some muay thai; you don't want any gaps in your game. If you want self defense jump into Krav but know that you'll develop a natural reaction to throw head buts, groin kicks, and other things that are illegal in competition. You've probably already seen these, but just in case:

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Post: #4

I did a combination of Mui Thai and jujitsu for a few months. Its a great workout- but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as.strapped for time as I am, you need to make a huge investment in terms of time to become proficient; on top of which is that you're very unlikely to need, or be able, to utilize the hard earned skills.

Ultimately, I did a cost benefit analysis and decided to stop- that every single instructor had scars from knee surgery, from the severe torque and stresses placed on the joints definately played a part as well.

I will share a tip that my father recieved from a Korean amy martial arts instructor many a decade ago while he was stationed there.

"The quickest, safest, and most reliable technique for taking down an opponent is to stand ten feet away and use a gun."

Ill be getting a concealed weapons permit as soon as I move out of NYC.

Post: #5

The best combo is muay thai, boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jujitsu.

Each has something none of the others have.

The good enough combo is muay thai or boxing and Brazilian jujitsu.

It takes a lot longer to get good at grappling than striking. You get most of the striking stuff figured out in a year or two. The grappling shit takes like 2-3 years to be pretty decent.

I will say you do this shit long enough you WILL get some injuries- it is combat after all. I've had 4 concussions and my right thumb is semi-dislocated. Some of my other friend's fucked up their knee or had head injuries too.

I still miss it though, nothing makes you feel more alive when you're fighting someone else trying to beat the shit out of you.

Post: #6

(02-12-2012 02:16 PM)[email protected] Wrote:  I did a combination of Mui Thai and jujitsu for a few months. Its a great workout- but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as.strapped for time as I am, you need to make a huge investment in terms of time to become proficient; on top of which is that you're very unlikely to need, or be able, to utilize the hard earned skills.

Ultimately, I did a cost benefit analysis and decided to stop- that every single instructor had scars from knee surgery, from the severe torque and stresses placed on the joints definately played a part as well.

I will share a tip that my father recieved from a Korean amy martial arts instructor many a decade ago while he was stationed there.

"The quickest, safest, and most reliable technique for taking down an opponent is to stand ten feet away and use a gun."

Ill be getting a concealed weapons permit as soon as I move out of NYC.

That may be the safest option for that moment but then you get taken to jail and you fucked up for life. Carrying out a gun will make you highly likely to use it. I only recommend using a gun if you going after someone who has done some fucked up shit to you, if you are in a street argument with a stranger then just fight him and move on.

Answering the OP - yeah muay thai, boxing and judo should do the trick. I have done judo for years but i recently met someone who is a black belt in judo who told me that judo is not effective with another person who knows judo, he recommended me to do muay thay, im starting that shit real soon.

Post: #7

Krav maga here, background in boxing and karate. I describe KM to friends as being a three-step martial arts system:

1. Disarm your opponent.
2. Disable him physically.
3. Kill him if necessary.

Of course it's more complicated than that, but I feel that for sheer fighting effectiveness, krav maga is where it's at.

Post: #8

(02-12-2012 11:18 AM)dk902 Wrote:  For striking, I still think there's nothing better than boxing.

I want to learn Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. I gather that's one of if not the best ground fighting out there.

Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and Boxing combined would make someone a good fighter I think.

Does anyone do Krav Maga regularly or tried Sistema?

What martial arts do you guys consider when combined means you're a complete fighter able to handle yourself in all situations?

I did Systema for a while, but it became hard with the lack of classes and constant travel. Was good exercise, but not sure about it as a fighting system. Its something that has to be used on its own, it cant be built around systems or styles.

If you are fighting in a ring, then all this ground stuff matters. But the last thing you want to be doing is going to the ground in a street fight. All thats going to happen is that you will get kicked in the head. If you go off your feet you are in a lot of trouble.

Best shit to learn for self defense is boxing. Once you can handle yourself a bit there, then take up a combat system like Krav Maga. Even Muay Thai so you can learn how to kick people to pieces. The only grappling type stuff worth learning is wrestling. MMA is a sport at the end of the day.

Most fights are not going to last more than a few punches. And if it goes to the ground, you want to be able to overpower them so you can get back on your feet or beat this shit out of them while they are on the ground.

If I have sons, they will be sent for boxing lessons.

Post: #9

The first rule of fighting: There are no rules in fighting.

Learning in a dojo or ring teaches you too many rules, for obvious reasons. What they can't teach is the mindset to win. You have to gain that from experience. At that point it's less about what you've learned, and more of the intensity brought to the fight.

I fight to maim someone. The point is for that person to never confront me again. Ear-biting, eye-gouging, groin strikes aren't commonly taught in the dojo. You also can't show someone how to use a broken bottle in a training environment. These are techniques you have to go over in your head a million times, as not to forgot when the adrenaline starts pumping. The more you think about it the more chance you'll have of success.

In the end though it goes like this: No girl is going to fuck you when you walk into the bar with two black eyes, a crooked nose, and swollen lips. Avoid fighting at all costs.

Post: #10

I will respectfully disagree with Mr. Pitt.

Firearms are decisively more effective than anything else. They are not a singular solution, but the have a place.

My first option is avoidance. Don't be in stupid places with stupid people doing stupid things.

My second option is de-escalation. I will walk away from a fight, if at all possible.

Option three is use of force. If it's going to be a fight, then I will make it as rapid and violent as I can. Amok, Krav Maga, BJJ, and Jeet Kun Do all have good stuff. My priorities are:

1. Don't get damaged.

2. Open up distance.

3. Access a weapon.

YMMV

Post: #11

These are the threads that make me miss Bigbutyluvr. About 3 posts from now he would come all up in here talking about kicking all our asses by round-housing us with his red cowboy boots. Those were the days.

Post: #12

(02-13-2012 05:17 AM)Aliblahba Wrote:  The first rule of fighting: There are no rules in fighting.

Learning in a dojo or ring teaches you too many rules, for obvious reasons. What they can't teach is the mindset to win. You have to gain that from experience. At that point it's less about what you've learned, and more of the intensity brought to the fight.

I fight to maim someone. The point is for that person to never confront me again. Ear-biting, eye-gouging, groin strikes aren't commonly taught in the dojo. You also can't show someone how to use a broken bottle in a training environment. These are techniques you have to go over in your head a million times, as not to forgot when the adrenaline starts pumping. The more you think about it the more chance you'll have of success.

In the end though it goes like this: No girl is going to fuck you when you walk into the bar with two black eyes, a crooked nose, and swollen lips. Avoid fighting at all costs.

Wing Chun Kung Fu, everyone hates on Kung Fu and with the rise of MMA, it's now all about BJJ, boxing, wrestling, and Muay Thai.

Now, all those are very effective disciplines, that are worth studying, but like you said, at the end of the day they are all sports with rules, that won't always apply in the streets.

I've been taking a hybrid style called "Lau Kune Do", it's mostly based on Wing Chun with a lot of Hun Gar (shaolin) mixed in, for about the past 6 months.

We learn a lot of stuff that's meant to end a fight as quickly as possible, quick eye jabs, strikes to the throat, kicks to the groin, etc.

No one likes a dirty fighter, but if you're in a situation where you're being attacked by a guy who is 5 in taller and 60 pounds heavier, you're going to have to neutralize that size advantage, eye jab him, kick him in the groin, deliver a downward elbow to the back of his head, when he lunges forward, etc.

Post: #13

(02-12-2012 11:18 AM)dk902 Wrote:  For striking, I still think there's nothing better than boxing.

I want to learn Brazilian Ju-Jitsu. I gather that's one of if not the best ground fighting out there.

Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and Boxing combined would make someone a good fighter I think.

Does anyone do Krav Maga regularly or tried Sistema?

What martial arts do you guys consider when combined means you're a complete fighter able to handle yourself in all situations?

I do BJJ and it's a great martial art. It's not the end all be all of martial arts, and in an altercation you may still very well get fucked up.

In terms of grappling and self defense skills, it's what you make of it. Unless you're a natural and/or very gifted, it takes a long long time to become proficient. But if you are in a 1 on 1 fight with an unarmed attacker, I'm sure most blue belts would do pretty well even if the attacker was bigger and stronger. Since most guys don't know much beyond throwing a haymaker.

The attrition rate for BJJ is ridiculously high. Injuries, ego, job, family, kids, girls, whatever can easily get in the way. You need to really make a commitment and tell yourself that you are going to be pretty much training for life. As far as injuries, yes they do happen. They aren't that bad and are probably equal to other 'contact' sports. But it's really up to who your training partners are and how hard you train. A lot of injuries happen because of ego(Fuck this I'm not going to tap, shit my elbow just popped) If you decide to do it train at your pace, and leave your ego at the door. If you make every roll like it's the final round of the mundials, you're going to be riddled with injuries.

Post: #14

Martial arts with groin strikes, head butts, biting, etc. are theoretically more dangerous. But what ends up happening is that when you train you water down the moves and go light so you can practice them on your partner without hurting him. Thus, you never learn to go all out since that would cause serious injury to each other. And when it comes time to fight, you fight like you train.

The thing is about MMA styles is that you can practice them continuously to get the techniques down. BJJ's innovation was not its techniques, since they're all taken from classical jiu-jitsu or judo, but the training regiment. The Gracies wrote about how they tried to remove a lot of the dangerous stuff from jj out so you can grapple full strength every class.

Once you get the proper technique down, you can always just tweak the moves a little bit for street. Switching from kicking someone in the stomach to the nuts is not that hard.

Post: #15

I did Krav Maga between 2005-2010, though I'm out of shape now since I no longer train. I suggest that as a good compromise between learning some techniques that are effective and not needing too much time to be proficient. BJJ is good but it can take a decade to get your black belt. Not everyone has that much time to dedicate. In Krav, I was taught standup, clinching and ground game. Maybe not in the depth of someone doing each of those full-time training for the Octagon, but enough to feel like I can handle myself against some douche at a bar that wants to exchange fists.

So my suggestion is a year or two of Krav to get your fight basics down, then branch out into other things if you are interested. I'd like to get into boxing now. And maybe wrestling or judo since I feel that clinching and grappling is my biggest weak point.

Also realize that BJJ is more effective in competition than on the streets, because if you get in a fight in real life, there's a good chance his friends are going to start stomping you once you take your opponent to the ground. There's no way to defend against multiple attackers in BJJ. But if it's purely one on one, BJJ is very effective.

Post: #16

There are tons of options out there. Really, complete fighter means longrange, shortrange, and takedown. Certain combinations mesh well in my experience; the area of origin often helps define that, as various regions and areas have distinct styles and even different arts from the area will share many common points.

The "American" routine: Boxing + Kickboxing + Wrestling. Not very sophisticated but more effective at modest skill levels.

A common "Asian-inspired" routine: Kempo + Tae Kwan Do + Jujitsu. Not as effective at lower levels, but once you've gotten to higher ranks and really gotten experience, you can go further.

Alternative: Karate + Muay Thai + Judo. Kind of light with the hand-to-hand, but a bit heavier on legwork. Good if you're leggy.

Krav Maga, Silat, the Russian art Sambo, and others are good too, but I've not had as much experience with them so I can't really comment. Personally I use Kempo, Tang Soo Do, and Jujitsu.
If you're someone who really wants to finish a fight quick, learn power breaking too. There's no more definitive end to a fight than a one-hit knockout. I can attest to this personally.

Post: #17

if we're talking a one on one confrontation in the street, having trained anything at all set you apart from 99% of most people. if you've trained a real striking art like boxing or muay thai, aside from being able to strike effectively, one of the biggest advantages will be knowing how to avoid strikes or defend.

for me, after my training, the best thing was that i wasn't afraid of getting punched.

i'd suggest that in most confrontations muay thai clinch work would be the most effective. someone swings, you avoid, grab them, control them and knee the shit out of them until they stop.

with a tight clinch game, you can control guys who are trained. with guys that have no idea what to do? you can pretty much stop a fight right there.

Post: #18

I used to do tae-kwan-do for 2 years and i found that there were too many rules in fighting. No leg kicking, no punching, always keep distance, no knee strike. However, in tae-kwan-do they also teach you grappling techniques and how to defend yourself from people who hold knives or broken bottles . Those self defences were brilliant but there were definately more kicks involved. You won't break ribs, hurt yout knees, nor will you be asked to kick a tree all day to make youself stronger.

I knew a guy who used to do muay thai and every week he came to the school with broken nose, knees hurting, generally a lot of bone injures.

Post: #19

In my limited experience in a really high pressure fight situation only the the first thing you do is concious, the rest is instinct so drill heavy impact moves to death and when training imagine various real world fight scenarios so your subconcious knows what to do. The most important part though is learn to spot trouble coming and make sure you land the first blow early. There is a wing chun saying that if a man want to fight he will come to you, in that case the second an aggressive person invades your space let it fly.