im interested in fighting in amateur mma compatitions, and i know i need at least some standup game. It earned this name due to its diverse strikes, which allow striking with the elbows, fists, knees, and feet (hence 8 limbs). And lastly, Muay Thai is a very diverse striking art. BJJ has literally countless s… There are many different styles and disciplines that professional MMA fighters train in, and for good reason. I wish you luck on your martial arts journey, may it be filled with excellence. R. Nath FOLLOW. For this same reason, Muay Thai is one of the few martial arts that includes a block for low kicks, known as a “check”. This is how you know MMA is special, a boxer with a karate style stance that has been able to win multiple UFC titles. Not to say you can’t learn some good moves from it though! Another popular fighter with a “karate-style” stance who we discussed earlier is Conor McGregor. To sum it up in total, their are three major fighting styles that an MMA fighter will have to train in order to be successful in professional MMA. The best Martial Art for MMA is a combination of the fighting styles we talked about above. Muay Thai is a kickboxing style sport that started in Thailand. Although he doesn’t use many traditional karate style kicks (mostly focusing on boxing technique), he still imitates the wide stance of a traditional karate practitioner. The benefits of Karate is that it helps you gain balance and find peace within yourself, both useful for MMA fighting. Did I mention its bare-knuckle? Not only is Karate popular in movies, but it is also going to be seen in the 2020 summer olympics. A newer BJJ practitioner that has a great guillotine and triangle choke is Brian “T-City” Ortega. In this post, I’m going to rank the best striking martial arts by how effective they are. There are so many BJJ experts in the UFC today that it’s nearly impossible to get by with no BJJ training.If you do plan on joining a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym make sure you’re prepared, check out our article on the best BJJ Gi’s for beginners. Answer Save. Karate is a traditional martial art hailing from the Ryukyu Kingdom (which is now apart of Japan). These attributes typically carry over when the wrestler starts learning other martial arts. At #5 on our list, we have the official combat sport of China: Sanda. It combines elements of Boxing with a quick flashy kicking style, similar to a Karate or Taekwondo. In its arsenal, Sanda includes the basic punches of boxing, but also combines techniques used in Muay Thai and Taekwondo, including hook kicks, roundhouse kicks, and wheel kicks. By this, I mean that sparring is very common. Respect your fellow students as well, who at the end of the day are trying their best to learn the martial arts. Muay Thai is extremely important in MMA. And one of the most effective techniques in any martial art, is the leg kick. This style of movement is very effective in avoiding punches to the head, and for this reason, boxing is a very popular style in MMA. Savate is an interesting martial art, that is probably the least popular from the ones on our list. -Takedowns (Wrestling, Judo) Stand-up MMA fighters had to adapt and learn this specific discipline so that they could stop getting submitted by BJJ specialists such as Royce. Karate is a traditional martial art hailing from the Ryukyu Kingdom (which is now apart of Japan). Muay Thai is a martial art that emphasizes simplicity and effectiveness. Grappling arts like judo involve submissions, throws, and pins. If you know a bit about martial arts, then you know that the vast majority of martial arts can be put into two categories: grappling arts, and striking arts. -Striking (Boxing, Muay Thai, Karate) Pick one. That depends on how important you value stand up fighting techniques. Kinda hard to defend yourself when you can’t punch right? Jujutsu Muay Thai will teach you discipline that is needed to study any other martial art, and it will get you leaps ahead other fighters when it comes to stand up fighting. Known as the ‘Art of Eight Limbs’, Muay Thai utilizes the body’s natural weapons — the fists, elbows, legs, and knees. I would honestly say Muay Thai is the most important stand-up discipline you can train for MMA. Karate is much more popular among young children because of the availability of Karate classes around the world. For good reason too. This is a kick that has been used effectively in MMA, usually seen from fighters training out of the JacksonWink gym in New Mexico, such as Jon Jones and Holly Holm. Mixed martial arts ... Every MMA fight begins on the feet so it’s fair to say that all fighters must have at least basic striking skills. That is the main reason Boxing is so high on this list. If you’re hopeful of one day becoming a professional MMA fighter, then boxing is a necessary martial art to learn. However, due to the limited usage of Savate in modern-day combat, it is last on this list. They only need a single opening to secure a joint lock or choke and force their opponent to submit. themmaguru.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This could include boxing and kickboxing, along with Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, and more. However, any martial art in this list can be effective in a striking competition if you know how to use it. The most successful MMA karate style fighter is Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Karate is a more complete version of Taekwondo. To kick off our list, we have Savate at the #7 spot. I personally have never trained Judo in my life and I don’t really plan on it, wrestling is good enough to get you by in MMA. It is obviously effective, noted by the fact that it is practiced by UFC fighters Zabit Magomedsharipov, Cung Le, and Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili. Taekwondo is a martial art that is focused on speed. Taekwondo is a Korean martial art that is derived from Karate, which is very noticeable, as they are very similar styles. Another MMA fighter that practices Judo is Fedor Emilianenko. For this reason, it is also often referred to as ‘French Kickboxing’. Boxers are used to constantly taking a hit, and so they know the best ways to block or absorb them with minimal damage. Fighters in the UFC have succeeded with a wide variety of styles, even ones that we didn’t mention here like Wing Chun. Many pundits will suggest that the best fighting style is a well-rounded fighter using all disciplines, however I tend to disagree. Conor is actually a fantastic boxer with a karate style stance. Wrestling is also offered at many MMA schools and is normally offered at BJJ schools as well. Liddell likes to fight on the feet, Tito likes to ground and pound. The martial art is very similar to Muay Thai due to their geographical proximity, as Myanmar is on the northern border of Thailand. Muay Thai isn’t for the faint of heart, back when I first started Muay Thai I was forced to kick a heavy bag until my leg swelled up (on the VERY FIRST day). Without a doubt, the most popular striking art practiced by MMA fighters. Not only are we going to discuss this in-depth, but we’re also going to show specific examples from active MMA fighters and their select disciplines in the UFC today. The techniques used in Karate are very common in MMA. To put it in perspective, almost every MMA fighter has taken a Boxing class. Wrestling is the best combat discipline for MMA because it has the ability to decide where a fight takes place. Judo isn’t recommended for self-defense, although it may be useful in certain scenarios. Sanda is a full-contact martial art, developed by the Chinese military by combining modern kickboxing techniques with traditional Kung-fu forms. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. If you’re no longer in High School or if there isn’t a wrestling team at your High School, there are still many wrestling clubs to join. The submission wrestler will have a clear advantage over its opponent so they’ll be able to lock onto submissions while taking advantage of their wrestling prowess. This is because punches to the head are banned in Olympic Taekwondo. This forced other practitioners to adapt with other styles and thus, mixed martial arts started to evolve. Even Ronda Rousey eventually got figured out, Judo is a great thing to learn but it won’t get you to the UFC by itself. I highly recommend studying Muay Thai if you plan on one day becoming a professional MMA fighter. A notable feature of Taekwondo is its relative lack of punching. Arguably no other striking art can make that claim as authoritatively, though Muay Thai comes pretty close. 5 martial arts forms that are best for MMA. Edson Barboza is a good example of a traditional Muay Thai fighter, however he has struggled with wrestlers recently (another reason why it’s important to have more than one discipline). His idea was that the power of a technique was based more on the speed of the technique, and less on the mass of the object you were striking with. If you have dreams of becoming an MMA fighter then BJJ is a must have in your arsenal. It’s safe to say that Judo is one of the most physically demanding martial arts out there. Boxers also practice head movement more than any other martial art on this list. It can be very difficult for wrestlers to transition their game to learning striking, while other fighters such as Champion Tj Dillashaw (who started his career as a wrestler) have done an amazing job learning Martial Arts such as Muay Thai. Boxing is a sport that has been celebrated by the masses throughout history. So Lethwei is the best striking martial art by the allowance of headbutts. Most styles are divided into striking and grappling. Former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt is one of the best boxers in MMA, putting his defensive boxing abilities on display when he beat Dominick Cruz for the Bantamweight title. Spinning kicks and jumping kicks are staples of Taekwondo, and they can generate a lot of power. The best MMA fighter isn’t just made from their specific discipline. We have an entire article dedicated to the differences between Muay Thai and Boxing, check it out here: Muay Thai Vs. Boxing: Which style is more effective? I’ll go into more detail on the differences when we talk about Karate later on. For all the reasons listed, it is easily the number two best striking martial art available. Your email address will not be published. However, it is a subject I have given a lot of thought to over the years due to my career. Because it is a "southern style" Chinese martial art, Wing Chun places heavy emphasis on fist and palm strikes, as opposed to "northern style" Chinese martial arts, which emphasize kicking more. While I consider #1 (at the bottom of this page) to be the most effective martial arts style for self defense, not every martial art is for everyone (so I suggest you watch the video on each). BJJ has a lot of similarities with other grappling styles but its finishing ability has no equal. BJJ started to become more popular with prominence of master Royce Gracie and his use of BJJ to put on dominating performances in the UFC. The great thing about wrestling is that it’s usually accessible to anyone who goes to an American High School. If you do decide to practice Muay Thai for yourself, I suggest checking out what to expect from your first Muay Thai class. Robert Rousseau is a martial arts expert and a former senior writer for MMA Fighting. Karate isn’t all that important in professional MMA today. Seriously, if you can’t wrestle at all you’re gonna have a bad time. That depends on how much you value grappling and ground techniques. This is an interesting and unique technique, as the kick is often done in a sweeping motion, useful for tripping an opponent with an unbalanced stance. Muay Thai (Kickboxing) is one of the most popular Martial Arts of choice for professional MMA fighters. Boxing has been practiced for centuries, and has been used as a competitive sport since as early as 1600 BC. In this way, it is very similar to boxing, due to the tough nature of its training. This is my personal opinion so you definitely don't have to agree with it, and it's what I mainly focus on for striking part of my MMA game. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will also teach you some amazing life lessons. At number three, we have the most popular martial art on this list, Boxing. Wrestling also has the ability to get you a college scholarship if you’re good enough. Brian Ortega has decent striking, but it’s his high level Jiu Jitsu that sets him well above the competition. Fighters like Muhammed Ali and Floyd Mayweather have completely changed the sport of Boxing. Hi, I’m The MMA Guru. It’s not only a great workout, but it’s also great for self-defense as almost every single fighting situation starts standing up. Other popular martial arts like Jiu Jitsu actually originated from Judo. Muay Thai fighters, like Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Jose Aldo, have superb conditioning and are capable of extreme violence. That’s right folks, headbutt knockouts are legal and fairly common in Lethwei fights. However, Sanda was put at #5 due to its lack of definitive curriculum, as well as the fact that it is not widely practiced outside of China. The big downside to wrestling is that they are seen as boring MMA fighters. However, unlike Karate and Taekwondo, Savate allows the use of low kicks, aimed at the shins of the opponent. After time, this pain eventually went away. The second-best striking martial art on our list is Muay Thai. Muay Thai. MMA is a mix of all Martial Arts that were created worldwide. Wing Chun practitioners can often been seen practicing on wooden dummies to improve their skills. If you’re frail or don’t like contact sports then Judo most definitely isn’t the Martial Art for you. When you think of one of the best fighters of all time, Daniel Cormier’s name comes to mind. The techniques of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu or BJJ are used in the highest order in MMA … It really depends what your goals are as a martial artist. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is very popular for self-defense, as the average blue belt can submit 99% of the population. He has been able to use wrestling as a superior advantage throughout his long career in the UFC. Submission wrestling is one of the most effective styles for mixed martial arts. I started training Muay Thai in 2013 and fell in love with many other forms of Martial Arts ever since, so much so that I decided to create this website to share my love of the martial arts. Ultimately this list could go on and on all day, this just shows how important wrestling is in MMA, which brings us to our next point.. Takedowns and takedown defense is absolutely crucial to MMA, especially when it comes down to the score cards. This is one of the most debated topics when it comes to the ultimate MMA fighter. Lethwei is a form of kickboxing from the country of Myanmar (Burma), which is also why it is also known as Burmese Bare-Knuckle Boxing. MMA is one of the best martial arts for female self-defense. Not only does it include the punches and kicks contained in many of the other martial arts already listed, but much more. Of course, this is a subjective list and you are free to disagree with me if you wish. It’s well known that wrestlers have dominated MMA from the very beginning of time. Wrestling has a good argument for being the most important ingredient for making the perfect MMA fighter. Muay Thai also is known for ”art of the eight limbs”, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques, which means, Instead of constant use of punches and kicks, Muay Thai fighters are able to use deadly knee and elbow attacks to hurt their opponents. Wrestling is about controlling your opponent but Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is about finishing fights. It is an insanely effective martial art, and for this reason, it is widely practiced among MMA fighters. There aren’t too many defensive techniques in Muay Thai when compared to the footwear and weave techniques learned in Boxing. Always respect your instructors who pass down their knowledge onto you. Learning Boxing is very important in MMA. The term striking in martial arts generally refers to stand up fighting, or everything that’s not grappling (though strikes can be executed on the ground as well). Depending on your background and culture, your body type and athletic build, and even your genetics all play a factor into deciding which fighting style is best for you. In theory, it is one of the better martial arts on this list, due its wide variety of effective techniques. Karate is very similar to Taw Kwon Do in which both involve a variety of kicks, however most aren’t practical for MMA. Just because Judo isn’t the best Martial Art for MMA, doesn’t mean it’s a useless art. ANALYST ... was a no holds barred contest comprising of different fighters from different backgrounds competing to honour their martial art. Do you understand what I’m getting at? Leg kicks are typically aimed at the inside of the knee joint, or at the lower thigh area. At #4 on our list is a traditional Japanese martial art: Karate. Outside of the self defense arts of sambo, krav maga and their international relatives, boxing simply offers you the best overall control of any situation. It is generally categorized as a modern martial art which later evolved into a combat and Olympic sport. Muay Thai also focuses on the clinch technique which is useful for many other martial arts such as judo and wrestling. It was a difficult choice putting Sanda so low on this list, as one would expect it to be superior to Karate, Boxing, and maybe even Muay Thai, as Sanda includes techniques from each of these styles. Yoel has the ability to completely dominate someone on the ground, it’s absolutely terrifying to watch. i have been doing no-gi brazilian jiu-jitsu for about 3 and a half years, and i also have some experience in judo and sub wrestling, so im a decent grappler especially for amateurs but god forbid i cant get a takedown or throw i dont wanna die!!! For this reason, it makes an excellent base. Boxing, simply put, is the martial art of punching. Karate is one of the most popular martial arts, and also one of the more prominent fighting styles seen in movies from the 60s and 70s. Although, that isn’t saying many MMA fighters haven’t had success with a Karate background, it just isn’t as common as Muay Thai or Boxing. BJJ is an amazing martial art to learn in general because of the practical self-defense it provides. At the end of the day whoever has superior wrestling can ultimately decide where the fight takes place. Wrestling involves a scoring system based on control of your opponent and is one of the oldest combat sports in recorded history. Which fighter doesn’t use a push kick? You can't call yourself a strong Mixed Martial Arts fighter unless you understand the nuances of grappling. I no longer feel pain in my shins when I kick heavy bags. Here are the 7 best martial arts style for self defense: 7. Karate isn’t a martial art that translates very well to MMA, however there are fighters such as Stephen Thompson who have been an outlier in the UFC. Let me put it this way, Judo won’t make or break you. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is a ground based grappling technique that involves the use of joint locks and chokeholds. A full-contact martial art which has striking, kicking as well as grappling techniques, it is the fighting style used in the very popular Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. From this theory, Taekwondo developed into a martial art focused on fast kicks. Sanda (also known as Sanshou or Chinese Kickboxing) is a form of kickboxing that is not too well known around the world, due to being practiced mostly in China. Required fields are marked *. The best martial art for someone over 50 could depend on the style. You don’t always have to join a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu gym to get better in Jiu Jitsu, you can always try training at home. If we go back to the beginning UFC days, fighters like Royce Gracie completely dominated the sport because he was a master in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. For this reason, it is (funnily enough) known as “The Art of Nine Limbs”. Not to say Taekwondo fighters don’t punch, they simply rely more on their kicks. Same goes for fighters like Conor McGregor, no matter how good your boxing is, if you find someone like Nate Diaz with better stamina and Jiu Jitsu you’ll end up getting submitted. 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