Most Effective Martial Arts For Street Fighting (Top 8) -Updated

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Let’s make one thing clear: street fighting is illegal whether you are using boxing, MMA, or any other techniques. Law is the same for all, and we don’t have to spend too much time explaining how dangerous street fighting is.

You can get hurt or even killed in the blink of an eye. Be smart and run.

But, life is not just sunshine and rainbows neither you can always run away from a fight as the biggest troubles come when we least expect them. Life will put you in a situation where the only thing left for you is to start swinging punches to protect your life.

We can all recall at least one life situation when we thought “Oh if I only knew how to fight”

But guess what, it’s never too late to sign up for martial arts classes and in this article, we are bringing you the most effective self-defense martial arts you can train in.

8. Krav Maga

Founded by the Israel Forces in the 1950s, Krav Maga is a fighting style designed for street fighting. Unlike other arts from this list, Krav Maga is not a sport, there are no rules, and it doesn’t include any competition. It is a system that will teach you many useful street fighting techniques you won’t find anywhere else.

Krav Maga trains you for a real fighting scenario without rules. Training is physically and mentally intense and it will push your mind and body to the absolute limits.

The structure of classes and methods of teaching are designed to provide you with a real fighting experience. The instructors will use various tricks to play with your fears and adrenalin. You might get insulted, hit from behind, jumped by other students, or yelled at in training.

Although this sounds scary, these are the things you may face in street fighting.

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Despite the fact that it is a brutal system, Krav Maga doesn’t include a high risk of serious injuries like fractures or concussions. This is mainly because there is no hard sparring, which is the most common cause of injuries in martial arts. But at the same time, it is one of the major downsides of training.

Apart from striking and grappling, Krav Maga puts a lot of focus on weapons and how to defend against them. It trains you how to fight someone who has a knife, or any other weapon in their hand. They go through various scenarios using plastic knives and bats.

This is where Krav Maga is superior to other martial arts because boxing or MMA won’t teach you these valuable lessons.

Pros:
- Realistic training
- Teaches you how to deal with various weapons
- You will learn how to use and defend against dirty techniques
- Combines striking techniques from various martial arts

Cons:
- Even though they try really hard, you can’t mimic the power of an actual attack with a real weapon and violent intention.
- It doesn’t include any type of competition or sparring
- Most of the attacks in training are not spontanius and are pre-arrenged

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7. Boxing

At first sight, boxing might not look ideal for street fighting because boxers use only their hands to strike and do damage. There are no kicks, fighting in the clinch, grappling, or weapon-based training.

But despite all of these limitations, boxing has a lot to offer when it comes to self-defense. There is a small science behind it and no one should overlook the effectiveness of boxing on the streets.

Photo by Donsathletics found on Flickr

Boxing is useful in street fighting because training teaches you all about the mental and physical aspects of real fighting. The emphasis of training is on hard sparring as the best and most effective method to train a person on how to apply techniques in real combat.

You will condition your mind and body to absorb hard punches, learn how to stay calm, and fire back using fast and precise attacks.

Sparring all the time also allows you to develop strong mental resistance and automatic reactions. Once the fight breaks out, you will start using combos, head movement, and footwork without even thinking about it. This is crucial for self-defense where most people tend to panic and overreact.

In the end, what is the most common way of the attack on the streets? Punches, right? No one would bother to throw a jumping kick and you won’t see an average person dive for a takedown. No, punches are the fastest and most natural way to hurt a person standing in front, and these scenarios are where boxing shines.

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On top of that, having a better movement and being much faster is crucial for any fight, not just street fighting.

Pros:
- Teaches you how to keep your distance and not being hit using footwork and head movement
- Improves the speed and strenght in your hands which allows you to punch faster and harder
- It includes a lot of sparring in which you can get feel how it is to be in a real fist fight
- Boxing helps you overcome the fear of fighting

Cons:
- Boxing techniques are not versatile enough to prepare you for all street fighting scenarios
- You won’t learn how to fight on the ground or stop the takedowns
- Doesn’t teach how to defend against dirty techniques or weapons
- Lack of clinch fighting
- Doesn’t teach you how to defend against kicks

6. Muay Thai

Out of all standup martial arts, Muay Thai might be the most complete one. Even though this stays open for debate, no one can deny that Muay Thai is a very effective and powerful striking system. And, it will teach you all you need to know about standup fighting.

Source — Pixabay

Muay Thai is also known as the “art of eight limbs” because fighters are allowed strike with punches, kicks, elbows, and knees. The emphasis is on powerful kicks while punches are used just to set up the kicks or to close the distance and get a clinch. Therefore, expect to throw hundreds of kicks per class.

The other important element of Muay Thai is fighting at close range and inside the clinch. Students learn how to use elbows and knees in the clinch as well as sweeps to throw the opponent off balance.

Every single technique you learn can be applied in street fighting. Don’t look any further than how important Muay Thai skills are in modern MMA if you need any proof.

Last but not least, Muay Thai training is intense and hard on your body. The emphasis is on gruelling workouts that will make you stronger and improve cardio, and sparring will enhance your fighting skills at all ranges.

Pros:
- Complete stand up martial art that teaches how to use all limbs as weapons in a fight
- Covers all ranges on the feet, including the clinch and basics of grappling
- How to apply vicious knees and elbows in the clinch as well as sweeps and various throws.- Embraces a hard method of training and a lot of hard sparring
- Focuses on throwing each shot with a lot of power, causing damage and knocking the opponent out cold.

Cons:
- Doesn’t teach you how to stop takedowns or fight on the ground
- Lack of dirty techniques, weapons, and illegal tactics

5. Brazilian jiu-jitsu

BJJ is a grappling-based martial art and one of the most practical fighting styles for street fighting. Even though it focuses on ground fighting, BJJ matches well against most striking and other grappling martial arts.

On top of that, it is perhaps the only fighting style that allows you to beat a physically stronger attacker. Thus, this is one of the main reasons why there are so many women training in BJJ.

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BJJ is perfect for street fighting since most average people don’t know how to fight on the ground. As humans, we all have the ability to throw a punch and do damage because this is our natural reaction. However, most people look lost on the ground simply because defending a takedown or submission requires years of practice.

Since it emerges from Judo, BJJ teaches you how to use various throws and wrestling moves. You can use these moves to quickly pin the assailant and secure a dominant position. Once in a dominant position, you can choose between dozens of different chokes and joint locks to submit the attacker.

Even though it may not look that way at first, BJJ submissions are very effective and even dangerous. If you are not careful, you can break someone’s arm or leg in a split second. But as a person trained in BJJ, you will know how to apply just enough force to stop the assailant without hurting them.

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In the end, this is perhaps the best thing about BJJ. Other arts like Boxing or Muay Thai teach you to do as much damage as possible with each strike and cause serious injuries like fractures, concussions, deep cuts, and many more. BJJ allows you to win a fight while keeping the assailant and yourself safe and unhurt.

Pros:
- BJJ techniques all work in real life and are very effective against taller or heavier persons
- Teaches you how to take the assailant down using judo and wrestling moves
- BJJ submissions are very effective on the ground and give you huge advantage
- It includes a lot of sparring where you can learn how to apply BJJ techniques in real life.

Cons:
- BJJ doesn’t teach you how throw strikes or defend against kicks and punches
- You won’t learn how to defend against dirty techniques or a person who has a weapon.
- Not great against multiple attackers (but learn what martial art is best for multiple attackers here)

4. Sambo

Sambo is a famous martial art developed as a hand to hand combat system for the purpose of the Russian military in the 1920s. It is one of the very first forms of combat that was designed as a mix of only the most practical grappling and striking techniques.

Thus, Sambo resembles MMA fighting in some way, and in modern times, it plays a big role in the sport. The crucial thing to know is that there are two versions of Sambo:

• Combat Sambo — is a military all-around style that trains a person for any type of hand to hand scenario they may face in combat. Apart from grappling and striking, it teaches you dirty tactics such as groin strikes or eye gouging, and it includes weapon-based training. Though it is a military system, there are many Sambo gyms where you can learn this form.
• Sport Sambo — is a version that is also known as Sambo Wrestling and that focuses on grappling. It is a mix of judo and wrestling techniques that also allows contestants to fight on the ground utilizing positions and joint locks, while chokeholds are forbidden.

As you would assume, Combat Sambo is more effective when it comes to self-defense. It is an advanced and intense system where the emphasis is on finishing the fight as fast as possible. Primarily, students learn how to deal with an attacker on the streets in the fastest and most efficient way possible. But they also learn how to compete under the rules if they want to.

Photo by CFS Sambo France found on Flickr

The emphasis is on full-contact striking, powerful takedowns, and finishing the fight utilizing submissions or ground and pound. The biggest downside of the system is the fact that Sambo is not that present in countries outside of Russian and former Soviet Republics. Even if you find a gym to train in, the quality of classes and coaching staff might not be at the highest level.

Pros:
- Sambo is an all-around system that consists of grappling and striking techniques
- The combat version includes weapon-based training as well as dirty tactics
- Training is very intense and the emphasis of the system is on finishing the fight as fast as possible.

Cons:
- Sambo is not that popular in the western world and you might have a hard time finding a gym to train in
- The lack of advanced striking techniques

If you want a detailed article on Sambo and street fighting effectiveness check out this article we wrote,which goes into details

3. Lethwei

Lethwei is not that popular in the western world simply because of the fact that it is not legal. In fact, Lethwei is one of the most brutal forms of combat, and very dangerous to train in. It comes from Myanmar, and as a concept, it is very similar to the more popular Muay Thai.

It includes the same techniques except for the fact that Lethwei students compete bare-knuckle, and are allowed to utilize brutal moves like headbutts. Yes, blasting an opponent with your forehead straight to the nose is completely fine.

Photo by MAZA FIGHT GALLERY on Flickr

Lethwei might be a brutal and dangerous system, but, this is what makes it close to ideal for street fighting where there are no rules. For instance, training and competing bare-knuckle hurt like hell and will damage your hands.

However, it will also teach you how to punch without hurting your hands which most people don’t know how to do, including trained strikers from other arts. They all tend to swing with full power and break their hands in a street fight because they are used to wearing full-padded gloves.

Next, blasting a person with a wild headbutt is violent and barbaric. But at the same time, it adds to the realism of Lethwei and makes it more in line with self-defense and fighting on the streets. Love it or hate it, headbutts are a highly effective weapon in a real fight.

Pros:
- Lethwei trains you to fight at all ranges using all limbs as weapons
- Techniques are advanced and very practical in real life
- The emphasis is on causing injuries with each strike and finish a fight
- You will learn how to punch without the gloves, and use dirty moves to defend yourself

Cons:
- It is not legal in most countries outside the Myanmar
- You might have a hard time finding the gym to train in
- Training is very hard and intense, and certainly not for everyone
- There is not grappling or weapon-based training

2. Wrestling

Wrestling is one of the oldest martial arts and part of the Olympic Games since ancient times. It is a form of combat that focuses only on grappling, and it doesn’t include any striking at all. In fact, wrestling won’t teach you how to “finish” the fight, but rather how to take the opponent down and control them from the top position. Why it is ranked so high then? Well, wrestling is very, very practical in real life.

Photo by Chris Chow on Unsplash

First of all, wrestling is among the physically hardest martial arts, and skilled wrestlers are known as some of the toughest people on the planet. They are very strong, athletic, very explosive, have insane cardio, and above all, bullet-proof mindsets. On top of that, the body mechanics you developed with years of grappling on the mats, timing, and techniques are close to ideal for freestyle combat.

You can be the strongest person on the planet, the most skilled striker, but you won’t be able to stop a takedown attack from a skilled wrestler, and that’s the whole point. Like BJJ, wrestling is all about weight distribution, balance, leverage, and technique. You have to know the exact procedure to defend against these attacks, procedures that take years to master.

The biggest downside of wrestling is, clearly, the lack of striking and advanced ground fighting techniques like chokes and joint locks, and weapon-based training. However, you have to take into consideration that wrestling wasn’t designed with self-defense in mind, yet, here it is taking the #2 spot.

Pros:
- Allows you to take any opponent who is not trained in wrestling regardless of the size
- All wrestlers are very strong, agile, and explosive which are crucial physical advantages in a real fight.
- All wrestlers have amazing automatic reactions and the ability to chain wrestlers until they get a takedown. Once a fight breaks out, you will shoot for a takedown without even thinking about it.
- You will develop a very strong mindset
- Highly effective at close range and closed space

Cons:
- Wrestling won’t teach you how to strike at all.
- It also doesn’t include finishing techniques on the ground like chokes and joint locks.
- It wasn’t designed with self-defense in mind so there is no weapon-based training or dirty tactics.

1. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

MMA is often seen as a sport closest to legal street fighting. It is a mix of only the most effective grappling and striking techniques from various martial arts that works really well in real life. Compared with other arts, it is an all-around system that prepares you to fight in any place and against any style.

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With MMA training, you won’t learn just a single martial art style. Instead, MMA consists of various grappling and striking techniques mixed into one combat system. These techniques have been battle-proven in MMA matches and they all work in real life as well.

Here is the list of martial arts you will learn:

• Muay Thai
• Wrestling
• Boxing
• Brazilian jiu-jitsu

This mix of four different styles prepares you for any type of scenario you may encounter on the streets. Whether you must defend yourself in a bar, parking lot, or a room, as a trained MMA fighter, you will have plenty of weapons to apply.

MMA might be the perfect choice for street fighting. But we have to point out it is limited in certain areas. Training MMA won’t prepare you for some dirty techniques like eye-gouging or how to defend against multiple assailants. We go more into how to fight against multiple opponents here. But in one on one scenarios, it is by far the most useful fighting style on the planet.

Pros:
- MMA techniques are versatile enught to prepare you for most fighting scenarios
- It teaches a person to fight standing up, in the clinch and on the ground
- You will become an expert in multiple fighting styles which is great for street fighting
- MMA sparring and matches are very similar to fighting on the street

Cons:
- MMA doesn’t teach you how to fight against weapons, multiple assailants or dirty techniques
- Even though it covers all areas of fighting, it won’t help you in all street settings

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