Martial arts against street fighting?

Question

During 2nd trimester, there were 24 fights in 30 days, and more than 35 students were expelled from our school. School became VERY violent because people moved here from dangerous parts of Chicago.

I'm thinking of taking up a martial arts class, in case someone tries to pick a fight with me, so I can defend myself. I have incredibly strong legs, probably the strongest in my grade, because I've played soccer for 11 years, but I'd like to learn a style that utilizes both upper and lower body.

But what I'm really asking is, what's the bet type of martial arts style against "street fighting"? PLEASE DO NOT answer this question saying "All of them are good" or "None is the best" or something like that, because I've heard that 100+ times, and I'm not asking what the best MA style is. If you know of a style that works well against street fighters, please give me suggestions with details.

I was thinking of TKD, but all the videos I see of TKD vs. other styles makes TKD look bad.

Thank

Answer 1

Your school sounds wicked ridiculous!

Krav Maga is the way to go!

Answer 2

brazillian ju jistu or TKD would be sufficient

most street fighters aren't too smart

Answer 3

You should take Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai or just boxing

Answer 4

Yeah, I've been hearing that Chicago's going crazy right now.  Check out anything you can on Krav Maga, Kali, Muay Thai, or Aikido.  Krav Maga would probably be your best bet.  Go to www.kravmaga.com.  But, like you've heard 100+ times already, they're all good.  How well you do depends on you.

Answer 5

Distance yourself and let the police handle it.Give them a call when threatened and explane things to them.

Answer 6

I think the first thing you should do--to start off--would be to take a self-defense course that focuses on dealing with the "fight or flight" response . That way, there'll be less chance of you freezing up when attacked.  

Then I'd go ahead and learn one of these martial arts:

Krav Maga (if you can find a place that doesn't teach the watered-down version)

Kajukenbo  

Kenpo

Kali/Arnis/Escrima    

All of those are pretty good--I don't know if Kali/Arnis/Escrima focuses on multiple attackers, but it could be useful for learning some weapons stuff.

Muay Thai, BJJ and MMA are good, too -- although it'd probably be better to learn a martial art that focuses on dealing with multiple attackers.

Answer 7

i know you said you don't want an answer like this, but to say that one martial art is the best for self-deense wouldn't be true. You can pretty much try all of them as long as you can find a good dojo/gym that isn't trying to just get your money. Also whenever you see those videos of one styles vs. another those are usually made to look one style look superior so that certain people can make more money.

Answer 8

muay thai, (a good) karate school that revolves around fighting instead of katas, or a good TKD school

Answer 9

They all DO WORK BEST.  All are good for street fighting,

There is a specific style that was made for street fighting, its called Jeet Kune Do, it was founded by Bruce Lee. Its not really a "style" its a philosophy of survival.

Answer 10

The only way that you will know if your Martial Art is good against a street fighter is to get into a street fight.

Keep in mind that jiu jitsu has been proven to be effective in streetfights.

Now keep in mind that some people's experience of a streetfight is different from others.  My experience has been with black males in the hood who were fast, throw haymakers, know how to bodyslam and were capable of fighting two or more guys at a time.

Some people may just have experience from some guy (white or black) who wasn't really a good fighter, but was better than them.

Therefore Taekwondo might be more effective against they guy who was a bully, but not a good fighter, but would be ineffective against the black guys who were brought up in the mean streets.

In the streets you don't know anything about the person who wants to fight, you most of the time.  I would say any Art that focuses on kicking (which is only effective if you take the suprise), is probably not very effective.

Again, you won't know how effective they are until you get into a fight.  Like I said earlier Jiu Jitsu has been proven effective and has ruled MMA since the Gracies used to challenge people back in Brazil, and in the UFC early days.

Today no one trains or fights in MMA without learning Jiu Jitsu, to do so would spell an early exit from the sport.

Answer 11

i would try MMA

its like alot of Martial arts mixed into one hint Mixed Martial Arts. but i think you have to be skilled in one martial arts to start it. so idk what you should do

Answer 12

jujitsu is good against a singular opponent but not so clever against multiples.  you need something explosive to allow you to attack and the escape before the knives come out. A MMA class will be the most realistic prospect

Answer 13

Yeah TKD isn't very good at all in my opinion, my mate was the state champ of TKD a couple of years back and he won the title fight without using any TKD at all, just basic boxing techniques. If you can find a decent Krav Maga school that's my reccomendation, try to find one that has the official seal of the international krav maga federation, as well as at least one instructor (probably the head one) who has trained in israel. Krav is good because it is based totally around real situations and is a totally no-holds-barred fighting style, using krav will get you a reputation as a real dirty (but triumphant) fighter.

MMA or Muay Thai or BJJ are all good also, I would probably do a combination of MT and BJJ to deal with standing confrontations and ground-fighting. Good luck.