Western vs. eastern martial arts?

Question

what is better?

Answer 1

It depends. A boxer will win nine times out of ten if put in a telephone boot with a person that knows TKD. In an open ring the favour would swing in favour of TKD or many of the karate types. Wrestling, I have to say, is far more advanced in the east with aikiado. European weaponry arts are often more of a 'gentlemans' art than an actual war art so they differ a lot

Answer 2

If old school boxing, as it was understood at its peak from the time of Sugar Ray Robinson, had reached its fullest potential, it would probably outmatch most eastern styles out there with the exceptions of Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan.  Even then, trust me, the Shaolin fighter would have their hands full.

In China there is a saying that goes "it is better to practice one move 10,000 times, than to know 10,000 moves practiced one time."  What makes boxing dangerous, is its simplicity and relative ease of mastery, and as of yet no one has taken it to its TRUE levels.  I have held an opinion, for a while now, that at its highest level of skill, it is absolutely impossible to hit a boxer.  Also the simplicity of the moves, makes it so that only a small handful of blows need to be mastered.

If, somehow, "boxing kata" could be developed, incorporating all the major moves of the sport, namely bobbing, weaving, slipping, rolling with punches, and be combined with stepping parrying and what have you, and that in turn was combined with meditation, you would have a fighter that no matter how many fights they saw in the ring, unless someone else trained like they did it would be impossible to hit them, and they would end a match with either a small handful of laser-beam accurate blows, or a single blow in the first round.  The only boxers that have ended a night with a single well placed hit in the first round, in the history of the sport have been;

1)  Sugar Ray Robinson

2)  Jack Dempsey

3)  Joe Louis

4)  Rocky Marciano  and of course

5)  Iron Mike Tyson, although most of the dudes he fought were clumsy ogres 4 times his size.

Everyone always talks about what a "bully" Tyson was when, some of the guys he fought outweighed him by nearly 100 lbs sometimes.  Regardless of size and strength difference though he always outboxed them, and the truth is Tyson would be dangerous if he was a middle weight, it wasn't his size that made him dangerous, it was his ultra polished technique and defensive genius which has been unusual in heavies.  Still not in Ali's league though....

The closest we have ever seen to boxing perfection in the modern era, was Sugar Ray Robinson; in his peak as a lightweight, Robinson was known to go the first few rounds of his fights without EVER being hit.  He even had a monstrous 110 winning streak in which he remained undefeated and people thought he was invincible.  No wait I'm wrong; I think he started his pro career, went for 72 wins straight without losing until the winning streak went to his head and on his 73rd he was stopped in his tracks.  It was during this low point in fact that I think Lamotta got his victory over him.

Robinson however, showed how high boxing could go skillwise, and arguably the sport was at its peak during his reign.

Ultimately though, boxing is about money, and while a legitimate sport these days, it is still shock full of corruption and unsavory characters (cough!  Don King!  cough cough!).  In the "old days" it was a human cockfight were people got killed.

We will likely never know for sure though; if I, myself, personally, were serious about a boxing career, I probably would have gone to the Shaolin temple in China at 14, and come back at 24 after 10 years of training, doing Shaolin body conditioning, with western Boxing practiced exclusively as my martial art.  With fists hardened like stone, I would then probably go around the divisions bullying people (e.g. "holding them up") and making money.

After training at Shaolin, who would stop me?

That Shaolin iron shirt stuff I think would be useful to a boxer.

Oh yeah, the top 10 styles in my opinion;

1)  Tai Chi Chuan, Yang long form, all 5 frames taught.

2)  Shaolin Kung Fu or Tibetan Crane Style

3)  Shuia Jiao

4)  Karate, any style, when trained with an emphasis on Kata and Makiwara board drills.

5)  Judo or old school catch wrestling.

6)  Old School boxing which, if it had Shaolin training methods meditation included (which improves focus) would rank even higher on this list, possibly even at number 2.

7)  Muay Thai; its good but trust me, its not match for the likes of someone like Robinson see though, because boxing has less moves, it is easier to become like Robinson because of fewer moves to worry about, meaning, simpler strategy.

8)  Krav Maga

9)  Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

10)  Sanda, not to be confused with Sanshou.

as you can see the estern styles win; too bad about boxing.

Its a pretty ingenious way of self defense that will likely never realize its potential.

oh well

Answer 3

Whatever works in real competition or real life situations. There is no best. It matters on who works on their art the best. It varies on the person.

Answer 4

It's impossible to say that.  So many people borrow back and forth from each other.  In fact, the guy who taught me how to box was a professional who also studied Tai Chi, Bagua and Shaolin.   Boxing was just his favorite thing.

Answer 5

Isn't east just really far to the west? Martial arts are martial arts. Besides, everyone knows Bujinkan is the best.

Answer 6

The question is obsolete.

With the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championship in the early 90's it was Gracie Jujitsu that stood out for it effectiveness in combat. The gracies came from Brazil which demographically is the "west" but not one of the western martial arts-e.g boxing, savate, folklore wrestling, etc.

However, as competions like the first few UFCs came along, there was a sudden shift in tactics, a evolution in modern combat if you will. Martial arts effectiveness lies truly in not any one form or style but hybrids and synthesi. Hence MMA.

Mixed Martial Arts.  

But not to completly dodge your answer, I will say certain aspects from certain styles are incorporated into make the perfect mma fighter. for example. Boxing is bar none the best hand striking, muay thai teaches effective conditiong, hard body training, clinch control, and of course 8 limbs (arms legs elbows knees). Wrestling teachs takedoewns and body control. BJJ is widely regarded as the best in submission.

your question was of much focus in the last century.Afterall hand to hand combat hasnt evolved much for the last couple of centuries. Most styles operate in isolation of each other. Only in the last decade and a half have martial arts made true progress. Progress i argue is more that many centuries it took to perfect any one style. Our last decade has been a rennaisace where the best fighter is the one who decides not which is the best style, but what moves from what styles come together and make the perfect conglomerate for him.

I hope this helps answer your question

Answer 7

Better for what?  You need to specify.  

Better for no-holds barred street confrontations against multiple attackers?  Better for winning forms competitions?  Better for breaking bricks?  Better for joining UFC?  Better for conditioning?  Better for kicks?  Better for punches?  Better for spiritual training?  Better at avoiding confrontation?  Better for young, active people?   Better for older, less flexible people?

Answer 8

I will jump in and say that the eastern martial arts are a bit more varied and well known then the ones from the west.

Answer 9

The question has to be viewed from different perspectives.

From the sport perspective western arts have it all over the eastern martial arts .

From a purely self defense aspect if trained properly eastern martial arts are best.

The problem lays in the fact that most schools can't make up their mind what they want to be and usually end up trying to be both which defeats the purpose of one or both aspects .

If the GRACIES have proven anything it's that specialization works best .What about MMA ?If you have been paying attention you will notice MMA fighters specialize in very few techniques doing what's best for them.

If your interest is purely self defense specialize in that .If competition specialize in that .

It isn't which is best but what is best for you.