What's the Best Combination of Martial Arts? And Why?

Question

For this exercise, let's define "best" as most effective in a self defense situation, NOT for competing in MMA

1)Muay Thai & BJJ

2)Karate & Judo

3)Tae Kwon do & Hapkido

4)Boxing & Wrestling (including Sambo)

5)Ninjutsu & Aikido

6)Capoeira & BJJ

Answer 1

Martial arts isn't going to help you when some big thug is ready to rip your head off.  Use a calibre 45. automatic pistol with dum-dum slugs.  One well placed round will put him on his a-s and he won't be bothering you again.

Answer 2

Well, I don't know.

I don't think there's any such thing. Self-defense is so vast...

But I think number 5 is an interesting choice.

The art of assassination combined with the art of deflecting violence... That should cover just about everything.

Answer 3

How about Tai chi, boxing and karate? THats what I do currently... It works for me. Out of those though, I'd say 2, 3, or 4 would be a good choice. I would say 1... But I friggen HATE BJJ!!!

Answer 4

Definitely Muay Thai and BJJ. If the fight stays standing you can punish them with elbows and knees to the face or painful kicks to their legs. If the fight goes to the ground then you got all your chokes, armlocks, etc.

Second choice would be Boxing and Wrestling, but Muay Thai adds a lot more options than Boxing. A skilled BJJ practitioner negates any pure wrestler by adding sweeps and ways to finish the fight. Best example of an effective BJJ and Muay Thai fighter is Anderson Silva. I know you are talking about self defense and not MMA, but MMA started out as a way to see which styles were most effective when put to the test and the result was only a few really worked.

Answer 5

i would say #1 because it is the best all around, and most hardcore in a realistic "fight". It is an extremely aggressive martial art combination that will be a strong weapon of self defense when needed. It is the best combination because Muay Thai gives people a powerful offense, with striking and kicking, elbowing and kneeing, and BJJ is a good defense for people who try to take you down. Muy Thai fighters also are trained so roughly that there bones strengthen, therefore i think it provides a good offense as a means of good defense. (if i had to fight someone, i would surely hope they were not a great Muy Thai and BJJ fighter). The other martial arts are strategic, and respectable, but not as dominant.

Answer 6

I agree with Ki Chong Ti.  BJJ and Muay Thai has proven the most effective in hundreds of mma fights over the past 10+ years.  

Boxing + wrestling/sambo would come in second; the only weakness would be a lack of kicking.  

Karate+judo would be third.  Boxing and Muay Thai both offer superior striking compared to karate, while judo is pretty similar to jujitsu and sambo.  

There would be no point to studying both taekwondo and hapkido, since hapkido is basically a combination of taekwondo and aikido.  Same thing for ninjitsu and aikido - from what I've seen ninjitsu teaches a lot of similar moves as aikido, while adding a lot of weapons techniques.  

Capoeira is amazing to watch in demonstrations, but it is not terribly effective in a real fight.

Answer 7

Im going for 5. The ninjutsu itself is problematic enough on its own. Not even to bring akido into the picture with it

Answer 8

I'd suggest.. 5)Ninjutsu & Aikido.

Why well ninjutsu includes some jiu-jitsu ( tai-jitsu ) and is very rounded for the street and aikido which also comes from jiu-jitsu and focuses more on evasion,throws,locks, and strikes ( atemi waza )

That would be my personal choice from your list :)***

Answer 9

2 is thought to be the best by most people

but personaly i would say 4

Answer 10

It is more of a personal choice. I have taken some of those, and some I really like and others just weren't for me.

I take Uechi-Ryu Karate and am starting BJJ.

It allows me to have a solid foundation for taking hits and close quarters combat as well as grappling and floor techniques in case we both go down.

I hated TKD and I am not good at Aikido.

I have also heard good things about Krav Maga