7 Easiest Forms of Martial Arts to Learn For Self Defense

If you’ve been really into watching superhero shows or movies lately, you’re probably going to be very interested in the 7 easiest forms of martial arts to learn for self defense.

Spoiler: unagi isn’t on here, so according to this list it’s very hard to be Ross Geller. That being said, the ones on this list are pretty useful. I’ve considered learning self-defense in the past, but I almost feel like curling up into a ball on the ground if someone tried to attack me would be my instinct regardless, so I’m not sure if I’d want to take the time to learn anything. It sounds like it would be really fun, though, and extremely empowering. There’s nothing cooler than watching someone be good at martial arts. I’m not sure if I could be one of them, but maybe after taking a good look at this list I’ll be encouraged.

Martial arts are summarized systems and traditions of combat practices that can be done for a lot of reasons. The term martial art became associated with fighting arts of eastern Asia, but it was originally referring to the combat systems of Europe as early as the 1550s. The term martial arts is borrowed from Latin and means “Arts of Mars” and “the Roman God of War.” In the past, people have become more and more interested in the martial arts. The biggest enthusiasts are even prepared to travel to the countries of origin. Maybe they watched a lot of Jackie Chan movies. For example, people are traveling to China for Kung Fu and Thailand for Muay Thai to find the most suitable trainers and teachers. That’s some serious dedication.

Training for martial arts benefits in conditioning your body, mind, and soul, but also works well for self-defense. People use it in sports like MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), street fighting, street self-defense, and even special forces must learn them to defend themselves in specific situations. While some people learn martial arts for street fighting or self-defense, many train as a hobby. According to Book Martial Arts, regardless of their origin, code of ethics, or moral foundation, all martial arts are in a repertory of similar techniques and skills. The kinds of techniques and skills are the basics of martial arts. Some of those include striking, kicking, sweeps, punches, slaps, evasion tactics, and more. Others appear within specific sets of styles like takedowns, throws, chokes, among others.

Even though a lot of martial arts techniques are used solely for self-defense situations, a lot of them can be deadly. They can be effective when you find yourself in a serious situation and you can use them to free yourself. If you’re more of a daredevil type, check out our list of the 11 Most Dangerous Sports in the World. However, the goal of this article is to find out how to be safe while defending yourself. In order to create this list, we consulted Systema Spetsnaz, Self Defense Exposed and we collected people’s opinions on Quora on which are the most effective martial art forms for self-defense, and which are the easiest to learn. The following techniques on the list of the 7 easiest forms of martial arts to learn for self defense are the ones deemed most effective and most simple. Even though the effectiveness depends on a situation you are into, we considered How They Play, ManTelligence and The Self-Defense Expert‘s reports and we sorted our list on how many times one technique found its place on every list. 

 

7. Sambo

Sambo is a Russian martial art and combat sport which means “self-defense without a weapon.” It is a very effective, yet very simple technique. Sambo consists of wrestling, box, judo, and savate. Also, Sambo was practiced by Russian’s secret service and law enforcement, including the KGB.

 

6. Karate

A lot of karate techniques are used to deliver strikes to the enemy’s body from a number of stances. Karate, that ranked 6th on our list of easiest forms of martial arts to learn for self defense can be practiced as an art, self-defense or as a combat sport. This striking art is consisted of punching, kicking, knee strikes and elbow strikes. Despite this techniques, you can also learn grappling, joint locks and restrains among other techniques.

 

5. Boxing

We are continuing our list of easiest forms of martial arts to learn for self defense with the box that is a martial art self-defense technique where you use your hands to deal damage to the opponent. With good movement, you can avoid and block the opponent from a short or far distance. The primary principle is to avoid a punch while dealing damage. Precision and sharpness guarantee fatal punches on the whole torso and head.

 

4. Muay Thai

Muay Thai was developed as a form of close combat that uses the whole body as a weapon. Muay Thai is one of the most effective techniques when it comes to street fighting and self-defense. It includes putting a lot of pressure on sparring. You can also keep yourself away from the attacker using push kicks, jabs, elbow, knee strikes, or clinch. When it comes to a short distance, though, you can always use next wrestling.

 

3. Systema Spetsnaz

Systema Spetsnaz, next on our list of easiest forms of martial arts to learn for self defense is based on a traditional self-defense methods that are also used alongside physics, mechanics, and psychology. The main principles of Systema Spetsnaz are the figure 8 motion, wave motion, penetrating precise strikes, wrist, joint, and finger locks.

 

2. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is teaching a smaller opponent how to fight or defend himself against a bigger enemy. With Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu you will learn stand-up maneuvers and ground-fighting techniques. If you gain a superior position, you can apply chokes, holds and joint lock manipulations on the opponent which is a key in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

 

1. Krav Maga

Krav Maga is one of the most popular self-defense systems and was developed in Israel. Krav Maga consists of boxing, muay thai, wing chun, judo, grappling, and realistic fight training. The primary principle of Krav Maga is to deal more damage to your opponent in order to finish the fight as soon as possible.

Learning how to defend yourself is very important. We hope we managed to explain how to stay safer on this list of the 7 easiest forms of martial arts to learn for self defense.