The 7 Deadliest Martial Arts
June 28th, 2010
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The Shaolin Temple is considered the birthplace of kung fu (which is a generic name for the Chinese martial arts). From its humble origins, kung fu eventually developed into literally thousands of different styles.
Combined with all the other martial arts that have been developed around the world, there are a virtually endless number of possible ways to beat your enemies senseless. But some ways work better than others. Out of all the different martial arts, which are the deadliest?
Let me be clear that I’m not necessarily talking about the “best” martial arts, only the most practical. Swimming is a great sport, but it will never be as fast as running. Likewise, a martial art heavy on flashy high kicks and choreographed forms may be a great art, but not as deadly as the ones that appear below.
Also, I consolidated similar arts – no need to include judo when BJJ is on the list, Wing Chun when JKD is on the list, etc. Finally, while the arts below are numbered, they are not ranked.
1. Boxing
You’re probably going to say that boxing isn’t really a martial art. While I’d tend to agree (even though I’m not exactly sure why), this list wouldn’t be complete without it.
Despite its apparent simplicity, boxing incorporates a number of elements critical to successful combat, such as timing, footwork, reading your opponent, and putting your weight into your strikes. Not to mention that the training is very practical, with a heavy dose of sparring against resisting opponents.
Advantages:
- Your hands are fast, accurate, and a short distance from your opponent’s head.
- Because of its simple style, emphasis is put on practical application rather than showy display.
Disadvantages:
- If your attacker won’t limit themselves to just using their hands, why should you?
- Anyone who attacks you is likely to be stronger, so trying to outpunch them is a losing proposition.
Notable practitioners: Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Muay Thai
Known as the Art of Eight Limbs, Thailand’s national sport uses punches, kicks, knees, and elbows for eight points of contact. It is generally considered the deadliest type of kickboxing, and is a staple of MMA fighters.
Advantages:
- A Muay Thai roundhouse kick has been compared to being struck by a baseball bat. Instead of using a chamber and a snap, the whole body is thrown into the kick, and contact is made with the rock hard shin.
- An elbow or a knee thrown from the clinch can easily end a fight, which is why they are sometimes banned in competitions in other sports.
Disadvantages:
- The only reason they can kick with their shins is because they’ve kicked enough heavy bags or bamboo trees to build up a thick layer of scar tissue. Do you really want to do that to yourself?
- No attention is paid to the ground game.
Notable practitioners: Saenchai Sor Kingstar, Anderson Silva
3. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
This derivative of Japanese judo is a form of grappling, using chokes and joint locks rather than strikes, leverage and technique rather than strength. It rose to instant prominence in 1993 at the first Ultimate Fighting Championship, where different martial arts were pitted against each other in a contest with minimal rules. BJJ practitioner Royce Gracie won easily, dispatching his three physically superior opponents in a total of five minutes.
Advantages:
- Most fights end up on the ground, where someone who only knows kicks and punches will be outmatched by someone who knows sweeps and armbars.
- When fighting a larger opponent, you take away much of their strength advantage by grappling up close instead of opposing their force directly.
Disadvantages:
- Since many people have now learned how to defend against takedowns, and since fights never start on the ground anyway, ground fighting can never replace stand-up fighting.
- The gi they wear makes it much easier to be grabbed and choked. It represents the suit that all Japanese men would have worn when judo was invented, but today you can’t assume that your attacker will be wearing something that sturdy.
Notable practitioners: Hélio Gracie, BJ Penn
4. Krav Maga
This is another one that people generally don’t consider a martial art, but we have to include it. This eclectic close combat system of the Israeli Special Forces uses wrestling, grappling, and striking to neutralize threats (even weapons) by any means necessary, often by attacking the body’s most vulnerable points.
Advantages:
- It teaches how to make weapons out of everyday objects, which are probably all you’ll have when you’re attacked.
- It teaches what to do in life or death situations.
Disadvantages:
- It’s just a bunch of eclectic crap thrown together. When you know a million techniques, it’s hard to quickly decide which one you need now.
- It can be very hard to find a good school.
Notable practitioners: Jason Bourne, Jack Bauer (well, can you name a real one?)
5. Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do
There’s always a lot of confusion surrounding Bruce Lee’s Way of the Intercepting Fist. People love to discuss what JKD is and is not, and how it is what it isn’t, and isn’t what it is. But here, I’m simply referring to his signature style without any of the philosophy.
Jeet Kune Do is a hybrid system that borrows heavily from several arts, especially Wing Chun, boxing, and fencing. But unlike most hybrid systems, it absorbs what is useful while casting off what is useless, arriving at the bare combat essentials. Movements are direct, straightforward, and non-classical.
Advantages:
- By training in four different combat ranges (kicking, punching, trapping, grappling), the practitioner becomes well-rounded.
- It stresses simplicity and efficiency, conserving time and energy in all movements.
Disadvantages:
- Although it’s theoretically very effective, it’s fairly obscure and hasn’t been tested very much.
- Good luck finding a decent school where you live.
Notable practitioners: Bruce Lee, Ted Wong
6. MMA
Mixed martial arts was originally a sport that saw people competing with very different styles. However, when it became apparent what was effective and what was not, a new hybrid style emerged, and this is what I mean by “MMA.” This style may be customized by each fighter, but generally combines boxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Advantages:
- Combines stand-up and ground skills to produce a well-rounded fighter.
- The effectiveness of this style has been tested and proven more than any other.
Disadvantages:
- It’s only been tested and proven for a particular set of rules. The game changes when you allow 12-6 elbows, small joint manipulation, eye gouging, biting, groin strikes, headbutts, rabbit punches, etc.
- What works best on another MMA fighter is not necessarily what will work best against your attacker.
Notable practitioners: Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture
7. To be determined
Let’s hear it. What is YOUR choice for the deadliest martial art?
June 29th, 2010 at 7:46 am
Bit disappointed you missed what is without doubt the #1 martial art imo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piWCBOsJr-w
June 29th, 2010 at 9:30 pm
@ Tim, lol, looks like Monty Python’s self defense against fruit will be #7.
June 30th, 2010 at 12:18 am
Look into Bujinkan Taijutsu.
It’s a “real” combat art that dates back almost a thousand years.
-Paul
June 30th, 2010 at 10:26 pm
@ Paul, I took a quick look at it just now. Seems pretty intense!
July 3rd, 2010 at 8:40 pm
You know, I have absolutely no idea about martial arts, but it sounds like the majority of the martial arts you guys mention originate in Japan. Hmm… does that mean something about my home country?
Akemi
July 4th, 2010 at 8:19 pm
@ Akemi, I’m not sure if Japan has more than its share of martial arts. But if it does, what would that mean? That they were more into war? More into peace? More in tune with their bodies? Or maybe they just couldn’t decide on any one style, so they had to invent lots of them. I’m not sure.
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:37 pm
After practicing M. Arts for over 20 years (Judo, Karate, Aikido) there is no doubt in mind that the most dangerous and most versatile MA is the Russian Systema. Im my humble opinion it should be No1 in your list. I wish everyone good practice
September 6th, 2010 at 12:18 am
haha, u missed the most leathal, hapkido, a korean martial arts, look at this…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOCgfuajpJs
its an unknown martial arts, but go through it, then tell me who u think kicks ass!!
November 6th, 2010 at 1:23 am
Kali? or better know as arnis/ escrima.
Most people think that this art is manly stick and knife fighting. The low levels practice this, the goal is to be good enough to where you do not need either of the two. However similar to Krav Maga, there is not a million different techniques to learn and decide which one to use, and is very practical.
November 7th, 2010 at 9:07 am
Eskrima?i like eskrima known as arnis/kali or eskrima?I like this art becuase you learn how to use blade weapons like knife,bolos,and stick.And you learn how to defend self your self against knife,bolo,and gun disarming.And you learn in eskrima the hand to hand figthing becuase in filipino martial arts \ basis in weapons but filipino martial arts have a empty hand and you learn in hand to hand figthing like breaking bones,joint locks,grappling,and the unarmed figthing.I love my own art becuase i am a filipino i choose my own.
November 8th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
I belive that combat sambo is the #1 deadliest martial art in the world. It is real world stuff.
November 16th, 2010 at 12:49 am
Muay Thai is ok, but you forget Muay Boran, which has mostly been forgotten but in my opinon ten times more deadly than Muay Thai, mostly because Muay Boran is used to kill their oppenants not wound them…but still thats just my opinon..though really if you think about it, you can claim any martial art as ‘deadly’ just depends on the martial artist…
December 5th, 2010 at 1:22 am
I’ve heard it put this way many times:
The best self defense against a deadly threat is a gun. Lacking that, put a thumb in their eye, a knee in their groin, or crush their throat with your elbow. Everything else is sport.
December 5th, 2010 at 2:47 am
@ Duff, I believe that for most people, when confronted by a physically superior attacker, their best and perhaps only chance is to use their hard parts against the attacker’s soft parts. But it’s not necessarily that easy to do.
For example, it would be very tough to thumb the eye of a boxer who is trained to block and dodge the lightning fast hands of his sparring partners. And when attacking a female, a male attacker is likely to expect a groin strike and keep one hand low to block.
Although this post was about deadliness, people may have reservations about using techniques that can cause permanent damage, even when they are seriously threatened. Or they may not want to encourage their attacker to respond in kind.
In the early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, hair pulling, headbutting, groin strikes, and fish-hooking were allowed (though biting and eye gouging were not). These “dirty” techniques proved no match for jiu-jitsu.
That said, they could still save your life, and they are actually taught in Krav Maga and Jeet Kune Do.
December 22nd, 2010 at 10:38 am
well since many martial artist tend to beleive that muay thai is the deadlliest no weapons ma , why don’t you check out the ma from wich it is inspired : Muay Boran. muay thai is the sport version of muay broan because MB was way too dangerous … it caused too many injuries.
the most notable diference is the stance muay boran has a lower stance
another 1 is the use of the head in mb
the last 1 is that muay boran focuses on agility a lot, so you do find those flashy kicks and aerial moves that do work if properly used.
you can check out the style at tony jaa’s movies : ong bak trilogy and The protector
December 28th, 2010 at 10:34 pm
I was once told that Judo was the deadliest, but who knows. I siding with Duff on this one and keeping a .40 on my side.
December 31st, 2010 at 3:58 am
I will just remember you something very important and that is that most of the success in a real fight will depend on the practioners expertise, attitude, etc. I trainned Kenpo for a while, some Hung Gar style kung fu too and learned that a few techniques well trainned and executed are way more effective than to know a thousand moves but dont master any. But this is just my personal experience and point of view i have been beaten by a Boxer also a guy that was black belt in Judo but i have beaten others from different styles too. I love Kenpo i love the speed you develop and there is plenty of self defense techniques meaning you learn to kill somebody quickly and clean. But like i said this is just my thoughts about it, if you ask me the 7th deadliest martial art would be the best devoted practioner of any style.
December 31st, 2010 at 4:00 am
….and of course i dont think anyone here will say that a punch or kick can overcome a bullet….
February 9th, 2011 at 3:54 am
the deadliest is Kali… its filipino martial arts. kali means “grab and destroy” there is no other formula. no grab and defend. just destroy. they use it in the military and shit. the bourne identity and the hunted are all FMA based martial arts. all the fight choreographers are filipino. you can google it if you want. us filipinos used defend our country from Spaniards, japanese, americans, -we they used the bolos and machetes-thats where kali originated.
April 22nd, 2011 at 6:57 am
taichi or taiji. means’supreme ultimate boxing’. thats self explainatory.
April 30th, 2011 at 4:01 am
Savate should appear in the list.
May 9th, 2011 at 11:04 am
Butthan martial art is the noble art to stop fight and empowering life. In Butthan:stamina training,bone conditioning,body flexibility,scientific techniques and more. It is not just a physical martial art it is also a psycho-physical martial art. Butthan is a ‘Sanskrit’ word and it means ‘defense with distiction’.
May 10th, 2011 at 8:48 pm
fyi, Jason Bourne isn’t an actual person, but there was an operative who would have been the equivalent to him, and the Bourne movies are based on events that actually happened. It was on national geographic like a month ago, an hour or so special covering the fighting techniques used by the real “Jason Bourne”a, and operatives who are currently active that would be at the same skill level. They also talked about historical evidence supporting a government funded assasin homebrew program, covering mind control and hypnosis on test subjects. It’s actually incredibly interesting.
May 17th, 2011 at 12:34 pm
I am glad that you put JKD in there…..I am a practioner of JKD and I can honestly say that from having experience in a number of other martial arts such as Hung Gar Kung Fu, Shotokan Karate and sport kick boxing, non of those have really giving me the sense of having full control over a situation if it ever arised. Bruce’s theory was to make the art your own…..It was just a set of guide lines, and to make it work for you. In all other arts or most other arts, if you don’t kick right it is wrong. In JKD it is what it is….What ever works
June 6th, 2011 at 11:21 pm
well If you talking straight up hand to hand, and if your looking for most LETHAL, has to be Marine Corps LINE combat system. Here are the main tenants;
(a.) all techniques must not be vision dominant; techniques may be executed effectively in low-light conditions, or other impaired visibility conditions (i.e., smoke or gas)
(b.) extreme mental and physical fatigue
(c.) usable by the Marine / soldier while wearing full combat gear
(d.) proper execution of the techniques MUST CAUSE DEATH to the opponent
(e.) gender neutrality; must be usable by- and against- either gender
Also of note, it is designed to be usable against superior numbers and was developed after much study of martial arts and anatomy. The best part is, to be usable under extreme mental distress, it is learned entirely by repetition to ingrain it into the mind and use it on instinct alone, pretty much the opposite of Krav Maga. And really, KM shouldn’t be in any list of most deadly, the whole point is to GTFO ASAP. Sure their are killing techniques (I think) but it’s far from the emphasis, it was designed by jews in WWII to ESCAPE Nazis, NOT kill.
June 9th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
BOKATOR!!! (tony jaa : the protector)
June 23rd, 2011 at 2:12 pm
You guy are forget about ninjutsu. Sounds pretty deadly to me yo! Ninjas and shinobis are good with stealth attacks. You probably won’t know if they attack or not, because they’re really quiet too.
June 27th, 2011 at 2:47 am
Ninjutsu, has been rated as one the most deadliest MA out to this very day, wether you believe or not i myself train under ninjutsu, that’s not all i have also trained in jiu-jitsu, bu-jitsu, kali-salik and some more. What i can say is that every MA is deadly depending on what you use it for and how far your exprience, i agree with every ones choice, none of it’s wrong it all depends on you.
i do have pictures to prove that i am trained in all of these, understand i am not a black belt in any of these forms, i am going to continue in my training to become a master, for it has been a life goal.
also note it does depends on who trained. ultimately up to you how you use it and decide if it is deadly.
July 13th, 2011 at 11:15 am
lets try aikijutsu or arnis they are both combat arts that have proven them selfs in real time in battle.
July 19th, 2011 at 3:08 am
I could agree that probaly the most dangoures forms of martial arts; is the Russian Systema and the MCLCS (Marine corpse line combat system)
BUT!
As far as i know, you have to be either a marine or some sort of russian soldier or even Spetznaz to learn those martial arts.
I personally think that Krav Maga is the most deadly form of martial arts, and i think one of the reason is that its learnable by everyone (Along with the reason that it focus on taking your opponent down the most efficient way, which mostly includes techniques that most people would say was “unfair”). Also, Krav Maga isnt a sport, its a self defense system, so IMHO, only makes it more effective and dangoures. The Russian systema and the MCLCS is probaly alot more dangoures, but again, its not accessable by everyone, where Krav Maga is. One of my friends doing Tae kwon do, says that he thinks that Wing Chu is the one. So i think that Krav Maga and Wing Chu is worth a look.
August 12th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
about the mai thai and notable users i feel tony jaa should have been mentiond especially since of late he has been called this generations bruce lee
August 22nd, 2011 at 3:21 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7gFbUc2-d8 dude real martial arts
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:53 pm
You guys know the character Jason Borne studied Kali, Arnis not Krav Maga….
look it up.
I study combat Arnis i will put my skills up against any of these other styles and i know i will come out on top.
Our school does not train to compete in stick fighting tournaments we train for real life war fair.
We train to kill people and when you train the way it was taught in war you can survive a war therefore destroying any and all arts that do not train for true battle.
September 9th, 2011 at 2:47 pm
MCMAP, it has all the above in it…the Human Weapon episode was really good
September 30th, 2011 at 7:13 am
You should look up ninjutsu, one of most deadly martial arts.
October 1st, 2011 at 9:57 pm
There are many martial arts that can be deadly. One that should be added to the list is American Kenpo, created by Ed Parker, it is the perfect marriage of straight line and circles in combat. I created and also “stoled” ground techniques that allowed me to get up from the ground quickly.
I have had to use Kenpo a few times in my youth and old age and there was no doubt that I could have severely injured my attackers if I had wanted too.
Kenpo is fast, powerful and dynamic. The art fits me perfectly, because I’m small boned and 5’2”.
There is one ingredient that keeps my Kenpo strong, and that is: I have practiced every week since learning the art.
October 13th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
The deadliest MA, really, is the one you have made yours! So many people go from art to art trying to find “it”‘….but you are the “it”, you save yourself in the encounter. It’s not the technique, it is the application of it.
October 23rd, 2011 at 1:33 pm
from my personal experience in martial arts, i’d place muay thai and shaolin in the top two deadliest martial art styles in the world. as both of them have ancient styles that are so deadly and limitless, and it’s very hard to control an opponent who specilises on all body weapons and learns to continue the fight on the ground and also uses chain attacks. chain attacks are really hard to control and we always use them in our gym, most of the other styles, use simple combinations, or single strikes, but when they come to our gym and fight us, they get beaten very badly. I’m a muay thai fighter by the way.
October 25th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
what about ‘kaliri’ orijinated in india rich in nervous attacks…
November 13th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
dude shaolin kung fu nuff said
November 17th, 2011 at 8:15 pm
Traditional Chinese Kenpo, not to be confused with Kenpo Karate, many strikes punches kicks and combos to disable your attacker.
Another would be Pi Qua Quan, another form of Kung Fu, using your body and mind as one hardening your body and using your arms like whips!
November 19th, 2011 at 1:37 am
There’s a combat system called FALCON COMBAT SCIENCE which is found http://www.falconcombatsciences.com/falcon_history.htm
Among the major component systems are:
Kali/Filipino Martial Arts
Russian Systema
Liu Seong/Royal Shaolin
Israeli Commando Krav Maga
Indonesian Silat
The Founder, A Pete Villanueva also studied ninjitsu, samba, catch wrestling, Lao-Lan, Trankada Aldabon Kali. He’s trained intelligence, special forces, Homeland Security, etc.
November 24th, 2011 at 10:47 am
ive learned muay thai for 8 years and from my experience, it is the best. why not have some rock hard sjins and smack your opponent in the face, breaking his/her teeth and nose
November 25th, 2011 at 11:24 am
ok…., so this reminds me of a joke:
There is a man sitting at a bar having a drink; this guy runs into the bar, runs right up to a another man sitting at the bar and karate chops hims in the neck. The attacker yells that was Karate….and runs out of the bar. The man at the bar thinks this is bizarre but keeps on drinking. (because space is limited here, I’m gonna go to the punch line)……So after a few times of this mystery attacker running into the bar, attacking patrons, and yelling some martial art technique; the man at the bar thinks to be prepared for his turn. Sure enough, the next day as the man is sitting at the bar having his drink, the attacker comes running in, right up to the man is about to attack him…. The man at the bar jumps up, spins around and clobbers the attacker with a large pipe wrench…. he goes back to his drink and looks at the bartender and says “Pipe wrench from Sears; may I get another drink”
Being alert and prepared…. the style or art is useless without alertness and preparedness.