Why MMA Is The Best Martial Art To Learn For Self-defense

Mixed Martial Arts often abbreviated as MMA is a form of martial arts that encompasses various fighting styles from stand-up, clinching, and grappling. You may know about the sport from its biggest promotor, the UFC, and by its biggest stars such as Ronda Rousey or Conor McGregor. MMA is also one of the world's fastest-growing sports as well, especially when you look at the history of the UFC company from its birth on November 12th, 1993 of 90,000 pay-per-view buys to now where the current highest paying being McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov, which topped out at 2.4 million pay-per-view buys. 

Enough about the history of the sport, let's discuss what makes MMA definitive in a street scenario. MMA is useful through the fact that it makes a person a complete fighter. You will learn how to box, kick, knee, elbow, clinch, wrestle, and submit, which is important to know in a fight as anything goes--there are no rules. There is no telling what someone might know as well, they may have done wrestling back in high school, and even if they hadn't competed in such a long time, the conditioning they endured will carry over as in instinct as they also have the muscle memory instilled in them. And even if they have no experience, there is nothing stopping the person from taking you down if you were to get a few good ones on them--preparation is everything.

One question that can arise from this, what about other martial arts/fighting styles? Of course, there are other fighting styles you can use in a street fight and still come out the winner. Boxing and Muay Thai/kickboxing are effective enough in such situations; however, they do have drawbacks in the fact that both lack any effectiveness against grappling, especially on the ground, which comes back to what I stated in the previous paragraph. Being taken down on the ground is a different ballpark compared to the stand-up, even if your opponent may know nothing about submitting someone, but there are basic things such as ground and pound, in addition, to someone choking you out--something you don't want. Sure, boxing is great with the hands, in fact, you will throw better punches than an MMA fighter as that is what the fighting style specializes in, you will learn how to maneuver, parry, counter, and block punches, but you will certainly be lacking knowledge on how to deal with kicks and takedowns. Muay Thai/kickboxing may bring you ways on how to check kicks and all, but you will still be lacking the grappling defense.

And for other martial arts let's say Taekwondo is not practical in a street fighting scenario as the martial art is rather grounded in flashy antics rather than effective fighting. In actuality, there are a lot of "martial arts" out there that are very ineffective such as Wing Chun or Kung Fu. Karate on the other hand is something I deem debatable depending on which style you're looking into. Kyokushin may perhaps work with the volume and pressure, but the issue comes with the fact that fighters are restricted to aiming for the body--no headshots--which is not a good thing to teach as for one if a Kyokushin fighter takes a punch to the head, he shuts down, unsure on how to deal with it. Also, such discipline may rob them of the opportunity of going for the head. Another style, Shotokan may help with kicking, however, the issue is going to be that the hands are low by the waist and punches have to be thrown from there (Taekwondo teaches the same as well), that leaves the face exposed and susceptible to blows. All and all, TMAs (traditional martial arts for short) tend to have poor stances and unrealistic attacks that will not work.

MMA can cover every aspect of fighting and put mesh them together. When every element is combined, you can perform combos that can transition smoothly from striking to wrestling. If you beat your opponent in the stand-up, any chance of him tacking you down can be nullified by your knowledge of stuffing takedown attempts and controlling your attacker. There's not much an untrained fighter can do when you everything at your disposal, you will win the fight without much fretting. Often times, the martial art is suggested for anyone looking to learn self-defense, and it is a good fighting style to incorporate not just for warding off potential threats but also makes for great exercise and give you insight into another world that will change your perception of the sport, making you understand the workings much better which in turn will make you watch any MMA fight from amateur to pro in a different perspective, a greater understanding on why fighters may do this or that, how the grind is, especially when it comes to the jiu-jitsu aspect on how subtle things can turn into a devastating submission.

However, as good as MMA can be for you in a street fight scenario, one important thing you need to be aware that there are many factors to consider:

• It is a street fight, therefore, anything can happen. If anything, listen to your instructor when they bring up the topic, it may best to defuse the situation.
• The environment can play a pivotal factor. Tight spaces or objects can get in the way and can work against you. Take note that if you're fighting on solid concrete, using wrestling or jiu-jitsu is ill-advised as you can scrape the skin off yourself, especially if you were to mount your opponent while wearing shorts. There are stories about people losing so much skin that the bone in their knees shows.
• Bare-knuckle fighting is also dangerous. Think. The human skull is thick, designed to protect the brain. What would happen if the first two knuckles of your fist land on such a thing? 
• It takes time. If you been in for a couple of days or a week, don't expect instant results. In order for it to be effective, you must put in the time and work. Sparring is imperative as it will put you in a live session where you can work on throwing and defending from strikes--don't just rely on a heavy bag that is only stationary. And one more thing, spar with different body types whether small or large, people are not always built the same.
• Fighting, in general, is a mental thing, it is a good mindset to have to think you can take on the world, which is why you see fighters trash talk and speak highly of themselves. Bear in mind that you don't abuse what you have learned. Seeking fights is not a smart move and it can get you in trouble.

With everything being covered, MMA is a good martial art to study for self-defense. It can help build confidence, keep you fit, and it will help save you from getting hurt in a fight. Through time and effort, you will notice results and discover how fascinating the world of fighting is. And without a doubt, with how fast the martial art been growing, you have plenty of options in selecting which gym may be suitable for you.