The debate has been one that has been raging for years, if not decades, and is one that will not be decided definitively any time soon from what I can tell; that is the answer to this age-old question: which martial art is best for a street altercation?

There are many schools of thoughts and many arguments to be had all with compelling evidence and real life examples of how fill in the blank was successful in the streets. The stand-up practitioners will argue that every single altercation starts on the feet so the answer is obvious and there is no real debate while the ground fighting advocates will make a push for the effectiveness of submissions.

The bottom line is that a well-rounded self-defense system is the most effective defense in any street situation. Martial arts focusing on the stand-up aspect of self-defense will teach one how to initially defend themselves as well as engage in techniques designed to swiftly end the altercation while basic wrestling skills will allow one to make the determination as to where the fight takes place; while on the ground your ground fighting systems will have their chance to shine and prove their effectiveness.

There are also various martial arts which specialize in weapons defense. Although this may be effective and needed, personally, I am not a huge proponent. My knife/gun defense is as follows: give them your wallet, keys, etc. then run as quickly as possible. The value of whatever may be in my pockets or in my wallet or the value of my car is not greater than the value of my life so I choose to simply not engage.

At the end of the day, violence is not the answer but in certain situations it is unavoidable, the video below will give you a quick rundown of the basic martial arts systems and their effectiveness in a street altercation.

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Jacob C. Stevens is a lifelong athlete and cerebral martial arts enthusiast who is also skilled in the art of linguistic manipulation, his published work, Afterthoughts and Handgrenades, can be found here…