How effective are Martial Arts in Self Defence
I truly believe the best defence is a Gun.
1 You dont know if Opponent is stronger than you.
2 You dont know if he is Armed
3 You dont know his pain tolerance
4 You dont know if he is on Drugs like steriods = Steriod Rage, PCP = No Pain etc.
5 He may be a Total Psychopath
Which Martial Art for Realistic Street Defence .
Well I would chose a combination of the following:
Krav Maga Excellent Disarming Techniques in very Dangerouse situations.
Military Unarmed Combat Teaches you to survive kill or be killed techniques no messing about.
Jeet Kune Do yes can be a good system provided you have good instructors who train towards realistic self defence & mental toughness.
Wing Chun Yes Combat Wing Chun is excellent but again only would join class whose aims are teaching you street defence and showing you how to Disarm Attackers.
Muay Thai & Kyokushinkai Karate the only two Hard Contact Martial Arts that I truly respect as both arts can & will teach you how to give & recieve punishment but I would still add Krav Maga Disarming Techniques to all Martial Arts to complete your system towards realistic Street fighting techniques.
Grappling Excellent to learn as most fights go to the Ground.
I recomend Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Gene Lebells Jiu Jitsu System, Sombo, Judo, Jiu Jitsu & Even Aikido.
But Grappling on its own is useless if ambushed by a Gang. You must learn Grappling & Striking combined to be a total effective fighter. Also Disarming Techniques if in the street. I know many Martial Artist who have frozen when confronting Knife Stick Chain or any other number of weapons.
Remember the way you train is the way you react in a fight.
Knowledge = Power.
As for Tae Kwon Do or Shotokan well I wish you luck in a Street encounter.
Train Smart for Street Defence
I think most Martial Arts Schools today teach garbage in regards self defence.
The only true way to know if your skills are going to work on a street fight is if one you have excellent cardio vascular two you are extremely aggressive three you are in good physical shape that means bag work sparring flexibility grappling techniques muay thai kickboxing & lots of disarming techniques.
Train with body armour & helmet get a student to attack you with knife stick & baseball bat practice various disarming techniques. As for disarming a Gun thats Hollywood yes there are techniques but one squeeze of the trigger and you can kiss your life goodbye.
Also body must be conditioned to take impact you must be able to take kicks & punches to the stomach . Also using head protection get used to taking blows to the head. Running is also excellent do roadwork so you dont get out of breath in a fight. Yeah train hard but train smart if the Martial Artist just practises Katas & Stupid flowery movements he or she wont last 5 seconds in a street confrontation.
Simple train to totally destroy your attacker. No mercy fighting techniques. There is no referee to stop the fight in the street or protect you. Street = No Rules.
When your attacker is in the floor dont stop kicking & punching until the attacker is out cold if he gets up you could be in trouble.
Learn to break bones using both grappling & striking techniques combined.
If you practice Wing Chun also add Grappling & Disarming Techniques to your arsenal. Thats how you have a chance. Myself I rather shoot the Punk.