Best Martial Art or Best Martial Art for YOU
New people are joining the martial arts family every day. And these newbies, if you will, probably haven’t been in discussion about the age old battle of which martial art is the best. This is one belief as to why this topic keeps resurfacing. Some believe it will forever be a topic as long as the martial arts exist. So, which martial art is the best? Some say Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but it has its flaws. Some say Muay Thai, which also has its flaws. Then there’s the fact that I can go on YouTube and find one video of either mentioned martial art loosing a fight, and one video of it winning a fight against a person who practices another art. This leads me to believe that it is not just a question of the art itself.
The martial arts is an umbrella term for the fighting systems of the world. Usually, styles are differentiated by the way they engage combat. Of the ground arts we have Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and Sambo just to name a few. Striking has Karate, Taekwondo, and Muay Thai which are the more popular ones. Each of these arts are very different from the other. So, which one is the best? It really comes down to the practitioner, and how each individual trains. Someone training for 5 years should be better than someone who has been practicing 2 years. But what if the 5 year practitioner only comes once a week, and the 2 year practitioner comes 5 days a week? The quality of training is also important, not just time. Factoring in physical fitness and ability is another variable. These attributes gives someone an advantage if the other doesn’t also have these attributes. Then there is style for your body type. Some train in a martial art that will never bring out the best in them, because it requires a great deal of flexibility, strength, speed, and/or a combination of these. People should train in something they could realistically be good at according to their own abilities. People should also train in quality, not quantity, over a period of time to see results. As these variables change from practitioner to practitioner, we will never be able to determine which martial arts is best, just WHO is the best.
