What is the most practical form of martial arts to know for...

a person should be able to have some kind of strength in the upper region and bottom as well to be able to defend themselves, not just a specific part of their body.

get some training for your upper body as well.

My wife practice Muay Thai. Women have incredibly strong legs and the art does nothing but amplify that power. Whether you are standing up or laying down you can use your legs to defend yourself. You will have 8 points in which you can defend yourself as well. You will learn how to punch, elbow, knee, kick etc. By using your legs you can be further away from the attacker too. People with broken shins, knees, femurs etc will not be much of a challenge at all to you.

The "best" martial art, in my opinion, is the one most easily learned by the masses and most effective against the oppressors. This was the origin of most martial arts in the Far East — techniques of fighting (self defense) that the common folk could effectively employ against oppressive enforcers.

Today, I would point to close-quarter combat techniques that are most easily learned and quickly mastered, such as the various forms of street fighting. To hell with 12 years of intense practice to master some obscure Eastern martial art. That sort of training is a luxury that most people cannot afford to pursue, not when survival is the objective.

— Zesko Whirligan

Trained for many years in martial arts ...Dan grade in Ju Jitsu...MMA
What would I recommend? a bit of boxing and Muay Tai, Ju Jitsu and top with Krav Maga...also get to know a few people that work on the doors...(Bouncers). They deal with aggression day in and out.. speak to the older experienced...put all that together ...you will be able to deal with most situations

Originally posted by DisturbedToo

Originally posted by SFlowers
Sorry if this is a repeat, I searched and didn't find anything....

I've read a little bit of the 'What do you consider as the best martial art in the world' thread, but my question is more specific. I'd like to know what, in your opinion, the best form of martial arts for a young female with little upper body strength but very strong legs to learn that would help her get out of a genuine life-or-death situation without causing any extreme or lasting damage to her attackers?

I'm looking for something that you can learn quickly that focuses more on self-defense, and is good to know if someone that was very dangerous dangerous, say, came to your apartment and tried to kill or hurt you or your family.

Thanks in advance

If you're being attacked, causing extreme and lasting damage should be your main priority!
If someone tried to kill my family, I'm not going to smack em on the wrist and shoo em away.
You must eliminate such a person or you are putting others at risk. Think about that for a while.
If your state allows C+C Get a gun and be professionally trained with it. Go to the shooting range often and become proficient with your new firearm. Carry it with pride. If C+C is not an option keep it securely in your home but easily accessible to you and your spouse, but not your children.
The bottom line is eliminate your attacker, don't disable him!
Good luck my friend!

Originally posted by DisturbedToo
If you're being attacked, causing extreme and lasting damage should be your main priority!...The bottom line is eliminate your attacker, don't disable him!

This is the most sensible things I have ever seen written about self-defense/martial arts.

Whatever art you study, there are a few rules you need to know and abide by. If whatever master you are studying under doesn’t teach or understand them then you have the wrong art and/or teacher.

First: In a real fight, expect to get hurt. Even if you win you still might get hurt. If you cannot stand getting hurt then run away or get a gun.

Second: Even though you probably will get hurt, hurt the other guy more than he hurts you. That’s the essence of winning a fight. He splits your lip, so you break his arm. He blackens your eye so you choke him out. As DisturbedTool said, “ causing extreme damage…should be your priority”! ( I would argue the “lasting” part but that’s another matter of debate)

Third: There are no rules in a real fight. I’m not talking about a punch-up with your buddy over a girlfriend. I’m not talking about a shoving match with some idiot that cuts in line in the local Quickie-Mart. I’m talking about a real struggle with someone that is seeking to hurt you. In this case, there are NO rules. Eye gouging, biting, kicks to the groin, punches to the throat are all allowed – and encouraged. If you have a school or trainer that says. “Well, we never go that far” or “that’s not really our style”, get out.

Seriously, I'd look into the hand-to-hand combat techniques of the U.S. Marine Corps, as well as their knife-fighting techniques. Not designed for grace and precision, but for swiftness and lethality — and learned to mastery in about 13 weeks.

If you're going to employ physical violence, always hit your opponent with Level 10 coming out of the gate... meaning, ELIMINATE your adversary as swiftly as possible, ENSURING that he cannot fight another day.

— Zesko Whirligan

i dont think anyone can tell you the best for you , my advice is go to a couple difrent types just to check out witch one will suit you the best, from my experiance some are alittle confuseing im sure if you turn up to a class and talk to the instructor an tell him you just want to try it out and see how it goes and try a couple before joyning.
good luck

Personally I would go for Jeet Kune Do however it is best that you have a previous martial art experience (though not necessary) because you really need to be fit and flexible. Jeet kune do is a type of martial art that has all other martial arts thrown into it. However dont maistake that for too many forms. Bruce lee who founded this art only took what is really needed from other arts and made it into one form. In self defense if you master this form it is awesome as the form teaches you to disable the opponent in the fastest way by reading the opponents moves and reacting to it.

Originally posted by passenger

Originally posted by DisturbedToo
If you're being attacked, causing extreme and lasting damage should be your main priority!...The bottom line is eliminate your attacker, don't disable him!

This is the most sensible things I have ever seen written about self-defense/martial arts.

Whatever art you study, there are a few rules you need to know and abide by. If whatever master you are studying under doesn’t teach or understand them then you have the wrong art and/or teacher.

First: In a real fight, expect to get hurt. Even if you win you still might get hurt. If you cannot stand getting hurt then run away or get a gun.

Second: Even though you probably will get hurt, hurt the other guy more than he hurts you. That’s the essence of winning a fight. He splits your lip, so you break his arm. He blackens your eye so you choke him out. As DisturbedTool said, “ causing extreme damage…should be your priority”! ( I would argue the “lasting” part but that’s another matter of debate)

Third: There are no rules in a real fight. I’m not talking about a punch-up with your buddy over a girlfriend. I’m not talking about a shoving match with some idiot that cuts in line in the local Quickie-Mart. I’m talking about a real struggle with someone that is seeking to hurt you. In this case, there are NO rules. Eye gouging, biting, kicks to the groin, punches to the throat are all allowed – and encouraged. If you have a school or trainer that says. “Well, we never go that far” or “that’s not really our style”, get out.

I concur about everything you say here. More importantly the part about a scuffle with someone you know. This is about a stranger trying to do you or your family major bodily harm, not a buddy you got drunk with and get in to a scuffle.
PS I hope you sincerely misquoted my name......cause I would take offense to it.

Originally posted by loner007
Personally I would go for Jeet Kune Do

Jeet is an impressive "style" developed by Bruce Lee back in the 1970s, but it's not so much a "style" as it is an attitude.

Remember, Bruce Lee employed many styles in the development of Jeet, but he was adament that you not become trapped into a "style" of fighting. Rather, he admonished his students to be fluid, like water, using whatever technique was appropriate for a given situation.

While other techniques were fairly rigid and inflexible, Jeet had no boundaries. Which was why so many traditional martial arts masters destained Bruce Lee's fighting "style"... Frankly, using Jeet, you could defeat almost any other technique, simply because it had no boundaries.

— Zesko Whirligan

sems like everyone who's posting is simply suggesting their personal favorite form. as one poster said.. read what she posted exactly. telling a young woman with little upper body strength she needs to learn how to choke out, or use joint locks etc. sorry. not gonna happen. a person with no upper body strength is not going to be able to choke out an attacker, (i'm 6'3'', 260 lbs, and have had trouble choking out a surrender) especially in a situation where that attacker may be druggin.. myself, i've studied jkd, krav maga, judo and a little muy thai. personally, i would normally suggest krav maga. but, in this particular situation, focusing on legs, and limited strength, i'd have to suggest muy thai and dim mak, or some other nerve and pressure point striking system, these two coupled with a few basic hold breaking moves should be sufficient, at least to start with. i'd focus on low attacks, legs and groin area. as far as weapons as someone suggested, i'd learn some escrima... substituting an expandable baton, which could easily be carried in a purse, handbag or even just a back pocket and of course a taser and pepper spray are great.
just think:, you spray him in the face, crack his skull with your baton, break both kneecaps, hit a nerve and knock him out, then tase him.. just for good measure..
it'll be excruciatingly painful... he'll live.. probably walk with a limp for the rest of his life, and have to explain what happened while he's waiting to get out of jail.

but that's just my opinion...

There are a number of techniques that petit women or even children can utilize to render a full grown man helpless, and I'm not talking about a knee to the groin... This latter move, incidentally, is extraordinarily dangerous to try on some male attackers, as there is no guarantee that it will disable him. In some instances, a knee to the groin will simply infuriate an attacker, thus escalating the intensity of the attack.

I was demonstrating to my young nephews just a few days ago a move that will bring even an enraged adult attacker to his knees, begging for relief, and it doesn't require a great deal of strength at all: The Windpipe Choke. If you can crush a paper cup in your hand, you can use the thumb and fingers of one hand to grip an assailant's windpipe; and, I'm telling you, your attacker will become as obedient as a whipped dog when you have his windpipe in your grip.

With a bit more pressure, the windpipe will collapse, at which point physical attack will be the last thing (literally) on your assailant's mind. The wedge hand to the windpipe, similarly, has devastating results.

— Zesko Whirligan

reply to post by Zesko Whirligan


I learned a long time ago in a class on how to get out of that. It does not take a lot of skill to get out of a wind pipe choke at all. It does require you to focus when you first reaction is to panic since you can't breath. All you have to do is simply turn your head to the side as far as you can. This is where stretching and conditioning come in to play. Like I mentioned before the biggest set back for this method is to not panic when you can't breath.

Become well rounded, practice with everyone who is diffrent, retain what works for you once you know its works.
I only made two suggestions or styles I enjoy, I dont think any one style is better then the other, but when you look at whats being taught to our military, cops and other enforcement teams, I take notice and tend to focus on working around what they are doing.
I mention Kav Magra before she made changes to her post,but wanting to defend yourself without hurting the other person.........REALLY????
So your willing to keep making yourself a victim over and over and over as long as your able to defeat their attack......HHhhhmmmmm I would rethink that if I were you. Face it, when people attack you cant play nice, Im not saying you have to remove the persons eyes, but lay them out enough for you to walk away safely. Vengence is a diffrent game, dont get it confused with Defensive Personality.
Just my thoughts

Originally posted by Rhadamanthus
I learned a long time ago in a class on how to get out of that. It does not take a lot of skill to get out of a wind pipe choke at all.

The intent of the choker makes the difference — if you have every intent of crushing the windpipe, there is no time for a counter move, particularly if you are choking from behind your adversary. Presumably, in a life-or-death situation, you would immediately crush the windpipe.

If, however, you hesitate, or your resolve to kill is not firm, yes, an attacker could simply turn away from such a hold. The trick is not to hesitate.

— Zesko Whirligan

My father was a WWII Marine who came back from the South Pacific with a few very nasty jungle-fighting skills, designed to silence and put down armed attackers in a matter of seconds and with cold-blooded efficiency. He instructed us, as kids, in a variety of interesting moves, some of which included knife-fighting skills, but none of which I've ever had to employ against another human being, thankfully.

The Marines have refined their hand-to-hand combat training since WWII, as you might imagine.

— Zesko Whirligan

reply to post by notsofast

I don't think you're choking the right way then.

It takes a lot of force to crush the trachea from a choke.

What doesn't take a lot of force is to depress the carotid arteries, I can easily do this with little force, just with my thumbs essentially.

Hell, High school kids do this as a game (press the arteries, see how long it takes to pass out.)

It would probably just be easier for her to carry some mace.

Though as far as martial arts, I have to go with my old standby, ... Jeet Kune Do. The way of the intercepting fist.

It is straight forward, no nonsense street fighting. designed to give you the best form for defense, as well as using economy of motion to give you the best leverage for speed and punching power.

It also emphasis that a punch is just a punch, and a kick is just a kick, no flashy stuff, simply using what you need to defeat your enemy. Attacking the most vulnerable parts of the body, such as the throat, eyes, nose, groin area.

To be adaptable to any situation, .... to "know" nothing, yet be prepared for anything.