Best Martial Arts For Women's Self Defense Ranked

[@dennismason3740]

In 2011 I was performing, with electric guitar and voice, on Hollywood Boulevard. After a couple of hours I found myself facing eleven (!) high school punks who were intent on grabbing my gear and money. In a couple of seconds I was swinging, with unbending intent, an 8 pound piece of wood in their direction. One had grabbed my tip cup and run away. The swinging guitar discouraged them and they went away. I packed my gear and went home. there was a dollar in the tip cup. I miss the cup. Guitar-Swing Do.

[@brokentypewriterprod]

Kata = Air Guitar

[@dennismason3740]

@@brokentypewriterprod Abso-frikken-lutely. Air guitar (going metal) is an excellent technique and many sad kids are discouraged about the practice. Air guitar IS guitar, is music, is flow.

[@ch0wned]

Bro, it is called an Axe. (Rock On)

[@craigjones8518]

Those eleven kids were me, or rather the spiritual manifestation of me. I did that to teach you to stop playing stupid music and get a life. I see you failed to learn your lesson.

[@MarcRitzMD]

Imagine breaking your electric guitar to prevent from stealing your dollar-tip

[@baywest]

I think the thing everyone forgets when they talk about women's self defense, is the fact that although the biggest fear is being attacked randomly while you walking outside, the majority of actual attacks are from people you already know. Especially when it comes to S/A, most of the perpetrators are classmates, coworkers, "friends", family, and generally people in a higher social power like coaches, teachers, doctors, religious figures, etc. These are people you know, and a lot of times respect originally. So once these people cross the line with your body, your first instinct isn't going to be to punch, kick, knee them in the face. You might not be comfortable doing that immediately because the whole situation is confusing atm. They are someone you respect after all. You know what you might be more comfortable doing if you're trained though? Grip fighting, clinch work, pummeling for underhooks Overall just grappling to get a better position. You don't necessarily cross the line to violence when you do this. And this is so huge because many people get taken advantage of because they are unsure whether to cross that line or not and many times it becomes too late. I don't think people really consider this fact when they talk about women's self defense and honestly that's why I would put grappling arts like BJJ way at the top.

[@katokianimation]

Also bjj liturally teaches you how to get to a dominant position if somebody tries to rape you and neutrilize them without doing harm. Most rape goes like this. The woman is alone with a man she alredy known. The man start to undress her, she say stop. He don't stop. She freeze. The man rapes her. When the woman is actually attacked by the man it isn't like boxing. Men don't fight with women like with other men. They grab you by your clothes or your hair and pull you to the ground. Like you were a f*cking animal. Knowing how to break grips is much more relevant skill to save you from an assault than knowing how to duck under a punch and throw an elbow from an odd angle. I think Ramsey was too generous with striking. A small guy who have been boxing for 1 years against a tall untrained heavy weight is a beat up. Of the small guy. A wake up call. If you are not elite level no way you are going to stand against somebody who is bigger and strongger. Esspecially if it is a woman vs man scenario. In bjj we have open weight division. Sometimes an experienced woman can just dominate bigger stronger guys and win. In a striking contest no way.

[@K4113B4113]

Interesting reasoning and a pretty good point. It'd also be difficult for a rapist to rape an individual with a BJJ black belt.

[@ajochum]

Funny enough that is excatly what Rener and Eve Gracie often point to... you need to have escalating levels of skills. As a woman even more so. From confidence and saying NO to escaping compromising positions and locations to grappling for dominant positions to using actual violence. Most women have a natural reluctance to engage in actual violence. That´s why in many cases even after extensive self defence courses they simply freeze and fail once push comes to shove...

[@MarcRitzMD]

What you're describing is the most important thing that needed to be pointed out and argued for. It becomes more apparent if we think of self-defense for children. Children have a much higher likelihood of facing violence. Bullying is so real and sometimes children end up in a fight even with people they like. Emotions are just a little less under control. It's absolutely worthless for that child to be a great striker. That child has one tool with which to approach any threat of violence, and that tool will maximally escalate the situation. An opponent as well as bystanders who were not committed to violence might then turn violent. A situation became worse than it had to. Considerations for self-defense might not even have any weight in the court of public opinion. Some schools might have zero-tolerance to begin with. And the actual law might get involved of the parents decide to sue.

[@Johnsonrichelle]

Exactly this. You can tell a woman all day long to gouge out here attacker's eyes and whatnot, but given the likelihood that the attacker is her brother-in-law, boss, pastor, neighbor....mostly it's not going to happen.

[@ahumanoidoforiginx7957]

“Most injuries in street altercations happen because of the street” Damn really takes street fighter to the next level

[@TITANia69420]

Self Defense against the Street

[@ahumanoidoforiginx7957]

@@TITANia69420 the eldritch horror awaits the blood of its servants

[@michaelnurge1652]

He's right. I've been there before. It's been used against me and I've used it against others. Other terrain will come into play too. Knowing how to fall is huge, or knowing how to not get knocked down or taken down (though there's no way to stop everything). Breaking it down to women's self defense, I would take a different tack. Any system which emphasizes awareness and fitness. Fitness especially. I'd like to say realistic confidence. You stand a certain way, you move a certain way, you make contact (verbally, physically, whatever). Know yourself, know your terrain, be able to judge (potential) attackers. What was said about running away...it depends. I'm 6'4" and over 300#; I'm not going to outrun anyone. Someone built like me attacks you and you've got more speed, get out of there. Someone smaller who's a bit more vicious or in better shape, you may not be able to avoid...especially if you have an injury or if you're not dressed to run or whatever. In that case, you have to do what I do...show threat and back it up if necessary. Mace, pepper spray, whatever you've got. Best martial art is whatever lets you keep your cool and use whatever you need to do to get out of that situation whichever way you have to.

[@Wilbafarce]

Street wins!!!!

[@-whackd]

Where did he cite this statistical research from

[@springbloom5940]

Im a woman. Ive done shorin ryu, boxing and judo, for about 35 years. Im a veteran and teach combatives on the private circuit as a military and LE force developer. Boxing is fantastic because it teaches you how to endure a beating; which is by far the most valuable self-defense skill you'll ever learn. No one ever wants to hear it, but 99% of the time, if its 'self-defense', its because you are already in what we call 'the hole' - an assailant has initiative and is in close contact; youre already getting your ass kicked, by the time you realize theres even a problem. More often than not, the best option is to just take it. Ride it out and don't make it worse. Your property and even your body, is not worth risking injury, jail or worse. That said, because self-defense is about survival and escape, the *only* organized martial art that applies, is judo. It *does not* require a great deal of time to learn defense applicable techniques. Expertise in a couple of high percentage ashi waza will get you out of 90% of violent encounters you ever experience and provide an opportunity for escape. The judo versions of those techniques are precise, simple, surprising and scalable in force from an accidental trip, to driving them six feet deep into the concrete. The karate versions of those techniques will often be a little more practical, because they can be brute forced without an overcommitment or a loss of initiative in a failure. Judo also works with vertical surfaces, hard surfaces and confined spaces, which is habitually neglected by instructors.

[@SouthPadreTony]

Well said! 👏

[@beastmode2990]

I dont want to sound mean or anything but i highly doubt no matter the training you have you can take 3 punches from a man to the face and endure the beating now we talk about a street so if they try to rob you they will propably have a knife or so so no matter what you know doesn't work against knifes lets say on a house if a man assault's you are done fore either have a gun and train your self to actually know how to use it or habe a machete you haven't been punched in the face by a man to the face you will go down easy

[@SoilRanger]

This comment should be higer in the ranks. Many thanks!

[@anonymousstacker2044]

Interesting comparison between karate and judo. I don't know karate, but I know that fear of losing initiative in judo, with certain throws where you end up giving your back when sparring with groundwirk

[@junemoonchild69]

WING CHUN SUPERIOR. 🫳☺️🫴

[@RamseyDewey]

I had a great time talking to you Rokas! Thanks for putting this video together.

[@ultraghost3870]

About kickboxing gyms that say they also training muyai thai, is this good for someone who wants to learn muyai thai?

[@BobBob-il2ku]

Do you have a video on real MMA training vs different martial art classes taught under the same roof. That was an interesting topic

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Thank you Ramsey! It was an awesome and very educational experience for myself!

[@aronnemcsik]

you guys didn't talked about Catch wrestling and if it would be useful or not. I'm sad

[@aronnemcsik]

@@MartialArtsJourney I'm sad you guys didn't talked about Catch wrestling...

[@bountyhunter1303]

My wife is a small woman. She has done some boxing, kickboxing, freestyle karate and eskrima. She had to spar in each system against bigger men. She didnt like hitting them or getting hit. But she said it "ruined her" cuz she became more aware of her surroundings, what people are doing, what her possible response would be. She goes for runs alone, she took to long 1 time, I asked why? She said saw couple guys, they started running after I passed, so I stopped to "tie my shoe", let them go by. They smiled kept going, but I was wondering what could happen. So for her the idea of environment, spacial awareness, processing what could happen, how to deal w it. It what she got from training.

[@Defender78]

a great thing on Boxing for women is that proper punches are taught. Many untrained people, especially women, may think the "hatchet chop" swinging punch is the way to go, and poor thumb placement, inside the fist, etc. Boxing lessons will cure this for sure, and will give women an edge in fighting.

[@n0xure]

​@@Defender78 Lots of guys underestimate women because they overestimate size & strength vs speed & foot control. The first line of defence is always not allowing the opponent to get close. The average couch potato is already going to worn out after two or three attempts to grab her - and if they do manage to get into the danger zone they're likely to be reckless and open to some real nasty counters like an uppercut to the chin or a kick in the balls.

[@GonzoTehGreat]

Situational Awareness is a huge, yet overlooked part of self defence, because it helps you avoid or escape potentially dangerous situations. Unfortunately, this isn't something that Martial Arts are able to teach effectively. As for the techniques they teach, they should really just be honest and tell students that what they're learning MIGHT help them in a street fight, but it's not designed or intended to do so.

[@beastmode2990]

​@@n0xurebroooo😂😂😂😂 couch potatoes dont go on assaults they play video games 😂😂😂😂 lets for example say a thug goes to assault and steal a woman what chance's you give to a world boxing champion in women's division against someone who's been punching and getting punch by other men in the hood? Or in other areas in the world bro she is done in like 3 punches she doesn't have the physical endurance not the strength to take 3 full power full grown male punches

[@Wrathchild244]

Aikido teaches situational awareness@@GonzoTehGreat

[@michellek.163]

As a woman who is just starting my martial art journey in earnest (about a year in now), my two cents is that mental training should be the most emphasized aspect of any women-focused self defense training. Many comments have already alluded to this idea, but being physically capable of performing any given technique is a far-cry from being in the right state of mind to execute it. I appreciate Rokas and Ramsey's conversation and critical assessment of the general training and culture surrounding most styles, but as they say in other videos, find a martial art with a mindset and techniques that suit your personality, and then train with a mindset of "How can I use this in real life?" Constantly thinking about the context of situations and most importantly, how you might feel in a situation, helps train the mind how to respond to a situation much like training your reflexes to block a strike. Mental simulations are no replacement for actually being in a high stress situation, but its better than no preparation at all. So in conclusion, if you enjoy training an "F' rated martial art style, but you have a handful full of extremely practical techniques AND are prepared to use them, then more power to you, and your personal preparation is what will make the most difference in the end. (Full disclosure, I have been training in practical Tai Chi/Korean-based Kung Fu aka "Wushu" and am fortunate that my teacher is as close to a master as you can find in the US, and he teaches us practical applications in every class. So I am biased haha.) Frankly, (this is getting to soapbox territory) the focus on women's self defense in martial arts is double-edged sword, in my opinion. Most women I know are too intimidated by how 'intense' martial arts seems to feel confident enough that they can train and execute techniques. The focus of the 'martial' aspect of self-defense (ie physical training) sometimes comes at a cost to the 'art' (ie mental training). Martial arts are incredibly effective to train your mind and body in tandem, to help you become more connected and confident in yourself, and the bonus is that the physical movements you are doing can help you protect your life as well. With the assumption that many women have greater difficulties in building true confidence and comfortableness with their bodies, I hope to see more martial art schools to be more diverse and inclusive in training students who may not want to be super focused on self-defense and just train martial arts for their own personal enrichment. Stepping off the soapbox now.

[@DirectorBurgundy]

Completely agree. I trained with a lot of women at the Krav gym I went to, and the most important thing taught and practiced, every class, was mental toughness & fighting through exhaustion. Most classes would also teach/practice using your voice alongside strikes/resistance to try and build a habit of drawing attention in a high stress situation. For the purpose of true & practical self defense I think these are the most important pieces, because, as mentioned in the video, most people freeze in high stress circumstances. I don't think there is any martial art which would allow a 100-130 lbs person, man or woman, to defeat some drunk or aggressive 180 lbs+ dude. However it can train such a person to de-escalate/escape when possible, or fight like hell and convince the assailant that this target isn't worth the effort, or draw enough attention for someone else to intervene. It also doesn't hurt to give people some confidence so they don't walk around looking like a victim, which is also supposed to be a significant factor in how assailants determine their targets.

[@BethJehovah]

The physical martial training is mental. You grow as your skill grows. They are connected.

[@nienna91a]

One other thing you learn in the first year of judo, is to stay on your feet. If your objective is to try and run away, which is usually a good idea in a self defense situation, being on your feet is a good thing.

[@katokianimation]

In some extent bjj also teach you that. If you are standing still in somebody's spider or dlr guard, probably you will have much better ballance than an avarge person. As i heard bjj players who don't want to wrestle with you are actually pretty pain in the ass to take down. And I'm not talking about guard pulling or butt scooting

[@antoniojaguilar]

Krav Maga does the same thing. Most of the ground fighting in Krav is focused on getting up off the ground and back on your feet so you can escape or be in less danger from multiple attackers. That's why I think BJJ is so great for competition and one on one fights but falls flat elsewhere. If you're attacked by two or more people in a concrete parking lot, taking one person down with a knee pluck and then trying to choke them out doesn't work as well while the other person is kicking you in the back of the head and the concrete is grinding your skin off.

[@Fatelvis2]

@@antoniojaguilar I take BJJ I was taking a self defense school at a MMA school which also teaches BJJ at 1 point I took someone down and started grappling with him and the instructor said woah dont play the JJ game get up and get out

[@kaen4299]

@@katokianimation Pure BJJ players are pretty easy to take down if you are a stand up grappler. I've seen some higher belt(Sanddan/Yondan) and competetive Judokas in BJJ classes, and the pure BJJ guys stopped caring at some point about the takedowns because they couldn't do anything about it. None of their takedowns worked against the Judokas, they only worked against the other pure BJJ guys. They just waited to be thrown or taken down and then continued with the usual BJJ stuff. Not their fault and i guess it's okay in that environment since it's a BJJ class. But if those mats were concrete or any other hard surface, they would had been mashed potatoes. Same would probably be the case if those Judoka were Wrestlers around the same level of experience. The stand-up skills of a pure BJJ guy is often times only good against other pure BJJ guys or a non experienced average joe.

[@katokianimation]

@@kaen4299 1. many high level wrestlers and judokas said that if the bjj player don't want to engage and they avoid is hard to take them down. In wrestling and judo there are rules that prevents any form of stalling. They don't practice how to take someone down who avoids hip to hip and chest to chest conection. They except their opponent to attack and open themself for attacks. Also you can't grab the belt to shot down takedown atempt. Esspecially not in wrestling. 2. You guys need to start skateboarding or do parkour. Your expectation of what is falling on concrete is way off. 3. On the street we don't wear gis and you can punch the judoka in the face while he is trying to rip your tshirt of. Or sometimes you don't have enough space to take someone down anyway.... It is so assholish to getting ass whoped at a training enviroment then go justifie it with okay if the floor was lava i would won... that isn't what they were signed up for. 4. In my experience judokas are fish out water if you grab their leg. They have zero double leg or single leg defense. And their stance is too high. 5. That never happens. Most of the time judokas are not picking up fights with randos on the street who also happened to be experienced pure bjj players. This us vs them mentality is so toxic.

[@enthusiasticgrog465]

@ramseydewey I'd love to see you do a part 2 with a woman who is a self defense trainer for a women's organization. Women and their experiences are essential.

[@RhythmAddictedState]

YES!

[@sandpiperr]

Yes! I would like to hear from an actual woman on this.

[@aintnotroublebigenough]

My thoughts exactly 💯

[@marionmetathink3234]

Bro thought men know better is my impression on the male only panel.

[@angelaboucher5895]

I am 47 years old, 138 pounds and have been boxing for 1 year and have just started to light spar with bigger, stronger, more skilled men. What I have learned in 1 year is that- I know less than I thought I did half a year ago! I think it is wise to train long enough to know that there is so much more to learn. Loving it all.

[@IR5464...]

I really enjoyed this vid! I'm a lifelong martial arts journeyist. I started out in judo, then ninjutsu 🤦‍♂️, karate, kickboxing, muy thai, bjj, mma, submission wrestling. Now I've finally come back to judo at 43 years old, I'm loving it! ❤️. My own experience agrees with a point made over and over in this video... One years training in any martial art is not enough to become really good. However I'm a 110kg guy and i get absolutely thrashed on the judo mat by a 55kg female blackbelt!

[@waefawawrgaw2835]

In a real fight that 55kg woman would get destroyed by any man at 110kg lmao

[@kayladenette2050]

@Paul it’s true that on avg men are stronger strikers than women. but the avg man’s strikes could def be evaded by a well trained women. and to add to that; most of the people a woman may need to defend herself against is unlikely to be very well trained themselves

[@jessieli8499]

Ninjutsu after Judo is wild ngl😂

[@lady_draguliana784]

I am a life-long martial artist, military veteran, and woman. when asked this question, I generally say something akin to "buy and train with mace and learn to run, parkour too if you're in a city"

[@piotrd.4850]

Hear, hear!

[@rlockwood88]

The best self defense is to disengage! As a decent sized man I also ascribe to this one.

[@LowTier-g2n]

this isn't a video game, I don't who told you this but your advice is not realistic at all.

[@lady_draguliana784]

@@LowTier-g2n are you aiming that comment at the video, or at me? if the former, you hit the wrong reply button. if the latter, enlighten me, how is a frightened and surprised average woman (NIH Says that's about 5'5"/140lbs) supposed to out-box or out grapple an angry/determined average man (NIH says 5'9"/180lbs)? Do you think you could beat someone 40lbs+ of mostly muscle bigger than you, with 4-6" of reach advantage, with only a few days training? sure, someone like Rhonda Rousey could likely win that fight, if her foe were totally untrained and kinda out of shape. But we're talking an average woman, ONLY learning the bare minimum to defend herself (NOT a dedicated martial artists/fitness guru). so the premise is more akin to, "what're things she could learn in a couple of disparate workshop seminars, each only a couple hours, and make real use of"

[@LowTier-g2n]

@@lady_draguliana784 I'm talking about real life combat, not tournament crap. You really got to understand how dangerous real combat is, this isn't a movie with plot armor protecting you, anybody can die from this or suffer life long injuries any day. let's use your example with Rhonda Rousey , if her foe was untrained and kinda out of shape he can still win, he can use a firearm, he can use a knife, he can use any type of weapon, his friends can join in the fight, all those examples drastically boost his chances of winning the conflict. I'm not saying it's a automatic win for him, but with a shiity ego I say her odds of winning against those examples with just martial dancing is very unlikely to win. Parkour? Have you ever been in a city before?. I suggest not using "military veteran" as a credential, you disrespected your nation's military and the dead.

[@GABA-Gool]

I think learning "dirty boxing" is very essential if you want to use your boxing for self defense. It's hard to train without accidental injuries, so most gyms don't do it, but it is very useful. It'll teach you how to work inside of a clinch; manipulate your opponents shoulders/arms to open up striking opportunities, how you can still strike in awkward situations, using your elbows to block/strike, dragging the opponents head down to knock them off balance, etc. "Clean" boxing is still great to learn, but it more-so focuses on how to manage your distance/range; land full extension punches, chaining combinations, managing stamina, etc. That kind of environment is more-so teaching you a sport than focusing on what dangerous situations you'll likely encounter out in public. So I think learning at least a few dirty boxing techniques in your boxing game can raise its effectiveness for self defense.

[@rlockwood88]

Muay Thai is good for this. Clinch striking is a large component of that art

[@undeadc0de199]

My mother trained in taekwondo in the late 80s and early 90s (and sparred hard wayyyy more often than I would now in MMA), and did live grappling-oriented self defence classes at the same time. When she was a teenager she did judo at some school club too. She grew up somewhere pretty rough, and I've heard a few stories from and about her. In her 20s she front kicked the shit out of a much bigger guy who attacked her. Later on the moron threatened to go to the police (he didn't unsurprisingly). A few years before that, she put a drunk guy who got too close and made threats on the ground at a bar. I don't think mum has ever weighed more than 50kg, so I have no doubt that a lot of luck was involved, but she has always been very athletic. Some of my earliest memories are of watching her kick people off balance (loud snapping kicks too, with the protective gear they wore) and not getting kicked herself. I remember her school's head coach was a pretty unique guy; it was a WTF school but I'm not sure how conventional or representative it was of TKD ar the rime (eg they did serious board breaking, there were rubber knives at the gym, etc).

[@me0101001000]

your mom's so aggressive that she beat up the big scary guy and made the streets safer, and we are all grateful to her

[@theironfox2756]

Sounds like military TKD.

[@JivecattheMagnificent]

That does sound like how the WTF would have been, back then. I trained in the UK with the TAGB, which was WTF until the 80s, then broke away in Great Britain, and they still train now more or less how the WTF trained in the 80s (so lots of sparring, knife defense stuff, patterns, no bouncing up and down, the strikes were delivered with hip twists, so on, so on, we even did some very basic grappling). I think Taekwon-Do has quite a bad name due to how it's developed almost purely into a sport, but like you say, people that trained WTF "back in the day" had a very different experience.

[@waefawawrgaw2835]

Lmao and the whole train clapped. I promise you any man at least 130 pounds with little training would easily destroy her

[@markdaniels4178]

Boxing, judo, and some form of kicking boxing is all you need; boxing combined with judo , or boxing with wrestling is all you need ass a woman for self defense

[@Frankie1622]

Finally we have a proper distinction on what separates wrestling in a fight from the rest of grappling… and have labelled what isn’t wrestling as well

[@Jess-cw6tf]

To test from my white belt to purple, our instructor did a bull ring. I had to fend off mulitple atrackers from all belt levels (white first, then purple, then blue, etc.) After 5 minutes of exhausting madness, I then had to fight our professor. It was one of the most beneficial, eye opening exercises I've ever done.

[@luwinson3047]

wtf? white to purple ? Were you a professional athlete/martial artist in other field already ? Or how could u skip the whole rank?

[@rickyrain7773]

Wait what?

[@Sofuss]

Really deep, polite and informative conversation. Props for talking about Sambo!

[@relativisticvel]

BJJ for dealing with male on female intimate partner violence. Because it’s the only art that deals with being attacked by someone who is between your legs while you are on your back.

[@wardrunaragnar5031]

I think BJJ is terrible as a self defence. Zero striking, fight always gets taken to the ground, only train 1v1, no defence against a knife, I could go on. To have it as part of your arsenal, absolutely; as a stand alone self defence? No. Save it for the mat.

[@relativisticvel]

@ BJJ isn’t enough, but it is essential. You need some sort of grappling and some sort of weapon art.

[@Jess-cw6tf]

Also, when I started training, my instructor was very honest with me stating that as a woman, I had such a small stature, but was so quick and bendy that he decided to train me to my strengths, quick kicks, quick punches, chokes, eye gouges, etc. I can now kick to someone's head at punching range with no projection and that has saved me from being attacked. One head kick and the confidence that I may not win because of my small stature, but I will sure as hell hurt someone who has ill intent and leave many many marks makes me feel damn good.

[@AK-jt7kh]

Thanks for this comment Jess. I just started Muay Thai and this video feels pretty discouraging - like why am I bothering? But your comment makes me feel a little better.

[@sexmansex4776]

just don't get your leg caught. i had my leg caught by a judoka one time and the slamming i got made me see judokas as my sleep paralysis demon.

[@putonghua73]

​​@@AK-jt7khDon't be discouraged. The average person - not particularly athletic, no / little training - is not going to achieve much against some determined, athletic and trained. Training a martial art that has a degree of pressure testing / resistance (light / technical sparring against a classmate who is resisting / fighting back) is much better than just sitting on the couch. It stands to reason that you stand a much better chance in an altercation if you can defend yourself i.e. can punch, kick, use knees, elbows, clinches, and know distance management and *never* to cross your feet. I like / train Muay Thai because you can get the basics down fairly quickly, and knowing how to punch and kick are vital, especially how to defend yourself (cover up). Same reason why I like boxing re: learning how to punch, cover up, feet and head movement. Forget the flashy stuff. Focus on the fundamentals and get them down well. Jab, cross, hook, teap, roundhouse kick. Failing that, be sure to wear sensible running shoes and have good cardio!

[@dante19890]

thats a bad idea. Have peppar spray in ur bag and run

[@thelaundryman9287]

​@@AK-jt7khMuay Thai is very useful imo. I train K1 kickboxing personally but I have a friend who trains Muay Thai and he got his sister to train Muay Thai, she was attacked by a guy she knew at her college (attempted SA) and she defended herself using Muay Thai (elbowed and knee'd the guy and teeped him away). She got away unharmed with the guy's blood on her elbow, the guy got kicked out and she's a certified G at her gym 😂. Don't let this video discourage you if it does. Keep training sis, in most self defence situations, it's aggression, speed and willingness to deal damage that wins. I'm a small guy 5'6 65kg, and used to get f'd up as a beginner by bigger guys. Now I'm around intermediate level and just today in sparring I dropped a guy taller and heavier than me who used to give me nosebleeds lol. Once you figure out how to apply your gym's style to your body, your fitness improves aswell as your competence in Muay Thai you'll be a weapon. Long story short, keep training.

[@KaitlynBurnellMath]

Ahh, the previous Rokas Icy Mike tier list is the thing that actually got me to sign up for a martial art. That was actually the video that got me to "get out there and train." (I'm signed up with a Jiu Jitsu gymn now) And yeah, Ramsey Dewey is absolutely right about me having leg strength. I still nearly always lose "2-on-1s" with arms where I'm trying to use two of my arms to remove one arm from a man. But I've definitely gotten comments of "oh, you actually have leg strength!" Jiu Jitsu being an art where legs do a lot of the work (defending, attacking, triangles) this has helped a lot.

[@KJBtheMosFett]

You made the right choice. They're a little bias towards the traditional bs here.

[@kaen4299]

@@KJBtheMosFett How so? Almost every traditional martial art is below the combat sport martial arts on their list.

[@bigolbearthejammydodger6527]

I wish you all the best young lady. One point - Does your club spar? If not, find one that does. that's all. jujitsu is a solid reliable and historically tested by real soldiers who needed it to survive. Provided you practice it vs an opponent who is actually trying to hurt/dominate you its an excellent choice.

[@KaitlynBurnellMath]

@@bigolbearthejammydodger6527 We spar, although for reasons of avoiding injury I'm not doing freeform sparring all that often right now. (I do the passing drills, where we use force, and go until either someone passes a guard, sweeps, or a submission happens. So like...smaller, more controlled scenario focused sparring. Rarely get injured doing that. Have been injured several times in the freeform sparring).

[@bigolbearthejammydodger6527]

@@KaitlynBurnellMath yeh in the early stages of learning you need to spar with people who understand your limitations. this is usually the more high ranked people there. Ive seen many situations of whitebelts beating the hell out of each other. keep at it, youll get there

[@andreaslack8379]

I am a woman who started my martial arts journey five years ago in my mid 50s. My start was with Krav Maga. For all the criticisms, it gave me some important basics such as bare handed punches and alternates like palm heel strikes which are more suitable in some cases. It also gave me techniques that one just doesn't encounter in a sport martial art. Where it lacked was no sparring which led me into Boxing and Muay Thai and Jiu-jitsu. Boxing and Muay Thai gave me plenty of sparring with striking. That helped me develop faster reflexes and used to taking a hit. They also helped my physical conditioning. Jiu-Jitsu gave useful grappling skills that in self defense which would be good for escaping. Overall I feel all these all have reinforced each other.

[@talsubach5979]

It always amazes me that you have the dedication to edit a 3 hour video :) Safe training!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Luckily I had some help with this one! But the Icy Mike one I did myself :D

[@whiskeybook]

As a person who is trying to start a channel, I couldn't agree more. So much work.

[@nr1NPC]

@@MartialArtsJourney Jeet Kune Do being so lowly ranked is quite uneducated rating. Go watch Jeff (the asian guy) who is a competitive MMA fighter who spar a Jeet Kune Do guy. Its basically like MMA but more focused on stand up

[@thesupportingcast6972]

As a woman my vote is: BJJ and Muay Thai. I have done martial arts for almost 10 years. That is my vote. I do both. Also, having/training the ability to string them together. People need to stop thinking that (as a BJJ practitioner) for some reason we never trained to throw hands... and vice-versa when we train Muay Thai.

[@AnaLu07]

I'm a woman, i'm training Muay Thai for about one year. I'm going to train for some more years and maybe start bjj after that. Sawadee Kap🙏

[@thesupportingcast6972]

@@AnaLu07 It's a fantastic combination! - If you can throw hands, feet, knees, and learn to fight off your back... you're on a great path to very solid self defense skills. Just my opinion 💓

[@bluwater1422]

I did boxing, wrestling,Muay Thai & BJJ & I'm a female myself but I did this 4 a few years

[@twojointsjay7330]

Just want to say on BJJ - yes, it allows you to beat larger, stronger opponents, if they're untrained. First time I rolled I got tapped out about 8 times in 5 minutes by a 12 year old girl. For reference I was 26 at the time and had done Dutch kickboxing and muay thai for years. Even trying to use my brute strength, as a white belt in BJJ I was getting tapped by a 12 year old girl with a blue belt. This is invaluable for women. Also, BJJ is like the anti-r**e martial art, since it teaches you how to defend yourself while someone bigger and stronger is on top of you. You don't have to be an anthropology expert to understand why that is invaluable for women to know. As a final, more general point - "women's self defense" is a marketing term and should be seen as a red flag in and of itself. Usually the label of "women's self defense" is just as shield to protect a gym that teaches substandard martial arts.

[@hounamao7140]

that last point: exactly why I don't purchase anything labelled "woman". Feels like it means same price lower dosage for about anything (sport/supplement/service). Thank you for your comment on BJJ. I'm really debating between BJJ and Judo. Been doing weightlifting for 10 years and considering adding a combat sport to test out that strength a bit.

[@kalash2874]

I think the video is healthy though, this is more about the topic than selling a "womans self defense". Im trying to talk my wife in doing martial arts with me so im watching for tips to use in persuade her 🙃

[@FredKuneDo]

Quick Note on Kyokushin and Women: If Women are training in Kyokushin, they have to spar with relatively hard contact in training as well. It is the idea of Kyokushin that you actually have sparring matches for belt ranking, along with physical goals you have to reach (increasing numbers of push-ups, pull-ups, squats and sit-ups) I think the offspin-styles, like Ashihara, Enshin or others which adopted "full contact", do this in the same way. Given the "1 year" it is acutally really difficult, cause ALL striking styles/sports have to deal with the physical stats and skills the beginner is bringing to the Gym or Dojo. So it is possible that woman a) is allready experiencing sparring in Kyokushin, but woman b) in Boxing is still working on pad drills or vice versa.

[@thebarkcrystal]

thank you for the thoughtful analysis! would love to see a follow up video with feedback from women included too.

[@carlh296]

My daughter is a black belt karate, I know her capabilities and that of her fellow female black belts at the club. (8 years to get it, so not a give away). She has now started BJJ. I look at it like this, I want my daughter to be able to defend herself against rape. Not against getting punched in the face by a man, because that is something that happens extremally rarely, and the consequences are not tragic. Its the rape.. Would her karate save her? Against a determined average man, almost certainly not. But, BJJ, would that save her? I believe yes. Because if she were attacked, a) she knows how to defend against a take down, and also to control that take down, and b) once on the ground, even if she didn't control the take down, an armbar, triangle, etc, very easy to get against an untrained person, even a stronger than average untrained person. After 1 month of training BJJ I rolled with a senior purple belt lady, about 5'4" tall, quite strong for her height I guess. All I could do against her was try not to get submitted. As soon as I tried anything at all, she had me. (I am 110kg guy) In short, only an very strong guy, and I'm talking top 1%, or a trained BJJ/Wrestler etc could defend against the average woman with a couple of years of BJJ training. Average guy with no training - no chance.

[@dannyVulture]

I actually think her karate would be good if she is trying to avoid getting raped. jujitsu is actually a high risk style in a street fight. Everyone, whether trained or not, should actually be trying to strike first and as hard/ viciously as possible and then get out of there. You do not want to be rolling around the ground looking for a submission, running the risk of getting your head bashed against concrete.

[@murph8411]

Then again I’m sure you didn’t try to injure her or punch, elbow, bite, head but etc, as a real attacker would.

[@thanatoast4389]

@@murph8411 This is a part that most people don't consider. Not to nay say the OP. There is just a considerable difference when the larger stronger person is holding back.

[@marcosyy87]

A knive and karate might be enough for her, probably. If she want's to be safe against criminals then she must be armed

[@margaretlo4590]

Get your daughter a baton for violence. Most important - talk to her about spotting the toxic boyfriends and ditching them fast. Majority of violence is domestic. Problem for women who have martial arts - they date men/boys they meet in a dojo - so much for the training advantage.

[@aaronparry7068]

I love the efforts made to remove bias and also focus on the goal (women's self defense). It's so hard to rank styles as a whole since in many cases the most important factors for self defense (especially dealing with a larger opponent) are more so: - The instructor: Is it a master teaching most classes or a random "higher level" student? - Training methodology: how much is mental vs solo physical vs sparring? - Traditionality: Is it traditional, sport or street style? Street style is typically where mma is incorporated, but can also just indicate trying to address all possible every day scenarios (e.g., knives and grappling in the styles which don't normally address it) I was trained in more street-style Taekwondo, which combined traditional WTF style with Teukgong Moosool (as taught by the South Korean Special Forces, not the civilian Hapkido variant) for addressing weapons, grappling and other street scenarios. These days, I sometimes train people, but only as individual/group lessons, not as a running class. When I know I will be training a smaller person for a short period, I emphasize the Teukgong Moosool aspects because it provides a much better base for fighting and self-defence (especially against a larger opponent) in a short time period than traditional or sport TKD would. If the goal is for a multi-year training program or the person is larger, I would focus on TKD and use Teukgong moosol just to supplement and fill in the gaps, like grappling. I wholeheartedly agree with most placements of the styles on this list. I think the only area I would disagree is that I would put MMA at a B or even an A-. I agree the usual mentality of it is not the best, but it provides a decent base for most aspects of fighting and most gyms around me tend to focus on simple practical techniques over fancy submissions.

[@waefawawrgaw2835]

I know one martial arts that can let any woman and EVEN a little girl can beat 100% of the men. Ready? It's called gunfu. Carry a gun ladies lmao

[@jaredmackey4511]

It seemed that for some of arts and systems their parameters shifted a little. In my mind, the self defense aspect was seen as defeat or dominate the opponent over survive and get away.

[@aaronparry7068]

@@jaredmackey4511 The parameters shifted based on how the art/style would be best applied from a self defense standpoint. Most martial arts teach how to win a fight and focus on bursts of energy, which is less useful for getting away. They definitely highlighted styles that improved survivability and this was a key reason they rated MMA lower and Aikido higher than they otherwise might have; MMA lowering survival rate against knives and weapons, Aikido increasing ability to survive falls. Capoeira was the only one they felt really improved overall fitness enough within a year to make getting away a reality when it wouldn't have been before. In my (thankfully limited) experience with street confrontations, running away requires guaranteeing both you are more fit than the person attacking you and you have a path of escape, but this is rarely the case as muggers and the like will usually pick what they see as a less fit - and thus vulnerable - target and look for a closed space. Distancing, falls, basic grappling and understanding how weapons change a situation are certainly good points for minimizing damage taken, but every confrontation I've been in was best solved by either disabling or overwhelming and submitting the attackers before they can do anything to me, despite me being generally fit and fast. This was especially true for the one case where multiple attackers were involved.

[@jaredmackey4511]

@@aaronparry7068 I agree, the parameters have to shift in many cases. However, when thinking about the average woman with one year of training, I would feel the more dynamic MMA would’ve ranked higher than something like wrestling. I’ve only trained kickboxing, bjj and MCMAP and am not a badass by far. But in my experience on the street, survivability until either they break contact or I can leave was the result. Luckily, I’ve never had to fight for my life in hand to hand fighting before. I’ve been trying to decide what art/style I want to introduce my young daughters to but I’m limited in my area.

[@aaronparry2636]

@@jaredmackey4511 yeah, MMA is the only one I disagree with on their evaluation. As for your daughter(s), I'd recommend to have then try a few different styles and see which one they like the best. If they are having fun they will both learn faster and stick with it longer. Just make sure you watch how the gym/school teaches before bringing your daughters in to make sure it will teach good practice. There are far too many mcdojos out there in all the different arts/styles.

[@aquaticlibrary]

Also, I’d put Sanda above BJJ any day for women’s self defense. They’re learning how to strike, throw and defend against takedowns at a fast rate. BJJ, especially for early practitioners, makes them want to go straight to the ground and sometimes even pull guard which is very dangerous in the street or if there is more than one person.

[@88Factor]

Although it seems like Sanda is practically theoretical as your chances of finding a Sanda school, much less a good one, are just too low. More broadly, I do feel like lists like this should also consider availability, as having multiple schools available of the same style in the same city raises the chances that one of those schools will be good, or at least okay. Not always obviously(karate with its army of McDojos for example), but availability is important to rank here.

[@aquaticlibrary]

@@88Factor very true in the U.S. it’s mostly traditional schools that claim they teach Sanda with very minimal coaching experience.

[@PiiskaJesusFreak]

My experience in learning speed of different martial arts: I learnt more in 3 months of bjj than in 2 years of judo. The stand up grappling is a lot more difficult to learn, and learning the basics of ground fighting makes a bigger difference in the beginning. I can probably submit or sweep an untrained person my size, but I probably can't reliably do any judo throws on the same person. I learnt how to not to get thrown though.

[@tomsheppard378]

The judo ground work has so many rules makes almost useless. Because of the strict rules of judo its almost impossible to throw someone who doesnt 'play by the rules'and has studied grappling. I do judo 2 times per week and BJJ 4 times and in sparring barely can get judo throws in. Lack of leg grabs really limits its effectiveness

[@katokianimation]

Throws are the hardest to hit and the skill floor is also very high. If your judo throw sucks you are just giving up your back to your opponent. Leg sweeps and takedowns are much easier. And even if your double leg looks terrible it could be still functional. Catch the legs and don't stop moving forward basically. Even drunk untrained people are doing it sometimes. Judo is great if you are a kid but the system is really lacking. Esspecially on the ground. All the defense they have is turtling. Wich wouldn't be great idea if your opponent could stand up and kneeing you. And they are waaay to comfortable with giving up their back.

[@tomsheppard378]

@@katokianimation my highest percentage judo throw in Bjj is uchi Mata, usually combined with body drag and trapping the leg. We do have judo guys come and they usually go straight to stomach giving back. If gi Bjj judo does make you a good grip fighter and you learn about dominant grips etc I think judo can make you hard to throw as you get a better understanding of balance. My daughter does judo, I agree it is good for kids. They learn how to fall and basic balance and some throws.

[@PiiskaJesusFreak]

The biggest difficulties about the throws are - sufficient speed and explosiveness. This can be partially remedied by being bigger and stronger than the opponent, but that doesn't help womens self defense - creating an exploitable opening for them. If you're not bigger and can't just power through, the opponent can easily counter by just shifting their weight. The moves themselves are easy and functional, the difficulty is landing them. Just like with boxing, learning to punch correctly is not that difficult, but having the right timing and positioning for them is the actual art.

[@lamesurfer1015]

@@tomsheppard378 Can't say your case is normal. I have no trouble throwing wrestlers and BJJ guys in my BJJ school, despite the deep stance and stiff arms. Certain Judo "games" don't translate well - i.e. Sode/Tai Otoshi game. But an uchi mata, seoi nage, or harai goshi player should find dealing with the deep BJJ stance really easy. There's also the chance you're not really being trained well.

[@johnytipu4514]

In went to a few Japanese Jiu Jitsu classes in my town and it was really cool! The teacher was also a BJJ and Judo black belt so it was basically judo with striking and we also did sparring for competitions, basically MMA with Gi plus no striking on the ground

[@Bravo-Too-Much]

Shootfighting

[@brennansnowdon4642]

judo has strikes in it not the sport

[@cahallo5964]

@@brennansnowdon4642 yeah the curriculum has like 7 strikes lol

[@brennansnowdon4642]

@@cahallo5964 more like 23 that i know of but then theres more then that if you get creative with angles level change footwork theres tons of varations its up to the judoka to practice it too get good but of course there bread and butter is stand up grappling and ground grappling which most judo guys are way better at there throws but there are really great judo ground grapplers again its up tooo them to practice on the ground alot to improve theres a reason why bjj guys are really good at there ground grappling because thats there focus but not so good at throws but again there are some good bjj guys that can do reaps sweeps throws really well it mattter on the person not the art

[@cahallo5964]

@@brennansnowdon4642 yeah I was thinking about kyusho when I wrote that comment mb

[@cesarag0723]

This ended with a bit of bias towards the things you are currently practicing vs the things you are unfamiliar with or have heavy negative biases towards. I’ve seen many of these low rated ones work in a “real” situation and I’ve also seen many of these highly rated ones get their ass kicked. The truth is none of these martial arts are guarantees. Would prefer to see you rate these with someone you don’t agree either. Or better yet, an actual woman who knows about self defense for women. Just a thought on realizing personal biases. ✌️

[@drumsticknuggets5123]

An actual woman? What do they know about a woman's needs? (J/k) This conversation could've been titled differently or had invited any of a dozen or so female martial artist KZbin creators. A missed opportunity

[@thedopesickshow]

Good point by Ramsey on Gracie BJJ. Rener and Ryron have been criticized by Renzo for the gimmicky stuff and then you’ve got Ralph’s team, Gracie Humaita, Gracie Barra, and many others. Carlson Gracie’s team and Caesar Gracie are two to name with solid MMA fighters historically coming out of.

[@AsadM107]

I train with one of the other Gracies in a non-gimmicky gym. We basically learn some self-defense techniques interspersed with regular BJJ drills. So something like escaping a headlock or countering a haymaker, those seemed to be very effective techniques and we're able to take down opponents much bigger than us. They're basically regular BJJ/Judo takedowns, but in a situation you might find yourself in, either in real life or in MMA. There's no knife-defense or anything like that at all. I like it better than my last BJJ gym, and I've definitely learned way more here. I guess it depends entirely on the place you're training at.

[@insidetrip101]

Obviously, based off of my name, I'm a wrestler. I also train bjj. I started bjj about 7 years after i was done wrestling in college. I have dabbled a bit in judo, but not a whole lot of experience--and I wish I did judo in highschool (in the off season of wrestling). It really would have augmented my wrestling well. However, out of all these grappling sports, I think judo would be the best for women, wrestling second, and bjj last. Its not that bjj is bad, but bjj is about grappling on the ground. The best self defense, in my opinion, is to not go to the ground--at least not on your opponent's terms. Wrestling teaches you to do this pretty well, but I think for women, judo is superior. This is for two reasons. First, Judo utilizes clothing. There is a mile difference between wearing clothing and not wearing clothing. Usually people, or yourself, are wearing clothing. Even if its a t-shirt, it can be used to your advantage in a grappling scenario. Second, wrestling teaches how to defend leg attacks (takedowns) way better than judo--even when judo did allow such things. However, call me crazy, but I don't think most attackers are going to be double legging women when they attack them. Its probably going to be some upright physical struggle. Wrestling will help with this, but I think judo has a slight edge. And while wrestling has a high emphasis on balance as well, I think judo again has a slight edge. Even when compared to greco, a lot of the throws in wrestling occur because you're using the opponent's momentum against them. While judo claims to do this as well, it actually doesn't. Judo is great at FORCING your opponent's momentum in a certain way. Kuzushi isn't an impossible concept with respect to wrestling, but god damn its way less effective than it is in judo. Additionally, I think the skills you're going to learn in general in judo, just have a slight edge over wrestling. With all this said, I don't think any of the serious grappling disciplines are bad. You really can't go wrong with any of them. Oh and by the way, just not ranking anything S or A is kinda dumb. I understand where you're coming from, but if the highest rank is an A-, then that just makes the A- an S, the B an A, the B- an A- and so on. You should have been more willing to rank things higher, even though I get your point, and you don't want to put anything on a pedestal as if it is beyond reproach.

[@sofyanhadiahmad]

As an Indonesian and silat practitioner, silat is a very self-defense oriented, most of the "basic" attacks are focused on one "killer" strike and backoff (or run if you have to). Strike mainly focus on the groin, eyes, and any weak body part (finger, toes, ears, neck, etc.) the focus is on close-quarter combat, while you're sitting, sleeping, or casually walking. There are even moves if you were attacked with a knife you sacrifice your hands to protect your vital organ while giving a sure fatal blow to the opponent's jaws, or eyes. So that's why at the silat competition there are so many rules, and most of the silat effective moves are totally illegal.

[@mb2776]

I'm a small guy and I noticed silat too after watching videos about mds which is basically pencak silat with additions from all over the place. Most men don't get the situation for women. This talk out of the situation, it just doesn't work cause people have bad intentions, doesn't matter if you provoke them. I had guys go after me just because they knew a friend of mine. Just because I'm light skin babyface guy small and an easy target. this whole grabbling boxing stuff is great and all, but I'm light, once I got into judo range, some guy allready threw a punch at me and I'm down. Silat seems a great choice for women and not so strong men. Get in quick, do lots of damage and get away fast. I rather scare others away with the damage then to try to use some special throw tech.

[@naughtybynature999]

the silat competition is really ruining the reputation of silat because it makes it looks like its useless and doesnt work.

[@bw5020]

I feel like sometimes people over hype Brazilian Brazilian jujitsu but I truly do believe for women, it is a fantastic martial art.. When it comes to self defense, they often have to deal with people that they know. And even someone they don't, fending off men is a daunting task.. If you have a martial art that can equalize the inherent advantage of men being untrained but stronger than them, then it will definitely work if a woman was to attack another woman. Bjj for women's self defense, makes sense. I think it min maxes and gives them more returns. Women can't afford fight theory with the statistics floating around out here. I think striking should compliment women's self defense but I wouldn't think highly on good odds of a woman striking with a heavier man, even untrained. Some striking and a heavy bjj self defense curriculum would help women better than anything else.

[@adamdavis3973]

Honestly BJJ gets shit on a lot, for "self defense" but honestly knowing and rigorously practicing how to escape side control, mount, front headlock, and not being taken down, is extremely applicable. On top of that women are rolling with bigger stronger men, and it does work within reason. Also most women that I met that do BJJ are fucking tough as hell, I have known a lot of women that have done boxing without sparing or fighting. A lot of criticisms of bjj I think also get overplayed, especially things that work on sport jiu jitsu. Sport jiu jitsu works well when people can't strike, and on people that know how to grapple. Very basic grappling skills and fundamentals work extremely well against guys that know nothing of grappling.

[@margibso]

4:20 I love the back handed compliment here. Akido can work if you are large, powerful, and already know how to fight.

[@michaelelliott330]

Anecdotal story: I was in the military and learned aikido for about 2 years. I was forced into several situations where I used aikido specifically to defend myself, and with awe inspiring success I will add. Keys to my success: my opponents commitment to trying to control me. And understanding of the concepts of aikido. For most other engagements, eg bar fights, I relied on a striking art... at that time is training American kenpo. Great video. Lots to chew on here.

[@AtticusDenzil]

Ramsey Dewey has a great and honest mentality for real life situations!! Awesome video!!

[@Justin-ny8df]

You're missing the martial art of "sibling wrestling." I came back from a GJJ class and wanted to practice and show my wife the takedown we learned...she was beyond familiar with it and has never taken martial arts before (so she claims). She said it was because she grew up wrestling her older brother, lol.

[@aquaticlibrary]

I know you guys didn’t touch on this but Jun Fan Gung Fu, the modified Wing Chun style that Bruce taught in Seattle is more legit than I expected. I did a seminar with them way back and I was shocked by how aggressive and effective they were. It was very no-nonsense. And I’m from a kickboxing/TKD/Sanda background

[@DaleKamp]

Agree. Coming from a Karate, wrestling, BJJ, boxing, muay thai background.

[@axelstone3131]

Jun fan and JKD are completely separate things.

[@aquaticlibrary]

@@axelstone3131 it’s broken into different branches or systems. There’s Jun Fan JKD which is Ted Wongs branch and it’s basically kickboxing. Jun Fan Gung Fu which is mostly wing chun. JKD concepts which is basically building on everything and is most popular because of Dan Inosanto.

[@axelstone3131]

@@aquaticlibrary no. It’s not. Ted Wong teaches everything Bruce Lee taught him, as JKD. Jun fan is what Bruce was doing when he came to Seattle. It’s a combine of wing chun with some other elements. Jun fan is Bruce lee before he really took things to the next level. It’s fine to teach jun fan gung fu but many uneducated people don’t underhand jun fan isn’t JKD. It’s all taught under the same umberells term. There should just be JKD but because of money, greed and misinformation you have a complete mess of all these so called different “branches” it’s all bullshit, concepts shouldn’t even be a thing. There is only Jun fan and jkd/late jkd which is what Bruce was doing up until his death, many people have no idea what the fuck that even was.

[@aquaticlibrary]

@@axelstone3131 I never said Jun Fan Gung Fu was JKD. Jun Fan is literally just Bruce Lee’s name in Cantonese. Lee Jun Fan. They call Ted Wongs branch of JKD - Jun Fan JKD because it’s simply Bruce’s interpretation of JKD that was taught to Ted since he had no prior martial arts experience

[@TheTruthseeker1231]

I love listening to Dave Ramsey. He has such a great perspective "for da street". Here is my question "How many times do you see a martial artist simply revert uncontrolled swinging and bullrushing, etc..." Do martial artists know how to fight at all? I do believe from my experience with Judo that learning how to fall is a super power.

[@antoniojaguilar]

I agree. I do Krav Maga and I've found in sparring that I usually fall back to the simpler striking techniques. That's the way it is in real life too. When someone gets attacked they get an adrenaline dump, lose fine motor skills, and fall back to basic punching and maybe kicking. Simplicity is best when it comes to self defense.

[@hassanhoteit10]

Ramsey had the MMA part on point and the part about some "muay thai" gyms not teaching clinching which is a very overlooked aspects in some supposedly MT gyms. Ive been to 2 MMA gyms of which one of them also teaches MT. The first one we used to have 1 day for striking and 1 for grappling and supposedly a third day for both as in mma sparring but never actually sparred with mma rules and we were wearing boxing gloves (we werent allowed to use mma gloves IRONICALLY). The second gym was basically the coach using his experience in sanda kung fu boxing and MT only for him to make me do fitness drills and striking but no clinching or other forms of grappling, I have trained for 8 months before I left and only had 1 grappling session, I was basically doing k1 kickboxing with elbows and all I wanted was a gym that just lets u use all your acquired skillset and get creative...now i hold back on joining a MMA gym and think about going back to Muay Thai or trying combat sambo which is the closest thing u can get to MMA..

[@themoss7115]

The "fighting not to loose" concept is very interesting. Loosing self defence scenario means you will end up in hospital or graveyard. Point of self defence is not to win, the point is to stop the attack and return home safely. In other words, not loosing. If you stay there to "win the match" instead of getting away after you create the opportunity to do so, you are just risking your life to show off.

[@lost_boy]

Great to see you chatting with The Coach! Shout out to Ramsey Dewey!

[@nickturner9476]

I think you guys gave Bujinkan a good realistic analysis. I trained in it for a while, and the weapons training is fairly legit. The good thing about that is you are usually surrounded by weapons, you can substitute a mob or broom handle for a bo staff, a pocket knife for a tanto, a large stick for as a sword, etc. So I think having training in those very general weapons is also very applicable for real life situations.

[@murph8411]

How often are you going to have a broom, stick or the time to pull out a pocket knife if you have just come out of a bar, are in the toilet of a bar, on public transport or are walking down a city street? I can’t really think of a time when I have been attacked and have had anything to hand except when it has been in a house with someone trying to gain access.

[@cisvaughan6937]

It's about making it a habit. Even if you just carry a rolled-up Radio Times in your pocket, to hold as you come out from one space into another blind space, that functions as a piece of wood in terms of striking with it end-on. If you drop it, it's immediately not a weapon, just some pieces of paper - useless to any one else

[@abc4781]

​@@murph8411 don't agree with your point on a pocket knife lol

[@Kris-qc4jt]

@@murph8411 The main point then is improving situational awareness, specific training can help with that, good Bujinkan Shihan/Shidoshi teach these kind of things, too, I learned a lot about it myself. E. g. in that mentioned bar situations, personally I know enough people being able to perceive the increased risk of potential violence, which leads to a little bit more prep time, enough to grab that pen in your pocket or something like that, just to be ready in case you need it... Though a big problem is that unfortunately there are too many bad teachers out there, in the Bujinkan as well as other arts, and beginners usually are not able to dicover that. Quality control really is a problem. In my experience, especially in the US there seem to be too many bad Bujinkan Shidoshi, in trips to Japan I saw different US visitors with teacher rank, who should >not< open a dojo and teach others, but they do. They don't want to see there own lack of understanding, unfortunately.

[@maxhensley1685]

I'd personally rank boxing lower for women's self defense specifically, because it's so lacking in non-escalatory techniques. If you're a woman with a year or two of boxing experience, facing a larger and stronger man, "we start punching each other" is still very much a losing proposition. Sometimes, you might want to fight for your life with everything you've got, but sometimes you might be looking to put up resistance against someone who has bad intentions, but hasn't actually escalated to the point of trying to beat you up, and you're better off if they don't start seriously trying. I think this is one of the areas where effective self-defense for men departs from self-defense for women, because as a woman, you have a much larger gap in physicality to overcome with the average assailant, but at the same time, there's also a greater likelihood that potential assailants won't actually be doing everything they can to beat you up, at least, if you don't escalate the encounter to that point.

[@lebatcritique]

This is a great point, and one of the reasons why I think judo is great for self-defense in general but particularly for women. Even as a man I've been in the situation where I didn't want to throw a punch because that would be definite escalation. With judo you can navigate much more easily those gray areas, because you can handle someone without necessarily hurting them; you can "dose" if you will. I see judo as something that not only would help someone not freeze, but also would let them "dare" fight back, and very effectively at that.

[@MrCmon113]

I'm of the opposite opinion. De-escalation is more important for men, because they pose more of a potential threat and are often attacked out of anger. A man that attacks out of horniness isn't deterred by "deescalation", but by maximal resistance.

[@lebatcritique]

@@MrCmon113 You make a good point about the need for men to de-escalate, but that's more about verbal deescalation, before any sort of physical confrontation happens. It's simply not realistic to expect women to make a violent preemptive strike under stress. A very aggressive temper would be required in order to do that, which even men (myself included) often don't have, because it's not easy to tell yourself to hurt someone else when you don't have absolute certainty that your life depends on it (and even when you do). Hesitation will happen, and by the time it happens the man will have grabbed the woman, which is the PERFECT situation to use judo, since it will trigger automatic responses AND you can take care of the situation without necessarily injuring the other person.

[@lebatcritique]

@@MrCmon113 Also, even a good female boxer is unlikely to knock-out a man in one punch; she is, however, likely to piss him off by hurting his body and his ego. A judo throw, on the other hand, will stun any man and make him reconsider, and you can also pin him to the ground which will drain him of his energy and aggression after a while

[@brokentypewriterprod]

I'd rank Judo a little higher like B-. I've been to a few Judo schools and they teach both takedowns and ground grappling (Newaza) with submissions. So it does pressure test, distance management, grip fight, takedowns and kuzushi (off-balance) which is important for going against bigger opponents. For women's self defense this fits your criteria. I prefer BJJ for submissions but I go to Judo for practicing takedowns because I don't practice many takedowns at my BJJ gym (everyone pulls guard). I think Wrestling and BJJ should be B though. I did Karate growing up. Gave me false confidence. Got wrecked when I did a kick boxing match because my karate school barely sparred.

[@alexanderren1097]

They have to classify styles based on the average of what's out there. It sounds like those Judo schools you describe are great and relatively well balanced. Unfortunately for the overall classification of the style, there are a lot of Judo schools that focus too much of Olympic competitive rule sets and neglect many aspects of ground fighting and submissions

[@lamesurfer1015]

@@alexanderren1097 Even the Olympic focused schools are actually quite excellent - perhaps even moreso because you are practicing doing high percentage throws against very skilled competitors. You may no longer be doing double legs against 45 year old accountants, but you are are trying to catch inside trips, suplexes, arm throws, and harai goshis on Olympic hopefuls (who are athletically talented) with high conditioning. That makes a huuuuuggee difference in terms of intensity against which you are testing your technique. To boot, recent rule changes allow more time for groundfighting, but not at a leisurely pace ala BJJ. You have to pin or submit at lightning speeds, which I think is a more realistic assumption. That said, most Judo schools spar groundwork with unlimited time, but the pace is much higher. This leads to far less refined groundwork done with higher intensity. Overall, I think this video represents a couple of bad assumptions. 1. Rokas hates on Judo quite a bit. 2. Wrestling is not universal. Folkstyle is very different from Freestyle and Greco. If both Ramsey and Rokas were honest they'd have to rank them all seperately.

[@wolfcorpse]

@@alexanderren1097 Judo is better than BJJ for self defense for many reasons, Rokas is goofy and BJJ stan

[@alexanderren1097]

@@wolfcorpse Judo is certainly good for self defense, depending on how it's taught. But is the AVERAGE Judo school better than BJJ for self defense? Not YOUR school, they have to categorize based on averages

[@wolfcorpse]

@@alexanderren1097 yes the average Judo school is better for self defense. Judo teaches you to put someone down while remaining on your feet, BJJ teaches you to put someone down by going down with them. We're talking self defense here not a tourney with mats

[@ibrahimylmaz8378]

finally, sb who gives SAMBO the credit it deserves!

[@ricopaxton]

One of the best and interesting takes on self defence/martial arts! The lenghth doesn't make it unwatchable, because it's actually needed! Great value!

[@simonyu8838]

I really enjoy this format of discussion and would be really interested in revisiting this topic with other trainers and women. I imagine the ones at Fit to Fight could say a lot about the topic. As for why people who have learned more practical arts go back and try to make more practical arts work, I'd say the primary answer is fun and curiosity. Sometimes you might figure out how to make something work that people don't expect and get an edge, but it's mostly because we have so many nerds in martial arts that also enjoy history. We know that the older styles had to be effective to some degree since so many came about during more violent periods of human history and want to know the why of that. And that often takes prior training to unearth. IIRC, a lot of the early HEMA people had experience in modern style sport fencing, kenjutsu and kendo, Filipino martial arts, and other weapon based martial arts and that was critical given they were trying to recreate historical fighting systems based on old texts because no one had taught the styles for centuries. Is trying to revive this kind of knowledge the most productive endeavor in the world? No. But it is fun.

[@krdietiker]

This was the most interesting and realistic review of applying martial arts, with the pros and cons, in the context of learning self-defense. Excellent and thoughtful discussion, worth watching from beginning to end. I'll be recommending this video to my members. Thank you both for taking the time for doing this.

[@DaleKamp]

I took 3 years of Kempo Karate, 2 years of high school wrestling, 1 year of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu -- and when I'd spar with my friends who were boxers or street fighters -- I'd lose on strikes unless I used my wrestling/Jiu Jitsu to take them down. I took several classes of Jun Fan style Jeet Kune Do, with some emphasis on Kali/panantukan, but the instructor explained the stances and reasons to use certain strikes/traps/interceptions, and it completely changed the way I fight. I began winning on strikes immediately after. So I guess for me, Jeet Kune Do was great. I've since trained in Muay Thai and Boxing, but my JKD stance is my favorite for kickboxing scenarios. Also, Kali teaches some of the best knife defense drills & philosophy for dealing with it safely so you can get away with a higher chance of not being mortally wounded, so I would've personally placed it higher rather than just focusing on if one would have a stick or not -- but I haven't seen the state of the average Kali school in the west as of late. That said, great video. This was an interesting list that really puts into perspective how much a woman can reasonably learn in one year.

[@lejo1233]

i am training hapkido which i really enjoy.there are joint locks,kicks,punches,and training with weapons .its difficult to find a good teacher but i can 100 procent recommend this for women..but its full contact-also sparring-so you eventually can get hurt..i am the only female and only white belt in my group, this has an amazing impact on me as a beginner.i also would recommen to try out some different styles and you just choose whats most fun.if you love what you do you will be good at it (sorry for grammar mistakes-i am not from a english speaking country :-) )

[@RobinTurner]

I trained in hapkido for a while, and I agree that it's an incredibly effective martial art. I'm not sure how good it would be as a self defence method, and I say that after helping my hapkido teacher with a self defence course (I still have the herniated neck to prove it). Too difficult, too painful and too lethal for the average woman (or man) who just wants to deal with the average attacker. OTOH, I'd definitely recommend it for someone like Rokas who wants to see aikido (or rather aikijutsu) techniques really working. I once described it as "aikido for psychopaths" 😂

[@katokianimation]

Host: people say grappling is bad for multiple opponents Ramsey: yes i agree, after there are more of them than 4 it is tricky and you need to specilize your skillset 👁👄👁

[@clarissamendoza8322]

For Kali, expandable stick/baton can be easily used as a stick and it can easily fit a regular sized bag. The very length of the stick can protect you from a knife attack. I'm considering giving it as gifts for my teen nieces, nephews and my brother for xmas. I think this will even work for a regular person with a little practice. So I can't imagine what a woman with kali training can do with it for self defense.

[@znail4675]

Bag seems a bad place to keep a weapon that you would want in a hurry, pocket is much better, but the idea of giving them to your relatives seems a great idea as it's a much better defense tool pepper spray or even a gun.

[@cahallo5964]

Weapon training is undoubtedly the best for women

[@KentPetersonmoney]

That what I was thinking. I would probably carry a couple of those batons in my pocket if I was a woman and had Kail skills.

[@deschain1910]

You probably already checked, but just wanted to make sure: Make sure those are legal where they all live. Sometimes the local government isn't a fan of people carrying around those extendable batons. I agree that they're great for defense though.

[@deschain1910]

@@znail4675 Better than a gun is a strong claim... You mean because they're more versatile because they can be used in non-lethal situations, or require less training to use, or what?

[@baldieman64]

BJJ has one huge problem. It's way too focussed on groundfighting to be any good for self-defence. The ground is the last place that any woman wants to be in a violent altercation with a man. It's great as a backup plan, but not as a primary tool.

[@joshp8785]

I disagree with you 100% a well trained BJJ female practitioner can easily take on a much larger man, on the other hand when it comes to multiple attackers it is best to survive and escape the situation if possible

[@baldieman64]

@@joshp8785 With respect, I doubt that you understand violence. We are not talking about a consensual sporting contest here, we are talking about extreme criminal aggression. There are two likely motives, theft of property or serious sexual assault. In either case, the easiest way to get that is to smash the victim repeatedly in the head and then take it - either immediately, or after removing her to a more secluded location. No amount of BJJ is going to help there.

[@thiagosouza2737]

A thing that maybe would help build the list, is to rate a control group. Something like, where a healthy woman with no martial experience would rate. Or maybe, an athletic woman with no combat training experience.

[@andycampbell85]

Tremendous. Love this style of video and with Ramsay Dewey as well 👏👏👏

[@ultraghost3870]

Oh my God favorite martial arts channel with favorite online coach mma

[@agzfd]

I would have expected to hear a woman's opinion, you know, considering the topic. It's not that you can't have an opinion, and a good based one, being a man, but I would like to see more women, who I can actually relate to, talking about our specific problems from, actually, our perspective; rather than hearing a man trying to "walk in our shoes". This last one is ok, and you should be doing it if you are an instructor teaching martial arts to women, but shouldn't be the first option when deciding to talk about our specific circumstances. I think its not just about visibility, but also adds more credibility. This video was interesting, but I hope we can see this inexplicable uncommon perspective (women talking about women's problems) at some point on the channel!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

That's a great point!

[@thegingergiant2683]

At the point of commenting, this 3 hour long video had only been up for 30 minutes. Please watch at least 1/3 of this intelligent breakdown before trying to discredit it with “man talking about woman problems is bad.” These, especially Ramsey, are highly skilled and trained fighters. They’d obviously know this subject matter better than most.

[@Mbgengar]

@@thegingergiant2683 this is a nice and really respectful comment of someone's first impressions. I think you're the one reducing the bulk of the comment to "men talking about women bad"

[@AlexiusRedwood]

Ramsey Dewey trains women so he knows what works and what doesn't . Plus just because they both have a penis doesn't mean they can't understand what works for a woman

[@agzfd]

@@thegingergiant2683 I don't need to see the full video to comment what I have commented. The problem I've pointed is still there, and won't magically disappear, wether I consume it fully and in chronological order, or I jump from section to section looking for what I find most interesting. The thing I'm pointing is still there. Also, it's completely nonsensical to think my comment is discrediting Rokas or Ramsey. I would ask you to read it again and find where I do.

[@philipgarrett5009]

Loved this podcast Rokas, and big thank you to Ramsey for highlighting Combat Sambo. Have since found a gym to train in it. The seventy minute commute is well worth it for what I am recieving.

[@whiskeybook]

Ugh...after watching the video and reading the comments, I still think people are missing the concept or question of the video. It's not just the style, it's the situation. In my experience as a police officer, I saw women fight back only a few times, other than the woman on woman hair pulling bar or party fight. Those situation usually involved a woman attempting to get out of a situation where they were retreating, or fighting out from a ground position. Jiu Jitsu is designed for this. A woman chooses how to fight differently than a man, and the best is absolutely Jiu Jitsu. Perfection would be a mix of Jiu Jitsu, Judo, and some sort of Kick Boxing. If we are only picking one, I would suggest Jiu Jitsu to any woman I talked to.

[@punklejunk]

The Tai Chi story was a great surprise. I thought he was going to go the disparaging McDojo route, but he encountered a legitimate master with a lifetime of fighting knowledge. Awesome story.

[@jacksonaltizer2450]

I definitely think most situations can be avoided through awareness, and I also have to shine some truth that most physical altercations that happen to women are by people they know personally. Especially when it comes to SA, it will always be initiated by someone they think they can trust. The reason why I think BJJ is the best form of self defense is because there are no lucky grappling situations if you're a great grappler, even if you are smaller. I'm not huge, but I am a fairly strong and quick guy. Have powerlifted for awhile throughout high school and college, and trained BJJ for 6 months after I graduated. My first week of jiu jitsu I rolled with a super kind woman, she was a brown belt at the time. I told her not to go easy on me. Even in nogi, she kicked my ass. She was about 3-4 inches shorter and probably weighed about 20-30 lbs less than me and seriously she destroyed me. Never been more humbled in my entire life. There are no lucky kimuras or triangles, it was all just technical skill. Obviously I was much stronger, but she had way more grappling experience and just knew how to manipulate my body. This is my personal opinion, but I do believe that Muay Thai + BJJ is just deadly, which is why I think Charles Oliveira is a beast. His ground work is so technical and crisp while his striking is just ferocious. The deadly striking + clinch work + ground fighting, you're just an absolute monster especially in a self defense situation. This is not to say that wrestling or boxing is inferior, I think most to all martial arts have very useful techniques that compliment each other. It is just my opinion and my experience with taking BJJ and watching Muay Thai.

[@atticusfinch6038]

im so happy to hear that tai chi story. the philosophy of the tao is so hard to argue with its nice to know someone could actually do that. for anyone else interested in tai chi check out sensei Seths video on push hands. its real

[@whiskeybook]

All that said below. Ramsey's points on MMA and Krav Maga are the best I've heard, and I absolutely love the video. Great work from both of you.

[@antoniojaguilar]

Based on what they said about Krav Maga I can say he's probably never been to a real Krav Maga school. There ARE a lot of fakes out there but if you find a school properly licensed with certified instructors then it's a whole other ball game. I attend one of those and nothing he's saying here about Krav Maga is recognizable to me at all.

[@whiskeybook]

@@antoniojaguilar I wish more were like yours. Most Krav Maga is McDojo BS.

[@nathanv.4397]

I went to a classical Jiu-jitsu school. It lacked appropriate pressure testing, however the curriculum was informed by kickboxing and BJJ. They were optional classes as well.

[@Arla934]

Maybe my wing chun instructor is just really good but i have in a few months found it very effective as a woman, because of the leg power

[@MrFiredragon1976]

from what I understand (from my former tai chi master), chen style tai chi chuan is the first form created and its form is never taught alone. In my class there was alway 3 parts: 1- Form, which is like choregraphy/kata/dancing, 2- application: the teacher teach the application in combat of each movements, then you practice it with other students, 3- Push hands which is hard to expplain, so just search for it. So also practice it with other students and I would say short term only the last part is a bit usefull in a fight since it teach you how to control your position and the transfer of force. But... to be able to fight, from what I understand, my teacher first learned Xing Yi Chuan, since 3 YO (a kind of chinese boxing translated to "Form-Intention Fist"), which can be mastered much faster. Since it's based on more or less the same principles as Tai Chi, I think both complement each other. But sadly, I believe there is never anyway sparing, at least not in Canada, I wouldn't know in China. the teacher was also a practitioner of chinese tradition medecine and Qi Gong and other stuff, like the silk reeling force. Tai Chi is a path of learning where you actually never focus on the end, but rather on the journey itself.

[@chopsueykungfu]

Yes, I knew Bruce Lee’s left leg was an inch shorter than his right- I read about it in ‘Zen in the Martial Arts’. That is a good book on the philosophical aspects I try to re-read over the years. I did 6 years of Tang So Do, its my original foundation in martial arts, and I was very good at it. It’s basically the same thing as Tae Kwon Do (TKD). I later took up Wing Chun. I can’t fathom how TKD can be better at self-defense than WC.

[@nigelh2958]

Yeah that’s rubbish, I liked a lot of this but TKD is way below Shotokan and Kyokushin and also Wing Chun. I’d say Wing Chun is more like the advanced version of long fist kung fu styles that Shotokan and Kyokushin came from, but I also think that both learnt from Muai Thai and introduced more sparring and have more depth because of this. Wing Chun ‘in the pocket’ is like basic Wing Chun, although I have seen lineages stuck in this mode but it is much broader than that. I did Tae Kwon-Do when young and did do competitions BTW and think there is a lot of positives. However, it isn’t as combative as the strong Karate styles and certainly cannot even be compared to Wing Chun, it would destroy someone kicking so clumsily if the WC person had any skill whatsoever. Even just grabbing the leg and kicking the base leg is incredibly easy to do. I do think any Wing Chun practitioner should also do groundfighting in some form and also look at training weapons more and sparring. We can learn from these things!

[@chopsueykungfu]

@@nigelh2958 Yes, ground fighting is a must have

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

I used to have that book. Read it in 1 night. That's also how I learned about Bruce's legs differences, plus he also wore glasses/contacts which also makes a difference. Idk what happened to my copy. It literally disappeared like a week or 2 later.

[@jenlewren]

I love all of your videos and as a woman who has practiced different forms of martial arts I agree its important to find what will work for us! 👍

[@thephilosopher5799]

Am interested in learning Muay Thai as a women. Seem to be the best of both worlds.

[@lilbearbjj]

Yes! The couch on MAJ. what a nice treat for this Labor Day morning.

[@tomsheppard378]

I skip like waiting to hear my name. I think you're right on aikido, the people I've seen who can make it work on big guys who knew multi other martial arts. Most people only want to watch a 2 minute video to learn something and not real effort to learn

[@LanMandragon1720]

Aikido was designed from the beginning for exactly that. O'sensei wouldn't accept a student who wasn't already a black belt for example. The art was designed from the ground up as a supplement for other arts. Not as a stand alone art which is how it's mostly taught today.

[@robcubed9557]

Agree. I train BJJ and I've used some Aikido moves to stop arm drags and disrupt collar-ties.

[@GuruishMike]

When my friend was getting ready to test for her black belt in Chito ryu I was her training partner. I'm a big guy, and there are quite a few take-downs. Anyway, she got to the test and they paired her with a nidan who was quite a bit lighter than I. She almost put him thru the floor.

[@obiwanquixote8423]

I think Judo has to get ranked up with wrestling. A person training at a competitive judo school is going to log close to a dozen hours of training a week, lifting, throwing, pulling and pushing other people their size or larger. The strength and toughness of judo players is on par with wrestlers and when you add submissions you're going to get some of that defensive grappling benefit of BJJ. What wrestling, boxing and judo give that other others don't is a familiarity with explosive violence. I've done both and BJJ takedowns are done in a relatively gentle way. Osoto Gari as taught was like I learned in many other martial arts. A good, firm throw that gets your opponent to the ground. As taught in judo it's a teeth jarring, neck wrenching, punch to the jaw that knocks the wind out of you even if you're using crash mats. Newaza is a good example. A BJJ player is going to flow and work the methodical chess game. A judo player is going to be scrambling, bridging and moving like crazy because of the limited time to work and if pinned, the match is over if they don't get out. BJJ players give time to tap, while judo players rip the arm bar. Just watch tournament footage of matches that end in subs. Judo videos always end with someone clutching an arm or shoulder. It's a much rougher sport, which I don't think makes it better and is in fact a thing I don't like about it. But I do think that roughness is going to help prepare someone unfamiliar with violence better than the more polite environment of other martial arts. My kids do both BJJ and Judo as well and the thing they had the hardest time with in Judo was the roughness. The impact from throws, the intensity and violence. BJJ is like middle and long distance running while wrestling and judo are like sprinting. BJJ IMO rewards tenacity and thinking while wrestling and judo reward explosiveness more.

[@wolfcorpse]

For self defense I'd definitely put Judo above wrestling

[@sebastian0.548]

I've trained reacreativelly boxing in my late 20s, after that I took "self defence" Krav Maga lessons for fun (it was fun and I liked it). I agree with your opinion about this system as a self defence set of skills, but I'm suprised what you said about your expiriences. My was opposite. Instructors were always saying to us clearly that best self defence is awerness, run, avoiding dangerous places and situations, surrounding yourself with friends, being non-toxicated, fit and that our life is more preciouse than our wallet. I have no feeling that someone in my group developed false self confidence rather than awareness of one's own limitations. Besides a straight Krav Maga techniques we have had a lot of hours just boxing and kickboxing. I'm not sportsman, martial artist or someone whos opinion matters. I just want to tell you about my expirience. Greetings to both coaches. I love what you do.

[@saltydog6951]

Those are some wild civilian Krav Maga experiences. On the military side, you may have undersold it. There are a lot of quick apply force to break contact and get back to your team/squad - whatever friendlies - drills that I would think apply well in a self defense situations.

[@avecplaisirmusic]

This was amazing. Please do one for kids / bullying / sepf defense / confidence building 🙏

[@prosdad6438]

Some other have brought this up but I want to add...if the discussion is about self defense for women, you have to bring to the front the reality that a major context of that is different forms of sexual assault. That is what I worry about for my daughter at least. As another mentioned one case is just hand fighting to get away from a guy who is getting too familiar. Needs a response but not maximum violence. The least common but what most people think about is the dragged into an alley scenario...happens but rarely, and a system that emphasizes strike and escape or throw and escape might be the response? Also ground fighting if the above fails? Very common and uncomfortable to talk about is the hook up that goes farther than the woman wants...ground fighting again? System to immobilize threat, get out from under the guy, and then strike as needed to escape? If either Rokas or Coach Ramsey follow up on this, it would be nice to have a discussion that incorporates not just physiology but the unique context of attacks women face.

[@Wrathchild244]

I agree with you @prosdad6438 And the martial art to help women best in assault situations is Aikido. Assault on on intimate level and assault as in being dragged into an alley is very likely to happen to women, and Aikido gives multiple techniques and skills to get away, deflect, or subdue an opponent in those exact situations.

[@Mae.86]

I took real Japanese Kempo at a Dojo when I was younger. I started at age 6 -19yrs. My Father found an amazing studio to take me to though. He took a bunch of martial arts, plus boxing, and was in the Marines. So I was fortunate!. I also had two brothers who were pretty rough with me growing up. I have been in real fights, and Kempo saved me from getting badly injured. I don't think it's the best, and I think there are some problems with it on its own. I have learned a lot from sparring, life experience, my father, bothers and my uncle. However, I was looking for self-defense classes for my daughter and they don't have studios like that around me anymore, which is unfortunate. I want her to learn real self-defense. So she will need to learn different styles later on. Best I could find for her right now is a real taekwondo studio. Called Chung's martial arts. she is only an orange belt so far, and is just getting into sparring. Later on she wants to try boxing 🥊 So we will see how it goes. She loves it though, and is very dedicated. Although if you can find a real Dojo near where you live I would recommend Kempo with a M. I believe you will learn self-defense over time if you're dedicated, but you also need boxing skills. So just taking one type of self-defense is not enough for any female. In my opinion❤

[@Knut92]

3 hour video with the coach? im in!

[@MartialArtsJourney]

Haha, awesome!

[@JazzLispAndBeer]

Systema is a very good framework for self defense. It builds stamina relaxation and gives you a way to stay calm. And it gives knowledge about your body and your pain. Basically its the way small children wrestle/punsch but for grownups. But it doesnt contain any techniques per se so you have to Jeet Kune Do, using your terms, to actually defend your self. I like it as a workout to develop and maintain mobility, and strength to hold some one down etc. The only gear necessary is a floor. I do train bare knuckle hitting and a few Kali stick drills but its all basically just very simple exercises I do to stay young as long as possible.

[@honigdachs.]

I don't know if you guys were ever in any fights. But I feel like most people have totally weird ideas about self defense or what may be the most useful thing in such a situation. What always worked best for me is being able to move quicker than the other guy, DON'T GET HIT, get in and out fast and crack them faster and more accurately than they can land on me. And for that, boxing, karate and kickboxing is fine. I was in a stupid fight just two weeks ago and all I needed were a bunch of explosive jabs and two low kicks. Dude was all hyped up going in and had lost his interest in a scrap 20 seconds later. And yes, there was some grabbing and wrestling. I wanted to throw the guy and choke him out, I can do that in sparring, but guess what, most of that shit is just too complicated and too dependent on many fine factors for you to reliably pull it off when a guy tries to unload on you, tackles you against the wall, he's bigger and you're just as drunk as he is. Don't fuck around kids. Yeah, Khabib wrestlefucks his opponents in the cage, grappling and groundfighting are dominant in the MMA game. Whatever man. You'd be surprised, it doesn't work that way in real life. Don't get tangled up, nail them hard and get the fuck out. For a woman, just being able to maintain the distance and not get grabbed/hit might already be all it takes. It may well be the best tool a woman can have in fact. Quick footwork and distance, people. Now in which disciplines do you learn that?

[@antoniojaguilar]

Your second paragraph is dead on. When you're in a real fight more complex techniques are usually too hard to pull off and you fall back to striking. That's why I like the simplicity of Krav Maga. There are no throws in Level 1 Krav Maga at all, just striking and kicking and a few basic defensive techniques. In level 2 you start doing combos, a tiny bit of ground fighting but only the most basic escapes when someone gets you down or getting out of the guard, and so far one very basic throw I've seen. When we spar, just like you described, I find myself falling back to basic strikes and kicks and if you watch enough videos of real martial artists getting in fights, half the time they just end up throwing punches. I think there's a video out there of a Capoeira person getting kicked in practice. They get mad and pick up a guitar and hit the other person with the guitar instead of doing some fancy kick.

[@honigdachs.]

@@antoniojaguilar LOL, I love that guitar bit, hahaha! Yeah from what I've seen of basic Krav Maga, it's pretty much an amalgamation from a bunch of stuff from different arts that's fast, direct and just works. And most of the time that's what you're gonna rely on.

[@MrCmon113]

Lol. Your one anecdote supporting your thesis that wrestling and groundfighting is not important is about you being forced into wrestling/groundfighting.

[@honigdachs.]

@@MrCmon113 Was that English?

[@mb2776]

@@MrCmon113 yeah, as a big guy, no problem groundwork. but as a weaker guy or a women, groundwork on asphalt after you took some punches? that's the reallity. Just no. Once it gets on the ground, you're mor or less done when your much weaker than the other guy,

[@SDongil]

34:30 - I was waiting for that! Thank you, Ramsey.

[@adrianlee7664]

Another unpopular opinion: I've never met any woman, or slightly built unathletic male for that matter, who would stand much of a chance of defending themselves against a violent predator, after only one or two years of training in the martial arts. I've come to the realization that self-defense skills (martial arts hand-to-hand combat stuff) really don't matter in life (outside of a very small niche - military, police, prison guard, gangster). I'm 50, and started training in martial arts when I was 8. And even if you do develop great fighting skills, reality has a way of bursting that fantasy in your head. A close friend of mine got jumped by 3 guys, all much larger than him. My friend was a judoka, so he slammed the first guy into the ground. He was in the midst of grappling with the second guy when the third guy stabbed him with a knife. My friend almost died that night, and it was his cell phone that saved him. I could go on and on with similar stories that have worse endings. Martial arts are great, they're fun, and you meet many cool people along the way. Pick one or two that resonate with you, and have a blast training. It really doesn't matter which ones you choose, they all have strong points, weak points, and there are good and bad instructors. I'll probably get hated on for supporting the unpopular opinion, but if you think you need to learn martial arts for "self-defense", sorry life doesn't work that way.

[@skaruts]

Aikido is great if you want to impress your friends. I knew a guy that practices MAs, including Aikido, and very often he would pick someone at random and say "let me show you something, give me your hand". If you cooperate he will definitely twist you and poke your weak spots, etc, and that tends to impress everyone that doesn't know any better, and that used to include me. And doing that can also create an intimidating factor among your friends and acquaintances. Of course, the problem is that's all just smoke and mirrors. If you're getting mugged out there and you ask for their hand, they'll just give you their fists for close inspection. But if you want to impress your mates, Aikido has got you covered. :)

[@jakeawad2531]

I agree 100% with silat getting a C. There are a lot of good Silat schools, and there are a lot of bad ones too.

[@ultraghost3870]

Yeah C is not bad too

[@mb2776]

silat < self defense systems based upon silat

[@zeroviews1184]

Was blown away by the tai chi part! Was expecting the opposite response, wow.

[@timothyt850]

I'd recomend looking into Kajukembo. It's a mixed martial art created with self defense on the street as the primary focus.

[@sardalamit]

I sae it during Fight Quest!

[@Kris-qc4jt]

In my experience Bujinkan Ninjutsu can be very effective for self defense, especially for women, as training aims to go for weak points all the times, always assuming to have less power etc. - a good dojo will teach you a lot about psychological readyness for violent situation, too, through controlled pain, but with very, very low risk of injury and in a friendly, safe training environment. You have to find a good teacher, though, and there are a lot of bad ones out there unfortunately, that certainly is a big deal and leads to bad ratings in the generic perception, unfortunately. Quality control really is a problem. In my experience, especially in the US there seem to be too many bad Bujinkan Shidoshi (teachers), in trips to Japan I saw different US visitors with teacher rank, who should actually >not< open a dojo and teach others, but they do. Sadly they don't want to see there own lack of understanding.- So ask for some pressure testing at times and check out the reputation of the teacher and/or the teacher's teacher, regarding skills for self defense etc. - however if you only have 1-2 years for training and do not aim for long term improvement, probably it is better to go with an easier system like Krav Maga, which leads to quicker results for basic defense skills.

[@Shrapnel82]

I would disagree with the rank of JKD. His criticism is all on the gyms and the philosophic disagreement. I've been to a JKD gym where sparring was done practically every session, first part was learning techniques, and the second part was all sparring, usually several times, against different students. The instructor also emphasized practical moves (jab, cross, hook, front kicks, etc.), and invites people with other backgrounds to show moves. We had karate guy add his techniques. I have a wrestling/BJJ background, and the JKD instructor asked me to show some of it, and let us practice. The point is that it's not the style, but the instructor. Boxing can be F tier if you just consider gyms where there is no sparring and the instructor pretends to be Jack Dempsey. Also, too much personal bias. It'd be like saying your high school wrestling coach was a dick, so wrestling is F.

[@thenatch432]

I completely agree dude! I came here to see if anybody was gonna (intelligently) defend the JKD rank. I actually agree with what they said - there are schools that teach JKD as a style, and those that do have completely missed the point. I trained in JKD for 10 years, and in that 10 years took elective modules that focused on different arts. Kali, Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling… The list goes on. Proper JKD philosophy uses all styles to hone down your own style, just as Dewey pointed out. Your proficiency is based on what you put in. The weird thing for me during this whole conversation was discovering that Dewey himself is practicing JKD principles without him even realising it! 🤣 He’s trained in so many different styles and taken away bits of each of them to create his own path - precisely what Bruce Lee intended. We too would contact spar every single training session. Head gear, gloves and shin pads. Big, small, women, men… There was also the option to put yourself in amateur fights and properly put yourself under pressure. Maybe my school was different, but I had a drastically different experience than that mentioned in this analysis.

[@bobmcbob9856]

Ramsey makes a good point about the variability of BJJ gyms. Since it became the “cool” martial art, it’s suffered from a lot of the same things as Karate did back when it was “the shit”. Its more pressure testing oriented mentality has slowed it down for BJJ but not that it’s the go to “martial art that will make you a badass”, more and more school are opening and inevitably bad apples are cropping up.

[@captainkirk7513]

I guess with bad apples you are meaning gyms who emphasize staying alive during training sessions

[@bobmcbob9856]

@@captainkirk7513 No no, there is definitely a fine line between pressure testing and mortal combat, but it is very much possible to have pressure without making severe injury or death terribly likely. By bad apples I mean more McDojos. Bad teachers, unskilled people, culty weirdos, and generally self unaware folks (if your school is focused on children's recreation for example, you shouldn't act as if it prepares adults for actual combat, for example, and if your school is extremely violent you shouldn't advertise to people who are looking for a safe or at least only moderately intense experience, to give two examples).

[@dragoncombatclub]

I love Ramsey Dewey and agree with what he's saying (like usual). Nevertheless, have you thought about doing a video with Amber Staklinski about this?

[@blaa443blaa2]

It's weird how Rokas can speak of 'classical Japanese jiujutsu ' without ever mentioning aikido. Aikido is after all a direct derivative of classical daito ryu jiujutsu . I consider it as a style of 'classical japanese jiujutsu ' , most popular and most wide spread one of all Also, like Ramsey mentioned, jiujutsu (here, Aikido) is meant to be used when armed fighting stops. It is a weapon based system, therefore it is kind of weird to rank it in this category. Alsox2 , aikido gives a lot of tools which you find useful when you crosstrain it with other styles. It gives you the ability to sense the direction of the force, body movement dynamics and footwork rarely found in other styles. I keep getting lots of befits from train aikido all the time. 'All' the other styles which do similar techniques like karate and hapkido only focus on the locks and miss the 'aiki' part of body dynamics and directing of the power

[@Wrathchild244]

YES!!!!

[@reiniervanramshorst1031]

Unpopular opinion: Self defense skills don't really matter. The effort to learn vs the effectiveness and the likelihood of really needing it and it working is in no proportion to other threats to your health that are more common than physical unarmed violence and how you could easily and rationally reduce those risks. The really delusional thing is that hand-to-hand combat is actually important for anything in a Middle class, first world person's life. I train Jiu-Jitsu and I love it, I train it from a grappling tournament ruleset perspective and don't imagine it makes me very competent in a streetfight against an experienced violent criminal street fighter, let alone if he is armed in any way. And I don't particularly care. I've never come even close to needing such a thing. Isn't this all just repressed testosterone phantasy? And shouldn't women just train some awareness and maybe carry bear spray? But honestly even there, clean up your diet, get your cancer screenings, and don't go to social events with bad vibes 😅

[@mb2776]

you're a guy, right?

[@reiniervanramshorst1031]

@@mb2776 yes

[@junemoonchild69]

​@@mb2776😂😂😂

[@ajvs2054]

Wow! ❤ Thank you so much both of you! That was probably the most important video I have watched so far this year! ❤ *Question*: Could you make a video ranking Martial Arts for self defence for obese and unfit people (maybe also with the one year time frame to train)??? I know it's best to be fit, strong and confident, but in reality we have to work with what we got. Assuming we wouldn't do a super transformation in that year like loosing half the body weight but doing a good advancement to better health and skills.

[@Draconianoverlord55]

"Usually a woman won't be a big well trained men" That was so funny 🤣

[@takozamtbtrailscout7106]

In Kali, although they use sticks, it also works with knives, machetes and anything that you can grab that you can use to hit people with, it also has a lot of emphasis on disarming an armed opponent.