Whichever one your friends think is the coolest is the best martial art. Anything recommended by someone who is old enough to be your parent is wrong. Any art that has never been used in the UFC is not even woth knowing. And by all means, go by whatever they say on forums that are meant to debunk traditional martial arts. And when you do get around to training, only train under people who are built like they are on steroids, because only people who are super-duper fit are capable of defending themselves. There is no way possible that you can get your buttocks handed to you by someone who looks like your high school principal.
I give that recommendation since many people who ask this question will not accept that there is no best martial art, there is only a better or worse martial arts practitioner.
I agree with Jim R. Any school, any art, will do. Just as long as you have a good teacher.
And others are right to. Though MMA is effective, it's a sport and fights as such. MMA lacks some of the essential qualities of a true martial art.
The question is perhaps to vague. The proper answer would be suitably vague to, such as 'The one you know' by Samus. But if you simply narrow it to a choice between MMA fighters and boxers I would place my bet on MMA fighters, simply because they kick and grapple too. If you go on youtube and watch bouts between pure boxers vs MMA/kickboxers/Muay Thai fighters, the boxer almost always loses because they are not trained to deal with kicks / grappling.
Boxing - while it is not as versatile as some other martial arts, most others couldn't get close enough to a boxer to use their other skills without being knocked out. Kicks, while powerful are slow. Grappling is great if you bring the guy down but a good boxer will never give you the chance.
Anyone who names a style is just wrong.
Any martial art taught correctly is up to the task.
The best martial art is simply the art with which you are competent, and can make work
You should read this too:
Believe me when I tell you, you will be very surprised by the arts you suspect of being less. I was young and had that very thing figured out, just like you. Then a young (I was still young then too) judo brown-belt beat the tar out of the parking lot with me! Smart-arsed karate guy couldn't get close to that guy without hitting the ground, and I thought judo was girlish and soft! I saw some tai-chi demos that left my jaw hanging from the POWER of their art, and I do shotokan. I saw a TKD guy simply chop down a muay thai guy with fearsome kicks the MT guy could not fathom. every time I disrespected some different art, it hurt when I found out the hard way. Your martial art is yours alone, when it comes time to use it, and you will make of it what it becomes, and you alone, no matter the art, you the practitioner must make it work. I can teach you enough karate in 15 minutes to beat Chuck Norris silly.
YOU have to practice for 50 years until you are good enough at it to do that. Chuck"ll be too old to care.
Go for what you like, it is you the makes the martial art, not the other way round. Don't listen to FistMaster.....he's obviously had too many knocks to the head. After 21+ years I've trained in various arts, and I can say without a doubt AVOID BOXING! TOO MANY RULES!. There will never be 1 particular art that will ever be 'the best'.
I have trained in 2 styles of Japanese Ju-jitsu (this is my main style and I train in Traditional Ju-jitsu which covers ever aspect of combat), 2 styles of Karate (this helps with discipline and focus), Judo (when I want to concentrate on grappling), Nin-jitsu (for speed and technique), Kickboxing and Boxing. Ju-jitsu and Nin-jitsu are actual 'combat arts', Judo, some Karate forms, Kickboxing and Boxing are 'sport arts'. In my case, they have all contributed to making me a better fighter, and I fight in a style that is 'unique' to me, my height, weight, awareness, speed...so on and so on. If I had trained in 1 particular one, I would have a completely different fighting technique.
And lastly...NINJITSU IS NOT FAKE! lol.
Modern Muay Thai. I say this because nowadays, many thai boxers already have western boxing included in their training regimen. Muay Thai is the more complete fighting style that will simply overwhelm boxers now. Believe me, a few thai kicks can ruin your mobility.
The "best" art is the one that you learn that helps you avoid a fight.
The next best one is the one you know that helps you get out of a fight without getting hurt or without being arrested.
After that, it's all a matter of skill to do what you have to do to protect yourself.
And if you're thinking of starting fights you need to not study martial arts but rather go find an anger management class.
Why would everyone say mma, thats a sport bro, not a self defence system. Same situation with boxing.
Lets get to what you really want to ask.
Q - What martial art will guarantee you get no beatings.
A - NONE!!!
Now I know a lot of you will say mma but mma fighters don't have very good balance like boxers. Boxers might not kick but they have strong as legs right...?
If you want to get skin disease like STAPH and RINGWORM and you get to put your head in between sweaty guys' crotch, go for BJJ or MMA.
If you want to get long term brain damage, go for boxing or kick boxing or muay thai.
If you want to kick fancy and get to black belt level without actually learning the martial art, go for Taekwondo
If you want dancing, go for Tai Chi or Shotokan and other Karate variations EXCEPT Kyokushin.
If you want fake martial arts and feel like a ninja, go for Ninjutsu.
The one you know.
