Self-defense is an incredibly important skill to have at any age. Grappling sports and striking sports are two of the very best combat sports for self-defense. Within these categories, are multiple practices and techniques that when applied can be powerful for protecting oneself. To some, self-defense may seem outdated, but now more than ever it is useful.
The Importance Of Self-Defense
Self-defense has an unlimited amount of benefits. One of the biggest ones is safety and the confidence that comes from knowing you can protect yourself in alarming situations. Specifically for kids and bullies, this allows a child to not feel scared or intimidated to be who they are.
Self-defense also teaches great discipline when learning how to master some of the techniques. It requires focus and hand-eye coordination and the ability to read an opponent. All of these qualities can be applied to everyday life and used in practical situations. In other words, there is a ton of upside with little to no downside.
Why Striking and Grappling
Through the various techniques below it’s important to note that the best self-defense revolves around striking and grappling because striking allows you to take control when you are at arms distance from someone and grappling is particularly useful when you are up close and someone may be trying to grab you.
Here is the breakdown of each combat sport.
Striking
There are many striking sports that are effective in self-defense ranging from boxing to karate. Each of the sports has different rules and characteristics that set them apart slightly.
Boxing
Boxing is stand-up striking. This is where two opponents engage in punching each other while on their feet in the ring. Most of the time they were protective gloves and sometimes headgear. Boxers tend to have the best punches because their workout consists of only throwing punches.
Kick-Boxing
Kick-boxing adds the element of kicking strikes along with punching strikes. Like boxing opponents may be wearing protective gear on their hands and heads.
Karate
Karate is unique in the sense that the techniques taught are based on being able to fight multiple opponents at any given time. Different from boxing, karate uses legs, open palms, and hands, whereas boxing uses fists.
Kungfu
Kungfu is both similar and different to karate. Karate relies more on movement going forward whereas kungfu works on reacting to your opponent and shifting your weight laterally at different times.
Grappling
Grappling also consists of many different techniques that can be useful when an opponent or attacker has put you in a pinned position. It can teach you how to escape these positions and put them on hold.
Wrestling
Wrestling involves grappling with clinch-fighting techniques, throws, and takedowns. Wrestling usually is considered to be a more explosive, aggressive, combat sport under the umbrella of grappling. In wrestling, you want to take your opponent down by pinning them to the floor.
Jiu-Jitsu
Jiu-Jitsu has many similarities to wrestling however in Jiu-jitsu you can pin your opponent from both the top position or the bottom position. Jiu-Jitsu which is commonly referred to as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or BJJ can be considered a more technical game whereas wrestling may be more about dynamic athletic movement to win.
Judo
Judo is unique to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Wrestling because it puts an emphasis on balance. The robes that are worn for Judo are different and make it easier to grip the opponent. It doesn’t involve many of the other strikes, power moves, but instead focuses on submitting your opponent through imbalance.
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The Best Of All The Practices
It can be difficult to learn all the techniques and you may just want to focus on the very best of them all to learn proper self-defense. While they all offer valuable moves, boxing and wrestling tend to take the cake for best practices and self-defense.
Best Of Striking
Boxing seems like one of the purest forms of fighting. Typically, when we think of self-defense we think of blocking punches and hits and we think of hitting. That’s why boxing is the best of striking. There is a lot of speed training that comes with boxing which makes it perfect for trying to feen off multiple opponents at the same time if you have to. Boxing also shows you how to throw multiple different punches and strikes for different situations like the jab and the uppercut.
Best Of Grappling
Wrestling also seems to be something that has a lot of popularity. This relates best because if you are put in a chokehold in a dangerous situation, you are in fact, experiencing real-life wrestling moves. Being able to navigate that and flip the switch is a very powerful thing to do. Wrestling, in general, is said to be more scrappy which is why it applies well to real-life situations. Judo and Jiu-Jitsu have more technical aspects to them that won’t come in hand in a real fight.
MMA is the Way to Go
The real winner is the fairly new sport of MMA because it ties all of these sports together for a more well balanced approach. You never know what can happen in altercation and its good to be prepared for any of it.
Self Defense Is For Everyone
You may be thinking that this is perfect for middle-aged children. You may think your child is too young and you don’t want them learning often misconceived “violent” behavior. You may also think you are too old to learn anything. All these are untrue! There is a reason that everyone should learn self-defense.
Kids at a young age can learn how to discipline themselves and have the skills they need eventually to feel safe and protected from bullies. It also teaches kids hard work and can give them an outlet for energy and any frustrations that may have.
For adults, it is never too late to learn self-defense regardless of whether you are a man or a woman. It’s a great way to stay active and healthy but also it is never a bad idea to be able to protect yourself or someone else from a dangerous situation.
Self-defense is a skill that no one will regret learning.