Self-Defense Training – What’s the Best Hand-to-Hand Close-Quarter Combat System?

Are you serious about learning effective, real-world and street-ready self-defense?

Maybe you’ve taken a few classes, or actually enrolled in a martial art or self-defense program.

Or, maybe you’re like one of the countless students around the world who are going the “self-taught” route and learning from dvds, books, online video training, or even from articles just this one.

Regardless of how or where you train, if you’ve been doing your “homework,” and trying to gather as much information about what it takes to actually be able to survive a real attack on the streets of today’s often dangerous world, you probably have a few questions regarding the different approaches, programs, theories, or systems being offered both on and off the internet.

One of the most common questions that I get from students and prospective students who are serious about getting the most effective training they can find is… 
“What do think about “XYZ” system or martial art?” Or, said another way… “Which martial art or close-quarter-combat self-defense system is the best?”

Now, they really don’t ask about an art or system called “XYZ.” I wrote that to act in place of any number of hand-to-hand and close quarter combat fighting systems. That means that you could replace my “XYZ” with an martial art, including:

• Ninjutsu or Ninpo-Taijutsu (the self-defense system of Japan’s ancient Ninja families)
• Jujitsu
• Aikijujutsu (one of the unarmed combat arts of the Samurai)
• Tae kwon do
• etc.

It could also replace any number of self-defense systems like:

• Krav maga
• Systema
• EDR (Emotion-based Defensive Response)
• etc.

** Please note that, contrary to popular belief, MMA is not a self-defense system, but rather a “form” of competitive, sport fighting. Just like boxing, collegeate wrestling, or judo, I would never say that these pratitioners cannot defend themselves – only that what they practice, because of the rules, weight classes, etc., was not designed for street fighting and self-defense. **

I think you get the picture.

Either way… this article serves to answer that question in much the same way that I typically respond to it each time I hear it. And it is that… I believe that all training has its merits. The trick is to know what to use and what not to use from any given martial art or self-defense system.

That being said, I tend to avoid discussing any given system, but rather spend my time discussing the principles, concepts, and best practices that any good combat system should have for it to be useful for today’s dangerous world. That way, you can gauge any system’s value on your own by comparing it to the combat principles that I, and many other qualified experts, talk about.

Again, I believe that there are just as many skilled and successful practitioners who are experts in their own rights at different types of martial arts and self-defense systems, as there are different systems themselves.