What's the best stand up martial art?

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WarRelja

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I'm pretty sure it's muay thai followed by kickboxing and nothing else comes close to even comparing to those two but hey, maybe there's something I don't know about.
As far as I know, tae kwan do is nothing. No offense. Various forms of karate just won't do. Shogon stuff, kung fu, wing chun etc.....useless in MMA. Krav maga...not for MMA. So is it really all about muay thai and kickboxing? Nothing else compares?
 
I think you meant "what is the best stand up art for MMA?" ... there really are only 3 standup arts that survived the early MMA "weeding out" process of the traditional martial arts... Muay Thai, kickboxing, and boxing.

Of course modern MMA fighters need to learn the strengths and weaknesses of all 3 in addition to submission grappling (BJJ, wrestling, judo/sambo).

Traditional martial arts like the ones you listed may be beneficial for self defense (some more than others of course) but they have no place in MMA. In the long run, traditional martial arts will become extinct; but they have served their purpose as stepping stones to a unified Mixed Martial Arts!
 
scarecrowbar said:
I think you meant "what is the best stand up art for MMA?" ... there really are only 3 standup arts that survived the early MMA "weeding out" process of the traditional martial arts... Muay Thai, kickboxing, and boxing.

Of course modern MMA fighters need to learn the strengths and weaknesses of all 3 in addition to submission grappling (BJJ, wrestling, judo/sambo).

Traditional martial arts like the ones you listed may be beneficial for self defense (some more than others of course) but they have no place in MMA. In the long run, traditional martial arts will become extinct; but they have served their purpose as stepping stones to a unified Mixed Martial Arts!
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This is so wrong I don't even know what to do. The remark that they "have no place" is immediately shot down when the name Machida comes up. TMAs have a lot to offer a fighter who is willing to find the aspects that work and incorporate them into his own unique fighting style.

TMAs were a brief part of the beginning of MMA, they are going to be a huge part of the future of MMA. Fighting is evolving so fast and creativity is such a huge part of it, I don't really see anyway it won't happen.
 
There is no "best stand-up art", that all matter of opinion and contingent on what you hope to gain from such martial art. My personal opinion: For hands Boxing, For clinch work knees and elbows Muay thai, for Kicking TKD, for agility dexterity and overall body control Kung Fu, for developing pure hand speed Wing Chun, for soccer moms cardio kickboxing, for "finding your inner zen" Tai Chi:D!

If ya want to change your mo-hawks hair color monthly, wear affection (i meant affliction) t shirts, cover yourself in tribal tattoos and impress high school girls, nascar fans and WWE junkies............ MMA is your best bet:icon_chee
 
ssullivan actually put it well.

It depends on the fighter, really.
 
I'm a 10-year TKD practicioner, so my opinion may be biased, but I think a TMA background can be a huge benefit for an MMA fighter. That being said, I'm looking to add Muay Thai to my training, in addition to the TKD and BJJ that I'm doing now. Is it the "best" stand up technique for [mixed] martial arts? I don't know. The advantage it has over boxing and kickboxing is the utilization of all weapons available for striking.
 
don't discount karate. remember a guy named chuck? or another guy named lyoto?
 
Futz Brown said:
This is so wrong I don't even know what to do. The remark that they "have no place" is immediately shot down when the name Machida comes up. TMAs have a lot to offer a fighter who is willing to find the aspects that work and incorporate them into his own unique fighting style.

TMAs were a brief part of the beginning of MMA, they are going to be a huge part of the future of MMA. Fighting is evolving so fast and creativity is such a huge part of it, I don't really see anyway it won't happen.
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To be fair, "Machida Karate" is not a TMA, like you said it's a unique style created by Lyoto Machida and his father which has been adapted for MMA and *was derived from* the TMA Shotokan Karate. If you asked Lyoto Machida: "should I train Shotokan Karate for MMA?" he'd reply with "No, you should train Machida Karate for MMA!". He even sells learn Machida Karate at home DVDs on his website!

Perhaps we will see some Chinese MMA fighters in the future who have adapted a unique style from Kung Fu and Wing Chun strengths but you're never going to see a Traditional Chinese Martial Artist fighter knocking people out with his qi in a MMA cage. Those TMA's have no place in MMA.

Anyone trying to learn striking for MMA would be best served to learn Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing and not a TMA, which is what the TS was asking...
 
scarecrowbar said:
To be fair, "Machida Karate" is not a TMA, like you said it's a unique style created by Lyoto Machida and his father which has been adapted for MMA and *was derived from* the TMA Shotokan Karate. If you asked Lyoto Machida: "should I train Shotokan Karate for MMA?" he'd reply with "No, you should train Machida Karate for MMA!". He even sells learn Machida Karate at home DVDs on his website!

Perhaps we will see some Chinese MMA fighters in the future who have adapted a unique style from Kung Fu and Wing Chun strengths but you're never going to see a Traditional Chinese Martial Artist fighter knocking people out with his qi in a MMA cage. Those TMA's have no place in MMA.

Anyone trying to learn striking for MMA would be best served to learn Muay Thai, Kickboxing and Boxing and not a TMA, which is what the TS was asking...
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Boxing is older than Shotokan. So the whole TMA tag is just another internet driven misnomer ;) But, anyone that has been around forums awhile, knows what is implied by the term.

And the Machidas do Shotokan, but have a old school approach for MMA
Yoshizo: Shotokan nowadays is pretty much focused on competition. Machida karate thinks competition is very important -- we have many champions -- but we separate Machida karate. In the ring, our goal is to punish and take down an opponent. On the other side, Shotokan karate, which I also teach, is pretty much an educational sport.
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For me the best is the combination of boxing and muay thai.

What I mean is...

A style of Muay Thai that focuses almost entirely on boxing, leg kicks and knees in the clinch; while almost completely removing mid/high kicks, teeps and elbows.

High and body kicks are awesome and can be effective, but I just feel that they compromise your base too much and aren't high percentage. Teeps can be useful if you don't have to worrry about takedowns, but they don't do enough damage to justify the risk. Elbows can also be great, but at the end of the day boxing is just a more dynamic use of the arms.

If you can use solid leg kicks you can compromise your opponents base and close the distance in one go, if you have strong boxing you can destroy people at mid/close range, and I feel the clinch is the most effective area of all. You can resist takedowns, contol your opponent and do massive damage from there.
 
For all of you saying traditional martial arts has no place in mma maybe you need to study up a bit because last time I checked muay Thai is traditional as it gets.
 
Sanda or Muy Thai with boxing fro stand up in MMA
Sanda is more take down orienated off Kick boxing which transitions better into BJJ etc.

MT has some freat poundage from the clinch

HOWEVER THESE ARE ALL COMBAT SPORTS FOR ANOTHER COMBAT SPORT....
 
Boxing, kickboxing and muay thai. Next thread!
 
Threads like these are frustrating and usually turn into a popularity contest.
In MMA, Boxing + Muay Thai is the best combination of stand-up arts.

However there are always exceptions to the rules as Machida and Liddell has shown us. Chuck and Lyoto are primarily Karate/kickboxers and they were both world Champions.

In conclusion, each art has its pros and cons but it mostly falls on the fighter to show how great an art can truly become.
 
flamingredhead said:
For all of you saying traditional martial arts has no place in mma maybe you need to study up a bit because last time I checked muay Thai is traditional as it gets.
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Jose Aldo is a great example of this. His near perfect Muay Thai is decimating everyone in the division.
 
to be honest if you're talking in terms of mma, the striking level is so low it really doesnt matter what art it is. assuming of course you train and spar hard and not just do katas.
 
Kickboxing or boxing. This argument has been done to death but, there are no real, straight up muay thai fighters in the UFC for a reason. Please don't come back with Anderson Silva.

You need to be able to box, manage distance and check/deliver a leg kick. After that, it's takedown to grappling and ground and pound.

Join a boxing gym or find the closest thing to K1 that you can. I love muay thai but, if you learn from somewhere authentic, you will have to modify the shit out of it so that it's not even recognizable or you will be learning from some douche bag MMA "striking" coach who doesn't know muay thai from pad thai.

Muay Thai nutthuggers, flame away.
 
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