Best for UFC/MMA?

[MMACHAMP]

Im just curious as to everyones opinion. What do you think is best for UFC/MMA...Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kung Fu, Karate, or Boxing?

[CapitalKarate]

BJJ, you at least have to start off here. The majority of UFC/MMA is ground fighting, so a foundation of BJJ is crucial. Second, MT or Hard core sport karate.

[ramymensa]

I think this is a bit biased ... the poll is OK, but we are getting to some nasty things if we are not careful. Stand up fighting is important indeed. You can keep someone standing and punch and kick. you can also go to ground and succeed. If you are good at ground fighting you can have a good standup fighter that could kick you ... there are so many ifs in here that we will not come to a common conclusion.

Still ... voted for Karate. In a good dojo you learn some ground stuff too .. if you can incorporate that you'll be fine. And here we go again to the main problem: THE WAY YOU TRAIN. Nowadays there is no pure style anymore. We all try stuff taken from other styles at least just beacause it's "cool" ... if it's good information .. use it, it doesn't matter that much that's from another style.

I'm ranting, I know ... hope you get my message.

[Thaegen]

Hmm what kind of Kung fu? What kind of Karate? But for JJ, you specialise ...chosing BJJ.

[Mr. Mike]

well, as for the ufc, who can argue with what the Gracies did? They came and walked all over those disciplines. Still, it IS in the way you train.

Given the options, and if you had to stick with only the disciplines listed above, I give it to BJJ.

[TJS]

Hmm what kind of Kung fu? What kind of Karate? But for JJ, you specialise ...chosing BJJ.

It dosent matter, no stlye of karate or kung fu has had the same sucess as bjj in Mixed martial arts fighting. Thats just a fact.

[TJS]

Still ... voted for Karate. In a good dojo you learn some ground stuff too .. if you can incorporate that you'll be fine

fair enough but look at the facts, There are great stlyes or karate out there and a few practicioners have had sucess in MMA(mostly Kyokushin guys) but numbers dont lie and karate practicioners havent had a % of the sucess of BJJ fighters or other grapplers..especially if your talking about people who train primarily in one stlye.

[judoguy]

Still ... voted for Karate. In a good dojo you learn some ground stuff too .. if you can incorporate that you'll be fine

fair enough but look at the facts, There are great stlyes or karate out there and a few practicioners have had sucess in MMA(mostly Kyokushin guys) but numbers dont lie and karate practicioners havent had a % of the sucess of BJJ fighters or other grapplers..especially if your talking about people who train primarily in one stlye.

I know what you are saying tjs, but I think what he/she was trying to say was you will have more success if you train with a full contact style like kyokushin, eshin ryu, or shidokan. Same with styles of kung fu that are hard core like shuai chiao, baji quan, or hun gar. Admittedly those styles are not a serious factor in NHB because the overwhelming majority of people in the sport train in a combo a muay thai, bjj, wrestling and boxing, but underrepresentation does not mean ineffective.

One only has to look at the resent rise of judo stylists in mma. Judo for the most part was totally silent in nhb for years until worldclass judoka started to get in the mix and have had great success because guy's had been training in bjj, muay thai, and wrestling only. They were training to defend primarily against the double leg and then all of a sudden here comes this guy who basically flips them head over heels onto the mat hard and now are all of a sudden they are out of their element and forced to deal with something new. If you think that judo guy is having success then whats going to happen when worldclass shuai chiao stylists get in the mix. Those guy's have even nastier more powerful versions of judo throws in their bag of tricks. What happens when baji quan, a style that most knowledgable people say could replace muay thai as the premier striking art in the world if they added more concentrated knee and elbow strikes, get's in the mix. I've seen a guy get knocked out with a shoulder butt in baji quan.

My point is NHB is an ever evolving sport and when these other guy's decide to try their hand at it trust me when I tell you they will have good success. Boxing, wrestling, Muay thai, and bjj are great, but there are other very effective martial arts out there waiting to be added to the mix and it would do you well to check them out so that you will have an edge over your opponents .

[Bama Crimson]

The key to success in any sport is not to copy what the best do but to innovate. Many in MMA for awhile have used a BJJ/Muay Thai combo. Both styles are very good. But it would be best to train with methods that will prepare you that much more or try to find new techniquest that can be used in the ring to win. If there are techniques that Karate/Judo or other arts could provide to give someone an edge, I would say use the,.

Royce Gracie won in the early UFC's because BJJ was not well known in the states at the time. No one knew of the techiques or how to counter them. So Royce won. He won because he was an innavator.

Then everyone began to incorporate BJJ in order to be able to counter it and use it, because Gracie won with it. Now BJJ is essential for MMA training, instead of advantage giving.

[judoguy]

Well said. Essentally the same point I was trying to make but I have the tendency to turn short and sweet into long and boring, sorry.