Martial Arts Ranked

Martial Arts is a rather “deadly” way of self-defense. And I say “deadly” quote-on-quote because well, most of it IS deadly and honestly, there are too many styles of martial arts to count. I mean some people even made their own style of martial arts apparently.  Aside from all that, I am going to rate the top 10 Martials Art styles in my opinion. I will rate the styles using 3 scales, and they are Effectiveness, Difficulty, and Brutality. Now keep in mind that if the style is too brutal, it can’t really be very high on the list. The brutality level has to be somewhere in the middle and that is mainly because my ratings are going to be about how this style is with self-defense, not beginning some school fight that no one actually cares about. Also, the more the score in difficulty, the better because it means it’s easy. Anyways, now that you all know how the rating system works, sit back tight and buckle your seatbelts.

1. Karate:

Now you all obviously know about Karate. Karate is a popular martial art in many movies and books. Originating in Okinawa, Japan, it was made for self-defense. It’s a somewhat brutal art that is VERY effective.  It is also very easy to learn as it mostly consists of simple punches and kicks. People who watch Cobra Kai might think that Karate is rigid, brutal, and made for bullies, but the truth is, it’s a great martial art style that is easy and is used for self-defense only (not sure if this rule is actually followed nowadays), kind of like how “Miyagi-Do Karate” from Cobra Kai showcases it.  Karate gets a 10/10 for effectiveness, it gets a good ol’ 7/10 for difficulty but mainly because some of the kicks are very hard to get, and a 5/10 for brutality.

2. Wushu (more widely known as Kung-Fu):

Originally an art created for performance, Wushu is a very beautiful looking martial art style. It looks visually appealing and works great too. Due to it being a performance art, Wushu is not very brutal. Hence, it gets a 3/10 for brutality, and a whopping 7/10 for effectiveness. Now you might be wondering about the score on its difficulty. Well, it’s not exactly the easiest to learn so it gets a 6/10 on difficulty but hey! It’s the brutality and the effectiveness that weighs the heaviest! 

3. Taekwondo (or Taekkyeon):

Now you all either know about Taekwondo and hate it, or you don’t know about it at all because that’s the truth. Everyone hates it but I think it’s great! Originating from the ancient Koguryo Kingdom of Korea, Taekwondo is an easy-to-learn martial art style that is too good to ignore. This martial art style can teach you how to make your feet your greatest weapon. Now imagine this: you are walking down a dark alley and suddenly a creepy and mysterious figure tries to attack you. What do you do? Easy, you use your OP legs and bring the figure to their knees. Awesome right? Well, Taekwondo can actually make that possible. Taekwondo uses simple yet powerful sets of kicks to combat opponents. Now for the ratings, it gets a 6/10 for effectiveness (because if your attacker is very experienced, they could just slap down your feet), 8/10 for difficulty because it’s pretty easy, and a good 7/10 for brutality. Now hear me out, the reason it’s on number 3 even with such a high brutality level is because you can adjust how brutal you are unlike Karate and other styles because even the softest hits from the other martial arts are painful.

4. Boxing:

I’m going to be very honest in this one (not that I wasn’t in the other ones), Boxing is extremely underrated. Boxing is a great martial arts style and a sport. It uses your hands and literally breaks your opponent’s teeth if you punch hard enough. My cousin knows a bit of boxing and he did box with me a few times and after feeling it’s wrath, I have to say, it’s brutal but like it's not VERY brutal so it gets a 6.75/10 in brutality, an 8/10 in difficulty because it’s pretty easy, and a 6/10 in effectiveness because Boxing is pretty popular, and most people know how to box so your opponent can probably defend against you.

Note: Leap has a Boxing Club in our school that’s run by Mr.Q, so if you want to learn Boxing, you could sign up.

5. Muay Thai:

Wrath. That’s the only word I can think of when describing Muay Thai. It’s a fancier cousin of Boxing that originates from, obviously, Thailand. It’s also most likely more powerful than boxing. It’s basically Taekwondo and a bit of Krav Maga, a martial art style we’ll get into later. It is a bit brutal, so it gets a 6/10 for that. 5/10 for difficulty because stretching your legs while learning Muay Thai is a PAIN, and a 5/10 for effectiveness because your opponent can hold your feet while you try to kick them. I mean it's also known as “The Art of Eight Limbs” so you better hope you have your normal four limbs after a fight with a person who knows Muay Thai.

6. Jeet Kune Do:

Invented by the legend himself, Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do is a brutal martial art that is pretty mysterious. Although there isn’t much background to it, I’ll tell you what, Jeet Kune Do is Effective and Working okay. It literally means “The Way of the Intercepting Fist” so you KNOW it’s effective. It gets a 6.95/10 for brutality. 3/10 for difficulty because it’s NOT easy AT ALL. and an 8/10 for effectiveness.

7. Aikido:

You most likely don’t know Aikido. Why? Because it is not recognized AT ALL. Their motivation is to pin down your attacker without hurting them, which isn’t really true because “you can’t reasonably pin them [your opponent] down without hurting them” as said by TheOdd1sOut on YouTube. Aikido is also the most “civil” type of Martial Art so I mean hey! It does what it’s meant to do and works pretty well. It gets a complex 3/10 in brutality and not on the top because their motive is kind of not true. It gets a 7/10 in difficulty because it is pretty easy and an 8/10 in effectiveness. So overall, it still works and it’s pretty civil so it’s definitely worth a chance for everyone.

8. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu:

Jiu-Jitsu is a pretty good martial arts style, it teaches you blocking, defense, and no offense. It’s like a better version of Aikido except the fact it’s UNDER Aikido is because if you try to defend against your opponent, chances are, you can also get hurt. If it wasn’t for that, it would have been over Aikido. Again, it gets a 6.3/10 for brutality, 7.6/10 for effectiveness, and an 8/10 for difficulty.

9. Judo:

Look, Judo is extremely brutal. It uses the art of slamming down your opponent. Doesn’t seem brutal right? But guess what, it is! Just imagine, someone is trying to attack you on a sidewalk, and you just slam them on the hard concrete floor. Brutal right? This is exactly why Judo is in 9th place. As usual, it gets an 8/10 in brutality, 8/10 in effectiveness, and a 7/10 in difficulty because you technically already know it since it’s just slamming people on the ground.

10. Krav Maga:

Trust me, you most likely don’t know Krav Maga. Why? It’s not popular. Krav Maga is a military grade martial arts style made by the Israeli Defense Force for real world situations (not that the other ones aren’t). Since it’s made for the military and is used for it too, you KNOW it’s brutal so it’s a 9/10 in brutality, a 10/10 in effectiveness, and a 4/10 in difficulty because it’s HARD.

I sincerely hope you guys liked my rating and please don’t be biased by it. It was only in my opinion and if you think that I wasn’t correct on something or saw a problem, feel free to correct me in our corrections page. That’s all folks!