Whats the best proffesional martial art to watch?

[Gawain of Orkeny]

If a mod could make this a poll id appreciate it

A Boxing
B K-1 Kick Boxing
c UFC Ultimate Fighting Champioship Mixed martial arts
D wrestling
E other
F gah

[Strike For The South]

Boxing

[Big_John]

overall, mma is the best. however, the best boxing matches are the most exciting fighting event. wrestling is good too, but never as exciting as either boxing or mma. k-1 is usually boring, imo.

[JimBob]

I'm baised being a practitioner, but Karate is the best to see and to fight in. Especially fighting against some Mexican schools, they're not dirty fighters or cheaters they just come there to win so sometimes the nice polite kind things they tell us to do in sparring are dropped. Quite fun and it keep you on your toes. And in full contact(which I refuse to participate in for fear of life, limb, and wang), you get to see 5' 1" 100 pound Okinawan guys chuck 6' 4" 230 pound guys across the floor. Capoeira is pretty cool to watch, break dancing meet ass kicking

[edyzmedieval]

Capoeira.

Break dance and martial arts.

[Kagemusha]

To watch Boxing.

[Navaros]

in my view all professional martial arts are boring

UFC is nothing but two guys hugging each other on the ground

Boxing is nothing but two guys hugging each other while standing up

Wrestling is totally fake

therefore in conclusion, all of those are horribly boring to watch

[English assassin]

Boxing. I'm no expert but if any of the more technical martial arts were really where it was at, then why haven't they got the money that boxing has? (I mean as a sport, not self defence. I can see that you can't very well go around breaking peoples arms etc as a sport)

[Lazul]

Shaolin monks showing of is really cool...

...otherwise martial arts are most fun in films.. like Ong Bak

[|OCS|Virus]

Tai Chi, while not a real fighting technique it is pleasing to the eye. Also celtic blade dancing which is a very deadly martial art, is very pleasing to watch, it takes a lot of skill....well it does if you don't want to loose an eye or a lung.

[Dutch_guy]

The only thing I watch occaisionly is Kick-boxing.

However I would recommend watching capoeira, that's great to watch - especially if it's capoeira of high quality.

[Drisos]

I dislike about 100% of those sports named here.

more into Tae-kwondo, karate, judo and other eastern martial arts.

K1 is fun sometimes though...

[lancelot]

Shaolin monks or kendo

I saw the monks live..they are truly gifted. Scorpion style is so weird and great to watch...

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Ill just say this. The UFC guys will kick the butts of those in any other form of martial arts. And yes the best wrestler usually wins meaning the wrestling is the most effective martial art.

[A.Saturnus]

Ill just say this. The UFC guys will kick the butts of those in any other form of martial arts. And yes the best wrestler usually wins meaning the wrestling is the most effective martial art.

Are you seriously suggesting a wrestler would not run screaming from a 9th dan kendoka?

[JimBob]

Ill just say this. The UFC guys will kick the butts of those in any other form of martial arts. And yes the best wrestler usually wins meaning the wrestling is the most effective martial art.

Maybe because the UFC rules are made to favor grapling? (grapling is fun, don't get me wrong but still, elegence is in the spining jump roundhouse kick),

Fish hooking.

Small joint manipulation.

Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.

Butting with the head.

Those rules among others disarm many eastern practioners.
I've gotten into fights with wrestlers, and kicked them around because they really don't know how to fight standing up and close.


@Cube, what do you practice? I've been looking for something to cross train in if you've got any recomendations.

[Duke Malcolm]

my friend's kung fu was inspirational, and almost identical to a scene from the nutcracker.

Dimac is wonderful to watch

[Big_John]

ufc is just one of the organisations, and it's not even the best. wrestlers dominated mma for a while, but now it's moving in a new direction. the ideal mma fighter is a heavy-handed striker that can use submissons or a strong submisson fighter that can strike. wrestling is a good base, but is far from 'the most effective martial art'. wrestling alone does not provide enough offense to win against well-rounded fighters.

saturnus, in a mma event, a good wrestler wouldn't run screaming from anyone. indeed, they would probably rush the guy. one thing about mma is that it shows what really works in a fight. if i needed a bodyguard or something, i'd take a guy like fedor emelianenko over some black belt that throws his students around in a dojo any day.

and btw guys, when i say "wrestling" i'm talking about the real greco-roman stuff, not "pro" wrestling. i assume that gawain meant the same.

[econ21]

About two decades ago, I used to like watching Sumo wrestling on the UK TV station Channel 4. However, I suspect that was more because of the commentary than the action. The commentator was, IIRC, an aussie academic who had gone utterly bananas over the "sport" and would give breathless in-depth tactical coverage of the fighters, referring to them by very memorable English nicknames. There were some very memorable characters, including a surprisingly old and trim top dog and an absolutely enormous Hawaiian outsider challenging for his position. The bouts were also sufficiently short for my concentration span. (Lasting all of ten seconds or so). I've since seen the sport televised with a more mundane commentary and it bored me senseless.

[A.Saturnus]

saturnus, in a mma event, a good wrestler wouldn't run screaming from anyone. indeed, they would probably rush the guy. one thing about mma is that it shows what really works in a fight. if i needed a bodyguard or something, i'd take a guy like fedor emelianenko over some black belt that throws his students around in a dojo any day.

Erm, kendoka don´t throw each other around, they hit each other with wooden sticks. I´m not sure what a wrestler would do against that. And you´re mistaken that eastern martial arts "don´t really work in a fight". Wing-Tsun for example was created to kill an opponent as fast as possible. There are no competitions in Wing-Tsun, as it would turn out fatal very often. If I needed a bodyguard, I´d take someone who can knock someone out as fast is it is possible, and that means Wing-Tsun would be the best choice.

[Big_John]

i'm talking about in a mma event. wooden sticks, like other weapons, are not allowed. but sure, in a "real fight" better weapons are always a plus. i'll take a fully armed marine over a stick-/sword-wielding kendo practitioner or a mma fighter in that case.

there is something to be said for the rules of most mma events. the lack of small joint manipulation especially may put some martial artists at a disadvantage in mma venues. but it's hard to say.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Maybe because the UFC rules are made to favor grapling? (grapling is fun, don't get me wrong but still, elegence is in the spining jump roundhouse kick),

How so? All forms of martial arts are legal there.

Those rules among others disarm many eastern practioners.

Yeah and your not allowed to poke the other guys eye out either. Give me a vreak. UFC is the closest thing there is to anything goes.

I've gotten into fights with wrestlers, and kicked them around because they really don't know how to fight standing up and close.

They dont have to. Once your on the ground your toast. I suggest you didnt fight a very good wrestler.

he ideal mma fighter is a heavy-handed striker that can use submissons or a strong submisson fighter that can strike. wrestling is a good base, but is far from 'the most effective martial art'. wrestling alone does not provide enough offense to win against well-rounded fighters.

Most of these matches end with either a submission or a judges desciion. Few are one by knockouts and even most of them are because the guy wrestled them to the ground , mounted them annd proceeded to beat the snot out of them. Those submssion holds are wrestling moves that are illegal in wrestling because of the serious damage they can cause. Nobody can be a champion in UFC that is not a fully rounded fighter however.

[JimBob]

They dont have to. Once your on the ground your toast. I suggest you didnt fight a very good wrestler.

And I'm not a very good karateka. And yes you have to know how to fight standing, do you expect me to lay down for them? If you can't fight close and standing you can't win because you can't get me on the ground.

Yeah and your not allowed to poke the other guys eye out either. Give me a vreak. UFC is the closest thing there is to anything goes.

My understanding of fish hooking means using your leg to pull someone else's out from under them, standard eastern move cut out of UFC, small joint manipulation if this includes wrists and ankles how the hell am I supposed to pin your attacks properly? And why can't I hold your gloves? Again if I can't disarm I lose one of the most important parts of my fighting style.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

If you can't fight close and standing you can't win because you can't get me on the ground.

Meet me 35 years ago. You will be on the ground. If you dont really clobber a wrestler when hews going for a take down your on the ground no two ways about it. Just ask Mohamed Ali how bad he got hurt taking on a wrestler. I think the match didnt even last a minute before he was his the way to the hospital

My understanding of fish hooking means using your leg to pull someone else's out from under them, standard eastern move cut out of UFC

Ive seen this done quite often there.

small joint manipulation if this includes wrists and ankles how the hell am I supposed to pin your attacks properly

What are you talking about? Ankle locks and wrist locks are commonly used as subbmission holds there.

And why can't I hold your gloves?

What gloves? UFC uses tiny gloves that donet even have fingers. Heck they even allow choking.

[A.Saturnus]

i'm talking about in a mma event. wooden sticks, like other weapons, are not allowed. but sure, in a "real fight" better weapons are always a plus. i'll take a fully armed marine over a stick-/sword-wielding kendo practitioner or a mma fighter in that case.

there is something to be said for the rules of most mma events. the lack of small joint manipulation especially may put some martial artists at a disadvantage in mma venues. but it's hard to say.

Gawain said a UFC fighter would be superior to any other martial arts expert. No mentioning of mma. Firing a gun isn´t martial arts, kendo is.

Meet me 35 years ago. You will be on the ground. If you dont really clobber a wrestler when hews going for a take down your on the ground no two ways about it. Just ask Mohamed Ali how bad he got hurt taking on a wrestler. I think the match didnt even last a minute before he was his the way to the hospital

Mohammed Ali is a boxer. He wouldn´t stand a chance against a expert karateka or kung fu fighter for more than seconds.

[Gawain of Orkeny]

Gawain said a UFC fighter would be superior to any other martial arts expert. No mentioning of mma. Firing a gun isn´t martial arts, kendo is.

So is fighting with swords in medeival armor. Lets be serious here

Mohammed Ali is a boxer. He wouldn´t stand a chance against a expert karateka or kung fu fighter for more than seconds.

UFC fighters generally have all these skills. Next you will want them to face noon chucks(sp)

[Big_John]

My understanding of fish hooking means using your leg to pull someone else's out from under them, standard eastern move cut out of UFC, small joint manipulation if this includes wrists and ankles how the hell am I supposed to pin your attacks properly?

no, fish-hooking is sticking your thumbs into a guys mouth ripping his lips/cheeks open. you're referring to a sweep, which is perfectly legal. small joint manipulation refers to toe and finger locking/breaking; all other joints are fair game. also illegal are groin strikes, eye-gouging, and biting.

those rules are pretty much common to all organizations. i think certain orgs disallow head-butts, knee-strikes to the head of a downed opponent, stomping of a downed opponent, and elbow spiking. but i'm sure one or all of those things are allowed in one or more mma organizations..

[Gawain of Orkeny]

no, fish-hooking is sticking your thumbs into a guys mouth ripping his lips/cheeks open

Thats what I thought but have only used it during sex

[Roark]

Tai Chi, while not a real fighting technique it is pleasing to the eye.

Tai Chi certainly is a real fighting technique, and one of the most widely practiced in the world.

The popular Western portrayal of it, however, tends to be restricted to the "relaxation technique" side of things...

It's very effective.

[Randarkmaan]

Mohammed Ali is a boxer. He wouldn´t stand a chance against a expert karateka or kung fu fighter for more than seconds.

You do know that boxers propably hit alot harder(perhaps more accurately as well) than most of those kung-fu people, and that most of them are pretty agile as well? I'd say boxers would have a chance.
Though Mohammed Ali I can propably agree with he has gotten a little too many punches to his head...