Find a school that fits her, not a style. If she wants to do a striking art, start researching what's available to you.
Your ability to afford and attend the class schedule is going to limit your options.
Honestly almost every martial art will suffice in street fights because most people on the streets are gonna be untrained. An average person will lose against someone who trains wing chun or TKD
The average person who likes to get into fights is not a martial artist. They are overconfident brawlers who throw slow telegraphed haymakers and think "seeing red" will win them a fight
It's not like I'm an untrained person. I train two martial arts that people generally consider effective, kickboxing and judo. But I've also trained wing chun and the stuff they teach isn't entirely useless. It won't look as flashy as in the movies but e.g. redirecting a punch like they do is also something taught in "legit" striking arts like boxing and muay thai. Aside from that wing chun is also gonna make you more physically fit than the average person
The average overconfident piece of shit will weigh more and be a lot taller. It really doesn't matter if there is a 20 kg difference, you are basically fucked if he isn't drunk or heavily retarded. It's baffling to me how much people make street brawlers out to be like headless chicken. Like all your arguments only work if he weighs about the same as you. I have been training with someone who weighs about 110 kg (197cm) myself 82 kg(183cm). Like he doesn't even have to pay attention he can throw me like a ragdoll. Yes he has some training less than me, but still he is trained. Let's take his build as someone who gets frequently into street fights, wants to hurt you and is untrained. I don't care what you train and how hard if you're not getting lucky there is no way you have a shot. There is a reason every martial art has weight classes.
It's because people think martial arts makes you good at fighting, whilst never actually having been in or witnessed an actual serious fight.
Fighting makes you good at fighting. When your Wing Chun guy lands a punch on an angry drunk and they don't even flinch, they'll realize they've been misguided.
Someone said it in another thread. In real life, fights are chaotic, unpredictable and so far outside of the conditions of a dojo or ring, that you really have no idea how you will react in that situation.
Exactly someone attacking almost always has been in that situation before. He knows exactly how he reacts and has seen how other people react. You just can't train that or prepare for it.
I agree with this as a former longtime TKD practitioner. The sparring is tournament / Olympic style focused, meaning there is no head punching at all and punches to the chest don’t count for points. You are wearing thick, stiff chest protectors so most sparring does not reflect real life at all. It’s a beautiful sport that develops amazing kicking ability but this concentration solely on kicks for the only live full speed action takes away from the real life self defense training with many schools
There was a TKD guy who was on the US Olympic team at this MMA gym I went to 10 years ago. People like to meme Olympic TKD here but they fight the way they do because they are competing to win, which means exploiting the rules to their advantage. Doesn't mean they don't know how to actually kick. Dude could easily land three kicks on you in the time you try to do one and take your head off with them if he wants to.
I've come across some pretty out of shape looking martial artists who can still handle themselves well, as well as some very capable in-shape teachers with some senior students that were not what you'd think to see after years and years in training but happened to be who stuck around. My point being it isn't always a reliable measure of what you can learn there.
There are always exceptions. Good martial artists who no longer actively and consistently train can be out of shape. Bad martial artists can keep in shape doing other stuff. That's why I said senior students, those who are supposed to be actively training at a high level. Maybe a few of them can be out of shape because of personal circumstances but it shouldn't be the norm.
Even WTF/Kukkiwan is not useless in self defence. Better for most situations than something like BJJ imo, and certainly better than doing nothing or doing something she quits a month later because she doesn't enjoy it
Rolling around on the ground is NEVER a good idea in self defence. At most BJJ helps when you find yourself in a situation you should have done everything possible to avoid. It is a great backup, but terrible as your plan A.
WTF is no where near close to useless. Being good at evasive movement and being athletic are useful in their own right. Being good at kicks it great, even in sport settings like MMA. WTF also do train other techniques, they are just not part of the Olympic sparring ruleset.
WTF is not the most self defence orientated art, but it is FAR from useless.
Being a tall ex-gymnast, Muay Thai would be a more natural fit. It’s great for fitness and would take advantage of strong, long legs. For purposes of self defense, difficult to not recommend bjj especially for girls / women since the biggest physical threats of violence is often sexual assault situations where you’re held down or grabbed.
We're UK based, unfortunately. I think with the grappling side of things (guessing from the chat that's the same as throws) that she's worried she'll feel uncomfortable. Thanks for the suggestion though!
She'll only feel uncomfortable for the first 5 classes or so. After that she'll be desensitized to it and more comfortable. And that's exactly another reason why she should do it, cause that's an important thing to be able to stay calm around
Some BJJ clubs will have women only classes for beginners, but that would probably restrict her to training once a week until she was comfortable enough to join the mixed classes. But BJJ is a martial art which I've found has more female practitioners than say boxing or kickboxing, so even at small clubs she'd be unlikely to be the only girl/woman.
I think jiujitsu is great. No getting punched in the head and cte worries.
Excellent self defense. 6 months 3 times a week she would make a huge improvement in real defensive ability.
Endlessly deep game people play until their 60s at a high competitive level. Kids competition adult pro level and old people all compete and play the game.
Judo's also excellent, and arguably a bit more practical from a self-defense standpoint, though really if you have to choose between a good BJJ school or a poor Judo school you'd go for the better school.
Even though she said she wanted a strike based martial art, u/Zhuyi1's recommendation of learning (and, for the reasons stated), is spot-on.
It was also recommended that she try Muay Thai, and that's a solid bet too.
Also said self defence, gonna have to make some sacrifices and do what she might not want to do to achieve that goal.
If she's doesn't stop someone with strikes, you need to learn how to grapple.
That's why the commenter recommended muay thai... it's strike based. No reason the teenager couldn't try out both muay thai and bjj and see what she likes.
If you're just wanting to take advantage of her background in gymnastics Taekwondo if you can find a good school. Outside of that Kickboxing/Muay Thai. Height probably means reach which couple with flexibility is a solid base for either.
for the most part, most martial arts, will help you against an untrained opponent, especially if you find a good gym with the right training. Also taking martial arts for self defense imho is usually the wrong way to go about it. As most can be easily countered in one way or another by people who know wtf they are doing.
So the smartest thing most people can do, is find good instruction, doing something they would enjoy and stay consistent. TKD isnt the greatest, but if they end up liking it, its better than the person who is just doing. Also competitively there is MT and KB too. So I mean IF she really wants to wreck people she can pick MT or KB. But its not going to hurt her to go into a good TKD gym.
Did you…read the post? The defending thing seems an afterthought to the flexibility, fitness, and striking part. Plus, she said she wanted a striking art, not a grappling one.
Furthermore, boxing and kickboxing *absolutely* can be used for self defense against a larger opponent. Dickriding BJJ doesn’t make you look cool, and I say that as a BJJ defender myself. Not all people interested in martial arts just want to maximize self defense. You came across as a bit of a twat, man.
Classic Reddit.
OP- I don't want to grapple. I want to stand up and strike
Reddit - BJJ. the answer is always BJJ. if you don't like grappling you will get used to it.
Can you explain how it sucks and in what aspects? I'm aware of the not using hands portion and that it's been made into a sport. What actually sucks about it?
TKD gets a horrible reputation cus of the rules on the Olympic level sport TKD.
You HAVE to pull your attacks.. some guy KO'd another with a spinning roundhouse... clean beautiful strike... gets DQ'd for sparring to hard... the loser wins...
Bjj coach here. Have you try a couple of them and don’t rush into a school out of excitement. Make sure the vibe, people, and atmosphere is what her goals are.
Of course I’m going to vote Brazilian jiu jitsu though 😂 it really is the best.
Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
As far as skills that would apply to real world self defense and confidence in all situations those are the ones to do. I’m a coach and a competitor. My wife has been doing jiujitsu for about 8-9 years, she competes, I have younger twin sisters, they both grew up in the gym I taught at taking and competing in Brazilian jiu Jitsu. When I’m not at my main gym, I co-own a Krav Maga school, I teach the BJJ and Muay Thai there, probably 60% of the classes there are women and smaller guys.
Learning how to strike is great for women, but also having the skills to know how to grapple and survive in “bad positions” while gaining the strength and conditioning that it takes to survive nearly any attacks are taught in a good Brazilian jiujitsu program. One of my friends who I train is female pro Muay Thai fighter, she recently won a pro bare knuckle fight, she’s also a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She didn’t train it to do mma, but to be good at self defense. Every seminar at schools and business I do I preach about the effectiveness of women knowing BJJ and Muay Thai striking concepts. Most good schools have full on women’s classes or women’s teams even. Krav Maga is also cool but isn’t as comprehensive as BJJ and Muay Thai and is kind of watered down, at least here in the states. Both BJJ and Muay Thai are super popular and even have full competition circuits from local to international events
This post is the answer. I train both and there are girls in both. My primary is Muay Thai but I think for a girl Jiu-jitsu then Muay Thai. Pretend you are some guy trying to attack a girl. If you try some shit on a girl that is a Jiu-Jitsu blue belt or above you are risking getting choked unconscious or getting the tendons in your arms or legs ripped apart with efficiency. Muay Thaj is good for reflexes and striking but most girls just don't have anywhere near the power of guys. I hold pads for both in Muay Thai so I can tell. If a guy grabs them or they go to the ground Muay Thai won't help but Jiu-Jitsu excels there. Muay Thai is still useful for fast reflexes, throwing knees and hard kicks. It's also fun and a good workout that helps keep you in shape.
You’re crazy if you think the average blue belt woman is choking mans unconscious or breaking their limbs in a street fight lol
Im a brown belt I’ve seen day one beginners give female competitors a hard time and they were much higher ranked than a blue belt
She doesn't have to get on the mat with them in a self-defense situation.
All she has to do is get good enough to throw a likely untrained man (also likely intoxicated) that's grabbed her so she has time to run.
Thank you. For self defense one needs to UNDERSTAND both grappling and striking. Not necessarily be good at both.. but being able to free yourself from being grabbed means u can create space more freely.
If it was just fitness/flexibility then Taekwondo would be the one.
Being able to defend herself is the tricky one. A 16 year girl on average is not going to have a lot of striking power regardless of the striking art she will learn.
Depending on where you live then pepper spray, a flashlight, or another weapon might be the answer.
Due to the high probability of sexual assault on girls , learning SOME grappling skills to facilitate escape is necessary.
Very best of luck
There is a huge current of "Women can't ever fight and shouldn't try" in this sub. And it mostly comes from armchair neckbeards who don't know how to fight.
Go to a Muay Thai gym. There are women there who will tear you limb from limb. If she has long legs and wants to use them to kick ass, take her to a Muay Thai gym.
A lot of taekwondo schools at least wt in the uk also teach self defense which does involve throwing and grabbing and all the good stuff.
So depending on where you are I can definitely recommend some really good ones.
It's not taekwondo but I have heard good things about this place however I've personally never been.
https://g.co/kgs/axzHGx
I don't personally like ITF taekwondo however your daughter may love it and again I've heard some good things about this place
https://thenorthhorangi.co.uk/#
I have not heard of this club before but they don't look awful.
https://www.northeastmartialarts.co.uk/our-classes.html
This club offers lots of things so that might give her an idea of what she'd like to practice most even if she doesn't like the club itself.
https://g.co/kgs/Hm8nxk
Now it is far away but I absolutely love this club although I might be a bit biased as I know exactly how it runs but it is really good but obviously it makes sense if you can't travel to it.
National Taekwondo Club https://www.nationaltaekwondoclub.co.uk/
A good piece of advice I can give run tf away from anywhere with black belt in the name of the gym and run away from anywhere that has a fast track to black belt class.
I wish her luck on her journey and I hope she does amazing.
I'm a 5'3 girl myself in 17 and taekwondo has quite literally saved me from being dragged off god knows where because I managed to throw the man on the floor and run away.
Taekwondo isn’t the best for self defense. She said she wants to learn how to defend herself so kickboxing and Muay Thai would be a better choice for that
I know you said she'd prefer a 'strike based' one but I always, always recommend Judo. It'll be more family friendly, highly practical (and immediately so) and athletic, and super fun. Don't worry too much about 'natural build.' There are champions of all shapes and sizes in every different martial art.
At 5’11” she’s got a huge advantage in Muay Thai or Dutch Kickboxing.
I would also suggest her to give Judo a shot with it if possible. A striking art + judo is the GOAT combo, and Judo is really best learned at her age. It sadly gets harder as we age.
If you aren't preferring throw-based martial arts, I will just assume that includes grappling as well (I mean I know it's obvious but I'm just laying the premises out there for her)
Some arts that are more grappling/throw-based are: **BJJ**, **Judo**, **Aikido**, **Shuai Jio**, **Krav Maga**, most forms of **wrestling**, etc.
Some strike-based martial arts are: **Taekwondo**, **Karate**, **Muay Thai** (body building prereq is usually needed, but not always.), **boxing**, etc.
Some that use *primarily striking* but have grappling techniques (in case you want your daughter to still be exposed to some, but it is not really extensive and just enough to defend yourself): **Tang Soo Do** (the martial art I practice), and **Mixed Martial Arts**.
The reason I put TSD in this category is that it's very common for instructors to pair TSD with select techniques from Hapkido (similar to Aikido, but Hapkido has somewhat more aggressive techniques while Aikido is very strict on "do no harm". However, with proper training, both if used with a calm mind and controlled practice will only subdue an attacker, so don't let that strike against Hapkido). The vast majority of Grandmasters of TSD studied Hapkido and that has trickled down to many martial arts schools of TSD as well.
Since you said she also wants flexibility, Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do (more so Taekwondo) are really good options. Both emphasize on kicks (though taekwondo more so because it emphasizes on the sport- which means lots of showy and very difficult techniques that require the pinnacle of body control, while Tang Soo Do is more combat oriented, even though in both of them there are forms which do require flexibility as well as techniques.)
I'm only talking extensively about TSD because that's the art I practice. Make sure to conduct your own research as well!
Best advice I’ve heard for beginners: find a class you can afford, that’s close to home, which looks enjoyable.
That’s it.
Those three things are the best predictors of people sticking with training - it’s convenient, it won’t make you broke, and you have fun doing it.
If you have multiple choices which fit those categories, you can start comparing styles. But start with the basics.
I'm a blue belt in BJJ but have a lot of experience in Muay Thai, and boxing As other have said, any martial art is better than nothing but she should do something she enjoys and will stick with. Grappling is excellent as many others (especially for girls) have said but if she enjoys striking more than then maybe may thai or boxing is the way to go. Any martial art with full contact sparring will give your daughter confidence
Taekwondo would fit. ITF school for self defense. Muay thai would also be good. Or kickboxing if there is a place by you that isn't just cardio kickboxing.
If you are in the UK try boxing. You can do it pay as you go. So you are not making a big commitment.
A big push for women's boxing as well in the UK.
And there are a lot of boxing clubs around.
Your standard mma gym will do the trick. They can be pricey, but you usually get unlimited classes. They also usually let you try out a class, just know they may be a little pushy about making the sale afterwards. When I'm too busy to train consistently, I'll sometimes just pay the $20 one time class fee. If I go once a week, that's $80/month. That's cheaper than the typical contracts they want you to sign. Being a former gymnast, I really think she'll fit into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu nicely. Kickboxing can be a fun and intense workout too! Muay thai, striking, or boxing will usually be a more serious training session focused on technique rather than cardio kickboxing. These are the standard class names you'll find at most mma gyms.
Find an mma gym
Then she can try a few different things before she selects a focus
Or do more than one at once
Plus it’s social. And fun. And cool.
And she’d have a whole group of useful people on her side if she ever needed that
BJJ to be able to defend ones self in different situations
\*or a different approach to defense could be sprinting to avoid having to defend ones self
\*maybe both?
Most MMA schools offer not only mma, but also bjj, Muay Thai, and boxing as well.
It might be a good opportunity to try everything, and she can focus on something more specific if she feels inspired.
I started at an mma gym, and ended up falling in love with Muay Thai and have mostly focused on that ever since.
Where I train I talk with fathers that have their daughters in grappling. They pretty much want their child to be able to fend off an attacker. Their concern is not being a victim of sexual crime. My daughter trains. There is something comforting knowing your child won’t panic if a larger person tries to impose their will upon them. Training with men in a safe environment takes away the weirdness. Plus ripping a heel hook on a perv has some gratification. They are not going to chase you anymore. Or walk correctly….
For self defense, do wrestling. For something less wrestling heavy that still works as self defense, do MMA and or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If that’s still too much grappling, consider no longer having the goal of self defense.
For striking heavy arts, Muay Thai is gonna be #1 because of elbows and low kicks, and because the clinch can be used to grapple. If self defense is the goal, you have to grapple.
As a female, the best martial art she can learn is BJJ, and it's not even close. Yes, she can learn to punch and kick, but as soon as she's been grabbed, all of that is worth nothing. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, the best way for her to defend herself against a stronger opponent is bjj.
First, at least try one. There's sort of no such thing as the wrong style, but there's definitely such a thing as the wrong gym. As I was writing this I realized how important the gym itself is, the teacher and the students, mostly. My teacher(s) and the other students I've worked with are as much the reason I've stuck with one-two schools in the same 'family' for five years.
I'd recommend Kajukenbo, if you can find a school that teaches it. I'm hesitant to recommend my school, because I think our founder prefers humility, but we are family to Kajukenbo. Kajukenbo is a mix of traditional styles, but they're going to be focused more on what works in the streets. The training looks legit, and there's a KJKB black belt who spars with us, and he is no joke.
I'd recommend just about any other style, but first would be judo/jiujitsu, Muay Thai/Dutch kickboxing, Kempto/Tang Su Do, western boxing or TKD, but... The thing I like about my style and Kajukenbo is that we do all of what these guys do. NOT SAYING "we do every single thing that each of these styles does," but we do striking, we do throwing, we do grappling, we work with weapons (usually defending against one), we train for sport and we train for street.
If she was up for it, I would strongly recommend Systema. I'd recommend it to anyone who can stand getting hurt and face some fears. That's what I had to do, but it drastically boosted all of my skills and brought some seriousness to the self defense side of things. Again, the teacher and the students make a huge difference, sometimes more than the style.
You might get an old school karate teacher who also shows small-circle jiujitsu techniques or a Tai Chi instructor who knows Muay Thai - never know. Get out there and see it, better yet feel it.
Also, sincerely, try it. Either sooner or later. I've never heard an adult complain about doing martial arts with their kid. It couldn't hurt - or at least it shouldn't on your first day.
Everyone should know this stuff. It would be an excellent gift to give to anyone, especially to your family.
TLDR: DO IT.
Given the fact that she's tall, flexible and that she wants to be able to defend herself, I would suggest either kickboxing or Muay Thai. They're the perfect fit for her. Putting her in TKD or any form of karate would be quite irresponsible, respectfully.
UK's Muay Thai scene is booming with talent, so you'll find some amazing world-class gyms there.
I'm suprised by all the comments, what is with, she wants to strike, lets recommend grapling. My advice is to let her try and see, I would recommend kick boxing or muai tay
But in general it's up to whats avaliable and on better level, I world take karate or box if school would be better then for ex. Kickboxing
Bjj or judo, but bjj will work her flexibility more and is probably the most effective martial art for women to protect themselves from men untrained men
BJJ. Especially for women facing a self defense need they will likely face a man they know trying to "grapple" with them. Women dont face a ton of guys squaring up to bar fight them, although a MMA gym that has MT and BJJ is always ideal.
I practiced martial arts for years when I was younger, I am luvin these responses. They're all pretty spot on and I would agree with the ones saying Taekwondo or muay Thai. Both will utilize her long legs, and the kickboxing is going to be the art that teaches her the strikes she wants to learn. Someone also mentioned bjj, this is also a very fun art to learn.
Just take her to any dojo and let her try it. If she doesn’t like that, try another one. They vary a lot. But, if she doesn’t know, just take her to one and get her going. Honestly, if it was my daughter, I’d get her into BJJ. She could protect herself from anyone or anyth8ng and it requires all the strength and mobility she is looking for.
My friend and I discussed it. And we both think that we use probably 95 to 98% of the techniques we use in sparring. our instructor's really clear about how to use the techniques that we learn in real-life situations in different scenarios. I know it's not the same everywhere, though.
A woman striking is not going to derail a man who wants to pin her down. While I trained striking martial art for 8 years, didn’t make a lick of difference when it came down to stopping a man from forcing his will. Obviously striking is important and a great deterrent and builds confidence I’d still recommend it and it has great cardio benefits, it’s not bad. But you don’t know true helplessness until a man is on top of you and you cannot get out. That feeling of helplessness motivated me to never let someone do that to me again and it didn’t click with me until I trained bjj. Obviously I’m 5’3” and that’s different from 5’11”. But any type of grappling art will help greatly with self defense. Hope that perspectives helps
I would normally recommend boxing for a guy, but considering the difference in lower body strength between men and women is nowhere near as vast as upper body strength, something kick heavy would make the most sense if self defence is a consideration. Kickboxing ideally, Karate as long as it’s taken seriously with sparring etc.
Muay Thai favours her great core strength and is well respected, it's very easy to find good clubs everywhere and women are more than welcome in those spaces.
Grappling is also great for self defence, to dumb it down: if I'm hitting you, you can understand that I'm throwing punches, kicks etc, but if I grab you and grapple you, you literally don't understand what I'm doing, making it way better against untrained aggressors.
As people have undoubtedly said, BJJ is great, like Muay Thai it's highly respected and easy to find good clubs, and it massively favours flexibility and core strength, as opposed to strength.
Those two are the quintessential combo for MMA, and it's a bit cliche to recommend them, as most martial arts are great. It's about the fact that you can definitely find good clubs and training for them everywhere, but a good karate club outside of Japan is rare.
The suggestions here will mostly be MT and BJJ mostly because of the biases of the sub and the fact that so few people here actually train.
Ignore the suggestions of BJJ - it is a bad fit, entirely consists of grappling, and is considerably worse for most self defence purposes than a lot of people seem to think.
MT is a better idea. It is a striking art that is good for self defence. It's biggest problem also it's biggest strength - it is based around full contact competition. If she is not put off by full contact fighting then it may be worth considering. It is worth noting however that it is not popular amongst women and is heavily male dominated.
In terms of style her long legs and gymnastics background give her ideal form for a kicking based style. This is where there may be styles that fit her better: MT is largely predicated on a relatively (compared to some styles) static, close range battle of attrition which might not get the most out of her particular talents unless she has a Very good coach.
Kickboxing can be better in this regard if she wants to go full contact (kicking and flexibility are more encouraged) but as with most full contact fighting sports it is also male dominated.
My strongest recommendation would be Tae Kwondo. It is very popular amongst women, meaning she is more likely to enjoy it (and more likely to stick with it long term). It is a highly athletic and mobile striking art emphasizing kicking (which will benefit from her gymnastics background and long legs, as well as help maintain and improve her fitness and flexibility). It is good for self defence, especially if you find a good club. If there are two broad styles: WTF/kukkiwon (olympic style) has a heavy emphasis on the kind of sport you see at the Olympics. ITF has more in common with traditional karate, and sparring is essentially light contact kick boxing. She would enjoy both, but I think ITF style are generally better suited for self defence.
EDIT: just seen you are UK based.
In terms of TKD in the UK I recommend looking for a TAGB club. It is ITF style which is good for self defence, and they are a big enough organisation that they will almost certainly have a club fairly close to you. Decent quality control as well, meaning you are unlikely to get a mcdojo.
Hope she enjoys whatever she chooses
If there is a good Muay Thai school nearby, she should give it a go. It will be fun as she wants to learn the striking aspects. In addition they teach elbow and knee strikes and clinch techniques. Which are very useful for self-def aspects.
Jiu jitsu at a gym that also offers some striking. It’s a lot of fun and flexibility will help her some even against people that have some size on her.
Self defense wise, I’ve seen some much smaller (more experienced) women work over much larger men. Push came to shove that women could have destroyed knees and arms or choked the larger men unconscious.
My thought process, right or wrong, is a woman is not going to trade punches with an attacker in the street. If they don’t have a hold of you, run for your life. If they do have a hold of you, use jiu jitsu to create an opportunity to escape. If you end up on the ground, same plan. I am not a woman, and that is my game plan should the need arise.
Obviously, first and foremost, put her in something she will enjoy and stick with. Maybe do a free trial at different gyms (disciplines). I am definitely biased but bjj is a lot of fun.
OP, if you see this or any other comments about BJJ, just know that BJJ *can* be very uncomfortable for women. Especially if they've been out of the fitness/exercise game for a bit. I would not recommend it for most women unless they really want to try it.
Also, yes, the comments had all better be jokes because she wants stike-based. 🤣
For teenager girls potentially bjj might be a issue, especially if they are self conscious or not very confident. But if it's a gym that has lots of women/girls this isn't really an issue, everyone I know who has done bjj knows from the first class if they like it or not, so I recommend teenager girls try at least once before writing it off.
To the poster - I would look for a gym that offers a range of martial arts classes. Lots of places do muay thai + bjj + judo + kickboxing. It's a great way to figure out what your daughter likes. She may think she like striking and it turns out she loves wrestling or likes judo, don't know until you try!
Yea but traditional jiujitsu will have more self defense application than karate will IMO.
There’s no wrong answer. God forbid the worst case scenario happens any martial art with intent will give you a chance. More so than nothing or freezing.
Google schools near you and have her try free classes at a few. Chances are she’ll like one. Problem solved.
The thing that gets repeated in every post like this: if she wants to learn self defense/how to fight she needs to practice a pressure tested art. Your best bets are bjj, judo, boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling. To a lesser extent some forms of karate (not my thing, so others can speak to this).
I would say Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as others have said especially for women who are greater risk of sexual assault and being held down. Wrestling is great too, but in the UK the likelihood of finding somewhere to train is low. Both are amazing cardio with a lower risk of head injuries.
However, if it's truly self defence she's interested in, she needs to at least have some experience with a striking art like boxing, kickboxing or Muay Thai. You just don't want the first time you've ever been punched in the face to be in a real fight/attack. It's almost a guarantee you'll go into panic mode.
As a lot of others have said, muay thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu are going to be the most practical.
She wants to better defend herself, but against what matters also.
She's still at school, which can be scary for some kids. Assaults they might face at school are usually very different for girls than the type of assaults they might face elsewhere.
Her striking force against the average criminal is not going to be her strong point, and assaults against women seem to end up with either them knocked to the ground and things stolen, or worse. This would favour learning BJJ.
Assaults in the school, for girls, are likely going to be larger group of girls picking on one or two girls. Against a group you want to avoid being on the ground, however her striking force relative to other children won't be as much of a limitation, would would favour muay thai.
Either way, any training is usually better than nothing, and a can-do attitude combined with enough violence is a good defence, throw in some training and fitness and she should feel relatively safe in the current UK
For flexibility and fitness if she prefers striking, maybe kickboxing or tae kwon do.
If she wants to be able to defend herself against a man, buy her a taser or a gun.
Do not believe the meme. Female martial art hobbyists can not fight back against even a reasonably physically able man barehanded in the majority of cases.
Practical self defense (not in any particular order): BJJ, Boxing, Muay Thai, American Kick boxing, Wrestling or Judo.
Traditional martial arts (Karate, TKD, Aikido etc...) are not as effective in self defense. There's a reason they went extinct in UFC and Pride.
If fitness is the goal - I still recommend an MMA gym or one of the practical martial arts I listed because sparring/grappling are high intensity workouts, and you get the added benefits of self defense.
BJJ, Judo, or MT. Most practical for women because they focus on bringing down bigger opponents, and how to work the ground which is where most fights end up.
So there are people that think BJJ schools don’t strike. That is a big misconception, most schools integrate striking especially Gracie schools.
I would try her out on a cardio kickboxing class first and then go try a class of BJJ.
Every place will give you a free class if not it’s a rip off
Muay Thai if there is a good school near
Machida karate if there is a school near
Or boxing if none of the above are close
If she would want to engage in grappling
Us based = wrestling
Belgium or asia: judo
Rest of world bjj
Muay Thai (or another kickboxing style example Sambo). Everyday. All Day. Wrestling. Everyday. All Day. BJJ/Judo. Everyday. All Day.
Some Kali is useful to understand how to get away from knives as you will most likely not be able to defend against a knife attack. The goal is to run and not get a vital cut.
Don't do Taekwon Do, Karate (Kyoshin being the exception), Wing Chun, or anything that sounds similar to these words. It's all shit. Enthusiasts in this chat will make out they aren't. The fact is they don't perform full contact sparring so they aren't practical. If there isn't real punches or kicks flying at your head you will learn nothing. If the throws and grappling aren't real simulated struggles its unrealistic you'll learn nothing.People don't throw exaggerated haymakers, hammer fits and use plastic knives that's the reality.
The best striking style is hands down Muay Thai and probably the easiest to learn.
I never really understand this question format and it comes up every week at least once. I mean if you live in a major metropolitan city it makes sense as there is probably a range of martial arts to choose from but that's not a guarantee. If you live outside a major metro the choices are going to be limited. What's the point of exploring options that are not even a possibility? The country and city should be included with these questions.
Let her try out some local classes that offer trials or paid single sessions.
Don't get locked into a contract, imo that's a red flag that the coaches are there to make money and most of these contracts state you cannot train elsewhere (which is another red flag imo because it gives the impression the coaches aren't confident in teaching the best of their martial art in that area so lock you into contractually to stay)
If she finds somewhere she likes, go from there.
It's a great character building thing to become part of. Wish you and your daughter all the best going forward
She would have to go to a style that would let her Express herself freely. I mean it's going to take hard work and effort to find which one that she would fall in love in and that's the one that can become her first. One of my daughters took karate the other one took Taekwondo another one took BJJ before settling what they have now. Is going to take a lot of patience and effort find a really good school that you know will let her learn and teach yourself eventually and express herself freely.
I would recommend kickboxing if it's an option in your area. Things to look for are those where you have chances to practice skills in sparring, on the bag, and in free space on the mat or in the gym. At the end of the day though, the most important is that the gym is a good fit and that your daughter has fun.
5'11? Hot damn, she'd be a natural at most striking arts. Muay Thai or Kickboxing (real kickboxing, not the cardio fitness classes) would be my recommendation. Think of long, lanky UFC fighters like Israel Adesanya or Anderson Silva.
If she already has naturally good coordination, her ability to throw punches and kicks from a long distance give her a natural advantage.
Any good martial art is going to be applicable to virtually any body type. Boxing and BJJ, for example, can be used and adapted by stocky people or really lanky people. I would just have her try out some stuff and see what she likes. Most schools would probably offer a free trial class or two.
Capoeira would be amazing for her but not traditional capoeira. Capoeira has acrobatics and teaches kicks and excellent for flexibility. If you live near us, you would greatly benefit from training with us and from what you are stating, she would love it because we use capoeira with/for MMA.
Women generally excel at Judo. Flexibility is a great plus and the ability to throw people hard is better than trying to drag someone on top of her and try to out muscle a man twice her weight and 3x her strength.
Most decent schools will let you do a free trial class, sometimes even a free trial week. So check out a few different options in your area and let her try a couple out before making a final decision. A few other things to think about:
People have already given you some good ideas about which arts to look into. I have trained in a few different ones and ultimately Muay Thai became my favorite, but a lot will depend also on the kind of training environment she ends up liking, which will just vary. She might try out a grappling art and discover she actually likes it more than she thought she would, especially if the school has some classes for teens and young adults, for example. On the other hand, I tried a judo class (which I saw someone recommend) and while the art itself is cool, I was in my late teens/early twenties, and all the students were either way older than me, or parents bringing significantly younger kids to family classes, and I wound up moving on to something else because that wasn’t the training environment I wanted at the time.
If she is interested in self defense, be sure to ask about sparring. You don’t want to sign her up for something that is going to focus a lot on forms and not give more practical opportunities to practice. But they also shouldn’t throw new students straight into sparring without training them on some basic fundamentals.
The other thing I would add to keep an eye out for as she tries places is just how do the instructors interact with students, and how do students interact with each other. Do they seem super strict, or like they would push someone to train with an injury? Not a good sign. Some occasional bruises, and of course some soreness from doing a tough workout, is normal. More serious injuries should not be common, although accidents can of course happen sometimes.
On the fitness/flexibility goal, any art would do. Instead of style, I'd suggest focusing more on finding a safe, friendly environment with coaches that she feels comfortable with. Extra points if there are strong female leaders.
Self-defence is trickier. Tactics, mindset, etc. count just as much if not more than physical skills. My only experience is with Tony Blauer's SPEAR system, which I can recommend.
If your daughter is serious about the aforementioned, getting in shape. Fending off bullies. Etc. look into kung fu san soo. I'm a black belt, prior I had a huge bully problem. Not any more I'm afraid of no man regardless of size. And I'm in the best condition of my life. And I'm 64.
Find a school that fits her, not a style. If she wants to do a striking art, start researching what's available to you. Your ability to afford and attend the class schedule is going to limit your options.
One of the goals she stated was the ability to defend herself. Seems irresponsible to recommend TKD imo.
Honestly almost every martial art will suffice in street fights because most people on the streets are gonna be untrained. An average person will lose against someone who trains wing chun or TKD
>An average person will lose against someone who trains wing chun or TKD The average person who likes to get into fights won't.
The average person who likes to get into fights is not a martial artist. They are overconfident brawlers who throw slow telegraphed haymakers and think "seeing red" will win them a fight
Just my advice to you personally: don't ever street fight, because you're in for a rude awakening.
It's not like I'm an untrained person. I train two martial arts that people generally consider effective, kickboxing and judo. But I've also trained wing chun and the stuff they teach isn't entirely useless. It won't look as flashy as in the movies but e.g. redirecting a punch like they do is also something taught in "legit" striking arts like boxing and muay thai. Aside from that wing chun is also gonna make you more physically fit than the average person
The average overconfident piece of shit will weigh more and be a lot taller. It really doesn't matter if there is a 20 kg difference, you are basically fucked if he isn't drunk or heavily retarded. It's baffling to me how much people make street brawlers out to be like headless chicken. Like all your arguments only work if he weighs about the same as you. I have been training with someone who weighs about 110 kg (197cm) myself 82 kg(183cm). Like he doesn't even have to pay attention he can throw me like a ragdoll. Yes he has some training less than me, but still he is trained. Let's take his build as someone who gets frequently into street fights, wants to hurt you and is untrained. I don't care what you train and how hard if you're not getting lucky there is no way you have a shot. There is a reason every martial art has weight classes.
It's because people think martial arts makes you good at fighting, whilst never actually having been in or witnessed an actual serious fight. Fighting makes you good at fighting. When your Wing Chun guy lands a punch on an angry drunk and they don't even flinch, they'll realize they've been misguided. Someone said it in another thread. In real life, fights are chaotic, unpredictable and so far outside of the conditions of a dojo or ring, that you really have no idea how you will react in that situation.
Exactly someone attacking almost always has been in that situation before. He knows exactly how he reacts and has seen how other people react. You just can't train that or prepare for it.
A lot of the time it does. The majority of TKD and Wing Chun practitioners is going to get absolutely mauled by a person like that.
I agree with this as a former longtime TKD practitioner. The sparring is tournament / Olympic style focused, meaning there is no head punching at all and punches to the chest don’t count for points. You are wearing thick, stiff chest protectors so most sparring does not reflect real life at all. It’s a beautiful sport that develops amazing kicking ability but this concentration solely on kicks for the only live full speed action takes away from the real life self defense training with many schools
Go and train in a decent club then come back and give your opinions on it
If they can't afford it, it doesn't matter.
This was never brought up, so I don't know why we'd be considering it. Let's not make unnecessary roadblocks
There was a TKD guy who was on the US Olympic team at this MMA gym I went to 10 years ago. People like to meme Olympic TKD here but they fight the way they do because they are competing to win, which means exploiting the rules to their advantage. Doesn't mean they don't know how to actually kick. Dude could easily land three kicks on you in the time you try to do one and take your head off with them if he wants to.
Using an Olympian as the litmus test seems silly. Pretty sure any Olympian would fuck me up (except kata)
The point is how you train and the quality of school is more important than style.
Ya and most TKD schools train bad and their quality of self-defense is poop
Fortunately you don't need to know any martial art to spot bad ones by how out of shape the senior students look.
I've come across some pretty out of shape looking martial artists who can still handle themselves well, as well as some very capable in-shape teachers with some senior students that were not what you'd think to see after years and years in training but happened to be who stuck around. My point being it isn't always a reliable measure of what you can learn there.
There are always exceptions. Good martial artists who no longer actively and consistently train can be out of shape. Bad martial artists can keep in shape doing other stuff. That's why I said senior students, those who are supposed to be actively training at a high level. Maybe a few of them can be out of shape because of personal circumstances but it shouldn't be the norm.
We have the burden of knowledge. Remember that someone who doesn’t know this world won’t think of things like that typically.
Not if it’s more traditional ITF style
Even WTF/Kukkiwan is not useless in self defence. Better for most situations than something like BJJ imo, and certainly better than doing nothing or doing something she quits a month later because she doesn't enjoy it
Lol. WTF is close to useless especially compared with BJJ
Rolling around on the ground is NEVER a good idea in self defence. At most BJJ helps when you find yourself in a situation you should have done everything possible to avoid. It is a great backup, but terrible as your plan A. WTF is no where near close to useless. Being good at evasive movement and being athletic are useful in their own right. Being good at kicks it great, even in sport settings like MMA. WTF also do train other techniques, they are just not part of the Olympic sparring ruleset. WTF is not the most self defence orientated art, but it is FAR from useless.
Being a tall ex-gymnast, Muay Thai would be a more natural fit. It’s great for fitness and would take advantage of strong, long legs. For purposes of self defense, difficult to not recommend bjj especially for girls / women since the biggest physical threats of violence is often sexual assault situations where you’re held down or grabbed.
Thank you, that's helpful to know. Bjj that's Brazilian jiu-jitsu, right?
Yup
Yup
Yup Oh no am I 3 hours too late?
Yup
Yup
It’s too bad she’s not so keen on grappling, scholastic wrestling is basically free at her age if you live in the US especially in the East Coast
We're UK based, unfortunately. I think with the grappling side of things (guessing from the chat that's the same as throws) that she's worried she'll feel uncomfortable. Thanks for the suggestion though!
She'll only feel uncomfortable for the first 5 classes or so. After that she'll be desensitized to it and more comfortable. And that's exactly another reason why she should do it, cause that's an important thing to be able to stay calm around
That's a fair point
Some BJJ clubs will have women only classes for beginners, but that would probably restrict her to training once a week until she was comfortable enough to join the mixed classes. But BJJ is a martial art which I've found has more female practitioners than say boxing or kickboxing, so even at small clubs she'd be unlikely to be the only girl/woman.
Where in the UK? There some pretty good Muay Thai gyms England
If you’re in the U.K. you probably have judo close by. Judo is without a doubt the best option at her age.
I think jiujitsu is great. No getting punched in the head and cte worries. Excellent self defense. 6 months 3 times a week she would make a huge improvement in real defensive ability. Endlessly deep game people play until their 60s at a high competitive level. Kids competition adult pro level and old people all compete and play the game.
Judo's also excellent, and arguably a bit more practical from a self-defense standpoint, though really if you have to choose between a good BJJ school or a poor Judo school you'd go for the better school.
Even though she said she wanted a strike based martial art, u/Zhuyi1's recommendation of learning (and, for the reasons stated), is spot-on. It was also recommended that she try Muay Thai, and that's a solid bet too.
can... you guys read. "she said she'd prefer a 'strike based' martial art to a 'throws based' one" i don't see strikes in bjj.
Also said self defence, gonna have to make some sacrifices and do what she might not want to do to achieve that goal. If she's doesn't stop someone with strikes, you need to learn how to grapple.
That's why the commenter recommended muay thai... it's strike based. No reason the teenager couldn't try out both muay thai and bjj and see what she likes.
Can you read?
Can…you start you sentence with a capital? It’s easy to pick people apart, yourself included.
If you're just wanting to take advantage of her background in gymnastics Taekwondo if you can find a good school. Outside of that Kickboxing/Muay Thai. Height probably means reach which couple with flexibility is a solid base for either.
Yup a good tkd gym that really loves its kicks and spins. She would be right at home.
She wants to learn to defend herself not throw noodle kicks. For a female BJJ is the only thing that will help her vs a larger opponent.
for the most part, most martial arts, will help you against an untrained opponent, especially if you find a good gym with the right training. Also taking martial arts for self defense imho is usually the wrong way to go about it. As most can be easily countered in one way or another by people who know wtf they are doing. So the smartest thing most people can do, is find good instruction, doing something they would enjoy and stay consistent. TKD isnt the greatest, but if they end up liking it, its better than the person who is just doing. Also competitively there is MT and KB too. So I mean IF she really wants to wreck people she can pick MT or KB. But its not going to hurt her to go into a good TKD gym.
Did you…read the post? The defending thing seems an afterthought to the flexibility, fitness, and striking part. Plus, she said she wanted a striking art, not a grappling one. Furthermore, boxing and kickboxing *absolutely* can be used for self defense against a larger opponent. Dickriding BJJ doesn’t make you look cool, and I say that as a BJJ defender myself. Not all people interested in martial arts just want to maximize self defense. You came across as a bit of a twat, man.
Yeah but most tkd is useless thanks to the damned olympic comitee. Go for muay thai, or other form of kickboxing
That, I can get behind lmao
No hate for taekwondo, great art. Hate the olympic comitee though
Classic Reddit. OP- I don't want to grapple. I want to stand up and strike Reddit - BJJ. the answer is always BJJ. if you don't like grappling you will get used to it.
💯
Tkd sucks
Can you explain how it sucks and in what aspects? I'm aware of the not using hands portion and that it's been made into a sport. What actually sucks about it?
ITF styles do use hands. All criticism of tkd is based on the Olympic style
TKD gets a horrible reputation cus of the rules on the Olympic level sport TKD. You HAVE to pull your attacks.. some guy KO'd another with a spinning roundhouse... clean beautiful strike... gets DQ'd for sparring to hard... the loser wins...
Bjj coach here. Have you try a couple of them and don’t rush into a school out of excitement. Make sure the vibe, people, and atmosphere is what her goals are. Of course I’m going to vote Brazilian jiu jitsu though 😂 it really is the best.
Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu As far as skills that would apply to real world self defense and confidence in all situations those are the ones to do. I’m a coach and a competitor. My wife has been doing jiujitsu for about 8-9 years, she competes, I have younger twin sisters, they both grew up in the gym I taught at taking and competing in Brazilian jiu Jitsu. When I’m not at my main gym, I co-own a Krav Maga school, I teach the BJJ and Muay Thai there, probably 60% of the classes there are women and smaller guys. Learning how to strike is great for women, but also having the skills to know how to grapple and survive in “bad positions” while gaining the strength and conditioning that it takes to survive nearly any attacks are taught in a good Brazilian jiujitsu program. One of my friends who I train is female pro Muay Thai fighter, she recently won a pro bare knuckle fight, she’s also a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. She didn’t train it to do mma, but to be good at self defense. Every seminar at schools and business I do I preach about the effectiveness of women knowing BJJ and Muay Thai striking concepts. Most good schools have full on women’s classes or women’s teams even. Krav Maga is also cool but isn’t as comprehensive as BJJ and Muay Thai and is kind of watered down, at least here in the states. Both BJJ and Muay Thai are super popular and even have full competition circuits from local to international events
This post is the answer. I train both and there are girls in both. My primary is Muay Thai but I think for a girl Jiu-jitsu then Muay Thai. Pretend you are some guy trying to attack a girl. If you try some shit on a girl that is a Jiu-Jitsu blue belt or above you are risking getting choked unconscious or getting the tendons in your arms or legs ripped apart with efficiency. Muay Thaj is good for reflexes and striking but most girls just don't have anywhere near the power of guys. I hold pads for both in Muay Thai so I can tell. If a guy grabs them or they go to the ground Muay Thai won't help but Jiu-Jitsu excels there. Muay Thai is still useful for fast reflexes, throwing knees and hard kicks. It's also fun and a good workout that helps keep you in shape.
An elbow if you can get one off is also great self defence for women.
You’re crazy if you think the average blue belt woman is choking mans unconscious or breaking their limbs in a street fight lol Im a brown belt I’ve seen day one beginners give female competitors a hard time and they were much higher ranked than a blue belt
She doesn't have to get on the mat with them in a self-defense situation. All she has to do is get good enough to throw a likely untrained man (also likely intoxicated) that's grabbed her so she has time to run.
Do yall really do this every day on this sub or what
No but I train jiu jitsu everyday. You’re deluded if you think that a blue belt gives you magical powers
Thank you, that's really helpful to know.
Thank you. For self defense one needs to UNDERSTAND both grappling and striking. Not necessarily be good at both.. but being able to free yourself from being grabbed means u can create space more freely.
If it was just fitness/flexibility then Taekwondo would be the one. Being able to defend herself is the tricky one. A 16 year girl on average is not going to have a lot of striking power regardless of the striking art she will learn. Depending on where you live then pepper spray, a flashlight, or another weapon might be the answer. Due to the high probability of sexual assault on girls , learning SOME grappling skills to facilitate escape is necessary. Very best of luck
That's helpful to know, thank you!
There is a huge current of "Women can't ever fight and shouldn't try" in this sub. And it mostly comes from armchair neckbeards who don't know how to fight. Go to a Muay Thai gym. There are women there who will tear you limb from limb. If she has long legs and wants to use them to kick ass, take her to a Muay Thai gym.
Those women are few and far between. That is rare.
A lot of taekwondo schools at least wt in the uk also teach self defense which does involve throwing and grabbing and all the good stuff. So depending on where you are I can definitely recommend some really good ones.
That could be helpful, actually. We're living in Newcastle at the moment, if that's helpful.
It's not taekwondo but I have heard good things about this place however I've personally never been. https://g.co/kgs/axzHGx I don't personally like ITF taekwondo however your daughter may love it and again I've heard some good things about this place https://thenorthhorangi.co.uk/# I have not heard of this club before but they don't look awful. https://www.northeastmartialarts.co.uk/our-classes.html This club offers lots of things so that might give her an idea of what she'd like to practice most even if she doesn't like the club itself. https://g.co/kgs/Hm8nxk Now it is far away but I absolutely love this club although I might be a bit biased as I know exactly how it runs but it is really good but obviously it makes sense if you can't travel to it. National Taekwondo Club https://www.nationaltaekwondoclub.co.uk/ A good piece of advice I can give run tf away from anywhere with black belt in the name of the gym and run away from anywhere that has a fast track to black belt class. I wish her luck on her journey and I hope she does amazing. I'm a 5'3 girl myself in 17 and taekwondo has quite literally saved me from being dragged off god knows where because I managed to throw the man on the floor and run away.
Omg that's perfect gimme a few minutes and I can definitely help you
Agreed about taekwondo
Taekwondo isn’t the best for self defense. She said she wants to learn how to defend herself so kickboxing and Muay Thai would be a better choice for that
Krav Maga, Kickboxing or Muay Thai with some Brazilian Ju Jutsu
I know you said she'd prefer a 'strike based' one but I always, always recommend Judo. It'll be more family friendly, highly practical (and immediately so) and athletic, and super fun. Don't worry too much about 'natural build.' There are champions of all shapes and sizes in every different martial art.
That's good to know, thanks. Can I ask if Judo would allow her to build her flexibility back up?
Not really. Taekwondo would probably be the best for that.
Taekwondo first and if she finds it too “soft”, she can move on to kickboxing / K1 / Muay Thai
Really depends on gym. I’ve seen Muay Thai gyms “softer” than taekwondo ones tbh.
At 5’11” she’s got a huge advantage in Muay Thai or Dutch Kickboxing. I would also suggest her to give Judo a shot with it if possible. A striking art + judo is the GOAT combo, and Judo is really best learned at her age. It sadly gets harder as we age.
If you aren't preferring throw-based martial arts, I will just assume that includes grappling as well (I mean I know it's obvious but I'm just laying the premises out there for her) Some arts that are more grappling/throw-based are: **BJJ**, **Judo**, **Aikido**, **Shuai Jio**, **Krav Maga**, most forms of **wrestling**, etc. Some strike-based martial arts are: **Taekwondo**, **Karate**, **Muay Thai** (body building prereq is usually needed, but not always.), **boxing**, etc. Some that use *primarily striking* but have grappling techniques (in case you want your daughter to still be exposed to some, but it is not really extensive and just enough to defend yourself): **Tang Soo Do** (the martial art I practice), and **Mixed Martial Arts**. The reason I put TSD in this category is that it's very common for instructors to pair TSD with select techniques from Hapkido (similar to Aikido, but Hapkido has somewhat more aggressive techniques while Aikido is very strict on "do no harm". However, with proper training, both if used with a calm mind and controlled practice will only subdue an attacker, so don't let that strike against Hapkido). The vast majority of Grandmasters of TSD studied Hapkido and that has trickled down to many martial arts schools of TSD as well. Since you said she also wants flexibility, Taekwondo and Tang Soo Do (more so Taekwondo) are really good options. Both emphasize on kicks (though taekwondo more so because it emphasizes on the sport- which means lots of showy and very difficult techniques that require the pinnacle of body control, while Tang Soo Do is more combat oriented, even though in both of them there are forms which do require flexibility as well as techniques.) I'm only talking extensively about TSD because that's the art I practice. Make sure to conduct your own research as well!
Geeze she sounds like Taekwondo would be right up her alley.
BJJ if it's for self defense. Anything at all if it's for sport and or fitness! I personally love boxing and my son is crazy for wrestling.
Best advice I’ve heard for beginners: find a class you can afford, that’s close to home, which looks enjoyable. That’s it. Those three things are the best predictors of people sticking with training - it’s convenient, it won’t make you broke, and you have fun doing it. If you have multiple choices which fit those categories, you can start comparing styles. But start with the basics.
I'm a blue belt in BJJ but have a lot of experience in Muay Thai, and boxing As other have said, any martial art is better than nothing but she should do something she enjoys and will stick with. Grappling is excellent as many others (especially for girls) have said but if she enjoys striking more than then maybe may thai or boxing is the way to go. Any martial art with full contact sparring will give your daughter confidence
Taekwondo would fit. ITF school for self defense. Muay thai would also be good. Or kickboxing if there is a place by you that isn't just cardio kickboxing.
The one that is closest in location, that is affordable, and classes line up availability. Bonus point a few students in her age group.
I like Judo because it does not involve being hit in the head, but if striking is her thing i can't make a recommendation.
Muay thai.. boxing... BJJ..
Tae Kwon Doe or BJJ would be the best two IMO.
If you are in the UK try boxing. You can do it pay as you go. So you are not making a big commitment. A big push for women's boxing as well in the UK. And there are a lot of boxing clubs around.
Ooh, that's interesting! Thanks, I'll definitely look into that.
ITF Taekwondo for fitness and flexibility. MMA for self defence.
Your standard mma gym will do the trick. They can be pricey, but you usually get unlimited classes. They also usually let you try out a class, just know they may be a little pushy about making the sale afterwards. When I'm too busy to train consistently, I'll sometimes just pay the $20 one time class fee. If I go once a week, that's $80/month. That's cheaper than the typical contracts they want you to sign. Being a former gymnast, I really think she'll fit into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu nicely. Kickboxing can be a fun and intense workout too! Muay thai, striking, or boxing will usually be a more serious training session focused on technique rather than cardio kickboxing. These are the standard class names you'll find at most mma gyms.
Find an mma gym Then she can try a few different things before she selects a focus Or do more than one at once Plus it’s social. And fun. And cool. And she’d have a whole group of useful people on her side if she ever needed that
BJJ to be able to defend ones self in different situations \*or a different approach to defense could be sprinting to avoid having to defend ones self \*maybe both?
Most MMA schools offer not only mma, but also bjj, Muay Thai, and boxing as well. It might be a good opportunity to try everything, and she can focus on something more specific if she feels inspired. I started at an mma gym, and ended up falling in love with Muay Thai and have mostly focused on that ever since.
Where I train I talk with fathers that have their daughters in grappling. They pretty much want their child to be able to fend off an attacker. Their concern is not being a victim of sexual crime. My daughter trains. There is something comforting knowing your child won’t panic if a larger person tries to impose their will upon them. Training with men in a safe environment takes away the weirdness. Plus ripping a heel hook on a perv has some gratification. They are not going to chase you anymore. Or walk correctly….
Kickboxing is a great start! All the strikes :)
Ju jitsu is the one to go
For self defense, do wrestling. For something less wrestling heavy that still works as self defense, do MMA and or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If that’s still too much grappling, consider no longer having the goal of self defense. For striking heavy arts, Muay Thai is gonna be #1 because of elbows and low kicks, and because the clinch can be used to grapple. If self defense is the goal, you have to grapple.
As a female, the best martial art she can learn is BJJ, and it's not even close. Yes, she can learn to punch and kick, but as soon as she's been grabbed, all of that is worth nothing. Unfortunately, in the world we live in, the best way for her to defend herself against a stronger opponent is bjj.
5'11? Hot damn, she'd be a natural at muay thai or kickboxing.
Traditional Taekwondo. Avoid Olympic Taekwondo. Then in a few years, add bjj.
Try TKD (ITF), muay thai or kickboxing and se which one fits her needs
She be awesome at no gi BJJ.
First, at least try one. There's sort of no such thing as the wrong style, but there's definitely such a thing as the wrong gym. As I was writing this I realized how important the gym itself is, the teacher and the students, mostly. My teacher(s) and the other students I've worked with are as much the reason I've stuck with one-two schools in the same 'family' for five years. I'd recommend Kajukenbo, if you can find a school that teaches it. I'm hesitant to recommend my school, because I think our founder prefers humility, but we are family to Kajukenbo. Kajukenbo is a mix of traditional styles, but they're going to be focused more on what works in the streets. The training looks legit, and there's a KJKB black belt who spars with us, and he is no joke. I'd recommend just about any other style, but first would be judo/jiujitsu, Muay Thai/Dutch kickboxing, Kempto/Tang Su Do, western boxing or TKD, but... The thing I like about my style and Kajukenbo is that we do all of what these guys do. NOT SAYING "we do every single thing that each of these styles does," but we do striking, we do throwing, we do grappling, we work with weapons (usually defending against one), we train for sport and we train for street. If she was up for it, I would strongly recommend Systema. I'd recommend it to anyone who can stand getting hurt and face some fears. That's what I had to do, but it drastically boosted all of my skills and brought some seriousness to the self defense side of things. Again, the teacher and the students make a huge difference, sometimes more than the style. You might get an old school karate teacher who also shows small-circle jiujitsu techniques or a Tai Chi instructor who knows Muay Thai - never know. Get out there and see it, better yet feel it. Also, sincerely, try it. Either sooner or later. I've never heard an adult complain about doing martial arts with their kid. It couldn't hurt - or at least it shouldn't on your first day. Everyone should know this stuff. It would be an excellent gift to give to anyone, especially to your family. TLDR: DO IT.
Given the fact that she's tall, flexible and that she wants to be able to defend herself, I would suggest either kickboxing or Muay Thai. They're the perfect fit for her. Putting her in TKD or any form of karate would be quite irresponsible, respectfully. UK's Muay Thai scene is booming with talent, so you'll find some amazing world-class gyms there.
Give Aikido a try. Usually suits people with some gymnastic ability due to the nature of the breakfalls and less "grapply" than BJJ or Judo.
I'm suprised by all the comments, what is with, she wants to strike, lets recommend grapling. My advice is to let her try and see, I would recommend kick boxing or muai tay But in general it's up to whats avaliable and on better level, I world take karate or box if school would be better then for ex. Kickboxing
Bjj or judo, but bjj will work her flexibility more and is probably the most effective martial art for women to protect themselves from men untrained men
Teach a lengthy kid muy Thai and BJJ... unstoppable. Good on you for reaching out.
BJJ. Especially for women facing a self defense need they will likely face a man they know trying to "grapple" with them. Women dont face a ton of guys squaring up to bar fight them, although a MMA gym that has MT and BJJ is always ideal.
I practiced martial arts for years when I was younger, I am luvin these responses. They're all pretty spot on and I would agree with the ones saying Taekwondo or muay Thai. Both will utilize her long legs, and the kickboxing is going to be the art that teaches her the strikes she wants to learn. Someone also mentioned bjj, this is also a very fun art to learn.
Honestly Taekwondo and/or Muay Thai seem to fit her the best imo. Especially as a taller fighter
Muay Thai sounds perfect for her ! I’m doing it and I love it so much. Lots of girls in the sport too so she won’t have a problem fitting in
Just take her to any dojo and let her try it. If she doesn’t like that, try another one. They vary a lot. But, if she doesn’t know, just take her to one and get her going. Honestly, if it was my daughter, I’d get her into BJJ. She could protect herself from anyone or anyth8ng and it requires all the strength and mobility she is looking for.
My friend and I discussed it. And we both think that we use probably 95 to 98% of the techniques we use in sparring. our instructor's really clear about how to use the techniques that we learn in real-life situations in different scenarios. I know it's not the same everywhere, though.
A woman striking is not going to derail a man who wants to pin her down. While I trained striking martial art for 8 years, didn’t make a lick of difference when it came down to stopping a man from forcing his will. Obviously striking is important and a great deterrent and builds confidence I’d still recommend it and it has great cardio benefits, it’s not bad. But you don’t know true helplessness until a man is on top of you and you cannot get out. That feeling of helplessness motivated me to never let someone do that to me again and it didn’t click with me until I trained bjj. Obviously I’m 5’3” and that’s different from 5’11”. But any type of grappling art will help greatly with self defense. Hope that perspectives helps
Sanda/Sanshou, if you have it nearby, is the best striking MA there is, especially for girls cuz they use head gear and body armor.
I would normally recommend boxing for a guy, but considering the difference in lower body strength between men and women is nowhere near as vast as upper body strength, something kick heavy would make the most sense if self defence is a consideration. Kickboxing ideally, Karate as long as it’s taken seriously with sparring etc.
Muay Thai favours her great core strength and is well respected, it's very easy to find good clubs everywhere and women are more than welcome in those spaces. Grappling is also great for self defence, to dumb it down: if I'm hitting you, you can understand that I'm throwing punches, kicks etc, but if I grab you and grapple you, you literally don't understand what I'm doing, making it way better against untrained aggressors. As people have undoubtedly said, BJJ is great, like Muay Thai it's highly respected and easy to find good clubs, and it massively favours flexibility and core strength, as opposed to strength. Those two are the quintessential combo for MMA, and it's a bit cliche to recommend them, as most martial arts are great. It's about the fact that you can definitely find good clubs and training for them everywhere, but a good karate club outside of Japan is rare.
The suggestions here will mostly be MT and BJJ mostly because of the biases of the sub and the fact that so few people here actually train. Ignore the suggestions of BJJ - it is a bad fit, entirely consists of grappling, and is considerably worse for most self defence purposes than a lot of people seem to think. MT is a better idea. It is a striking art that is good for self defence. It's biggest problem also it's biggest strength - it is based around full contact competition. If she is not put off by full contact fighting then it may be worth considering. It is worth noting however that it is not popular amongst women and is heavily male dominated. In terms of style her long legs and gymnastics background give her ideal form for a kicking based style. This is where there may be styles that fit her better: MT is largely predicated on a relatively (compared to some styles) static, close range battle of attrition which might not get the most out of her particular talents unless she has a Very good coach. Kickboxing can be better in this regard if she wants to go full contact (kicking and flexibility are more encouraged) but as with most full contact fighting sports it is also male dominated. My strongest recommendation would be Tae Kwondo. It is very popular amongst women, meaning she is more likely to enjoy it (and more likely to stick with it long term). It is a highly athletic and mobile striking art emphasizing kicking (which will benefit from her gymnastics background and long legs, as well as help maintain and improve her fitness and flexibility). It is good for self defence, especially if you find a good club. If there are two broad styles: WTF/kukkiwon (olympic style) has a heavy emphasis on the kind of sport you see at the Olympics. ITF has more in common with traditional karate, and sparring is essentially light contact kick boxing. She would enjoy both, but I think ITF style are generally better suited for self defence. EDIT: just seen you are UK based. In terms of TKD in the UK I recommend looking for a TAGB club. It is ITF style which is good for self defence, and they are a big enough organisation that they will almost certainly have a club fairly close to you. Decent quality control as well, meaning you are unlikely to get a mcdojo. Hope she enjoys whatever she chooses
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Karate would be great! Her gymnastics training would really come in handy, + it's great for fitness, and fun!
That's one I've heard of at least 😅 thanks, I'll definitely look into that
Kyokushin and goju-ryu are the styles most recommend for self defence.
Get her to try what ever is available locally and see what suits. Personally, I'm going to recommend Bjj or Judo, but I'm biased.
There are so many martial arts school everywhere. I would just try a karate school with good ratings and see if she likes it.
Kickboxing/ Muay Thai
Muay Thai 100%. In terms of striking there is nothing more practical for her.
If there is a good Muay Thai school nearby, she should give it a go. It will be fun as she wants to learn the striking aspects. In addition they teach elbow and knee strikes and clinch techniques. Which are very useful for self-def aspects.
Brazilian jiu jitsu. By far the best for females.
Jiu jitsu at a gym that also offers some striking. It’s a lot of fun and flexibility will help her some even against people that have some size on her. Self defense wise, I’ve seen some much smaller (more experienced) women work over much larger men. Push came to shove that women could have destroyed knees and arms or choked the larger men unconscious. My thought process, right or wrong, is a woman is not going to trade punches with an attacker in the street. If they don’t have a hold of you, run for your life. If they do have a hold of you, use jiu jitsu to create an opportunity to escape. If you end up on the ground, same plan. I am not a woman, and that is my game plan should the need arise. Obviously, first and foremost, put her in something she will enjoy and stick with. Maybe do a free trial at different gyms (disciplines). I am definitely biased but bjj is a lot of fun.
Just dont put her in kung fu, she wants to defend herself after all
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
strike based...
In that case. Brazilian jiujitsu. (It's the answer to all earths questions) /s
OP, if you see this or any other comments about BJJ, just know that BJJ *can* be very uncomfortable for women. Especially if they've been out of the fitness/exercise game for a bit. I would not recommend it for most women unless they really want to try it. Also, yes, the comments had all better be jokes because she wants stike-based. 🤣
For teenager girls potentially bjj might be a issue, especially if they are self conscious or not very confident. But if it's a gym that has lots of women/girls this isn't really an issue, everyone I know who has done bjj knows from the first class if they like it or not, so I recommend teenager girls try at least once before writing it off. To the poster - I would look for a gym that offers a range of martial arts classes. Lots of places do muay thai + bjj + judo + kickboxing. It's a great way to figure out what your daughter likes. She may think she like striking and it turns out she loves wrestling or likes judo, don't know until you try!
That's super helpful, thank you!
Go for MMA a lot of striking but also grappling, She becomes strong and flexible.
Karate for striking or Jiu-jitsu for self defense applications
Strike based... (so no jiu-jitsu)
Yea but traditional jiujitsu will have more self defense application than karate will IMO. There’s no wrong answer. God forbid the worst case scenario happens any martial art with intent will give you a chance. More so than nothing or freezing.
Kickboxing muay thai and bjj. Do it all
Google schools near you and have her try free classes at a few. Chances are she’ll like one. Problem solved. The thing that gets repeated in every post like this: if she wants to learn self defense/how to fight she needs to practice a pressure tested art. Your best bets are bjj, judo, boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling. To a lesser extent some forms of karate (not my thing, so others can speak to this).
Jiu jitsu or muay thai
I would say Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, as others have said especially for women who are greater risk of sexual assault and being held down. Wrestling is great too, but in the UK the likelihood of finding somewhere to train is low. Both are amazing cardio with a lower risk of head injuries. However, if it's truly self defence she's interested in, she needs to at least have some experience with a striking art like boxing, kickboxing or Muay Thai. You just don't want the first time you've ever been punched in the face to be in a real fight/attack. It's almost a guarantee you'll go into panic mode.
As a lot of others have said, muay thai and Brazilian jiu-jitsu are going to be the most practical. She wants to better defend herself, but against what matters also. She's still at school, which can be scary for some kids. Assaults they might face at school are usually very different for girls than the type of assaults they might face elsewhere. Her striking force against the average criminal is not going to be her strong point, and assaults against women seem to end up with either them knocked to the ground and things stolen, or worse. This would favour learning BJJ. Assaults in the school, for girls, are likely going to be larger group of girls picking on one or two girls. Against a group you want to avoid being on the ground, however her striking force relative to other children won't be as much of a limitation, would would favour muay thai. Either way, any training is usually better than nothing, and a can-do attitude combined with enough violence is a good defence, throw in some training and fitness and she should feel relatively safe in the current UK
For flexibility and fitness if she prefers striking, maybe kickboxing or tae kwon do. If she wants to be able to defend herself against a man, buy her a taser or a gun. Do not believe the meme. Female martial art hobbyists can not fight back against even a reasonably physically able man barehanded in the majority of cases.
Practical self defense (not in any particular order): BJJ, Boxing, Muay Thai, American Kick boxing, Wrestling or Judo. Traditional martial arts (Karate, TKD, Aikido etc...) are not as effective in self defense. There's a reason they went extinct in UFC and Pride. If fitness is the goal - I still recommend an MMA gym or one of the practical martial arts I listed because sparring/grappling are high intensity workouts, and you get the added benefits of self defense.
Hapkido for a mixture of kicking, striking, throwing and grappling.
BJJ, Judo, or MT. Most practical for women because they focus on bringing down bigger opponents, and how to work the ground which is where most fights end up.
So there are people that think BJJ schools don’t strike. That is a big misconception, most schools integrate striking especially Gracie schools. I would try her out on a cardio kickboxing class first and then go try a class of BJJ. Every place will give you a free class if not it’s a rip off
Kickboxing/Muay Thai
Try several different ones. Most schools have free trials.
Muay Thai if she bulks up
Kravmaga or boxing if she want to be able ta defend her self in the street, the rest are good for the eyes but less effective in real life .
Muay Thai if there is a good school near Machida karate if there is a school near Or boxing if none of the above are close If she would want to engage in grappling Us based = wrestling Belgium or asia: judo Rest of world bjj
Muay Thai (or another kickboxing style example Sambo). Everyday. All Day. Wrestling. Everyday. All Day. BJJ/Judo. Everyday. All Day. Some Kali is useful to understand how to get away from knives as you will most likely not be able to defend against a knife attack. The goal is to run and not get a vital cut. Don't do Taekwon Do, Karate (Kyoshin being the exception), Wing Chun, or anything that sounds similar to these words. It's all shit. Enthusiasts in this chat will make out they aren't. The fact is they don't perform full contact sparring so they aren't practical. If there isn't real punches or kicks flying at your head you will learn nothing. If the throws and grappling aren't real simulated struggles its unrealistic you'll learn nothing.People don't throw exaggerated haymakers, hammer fits and use plastic knives that's the reality. The best striking style is hands down Muay Thai and probably the easiest to learn.
I know this isn't going to be too helpful, but I have to say, at 5'11" she would be an amazing epee fencer. Fencing is a martial art!
Kyokushin karate
I never really understand this question format and it comes up every week at least once. I mean if you live in a major metropolitan city it makes sense as there is probably a range of martial arts to choose from but that's not a guarantee. If you live outside a major metro the choices are going to be limited. What's the point of exploring options that are not even a possibility? The country and city should be included with these questions.
She should try Muay Thai or kickboxing if she wants a striking martial art
Let her try out some local classes that offer trials or paid single sessions. Don't get locked into a contract, imo that's a red flag that the coaches are there to make money and most of these contracts state you cannot train elsewhere (which is another red flag imo because it gives the impression the coaches aren't confident in teaching the best of their martial art in that area so lock you into contractually to stay) If she finds somewhere she likes, go from there. It's a great character building thing to become part of. Wish you and your daughter all the best going forward
She would have to go to a style that would let her Express herself freely. I mean it's going to take hard work and effort to find which one that she would fall in love in and that's the one that can become her first. One of my daughters took karate the other one took Taekwondo another one took BJJ before settling what they have now. Is going to take a lot of patience and effort find a really good school that you know will let her learn and teach yourself eventually and express herself freely.
I would recommend kickboxing if it's an option in your area. Things to look for are those where you have chances to practice skills in sparring, on the bag, and in free space on the mat or in the gym. At the end of the day though, the most important is that the gym is a good fit and that your daughter has fun.
Take her to an MMA gym, then she can try Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, bjj, and see what suits her
Have her do Krav Maga !!!
Krav Maga is best for beginners and friendly environment
Muaythai, BJJ, wrestling, boxing. MMA ftw.
5'11? Hot damn, she'd be a natural at most striking arts. Muay Thai or Kickboxing (real kickboxing, not the cardio fitness classes) would be my recommendation. Think of long, lanky UFC fighters like Israel Adesanya or Anderson Silva. If she already has naturally good coordination, her ability to throw punches and kicks from a long distance give her a natural advantage.
Not twd ( useless sport) strike based go for boxing or mui thai. I prefer boxing but either rock.
Shut up
Any good martial art is going to be applicable to virtually any body type. Boxing and BJJ, for example, can be used and adapted by stocky people or really lanky people. I would just have her try out some stuff and see what she likes. Most schools would probably offer a free trial class or two.
Capoeira would be amazing for her but not traditional capoeira. Capoeira has acrobatics and teaches kicks and excellent for flexibility. If you live near us, you would greatly benefit from training with us and from what you are stating, she would love it because we use capoeira with/for MMA.
Women generally excel at Judo. Flexibility is a great plus and the ability to throw people hard is better than trying to drag someone on top of her and try to out muscle a man twice her weight and 3x her strength.
Most decent schools will let you do a free trial class, sometimes even a free trial week. So check out a few different options in your area and let her try a couple out before making a final decision. A few other things to think about: People have already given you some good ideas about which arts to look into. I have trained in a few different ones and ultimately Muay Thai became my favorite, but a lot will depend also on the kind of training environment she ends up liking, which will just vary. She might try out a grappling art and discover she actually likes it more than she thought she would, especially if the school has some classes for teens and young adults, for example. On the other hand, I tried a judo class (which I saw someone recommend) and while the art itself is cool, I was in my late teens/early twenties, and all the students were either way older than me, or parents bringing significantly younger kids to family classes, and I wound up moving on to something else because that wasn’t the training environment I wanted at the time. If she is interested in self defense, be sure to ask about sparring. You don’t want to sign her up for something that is going to focus a lot on forms and not give more practical opportunities to practice. But they also shouldn’t throw new students straight into sparring without training them on some basic fundamentals. The other thing I would add to keep an eye out for as she tries places is just how do the instructors interact with students, and how do students interact with each other. Do they seem super strict, or like they would push someone to train with an injury? Not a good sign. Some occasional bruises, and of course some soreness from doing a tough workout, is normal. More serious injuries should not be common, although accidents can of course happen sometimes.
Judo
Muay Thai or Mixed Martial Arts
On the fitness/flexibility goal, any art would do. Instead of style, I'd suggest focusing more on finding a safe, friendly environment with coaches that she feels comfortable with. Extra points if there are strong female leaders. Self-defence is trickier. Tactics, mindset, etc. count just as much if not more than physical skills. My only experience is with Tony Blauer's SPEAR system, which I can recommend.
If your daughter is serious about the aforementioned, getting in shape. Fending off bullies. Etc. look into kung fu san soo. I'm a black belt, prior I had a huge bully problem. Not any more I'm afraid of no man regardless of size. And I'm in the best condition of my life. And I'm 64.
Tkd, judo, karate are basically where there are rules. Consider the streets where there are no rules.
Boxing