What is the most "realistic" self-defense style...Wing Chun, Krav Maga, or something else?

Yeah, I'll just rehash an important point a few people made:





Realistic training is not built into a particular style. I've seen Taekwon Do instructors teach for realistic situations better than Krav Maga instructors. Traditional styles are not at any particular "realism deficiency" by the fact of their origin. Remember, traditional martial arts (TKD, karate, etc) have very real, very bloody roots.





Pretty much, all realism boils down to your instructor and their teaching style. If a school is geared towards sport competition, regardless of the style, then you are going to get shorted a little on applicable self-defense technique.





So if you want to get a feel for a given school's style, you should watch the class, then talk to the instructor. Ask him if he trains for competition or for self-defense? If the guy gives you a shakey answer, then you should be wary of the school. Otherwise, go with your gut reaction to the program. If you like their style, then join.





That simple.

What is the most "realistic" self-defense style...Wing Chun, Krav Maga, or something else?
Buy a gun.
Reply:There is no such thing as a "realistic" style... It is all in how they are trained... Any technique has the potential to do what it is designed for however theory will never get you over the line against a true aggressor... You need to train your techniques against real attacks.





It is neither 100% theory or 100% application it is 100% applied theory, you must know what you are doing and why and you must know that it works, not because you've seen it work but because you've done it.





And as for the two arts that you mentioned they are both great combat systems if you can find a good teacher.
Reply:Krav Maga !!! Is great 4 close quarter combat...all hands down ! Isreali Special Forces train w/ this n most bodyguards 2.
Reply:Aikido.Do some research for this art of self defense for your own.
Reply:If you want to train for realistic martial arts then first you have to go to all the schools you have availible and find out which one suits your needs and individual personality. Also you might want to learn something that has hands on application and it takes years to get them down right. someone would be lying if they said that you can learn in any less time than that, at least effectively anyway. To answer your question more informative is that their is no such thing as best style it just depends on your individual choice and what works best for you what someone else can do you may not be able to do and vice-versa. Try them all if they are availible and be specific to the teacher what it is that you want to learn!
Reply:they are all "realistic" if trained in a realistic manner. so it could be wing chun it could be krav maga, it could be mma, it could be karate just depends on your instructor and how you train.





but i will tell you i personally like krav maga for self defense since it focuses on close quarters fighting, and fighting at an disadvantage: multiple attackers, armed attackers, sneak attacks, etc...


http://majorsmartialarts.com/kravmaga.ht...





but depending on your instructor for instance in wing chun you could be taught the above too, so it just varies.





take a look at the site and get a feel for the different martial arts out there and go with whatever suits you the most, then see if there is an instructor near you that trains in the manner that will benefit your personal goals the best
Reply:Dude has no clue what he is talking about. Plenty of traditional styles provide very realistic self defense if trained properly. I take Isshin-Ryu karate and we train for very real street attacks with contact. I know other karate schools of different styles that train the same way. traditional styles do take longer to learn well, and I feel that people like dude either have never been exposed to a real traditional school that trains self defense realisticly, or are just parroting what they read on here, or are too lazy to put the work into them. Traditional styles take longer because they are focused on building a person, not just a fighter.


Almost any style(except the ones that are specificly designed for sport) can provide you with realistic self defense if you have the proper instructor and train like you mean it.





My two cents.
Reply:For me personally I like Muay Thai as it is really violent.but for self defense i would choose wing chun, krav maga or aikido
Reply:I really don't know much about Wing Chun. I do know a little about Krav. So I must say Krav Maga is the way to go. From anything I have seen and read Krav has the most realistic training, everything is at full speed and power.
Reply:I was taught a simple anti-gun drill which I now teach to my students.





Stand a few feet away; and now try and take the keys out of your pocket before I take you down to the ground in a wrist lock, arm bar, leg lock, neck crank, or throw. GO!





Most people cannot get a gun out of their inside pocket anyfaster than they can pull out a set of keys from their pocket. Even members of gun clubs who target shoot all day long cannot take out a gun (or keys) from inside their coat before I have them face down on the ground. A few feet away and you should be on top of them with good technique like white on rice.





This is a 'timing drill' which I learned in my Hakko-Ryu Jiu Jitsu class over a period of many years (decades in fact).





Having a gun is no guarantee of control unless it is already pulled, ******, and aimed at least a dozen feet away before you come up on somebody.
Reply:Look up kajukenbo, it is a realistic martial art based on the principle of using what works to defend yourself.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXXb8HAoP...
Reply:wrestling and boxing. against a weapon is running.
Reply:Practical as the only purpose of training?





KRAV MAGA//SYSTEMA//CLOSE QUARTERS COMBAT METHODS.





JUST STEER CLEAR OF THE "FEAR NO MAN BEAT ANY OPPONENT" HYPE STYLES.





Sometimes you can't run there being no avenue of escape you are going to have to do the best you can with whatever skills you have or use a weapon of opportunity anything handy you can pick up Even a hand full of dirt thrown in his eyes works well .


If you want to go the more traditional route I would suggest WING CHUN /GOJU RYU/KALI/AMERICAN KENPO not that they are more effective in the long run than other traditional styles they just tend to emphasize the nitty gritty sooner than others.


And for those who equate sparring with someone pulling and using a knife on you pray you have more than sparring going for you when and if it does happen.
Reply:What happens with "realistic" martial art form is they teach things that you really couldn't do. Say knife defence. If someone comes at you the teacher of a "realistc" martial art form might say to deflect the knife. I don't care if your Chuck Liddel if someone has a knife you get your *** out of there. If you want the best martial art form I would say got train at an MMA gym. But if you want something with less contact I'd say wrestling(not a martial art) or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Reply:brazilian jiu-jitsu or krav maga.





I can tell you right now, any traditional art like aikido, kung fu, tai chi, and all that is for getting in shape, learning how to control your body, and NOT directly for self-defense. They are swimming on dry land.





Modern combat styles like what I already suggested or MMA or even Muay Thai are for self-defense