MMA

Top 10 Deadliest Martial Arts in the World

Top 10 Deadliest Martial Arts in the World

1. Top 10 Deadliest Martial Arts in the World

1.1. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, also known as BJJ, is a martial arts discipline that focuses on grappling and on-ground fighting techniques. Rather there is no striking involved but to gain a dominant position a fighter use clinches and joint locks to force the opponent to surrender.


This martial arts discipline was revolutionized under the conditions of World War II. Though it is a modified version of Judo including some techniques from classical jiu-jitsu, with a focus on non-Waza (floor techniques).


BJJ promotes the opportunities that smaller, weaker persons using balance and technique can successfully defend against a bigger and stronger attacker.

Self-defense, sports grappling tournaments (gi and no-gi), and mixed martial arts can all be trained in BJJ (MMA). Sparring (also known as "rolling") with an opportunity is a key part of training.


It can be a very deadly martial art, and it is especially beneficial to smaller people, but it all relies on the circumstances in which it is applied.

1.2. Taekwondo

Taekwondo is a Korean martial art, originated in the 1940s by combining different skills that were practiced at the time. The word Taekwondo is a combination of three Korean words. Tae (태, hanja 跆) which means to kick, Kwon (권, hanja 拳) which means to strike with the hand, and Do (도, hanja 道), which is associated with meaning “to hit”.


This martial art is built on striking ability and is distinguished by elegant footwork and quickness. Taekwondo is now one of the most popular combat sports or martial arts in the world, with an estimated 100 million practitioners.


Taekwondo places a strong focus on kicking. Fighters learned that using their legs in combat provided them an advantage over other fighting methods. Moreover, it relies on punching as well because they are the longest and strongest limb. Taekwondo kicks have such destructive strength that they may knock opponents out in a matter of seconds. That’s the reason why it is on our list of the world's deadliest martial arts.

1.3. Karate

Karate is a self-defense Japanese martial art that emphasizes all body components. The island of Okinawa, located south of Japan in the RyuKyu Islands, is the birthplace of karate.


During a karate bout, the entire body is used. Punching, kicking, elbows, throws, and open-handed "knife strikes" are all common techniques used in the sport. Kyokushin Karate, on the other hand, allows full-force blows, and fighters do not wear protective gear.


Karate differs from the other deadly martial arts on this list in that it emphasizes the mind as well as the body. Karate may easily become one of the world's deadliest martial arts with a concentrated mind and a thoroughly trained body.

1.4. Kung Fu

In general, Kung Fu refers to Chinese martial arts, also called wushu and quanfa. In China, Kung Fu represents any study, learning, or practice that requires energy, patience, and time to complete. Kung fu, in its traditional meaning, can refer to any discipline or skill gained through hard effort and practice, not just martial arts.


Although kung fu is one of the oldest hand-to-hand martial arts. It has been practiced for generations and was employed as a method of attack as well as self-defense by Chinese warriors.


However, there are many styles of kung fu. Though they all have the same goal, to strike your enemy with lightning speed and preventable power. That is what makes it one of the deadliest martial arts in the world.

1.5. Sambo

Sambo was developed in the USSR and practiced by Elite units. Although, it is the martial art of unarmed self-defense. It is a combination of judo, kickboxing, Thai boxing, and boxing, and became popular all over the world in the 1990s.


Initially, the discipline was originally trained by Red Army Soldiers and government agents. Later on, with the elevation of criminal activities, Sambo began to be taught by security guards and private bodyguards. Further with the increase in the practice of this martial arts discipline, some innovations like knives and batons were added.


Sambo is an art within art. Though it further has multiple disciplines. Sport Sambo is reminiscent of judo because fighters do not use punches within a fight. Sambo for self-defense, on the other hand, is based on jiu-jitsu and aikido and can be performed alongside sports sambo.


Other than that, combat sambo is a more demanding discipline. Primarily intended for the army and police, in which almost everything is allowed like blows to the head, elbows, knees…


Special sambo as the name suggests is a special variant whose techniques are kept secret for members of special units.


Although in America, freestyle sambo has developed as a civilian variant that is not bound to be taught in classic sports clubs.


Combat and Special sambo are righteous to upstanding our list of deadliest martial arts in the world.

2. Top 5 Deadliest Martial Arts in the World

2.1. Silat

Silat is a representation more than a word. It is a collective term used for a class of indigenous martial arts from the Nusantara and its surrounding geocultural areas of Southeast Asia. Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Vietnam, and Southern Philippines are the places where Silat is traditionally developed. These are also indigenous homes to the Javanese and Malayo-Sumbawan people.


Therefore, hundreds of schools (perguruan) and styles (aliran) are there which tend to focus either on weaponry, joint manipulation, strikes, or some combination.


Silat differs from most martial arts in that, unlike others that emphasize spirituality or self-perfection, Silat focuses on physical fitness. This style focuses solely on violence and that is what makes it one of the world's deadliest martial arts.


However, this fighting style is all about finding out the weakness of your enemy and incapacitating them as soon as possible.


Moreover, causing pain is the only concentration in Silat.  The style is characterized by a quick attack in which it is very important to get close to the opponent quickly. Moreover, break him in ten seconds and then knock him unconscious with a strong blow to the face, throat, or kidney. There is no respect, no fame, only dirty blows and the exploitation of weaknesses.


Practitioners of this style even encourage blows to the crotch. Yes, straightaway in the testicles. Even though, all the students of Silat must experience what it is like. Either you experience it by breaking a row of bricks stacked on your ribs, or bending metal bars around your neck.


“Keris” or “Kris”, is a dagger used in Silat. It is a corrugated knife for quickly stabbing an opponent into soft body parts. And yes, they put one of the most powerful neurotoxins in the world intentionally on a dagger. This toxic weapon can kill an opponent just a few tens of seconds after being stabbed. 

2.2. Bacom

Bacom or Vacon is one of the deadliest martial arts in the world. This Peruvian martial art was developed in the streets of Lima for the development of the Peruvian Military.


A Bacom practitioner is capable of injuring the opponents within a short span of time. It also entails the use of hidden weapons and powerful punches. Though it is a combination of Jiu-Jitsu and street fighting techniques.


Power is the key that helps the fighter emphasize over the opponents, and to ruin their balance. The element of surprise which makes Bacom one of the deadliest martial arts in the world is the deceptive attacks and use of hidden, secretive weapons in battle.


The vicious nature of this discipline is what makes it different from the other martial arts. However, this combat style is intended to inflict as much suffering on the opponent as possible to become too much for the opponent to endure.


This fighting style also involves arm locks. Whenever a fight takes place utilizing the Bacom style, many times it ends in the death of one of the competitors.

2.3. Vale Tudo

“Everything Goes” that’s what it means. Vale Tudo is a full-contact, unarmed combat sport with limited rules. This fighting style became popular during the 20th century in Brazil. It uses techniques from many martial arts.


Vale Tudo is a vicious martial art that is so lethal that most of its fights are held underground, causing quite a sensation in the media.

2.4. Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu, also known as Ninpo and Shinobijutsu, is a Japanese martial art that entails espionage, navigation, gathering information, and surviving in nature, as well as hiding and sneaking, camouflage, avoiding enemies, infiltration, overcoming natural and artificial obstacles, fighting with bare hands, various weapons, and hand tools, and so on.


The Ninjutsu is thought to have initially appeared in the 13th century, around the period of the Minamoto clan's first shogunate.


Despite the various inconsistencies in the written records, they were most likely renegade peasants who, weary by the constant terror of the samurai, whose class was rising at the time, and helpless to confront them, sought refuge in the mountainous districts of Ig and Koga on Honshu's central island.


There was a lot of curiosity in exotic Oriental skills in the West, notably in the United States, in the 1970s and 1980s. The ninja, shrouded in secret and various stories, came to us in the shape of questionable films, novels, and manuals.


Ninjas were only practiced by a few hundred people in Japan at the time. They were horrified by the publicity and shied away from journalists and adventurers who tried to contact them and learn their secrets.


Currently, tens of thousands of people of all ages practice Ninjutsu in hundreds of rooms around the world. Freed from its dishonourable past, ninjutsu has evolved into an extraordinarily powerful, integral system of self-defence and one of the world's deadliest martial arts, under the strict authority of its home school and spiritual leader in Japan.

2.5. Krav Maga

Krav Maga is an Israeli martial technique that is widely used in the military, police, and other law enforcement agencies to defend against unarmed and armed attacks. It was a success in the field, and it was named after its founder, Imrich Sde-Ora.


For almost fifteen years, Eyal Yanilov has served as the founder's right hand and now runs the International Krav Maga Federation. Krav Maga has been around since the creation of Israel in 194. Even though the creator himself taught many individuals quickly after his evacuation from Bratislava to what was then Palestine in 1940, just before the Nazis invaded.


He would have been left without one useful and efficient martial art if he hadn't defected.


A combat training approach that teaches how to avoid, avert, and resolve any type of violence or attack. Krav Maga teaches self-defense, martial arts, and combat skills, as well as how to protect others, in a unique and simple way.


Yet, in a setting where defeat would be fatal, the core principle of training and coaching is a "he or I" dilemma.


It should come as no surprise that the most effective and dangerous martial art in the world is also the deadliest. Krav Maga is a non-sporting martial art, which implies it is unconcerned about the rules or the safety of the opponent.

Photo credit: pinterest

Reading next

Holly Holm Designated as an International Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee for 2022
5 Core Strengthening Exercises for MMA Fighters

Leave a comment

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.