Deadliest Martial Arts: 12 Most Dangerous Combat Styles

Photo by Haribhagirath, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

You may wonder as you practice your own martial art or are simply curious, what is the deadliest martial art of all?

Well…

Silat, Kung Fu, MCMAP, Sambo, Ninjutsu, Vale Tudo, Bacom, Eskrima, LINE, Rough and Tumble, Krav Maga, and Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) are among the deadliest martial arts in the world.

We will list 12 of the most dangerous combat styles in the world. There's no objective way to rank them, so treat the order as our take.

Let’s get started.

Top 12 Deadliest Martial Arts In The World Ranked

1. Krav Maga

Krav Maga is an Israeli self-defense system used by the military, police and other law-enforcement agencies to defend against unarmed and armed attacks.

Its name is Hebrew for "contact combat." It was developed by Imi Lichtenfeld (later Imi Sde-Or), who grew up in Bratislava and fled Nazi-occupied Europe in 1940.

When Israel was founded in 1948, he became the Israel Defense Forces' chief instructor for physical fitness and Krav Maga. After retiring in 1964, he taught civilians.

Eyal Yanilov, one of his foremost students, worked with him for years and now leads Krav Maga Global.

A realistic combat technique teaches how to fend against, stop and end any type of attack.

Krav Maga teaches self-defense, fighting, and martial arts abilities, as well as the ability to protect others in a novel and simple method.

Training focuses on realistic threats, including weapons and multiple attackers, and on ending the threat quickly so you can escape.

Krav Maga is not a sport, so there are no competition rules; strikes to vulnerable targets like the groin and eyes are part of the system.

2. Line

The US Marine Corps used the LINE close-quarters combat system from the late 1980s until it was phased out in the late 1990s and replaced by the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program.

It was developed by former Marine Ron Donvito.

The name's official meaning is Linear Infighting Neural Override Engagement, although this is a backronym created when the project was first conceived.

The system was created to operate under precise, demanding, combat-oriented conditions:

• Techniques can be used effectively in low light or other settings with poor sight; none of them must be vision dominating (i.e., smoke or gas)
• Tremendous physical and mental tiredness
• The Marine or soldier may use it while wearing full battle gear
• If the tactics are used correctly, the opponent may die
• Gender neutrality; must apply to both genders

Since most close-range combat encounters were likely to occur at night or in poor visibility, these parameters are seen as the most likely ones that a combat Marine or soldier would encounter.

This lethal martial arts also applies while the Marine was worn out from his combat load and when facing asymmetrical odds, such as a numerically superior force.

As a result of these limitations, numerous showy techniques, unique kicks, or motions demanding incredible feats of strength or agility were ruled out of the LINE system.

Techniques like the basic judo "hip throw," for example, were prohibited due to the danger of entanglement on the practitioner's war belt.

The skills in the system were intended to be quickly picked up on and kept via repetition.

Its primary users, military and special operations personnel, have busy schedules and often struggle to keep their skills sharp, so the need for constant drilling drew some criticism.

It was designed for lethal combat, which is exactly why it fell out of favor. LINE was criticized as too rigid and too lethal for situations like peacekeeping that call for graduated force, and the Marines replaced it with MCMAP.

3. Ninjutsu

Ninjutsu is a Japanese martial art that teaches a range of skills. It is also referred to as Ninpo and Shinobijutsu.

This covers fighting with only one's hands, using a variety of weapons and hand tools, espionage, intelligence gathering, wilderness survival, hiding and crawling, camouflage, evading assailants, infiltration, and more.

Ninjutsu developed in feudal Japan, and the shinobi of the Iga and Koga regions are its best-known practitioners.

There was significant interest in exotic Oriental abilities in the West, particularly in the United States, throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

The ninja was introduced to us through questionable books, movies, and novels while remaining shrouded in secret and various myths.

Much of what is taught as ninjutsu today comes from modern schools, and its history is hard to separate from legend.

4. Vale Tudo

Vale Tudo, which translates to "Everything Goes," is a full-contact, unarmed fighting sport with few regulations. In Brazil, it gained popularity in the 20th century.

It employs methods from a variety of martial systems.

Vale tudo fights were public events in Brazil, and they were a direct forerunner of modern MMA. The early UFC events grew out of the same no-holds-barred idea.

5. Rough And Tumble

During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Rough and Tumble combat, sometimes known as gouging, was typical in rural areas of the United States.

It was frequently defined by the aim of gouging out an opponent's eye but also included other disfiguring methods, such as biting, which usually occurred to resolve conflicts.

Although it was never a formal sport, players would occasionally plan their battles (much like a duel), and winners were revered by their communities.

Gouging, which mainly affected the poor and was particularly prevalent in southern states in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, was a form of duel to preserve one's honor.

It ranks highly on our list because it was incredibly harsh, with little regard for the opponent's safety and the goal of maiming the other man.

6. Bacom

One of the deadliest martial arts is Bacom. Vacon is another name for Bacom.

It is a combat system from Peru, reportedly developed in the 1980s by Roberto Puch and associated with Peruvian military and police training.

It is said to combine grappling, joint locks and street-fighting tactics with surprise attacks and concealed weapons.

Bacom demanded a focus on strength, with assaults intended to upset an opponent's equilibrium.

Since combatants often employ covert, clandestine weaponry, there is also a component of surprise and deceit.

The brutality of the martial art sets Bacom apart from other combat techniques.

Reliable documentation of Bacom is thin, so treat dramatic claims about it with caution.

7. Eskrima

Arnis, Kali, Eskrima, or Escrima is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are generally interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines.

This emphasizes weapon-based combat using sticks, knives, bladed weapons, improvised weapons, and "open hand" methods without weapons.

Filipino martial arts have been practiced for centuries and train weapon and empty-hand techniques together, including disarms.

A core idea is that the same angles and movements work with a stick, a blade or bare hands.

Modern Eskrima is also a sport, with padded sticks and protective armor and headgear in competition.

8. Silat

The name "Silat" refers to a class of indigenous martial arts from Southeast Asia's Nusantara and neighboring geocultural regions.

It is performed in the native countries of the Malayo-Sumbawan and Javanese-speaking peoples, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Philippines, and Southern Vietnam.

There are countless distinct schools (perguruan) and styles (aliran), most of which tend to emphasize strikes, joint manipulation, weapons, or a mix of these.

Silat's combat strategy focuses on closing the distance quickly, unbalancing the opponent and attacking vulnerable targets.

Many styles also carry cultural and spiritual traditions, and silat is performed as an art and contested as a sport (pencak silat) in Southeast Asia.

Weapons training is common, including the kris (or keris), a dagger often made with a wavy blade.

9. Muay Thai Or Thai Boxing

Muay Thai grew out of the battlefield fighting skills of old Siam, which were taught alongside weapons such as swords and spears.

Its most famous legend is Nai Khanom Tom, a Siamese prisoner of war said to have beaten a series of Burmese fighters in the 1700s.

Today, Muay Thai is Thailand's national sport and is known as the Art of the Eight Limbs.

The eight limbs are the fists, elbows, knees and shins, and Muay Thai fighters also clinch to throw knees and sweeps.

10. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program

The US Marine Corps developed a fighting style known as the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP).

This combines teamwork, morale, and training in the Warrior Ethos with classic and contemporary hand-to-hand and close-quarters combat techniques.

The program started in 2001 and taught unarmed fighting, edged weapons, weapons of opportunity, and rifle and bayonet tactics to Marines and U.S. Navy troops assigned to Marine forces.

Additionally, it emphasizes the growth of the mind and character, collaboration, leadership, and the proportionate use of force.

Combining the most remarkable elements of several martial arts from the nations where the Marines engaged in battle, that talent has evolved.

Training includes bayonet techniques and improvised weapons.

11. Sambo

The name sambo is a Russian abbreviation for "self-defense without weapons." It took shape in the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s, drawing on judo and folk wrestling styles.

The Soviet Union officially recognized it as a sport in November 1938, and it was taught to the military and police.

It split into two branches. Sport sambo is a jacketed grappling sport similar to judo, with throws and leg locks but no strikes.

Combat sambo, developed for the military, adds punches, kicks, knees and elbows. Fedor Emelianenko and Khabib Nurmagomedov both came from sambo backgrounds.

12. Kung Fu

Wushu and Quanfa are Chinese martial arts known as Kung Fu.

Any study, learning, or practice that requires persistence, effort and time to complete is referred to by this phrase.

Kung Fu, originally translated as "hard work and practice," can refer to any skill or discipline developed by effort and practice, not simply martial arts.

It is one of the earliest hand-to-hand fighting styles and has been practiced for ages. Chinese warriors employed it for both self-defense and offensive purposes.

Kung Fu comes in hundreds of forms, from flowing styles like tai chi to hard striking styles. How effective it is depends heavily on whether a school includes live sparring.

Knock-Out Point: Learn about the other deadly martial arts forms with weapons. Proceed to our post and find out what they are -- Martial Arts That Use Weapons.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadliest form of martial art?

All of the martial arts mentioned are among the deadliest martial arts in the world. They are incredibly effective for self-defense and include elements that make them lethal.

There's no objective answer. Military systems like Krav Maga and combat sambo are designed to end fights fast, while sports like Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling have the most proven, pressure-tested techniques.

What is the easiest martial art to learn?

No martial art is truly easy, but boxing and karate have simple fundamentals that beginners can pick up quickly.

What is the cheapest martial art to learn?

Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and MMA can occasionally be more expensive to learn than Boxing, which can be relatively inexpensive. The least costly martial arts do not require much gear or apparel to participate.

What martial arts Are most ideal?

Boxing and Muay Thai are the ideal martial arts for street combat because they emphasize remaining on your feet while striking your opponent hard and effectively to knock them out so you can flee.

You must practice martial art like Boxing, Mixed Martial Arts, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu where sparring is the main component of training if you want to be a proficient and lethal martial artist.

You will learn how to handle bouts' unpredictable nature and deliver under pressure via sparring.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, Krav Maga tops our list because it was built for military use against armed attackers and targets vulnerable areas like the eyes and groin. Head kicks, chokes and joint locks are among the most dangerous techniques in any style.

In real life, the most dangerous martial artist is the one who trains with live, resisting partners, and the best self-defense is still avoiding the fight.

You may start with Taekwondo, a Korean martial art, Karate, or BJJ if you’re a beginner.

Sources

• About Krav Maga and Imi Lichtenfeld, Krav Maga Global
• About sambo, European Sambo Federation