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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2197 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 6, 2026

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Anybody familiar with Systema? Looks like such a cool martial art.

Martial arts is a solved problem. The optimal fighting style is MMA.

Any style that can't prove itself in the octagon isn't worth looking at, if your goal is to actually fight.

Surely that's not one style but rather a combination of wrestling, BJJ, muay thai, Western boxing, etc., with exact proportions depending on individual background and probably also baseline aptitude and preference.

Yeah that's probably a better way of putting it. In any case, any style that isn't intensely stress-tested on the mat/in the ring isn't worth bothering with. Judo may not be a huge part of MMA since the fighters don't wear clothing beyond shorts, but judoka do fight competitively (although there is definitely a groundfighting gap there that BJJ fills).

Hmeh. MMA does impose certain parameters that do not generalize. Like the octagon itself - flexible walls and a soft floor.

But I agree that competitive fighting is a good heuristic for detecting nonsense martial arts.

And it's one-on-one, and you can't grab your opponent by the clothing, and you have no shoes on and no stomping is allowed. All this means that grappling is generally more efficient in the octagon than it's in a real fight, where ending up on the ground is much more dangerous.

Although I should read more about the new meta now than 12-6 elbow strikes are legal again.

And I agree that competitive fighting is a good heuristic for detecting nonsense martial arts.

It is not quite that simple. MMA is the best in terms of actually learning how to fight, but the very elements that make it so good also means it carries a massive risk of injury compared to most other martial arts.

Traditional martial arts may well have a steeper initial learning curve while also having fewer useful things to teach. But a good Karate, Taekwondo, or Jujitsu club will still improve your fighting abilities compared to someone with no formal training.

So there is a real tradeoff in terms of risk and reward here. And that is before we get into people who practice martial arts mainly because it looks cool.

But a good Karate, Taekwondo, or Jujitsu club will still improve your fighting abilities compared to someone with no formal training.

I don't think that's right. Karate is basically worthless. Spending most of your time on kata and drills that have no correspondence to actual fighting, and then 'sparring' by playing what is essentially tag with your hands and feet. The same is true of Taekwondo (with a weird reluctance to use their fists). Brazilian jujitsu is absolutely valid, but the traditional Japanese kind is closer to aikido (the bullshittiest of bullshit martial arts) than anything that resembles fighting.

Not learning to fight while thinking you're learning to fight seems like a dangerous combination. Far better to practice the mystical ancient art of running away and phoning the police.

Anything that doesn't involve punching, kicking, grappling, throwing, pinning or submitting a resisting opponent is basically dancing. And if you're gonna learn to dance, at least make it a style with hotter girls like salsa.

But if learning to fight means risking injury, well yeah. Fighting is hurting the other guy. That's a pretty inescapable tradeoff.

Karate is basically worthless.

Unless you're generational talent Georges St-Pierre.

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