Looking for martial arts ranked? It’s very difficult to honestly “rank” martial arts against one another. The truth is, different styles cater for different individuals. Some styles will be more physical than others, with a greater focus on combat or sport. Others might have a focus more on the martial aspect, rather than be geared for the ring.
For me, a martial art was to prepare me for an actual fight in the street, to give me confidence should it happen. I tried a few styles and eventually found Wing Chun Kung Fu – a close quarter style based on economy of motion and minimum movement. It worked for me because it focused on the skill.
Another style I tried was Ninjitsu, which is another style geared for actual combat, not sport fighting. I found Ninjitsu to be an excellent martial art, with full contact strikes letting you know just how much a hit actually hurt! I eventually moved away from Ninjitsu, due to travel constraints. Although I trained with a 5th Dan who had personally trained in Japan with Grandmaster Hatsumi.
Martial Arts Ranked
Ninjitsu is a much broader style than Wing Chun – with 9 schools that it draws from covering all aspects of combat including ground fighting, standing fighting and weapons training. By comparison, Wing Chun is much more focused on standing fighting. However, I found my short time of training Wing Chun at the time prepared me well to spar against the black belts of Ninjitsu, who while had a broader understanding of all aspects of fighting (ground, standing, weapons, etc.) Wing Chun gave me a clear advantage while standing and fighting – even against black belts with only a short time training in Wing Chun.
This is because that is Wing Chun’s sole focus. It doesn’t however cover ground fighting for example. My Ninjitsu’s teacher’s mentality was to “win”. You wouldn’t wrestle a wrestler, you would “box” him. You wouldn’t go to the floor with a Judo expert, you would take them on in striking, keeping them at distance to avoid them taking you to the floor – much like with BJJ.
BJJ – Brazilian JuJitsu is another martial art which has gained a strong reputation in MMA circles and particularly in cage fighting. In cage fighting, there are rules which favour ground fighting. No eye jabs, or groin kicks, or kicks to the knee for example. But these attacks are the ones you would want to use should you be in a fight or flight scenario with one or more aggressors where you were in a life threatening confrontation.
You wouldn’t choose to go to the ground in a self defence situation. So while it is useful to know ground techniques, standing is far better, and running for that matter!
Martial Arts Ranked
One of the best books I’ve found on this topic is Meditations On Violence by Sgt. Rory Miller. The author has military experience and categorises martial arts in several distinct ways according to their usefulness in any given situation. For example, some styles are useful on the floor, but not engaged standing up.
He goes into detail about military tactics too, describing short range fighting and longer range fighting with weapons.
Martial Arts Comparison
All martial arts have their place. Some are for close range and some are for longer range – Wing Chun and Taekwondo respectively for example. Wing Chun uses close range techniques like elbows and low kicks, whereas Taekwondo uses longer range kicks and even flying kicks. Here’s a chart showing the various styles and their relative strengths in each range/niche:
| Martial Art | Long Range (Kicks) | Punching | Trapping / Clinch | Standing Grappling | Ground Fighting | Knife / Stick | Multiple Attackers |
| Wing Chun | ⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ |
| Aikido | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Kali / Eskrima | ⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Muay Thai | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Boxing | ⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
| Judo | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ |
| Karate | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐ | ⭐⭐ |
Legend
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ = Excellent
- ⭐⭐⭐⭐ = Very Good
- ⭐⭐⭐ = Good
- ⭐⭐ = Limited
- ⭐ = Minimal
Martial Arts Ranked – Summary
To summarise, I am not ranking these styles in order of “better” or “worse” because every style has a unique approach which can meet the needs of the practitioner. Training in any martial art is a good thing if it gives you confidence and connects you to a community.
Here’s a quick run down of a few styles and their strengths:
Summary
- Wing Chun – Best for close-quarters striking, trapping, and rapid hand techniques.
- Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – Dominates once the fight reaches the ground.
- Aikido – Excels at standing control, joint locks, and weapon defences (assuming traditional training methods).
- Kali / Eskrima – Outstanding for knife, stick, and improvised weapon work, while also translating well to empty-hand.
- Muay Thai – Elite striking with punches, kicks, knees, elbows, and clinch.
- Boxing – Exceptional hands, movement, and defensive footwork.
- Judo – Superb throws, balance breaking, and takedowns.
- Karate – Strong at maintaining distance and delivering powerful linear strikes.
- Taekwondo – Long distance powerful kicks maintaining distance
- Ninjitsu – Large number of strategies & broad syllabus including striking, trapping, grappling and weapons
