Is training in a combination of Bujinkan, Boxing and Judo good for self defence and the street?

I think the question here is about what to take for both defense and for combat.

There are a lot of philosophers on here about fighting. I can tell from a lot of the advice that most have never actually been in a street fight against anyone who actually knew how to fight and was aggressive.

I have lived and breathed fighting all my life. It is the only thing since my first memory that I have consistantly wanted to do and continue to strive to perfect. I have been in more street fights than I care to count or even remember. And only half of them were one on one.

If every fight you get in is only one on one, then the advice given above would be very helpful. Unfortunately that is only the case about half the time.

Please take my advice on this if you have the choice.

Bujinkan, or even Americanized Ninjitsu is going to be a very good start. But it will not be your base of fighting. This will teach you all the dirty fighting techniques, how to attack from outside line of sight, how to sneak, how to be evasive. All in all I would say it will be your most important skill learned for combat outside of sanctioned competition fighting.

Next you should not learn boxing. Learn Muay Thai and Kick Boxing. You will learn all the boxing techniques you need to know from these and it will teach you all your kicks, knees and elbows as well. It will also get you into incredible shape and give you insane endurance. 100% of fights start standing up and on the streets should end before they ever get to the ground. Because on the ground tied up with one fighter, his three budies are going to stomp you to death or shoot you. And that’s how it really goes.

But, in the event it does end up on the ground, you will not want to have taken Judo. A class on MMA grappling is preferable. This will teach you Judo, western grappling, wrestling, greco and Jiu Jitsu. This will be much more affective in learning to defend against take downs, to be able to take someone down, and to effectively work on the ground.

Finally, but definately not least, take Ed Parker’s American Kenpo Karate. This will be your base of fighting technique on the street. This will teach you how to put together everything else you have learned and tighten your skills. It will teach you how to check every move your oponent could make. It will teach you how to put all your skills together in a near perfect combination of attacks that will stun, disorient, confuse, scare, off-ballance and neutrilize your attackers. It will teach you the mechanics behind movement and the science behind fighting. It will teach you how to force your opponant to rock back and forth with devistating and painful strikes as well as the benefits this has for you in the fight. You will find that with this as a white belt you will have learned more about fighting than with all other styles combined even if you mastered them. But you will need all the other styles. This is just to teach you how to put all your kicks, blocks, strikes, punches and finger techniques together in a way that they are a trap for your opponent and maximizes your ability to inflict damage and pain upon them while minimizing their ability to do so to you with very simple easy to learn and extrememly effective combinations that you will not find in any other style or system. Simply and both metephorically and litterally put, American Kenpo Karate will teach you how to destroy and pick apart your opponant.

This is how I would suggest putting it together.

Get your yellow belt in American Kenpo Karate first. Then study Bujinkan or American Ninjitsu for at least two years while continuing your American Kenpo Karate part time. Then for the next three years focus on MMA training, i.e. Muay thai, kick boxing, grappling without completely neglecting the Kenpo. This will make you aggressive, strong, effective and good very quickly. Then spend the rest of your life mastering American Kenpo Karate without neglecting to continue partial training in MMA fighting. All the things you need to keep from the Bujinkan will stick with you for the rest of your life, the things that don’t are useless anyway.

Boxing is good for striking, so yes that would be good on the street. However, I would suggest Muay Thai. Muay Thai is a more intense and full-on Martial Art, and is proven to be very effective on the street.

Judo is good for grappling, and it would be somewhat good on the street. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu would be more effective on the street, however. Great for 1 on 1, not so great for 1 on 2+.

Bujinkan, no. Hapkido, OK. Not my recommended choice. I would rather go with Sambo or Aikido. Sambo especially.

The perfect combo for the street, in my opinion would be.

Muay Thai – Striking
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu – Grappling and throws etc.
Sambo

This is extremely arguable. On the street it is likely to be attacked by someone with a weapon. Krav Maga would be effective, and many others.

Muay thai all the way for strikes! punches, kicks, knees, elbows, and even clinching in muay thai. Knees hurt like hell and elbows cut your opponent quick. The thai clinch works by controlling your opponents head, control the head control the fight. Brazilian jiu jitsu for your ground technique. BJJ teaches you how to fight and end fights off your back, most people street fighting have no technique especially if they think they are winning i.e you being on your back, making them vulnerable to a number of submission or choke holds. MMA fighters train in these disciplines cuz they flat out work!

One thing to remember about Bujinkan is the weapons training. Hapkido has weapons too, but that is often more of a side thing than a focus of the art. I have trained in both, Bujinkan more than Hapkido, and my experience is with Bujinkan you learn a move, then learn that same move with multiple weapons. With Hapkido, I learned empty hand moves, then I learned weapons moves, often very different. This is not saying anything bad about Hapkido, just pointing out the focus of the training is more unarmed. Many people prefer this.

If your goal is self defense, consider the fact that knowing weapons very well makes it much easier to pick up whatever is at hand and use it to save your life. A self defense situation is not about who can beat the other person, it is about you getting away from a bad situation as healthy as possible.