MMA vs Krav Maga

I had a reader send me an email asking my opinion on MMA vs Krav Maga. After reading my post on self defense, she wanted to start a self-defense class… But didn’t know which to choose.

I figured I’d respond with a quick article.

The intricacies of Krav Maga and MMA are large. After-all, one is specifically for street fighting/self-defense while the other is for amateur/professional rings.

Here’s the deal though: both are going to get you into better physical shape and teach better self-defense skills. Both will prepare you more for an actual fight-or-flight situation. And both will make you a better person. (It’s hard to not become a better person through a healthy dose of humbleness after realizing how defenseless you are to someone that actually knows a combat sport).

There is an excellent article on this topic at Didactsreach. And it is appropriately titled “The pointless but inevitable Krav Maga vs MMA bitchfight”

The author states the following:

But the question of which martial art to study is really a question of “which tool is most effective for dealing with this specific problem?”

If your problem is “I want to get fit and strong and lean”, then pretty much any art will do.

If your problem is “I want to compete against highly trained fighters in an amateur or professional setting”, then MMA is the way to go.

And if your problem is “I want to learn how to survive in a street brawl”, well, there is only one answer- Krav Maga.

And I think he hit the nail on the head.

Depending on what you want to accomplish, is how you should proceed.

Krav Maga is good.

MMA is good.

Pick one based on which tool you’d prefer.