What is the most effective martial art for multiple attackers? I will start by saying it’s hard enough to fight one person but two or more are just not good for you. Unless you are trapped and have to fight more than one person avoiding multiple attackers is your best bet. If you do want to train to fight multiple attackers then Krav Maga is the best martial art to do that.
Nowadays with all of the turmoil and events happening around us, self-defense has been a topic talked about frequently.
Knowing how to defend yourself can be the difference between life and death in some cases.
It is sad that we have to feel this way, but luckily there are several martial arts designed perfectly for self-defense.
Now, most people focus specifically on having one attacker but what about if you have more than one?
Martial arts can still be extremely beneficial in a situation where there is more than one attacker. If you are training in martial arts, you can get trained on what to do when multiple people are coming after you.
This is a very important topic to talk about because many times in a situation, there are several attackers and one victim.
If you learn a little bit about how to deal with this, you could help save yourself or someone else around you from a beating.
Let’s take a look at the best martial arts to learn for multiple attackers.
1. Krav Maga
This martial art is actually Israel’s national martial art. This fighting form brings together multiple techniques from other martial arts for self-defense purposes.
The best part about this training is that typically attack and defense techniques are done simultaneously. This is great for self-defense because you want to defeat your attacker and get away as soon as possible. Krav Maga also allows you to defend yourself against more than one attacker.
If you can simultaneously attack someone and defend yourself, you can get away from multiple attackers easier.
Krav Maga is also known for aiming at being able to disarm weapon-carrying attackers and work on hand-eye coordination.
Its overall goal is for self-defense to become a natural reaction for each individual who practices Krav Maga.
I trained in Krav Maga and we worked on multiple attacker scenarios.
The key is you can only fight one person at a time. This is not like the movies where you see people fight 5 to 10 guys at the same time. That crap does not work so don’t think you can do it.
What you have to do is position yourself to take on just one person at a time. You do this by positioning yourself at an angle or position to have one attacker in front of you and the other attackers behind the one.
You need to move fast and always move at angles to ensure only one attacker is in front of you.
You want to use the clinch to control the first opponent and then just knee them until you take them out. The video below demonstrates this technique.
If you do not take out the first attacker quickly you are in trouble.
2. Boxing
Boxing is a great fighting system that can be used for self-defense and can be used for multiple attackers.
Boxing focuses on how to fight and defend yourself strictly with your hands. This means that in an attack, your only weapon is your hands.
Just using your hands could cause an issue with fighting multiple attackers. Sometimes a well-placed kick, a knee, or an elbow would help. Boxing does not teach these techniques.
A professional or well-trained boxer would have a better chance of defeating multiple attackers with only their hands.
However, beginners may not be able to do the same. Once again boxing is great for self-defense but multiple attackers make fighting more complex.
If you only know boxing and you are attacked by 2 or more people then you have to fight back.
You want to do what we mentioned above by keeping only one attacker in front of you at a time.
Using punches like a jab and a rear cross you may be able to drop the first guy fast so you can focus on the second attacker.
Use power punches like a rear cross, uppercut, or hook punch. Do not throw haymakers they open your defense up to counterattacks.
The best way is to clinch and knee the first attacker like in the video we showed above. If all you know is boxing then use the jab and footwork to keep them off of you until you can knock one out.
3. Jiu-Jitsu
Jiu-jitsu actually originated in Brazil and is a combat sport that specializes in ground fighting. It is often known as “Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu”.
This specific martial art had come about after implementing different techniques based on other similar martial arts.
The basic goal of this martial art was to prove that if you know enough about Jiu-jitsu and practice it hard enough, a small weak person could defend themselves against anyone using the moves they have learned.
This is why it is often used in self-defense because attackers are usually bigger and stronger than their victims.
This means that there are moves and techniques that can be done to easily allow a smaller victim to get away from their larger attacker.
The techniques and moves used in Jiu-Jitsu are not about size or strength, they are simply about mastering a martial art.
The more time and effort you put in, the better you will be no matter what your prior experience may be.
Jiu-Jitsu can also be used with multiple attackers if you do it right. You will not be able to take the first attacker to the ground. What you need to do is a Judo throw hopefully hurting them when they hit the concrete. Then move on to the next attacker.
You can also do what the video below shows and choke them out standing up.
This is very difficult to do and you have to be a skilled fighter to really fight off multiple attackers. If you let them surround you then you are in trouble.
4. Muay Thai
I know what you are saying that Muay Thai is a sport so it is limited when using it for self-defense against multiple attackers.
I disagree because this sport is brutal so only a few hits and kicks can easily knock an attacker out.
Muay Thai mostly focuses on punching, kicking, knees, and elbows. The other important parts of Muay Thai are balance, power, and speed.
Being a successful Muay Thai fighter requires a great amount of toughness.
This is why Muay Thai is such a great system for self-defense because it is a system built for stand-up fighting that has devastating strikes.
Movement, speed, and power are so important when defending yourself, especially against multiple attackers.
The fighting position requires you to be light on your feet so that you can be fluid and strong.
Muay Thai fighters pride themselves on being tough. They can handle many kicks or punches in a street fight. They have conditioned their bodies to take hits.
I know not everyone who trains in Muay Thai is training like the pro fighters in Thailand.
The point is this art is deadly and it only takes a few elbows and knees to drop an attacker and then take out the next attacker.
5. Arnis / Escrima
I did some Arnis training when I was practicing Jeet Kune Do. It was a very effective fighting art that probably not too many people in the US know about. This is really popular in the Philippines.
According to Wikipedia Arnis / Escrima: Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima, is the national sport and martial art of the Philippines.
The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines (“Filipino Martial Arts”, or FMA) that emphasize weapon-based fighting with sticks, knives, bladed weapons, and various improvised weapons as well as “open hand” or techniques without weapons.
In Arnis, students learn to fight first with weapons then once they get really good they move to empty-hand fighting.
The training usually has fighters learning double stick fighting using both hands or one hand has a stick and the other a knife. The training wants you to have a weapon in both hands, not just one.
Kicking focuses on knee strikes, tripping, low-line kicks, and stomps.
These practitioners are deadly in a fight if they have a weapon and even do empty hands. They train to fight in the street or be able to defend themselves.
6. Kyokushin Karate
This is a stand-up fighting martial art. This martial art has katas and sparring. The reason we have this listed is the sparring because it is much harder than in most fighting schools.
They do have some rules when fighting like no elbows or hand strikes to the head or neck.
You can punch the body in sparring, kick the head, do knee strikes, and kick the leg / inner thigh. Full-contact fighting is really what you want to get to when training in this martial art.
The training is hard and sparring is more realistic than in most schools. This is why we think this martial art will help you fight off multiple attackers.
7. Kickboxing
Kickboxing is a combat sport that uses a lot of kicking and punching. It can be used against multiple attackers because of its diversity in techniques and its power and quickness.
It basically combines a lot of techniques from other martial arts which is another reason why it is good for self-defense.
Kickboxing allows you to have many “weapons” to use. You can use your hands, feet, elbows, and head to defeat your attacker.
Knee and elbow strikes can really make a difference when it comes down to fighting against multiple people.
There are also different forms of kickboxing, so it is kind of a broad term. Overall kickboxing is a contact sport that is used for many things but is great for self-defense. This is especially useful when your attacker is unarmed.
The kicks and blows that are taught through kickboxing are meant to be lethal and powerful while also being quick. There are also some schools that teach techniques that focus on getting a weapon out of an attacker’s hand.
This can be very important especially if you have multiple attackers with multiple weapons. It is important to think about different situations that could happen.
8. MMA
Many people may disagree with me on this one but I trained in MMA for a long time. I trained with amateur and pro-MMA fighters.
The guys I trained with can destroy you quickly. I watched one of our fighters against another fighter in the MMA ring. They were both fighting amateur.
The fighter from our school hit the opponent twice. The first punch closed the fighter’s eye shut and the second punch knocked him out.
MMA fighters are badasses no matter if you are standing or on the ground.
MMA teaches you everything except dirty fighting. Good luck getting in a groin kick, eye gouge, or bite. MMA fighters will most likely have you knocked out before you can do any damage.
I love MMA and think it is a great system to learn to fight back against an attack.
Conclusion
Overall there are many martial arts that can help you when you are in a situation fighting off multiple attackers. Don’t be afraid to try out a few different martial arts until you find one that is best for you.
No matter what martial art is best for certain things, whatever you will do the best will benefit you the most.
Even if you do not excel at martial arts, learning about self-defense and gaining knowledge will still help you tremendously.
You do not have to worry about perfection when you want to learn self-defense. As long as you are able to defend yourself, that is all that matters.
Open your mind to learning about these things and take into consideration which martial arts are the best for multiple attackers.
Self-defense is a great thing to know and thinking about having more than one attacker is very important. You are already a step ahead of others by reading this and getting more educated on self-defense.
To learn how to fight and how to defend against multiple attackers you can check out our free online training program. You can learn to fight at home with some basic training equipment like boxing gloves, a heavy bag, a punching dummy, and a bag stand. This is much cheaper than going to a martial arts gym.