TaeKwonDo

[MercuryTurrent]

hellz yeah

thank god someone recignizes wrestiling as a solid martial art! its helped me out in many fights where i was able to get close enough to use on of the many grapples. i ended up getting a high crotch to a double leg, then a chest on chest half. i used my leverage to ram my knee into his gut multible times...

but still, outside of grappling, forms like TKD and karate (which i, for one, respect :P) give you the type of all-aroundness required. you can bet when i started karate i already had the serious mind-set needed to excell in it and perform effectivly, as well as intigrate it into street fights.
all in all, i think no Martial Art is a joke, though the students may feel it is (no offense to any youngins around here)

[Nthman]

All I have to add to this whole TKD thing is that there is a huge difference between a 12 year old kid round/side/back/...etc kicking you and one coming from me, being 6'2 230 and fast..and sneaky..hehe heh hehhe But yeah..if someone really really wants to take it to the ground its probably gonna go there..not like my brain shuts off at that point though.

[Halloween Jack]

When I was in high school, I would check out books on freestyle/Greco-Roman wrestling to study some of the takedowns.

I think one of the principal reasons that arts like muay thai, shootfighting, BJJ and JKD surpass traditional arts is that most of the people who get into these arts already have the right mindset for self-defense. Most of the people who go to a karate or TKD school are just Average Joes who want to get in shape and learn some self-defense at the same time. They want the experience to be fun and safe, so sport fighting and kata are interesting to them.

Most of the people who take up muay thai, shootfighting, or JKD, however, do so for the purpose of full-contact competition and/or learning street self-defense, and they aren't afraid of physical contact.

I think that's another reason why kicks, especially high ones, are so popular in karate and TKD-most of the people who took up the study of these arts for self-defense are average people who are intimidated by in-your-face contact, and kicks (theoretically) allow you to keep your attacker at a distance.

[Nthman]

I agree with that, although isn't it a GOOD idea to keep an opponent from coming in if possible? heh heh

[MercuryTurrent]

oh yeah. its easier to aim for areas once you get them up close. one split second of cunfusion is enough for a strike at the neck, or whatever else you prefer.
im not sure weather this was mentioned, but most martial arts instructors are fluent in more then one martial art. my karate instructor is also showing me some TKD, soft style kung fu, and shotokan... everyone adds their own style to a fight, i think its very rare to find an MMA competition where each fighter sticks closely to what he knows. everyone, improvises

[doubleouch]

The real reason some arts fare better than others is not a matter of style, range, kicks vs. punch etc. It is only a matter of training methods. You can take almost any style and improve the training methods and make it work well.
The training method that works best:
Train against progressively increased resistance.
Practice your skills against uncooperative opponents.
Make the practice look as close to the event trained for as possible.
Test everything with sparring.