Knowing which martial arts are the best—is crucial for choosing the right one to learn. Well, understanding which ones are the worst will ensure you’re not getting stuck with them. As a result, one can ensure progression through time and consistent work.
The most useless martial arts you shouldn’t learn are Sumo, Yellow Bamboo, and Empty Force. Because they don’t teach valuable skills, nor are they practical, training in them—will be a time waste. Additionally, Yellow Bamboo and Empty Force aren’t genuine fighting styles.
- Yellow Bamboo
- Empty Force
- Sumo
I’m aware that other than Sumo, they’re both not real martial arts. Instead, they’re more of a cult style. Yet, these people get paid to lie to others. Thus making this post has value in my eyes.
An important note; every martial art is valuable in some way. I’ve seen many videos and blog posts saying Tai Chi is useless. This can’t be further from the truth. People who say Tai chi or Qigong don’t hold value don’t know a thing about martial arts.
Although you won’t learn self-defense, these arts hold historical value and are still relevant. I wish I could interview a Shaolin monk that’ll tell you the same thing. Shaolin monks meditate for most of their training period. They practice Qigong and Tai Chi as well. Consequently, they’re not useless.
I’ll include a video that explains the routine of Shaolin Qigong. I highly encourage you to try and train it. Although you won’t learn self-defense from it, you’ll be developing your Qi.
3. Sumo
Although Sumo holds historical value, it doesn’t provide any fighting value. Because of that, learning it—will be useless. There’s a community of people that’ll disagree with me. Yet, I believe that Tai Chi and Qigong hold plenty of value. Yet, such a fighting style absolutely doesn’t.
Sumo is a useless martial art because it doesn’t provide any real value to fighting. The only rule is that one wrestler must push the other outside the ring. The one who manages in doing so wins. Yet, there isn’t punching, grappling, choking, or any additional effective technique.
Today, if you want to learn self-defense, you must know to adapt. Thus knowing a variety of techniques and movements is crucial to fight appropriately. I highly encourage you to read an article titled The best martial arts for self-defense you should learn. It’ll give you the opposite perspective from this post.
Read more about the history of Sumo by following the link.
Yet, the only movement you’ll learn is how to push someone while not getting pushed. Now, can you picture any scenario in which pushing will solve the fight? I’ve seen plenty of self-defense scenarios. I can tell you that pushing doesn’t correlate with winning in a dangerous situation.
Instead, grappling, choking, maneuvering, punching, and kicking will provide value and practicality. Yet, Sumo doesn’t deliver even a single proper movement. Because of all these reasons, you should NOT learn it.
2. Yellow Bamboo
I can’t believe I’m writing this section. When I first encountered Yellow Bamboo, I was disappointed. I knew that individuals could reach low levels. Even then, I’ve never seen such stupidity. If you’re unfamiliar with Yellow Bamboo, you’re in for a ride.
Yellow Bamboo is a “fighting style” that teaches you to use force without contact. As a result, you’ll be able to beat an opponent without using physical violence. Yet, even when you read it, you know it’s unreal. As a result, people who practice it waste their time.
I’ll include a single video in this section that’ll show you their expectations VS reality. I hope you’ll be able to understand why these skills are unpractical.
For some odd reason, these people have a following. Not only that, but many people participated in their meetings a long time ago. I’m unsure of whether it still exists. Yet, I don’t want anyone to fall for that crap because some people do.
They have an official site; I won’t even link it since I don’t want to give them traction from my site. You’ll come across Yellow Bamboo’s site by typing Yellow Bamboo martial art, and you’re more than welcome to check them out.
A martial art is useless if it doesn’t develop your inner or outer self. You may learn how to defend yourself using various movements. However, you may build your inner-self by meditating or participating in martial arts which focus on that aspect, such as Tai chi.
1. Empty Force
Again, this fake fighting style is, as I suggested, fake. Because of that, learning it—will not provide any value whatsoever. As a result, you shouldn’t train in it. Yet, some don’t seem to understand the main principles of choosing a sound martial art.
Empty force is a useless fighting style that focuses on not using physical force. Time and time again, we’ve seen how much of a failed experiment it is. If a fighting style doesn’t include any valuable technique, physical or spiritual, it’s useless.
Overall, there isn’t a single part of my body that’ll tell you to learn Empty Force. The opposite is true. If you want to learn self-defense, train in MMA, Krav Maga, Jiu-Jitsu, or any other practical martial art. If you do, I highly encourage you to read the five reasons martial arts is more than just fighting.
Again, Tai Chi and Qigong aren’t useless martial arts. If someone says they are, stop consuming their content. They don’t understand the fundamentals of martial arts. Yet, if someone mentions their impracticality, they’re right.
Both Tai Chi and Qigong won’t train you to fight. Instead, they’ll develop your inner capabilities, crucial for the martial arts realm.
Many sketches demonstrate this fighting style. For the sake of respecting my readers, I’ll include a video that shows this martial art in action.
What makes a martial art useless?
Overall, knowing which martial art is reasonable will be valuable information. That way, you can focus on learning it rather than a useless one. Because of that, I recommend you read an article on the deadliest martial arts in the world.
A martial art is useless if it doesn’t include valuable physical or spiritual techniques. As a result, the trainees won’t learn any practical movement that’ll serve them for any purpose. For instance, while Tai Chi doesn’t teach to fight, it involves spiritual exercises, thus useful.
A common misconception in the martial arts community is Qigong and Tai chi are useless. Yet, that can’t be further from the truth. Doing them will provide many benefits, such as decreased anger, stress, aggression, and tension.
Are any martial arts useful?
Many people proved that martial arts are practical, and you can use them for self-defense. The essence of martial arts is self-defense. Karate first began to teach the people of Okinawa how to fight. As a result, they were appropriate and still are.
The following list is the martial arts that are useful and not useless.
- Jiu-Jitsu
- Tai chi
- Qigong
- Shaolin Kung fu
- Krav Maga
- MMA
- Judo
- Karate
- Aikido
- Gracie Jiu-Jitsu
- Many other martial arts that I haven’t mentioned
I want to focus on one more martial art that many people dislike. Aikido is a form of Karate that most hate or do not respect. Yet, it lacks in practicality, and that’s a fact. However, similar to Tai chi and Qigong it provides many spiritual benefits. As a result, I don’t find it useless at all.
Conclusion
Knowing the different martial arts and their pros and cons is crucial in picking the right one. As a result, reading these articles to gain perspective is valuable. Yet, don’t listen to anyone who says that various fighting styles, such as Tai chi, Aikido, or Qigong are useless.
All genuine martial arts provide some value, some spiritual and some physical. Yet, even the spiritual ones exist for a reason. They worked and continue to provide value to their trainees.
Here are other articles you’d enjoy reading:
7 Most Powerful Grappling Martial Arts (For Self-Defense)
7 Ways Martial Arts Help With Self-Improvement
5 Best Fighting Styles for MMA – Full Guide
7 Best Fighting Styles in the World – Breakthrough
5 Martial Arts With the Best Kicking Techniques – Guide
The 5 Best Takedowns & Throws in Martial Arts | Guide