Top 5 grappling martial arts

*I am extremely biased when it comes to this list

**It’s hard not to be, since I’ve dedicated my life to a a lot of these. Im sure there are some great ones out there that didn’t make the list.

Judo

Judo is spectacular. The cornerstone of the martial art is the dynamic and beautiful high amplitude throws. Judo uses massive throws to to take opponent’s down hard to the ground. On the ground, the goal is to control, choke and/or break the arm. Judo has a rich history and embedded with great philosophy.

Wrestling

Oldest sport in the world. When you talk wrestling, you may think of professional wrestling. That is not what I am talking about here. In wrestling, there are 3 types. Collegiate, freestyle and greco roman. Each of these have different rule sets. Greco Roman, you cannot touch the legs.

Sambo

Sambo is a hybrid between Judo and Wrestling. You wear a jacket and wrestling shorts. You wear shoes too. In Sambo, you cannot choke but you can go for a knee bar. They have sport sambo which is purely grappling and combat sambo which includes striking.

Sumo

Sumo is an often overlooked grappling martial art. With it’s simple rules, (win by making the other person step out of the ring or touch the ground), it is really easy to understand. You don’t need any experience to enjoy because the rules are so simple to follow. There are lots of throws and takedowns in the sport of sumo as well.

BJJ

BJJ is a ground specialist martial art. It is centered around submissions. Sport bjj has a point system to reward hierarchy of positions. BJJ has a gi version and a no-gi version.