I’m assuming by street fights you mean self defense or mutual combat. Most martial arts work to some degree on the streets but strictly relying on one discipline for a street fight has it’s weaknesses.
A wrestler may have a great ground game but will struggle to take on two attackers at once. While the wrestler takes one attacker to the ground, he’ll still be getting kicked and punched by the other attacker. Unless the wrestler is an absolute beast like Brock Lesnar then he will struggle to restrain both attackers.
Likewise a kickboxer might be able to drop multiple attackers at once with stiff kicks to the head but what if the kickboxer gets grabbed from behind? He or she will probably not have any means of defense since the kickboxer is primarily a striker, not a grappler.
In order to be versatile in a street fight you must practice both grappling (Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, wrestling) and striking (Boxing, Muay Thai, kickboxing) arts. Take what’s most practical of both types of martial arts and combine them into an effective self defense system. Carrying some form of equalizer like a pair of brass knuckles, pepper spray etc for worst case scenarios is also recommended. But the best option when it comes to self defense is to run away and get help, only rely on force if you have no other option.
It's not really about what "works", it's about what is the best technique to use because a street fight is different to a sport fight.
If it's a one on one fight can you wrestle the guy, pick him up and drop him on his head and knock him out? Sure. Can you just take him to the ground, get on top of him and pummel him? Sure.
If it's a street fight - where you don't have rules or a referee to protect you - and you're tied up with that guy trying to take him down, how do you deal with somebody coming from the side or from behind and punching you in the face repeatedly? You can't. You're gonna get knocked out.
What if you're fighting on concrete, you slam him onto the floor, he cracks his head open and dies? Now at the very least you're going down for man-slaughter.
What if you're on top of him pummelling him, and somebody decides to just hoof you in the face? Now you're knocked out.
It's good to know wrestling but you'd better know how to strike too.
It could be useful to restrain someone until they calm down or the police arrive. The problem with striking someone is you leave yourself open to legal action. Simply grappling them to the ground and restraining them before they hurt someone better. If you watch most street fights what happens is two men throw threats at each other then eirher separate or attack. The vast majority of the time a crowd will pull them apart and restrain them before any real damage is done. Wrestling could be handy for onlookers rather than the 2 men fighting.
I used to do Traditional martial arts, with lots of sparring and wrestling. Honestly, wrestling honestly advantages much bigger people. It's also hard to replicate real world conditions when sparring. People could wrestle me and defeat me when they get within a certain range, much bigger guys. But in real life, I would hit them so hard/evade that I doubt they could use their wrestling techniques. Unfortunately, there's always going to be an element of fakeness in such controlled conditions. The other thing is, I don't think it's ideal going down to the floor and fucking about on the floor. Having said that, if you can charge someone, wrestling them to the ground, double leg, and pummel them, then the fight is effectively over in a matter of seconds. It's worth learning anyway, so you're adaptable and know what to do if you get into that situation.
Any martial art is better than none. In a one on one unarmed fight wrestling, or judo is very effective. Knowing how to throw, grab and grapple an opponent is certainly useful for self defense.
No. Wrestling is a technical sport and has no real provisions for effective attacks in street conditions. It givws a superior physique and endurance but that's that.
Krav-maga is a good example for a useful martial art when considering this.
I was in a lot of street fights up through 20 years old. It helps you keep you balance and use your weight against him. But as another on here said, you have to punch and punch a lot.
Most Helpful Guys