So a lot of people have their favorite techniques, but also favorite ranges at which they fight, dictated by a technique. A kick or strike, has a certain range. Too much, or too short a range, not good.
So if you fight at a certain range, you need a "range bridging" method to get in or out of your range vs the other guy's range.
The person that has better techniques for ALL ranges and knows how to get in and out of every range, as well as how to use angles, will have an edge over the other fighter. The name of the style matters not. The style cannot and will not guarantee skill in anything, other than copying techniques of the style's school or ryu.
Tai Chi is Kung Fu.
Sometimes we have MMA fighters who come to our Tai Chi school and my teacher has beaten all of them. There a plenty of people out there who do not know how to apply Kung Fu and i guess the same can be said about MMA.
MMA, even if I do kung fu myself. MMA is made to win in a 1 versus 1 battle, kung fu is made as self defense, not to kick ass. MMA is all about being productive while kung fu is more about a philosophy, which lowers productiveness. Of course there are kung fu masters who can easily beat MMA'ers, but that is because they have trained there intire lives while most MMA'ers haven't
"Can someone give me an unbiased answer on which is most likely to win in a 1v1 and why? "
In an all out fight with no rules, it could go either way....it comes down to the individual.
You miss several points.
First any controversy is from people that have little to no understanding of martial arts as "Kung Fu" isn't a martial art but a general term to describe the many Chinese martial arts. Likewise MMA isn't a martial art per se but the incorporation of techniques from multiple types of martial arts to make a well rounded fighter.
As Wolf stated MMA is primarily focused on 1 vs. 1. What Wolf doesn't say is that this focus is for a cage style fight. Hence MMA has a heavy focus on sport and is constrained by the limits of the rules placed on those participating.
Sadly there is a misguided belief that MMA is a no holds bared fighting style, and compared to boxing and many other martial arts this is somewhat true. But compared to some of the martial arts that haven't removed the more lethal and dangerous techniques this isn't true.
If you really want to understand martial arts stop thinking of them as one being "better" or more "dominant" over another. Instead look at them from the perspective of what they are, where they came from and what they do well, and where they are lacking.
If you do this you can evaluate different ones in more useful ways. And if your goal is to be a good martial artist it'll help you to open your mind, and expand your knowledge base in ways that you never expect.
To give you an idea the art I study is very traditional, and doesn't have a ton of flashy techniques, but what we do we do very very well. And those who study the art a long time are known for being excellent martial artist and very capable.
This is done through years of training and through a ton of hard work. It also involves studying our own art and many other arts to see what we do and how it becomes effective against what others do.
So the answer is one you don't want to hear as it's a non answer. In other words, it depends on the person and the conditions. In other words, an MMA fighter will have a huge advantage in a cage. Outside of the cage, it'll depend on what caused the altercation, how the individuals position themselves and how much space they have to work.
An example would be that if the MMA fighter can take it to the ground quicker then things will end quickly. On the other hand, a quick technique to the MMA fighters eyes could end things. And while many other possibilities could happen, it really just depends on too many factors to count as each fight is different.
On top of all of that, people forget that well disciplined fighters and martial artist don't go starting fights, so the likelihood of an altercation is very low and not something many of us will see or hear about.
kung fu is so unpracticle.. thai boxing or mma..
I know there are differences between MMA and Kung Fu and although they are both essentially "fighting" styles or techniques, till this day there is still controversy over the dominant style. Can someone give me an unbiased answer on which is most likely to win in a 1v1 and why?
