By M.L. Lewis

Every prepper has one dedicated weapon of choice they plan to use once herds of the undead begin to roam the countryside. Whether you’re a melee or firearms person, you’ve trained yourself on all the ins and outs of that particular style of weaponry.

But, what happens when the weapon finally dies on you? What if a zombie is on top of you and you can’t reach said weapon. This is why you should make your body a weapon through some form of martial arts, but which one provides the best defense?

5. Kung Fu

This is known as the grandfather of hand-to-hand combat, and it’s also one of the most popular form of martial arts. It originated in China centuries ago as a military combat artform and is still practiced there today. The foundation is to strike your opponent with great speed and power. They believe in shaping your mind and bodies into lethal weapons. This form would be great if you catch yourself surrounded by a herd of raiders/zombies and need to fight your way out it.

4. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Also known as BJJ, its claims to fame is its popularity as form of martial arts used by many Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters. It’s believed this form originated in Japan in the late 1900s, but was perfected in Brazil by Esai Maeda.

It’s a form of judo and practiced by many samurai warriors as a form of weaponless defense. It’s a mixture of multiple other fighting styles, but the core focus is using your opponent’s body weight to get them on the ground where the moves become much more destructive. This form can help you get the upper hand on your enemy no matter how big or small you are.

3. Eskrima

Also called Arnis or Kali, this form is a national sport in the Philippines. It’s a form of weapon-based hand-to-hand combat. This practice was made illegal in the 1800s so those studying it changed the form to look more like dancing than fighting.

It’s a full-on contact sport that is centered around weapons. The most preferred weapon is a stick, which is why it can sometimes be called stick fencing. Over recent years there has been a spike of melee weapons being used in fights. Overall this form teaches you how to use anything as a deadly weapon which will become handy when your blade goes or you run out of bullets.

2. Ninjutsu

One of the most renowned forms of martial arts and called Hinin by outsiders, this is the form studied by ninjas since the 14th century. The foundation of this study is focused on unconventional warfare, espionage, and assassination. They are all about infiltration and ambushing the opponent when they least expect it.

All aspects of ninjutsu are physically demanding since you have to get in and get out without being detected. Though this kind of technique is useless on a herd of zombies, it’s great when facing a group of raiders determined to steal your stuff and take you out. This form will help you not only collect key info on them but take out the key players before they even realize what’s going on.

1 Krav Maga

This is the most effective and dangerous forms of combat you can study. That is why almost every military branch across the globe teaches their soldiers this method. Its motto is “Hurt them badly and get away.” This is why the foundation of Krav Maga is all about inflicting as much pain to your opponent as quickly and effectively as possible.

It was originated by the Israeli Defense Force sometime in the 1940s. This is the youngest form of martial arts you can study. Unfortunately, there is a hot debate among the Martial Art communities over whether or not it’s part of their family because many believe it’s more of a combat system since there are no sports aspects or rules to it.

Either way, I feel this is the best form to study for any apocalypse scenario since rules of conduct are gone and anarchy will reign as the supreme ruler.