What are the best ground martial arts I can combine with karate so that I can use karate in mma efficiently?

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There are several actually but it is finding the best teacher in your area that will prove more the difficult I think.

You can try Ju-Jitsu, Hopkido, Aiki-ju-jistu, Judo, take a grappling or MMA class, all these and plenty other arts would all be effective with Shotokan.

I have a Nidan in Shotokan but am a Shihan in Kenpo. I have no rank in any of the above but I am crossed trained in Aiki Jujistsu & Aikido as well as Iado (Sword drawing Katana)

Any of those I mentioned plus even more would be effective. One great thing about Shotokan is that they teach you if you have a good school to keep the fight on your feet and not the ground, because on the street if you go to the ground his buddies will be stomping on you as you are on the ground and so knowing grappling is very important so if you ever are taken off your feet you can quickly get back on to them

Now if just one on one then that is different you can worry not about anyone stomping on you while you grapple.

SO that is why having both is a good idea, as is learning circular martial arts & internal martial arts are and just as they also need to learn Linear as Shotokan is. They all combine to complete that Yin & Yang or Budo in martial arts to a dedicated practitioner that is not just a spots karate-ka but it is a way of life for them as it is for me.

Check out all the schools within our reach and check their credentials, certificates, lineage (though is only partially important so long as they know what they are doing) all these are things to look into and of course try a few classes at different places until you find the one you think best suits you and your Shotokan. each of us as you know have to make the style their own after you become ranked in it. That is what i have done and I think cross training is an excellent idea.

Just find a good teacher and school and one that you are comfortable at and less the actual style that it is so long as it is a primarily grappling art form.

best of luck.

Harimau pentjak silat and catch wrestling are probably the best….IMO

Siopao,

CroCop started in Shotokan. you will find it has helped you build a basic outline for stand up tecniques, like:

*teaching how to put the whole body into punch, not just your arms, has good kicks too. It depends a lot on your instructor. Shotokan

If you had a Instructor that allowed sparring that allowed full power punches and kicks then the training is much better then non-contact. However, with that said you MUST learn and combine Muay Thai,boxing to improve footwork, elbowing, kicking, kneeing and punching for MMA

The best ground martial arts you can combine: free style wrestling to improve positioning and maintain ground control and Walt Bayless’ Combat Jiujitsu/ or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, and Sambo to improve your submission holds, and defense. With the right training and instruction you would be successful combining the all above with combine with karate

Take care,
Devin Willis

At our local LA Boxing gym is a good example of what makes a successful MMA training program. The fighters train Walt Bayless’ Combat Jiujitsu/Muay Thai, and boxing. One fighter does combine his past Karate training and feels it has helped him

jui jitsu for ground work. popular and easy to find a place to train.

but…

your gonna **** in MMA because training in karate, you won’t learn how to do take downs or take down defense.

In a MMA class, they spend 1/2 of the class just doing that.

another thing, jui jitsu isn;t gonna teach u ground and pound. you won’t practice getting punched from the groud or hitting from the ground.

good luck.

Try reading up about an MMA fighter called Lyoto Machida. He is undefeated in MMA and the UFC. He uses Shotokan Karate in all his fights and I have never seen karate used so succesfully in MMA ever. For his ground game he practices Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which in my opinion would be the best martial art to add to your karate knowledge.

i would personally prefer kyokushin karate if i were to do karate but as long as you are being taught practially then you are ok. kyokushin is used by some mma fighters such as georges st pierre and bas rutten

pankration=ancient greece mma, its pretty much mma without gloves so you dont punch to the head. and its probably going to be hard to find a place that teaches it since pankration is just starting to get practitioners. in other words you are better off finding a place that teaches mma and training there

karate is a striking art so to be a more complete fighter you are going to need:
takedown art: so you can learn to take someone to the ground, and defend being taken to the ground

ground fighting art: once you are on the ground a way to control your opponent to deliver strikes or submit them(and avoid being ground and pounded, or submitted)

takedown arts: freestyle, roman-greco wrestling, judo, san shou(chinese boxing is striking but they allow judo like takedowns but no ground fighting), muay thai(is striking which allows you to clinch and “neck wrestle your opponent”), sports sambo

ground fighting: freestyle sambo, brazilian jiujitsu, kosen judo, shoot/catch wrestling

***note that this is not a complete list its just a lost of the more popular styles, also most of the styles overlap some such as in brazilian jiujitsu you will most likely learn some takedown but you are more focused on ground fighting, and in judo you might learn some ground submissions and pins but you are more focused on takedowns

you will want to do BJJ, Sambo or Judo to supliment your stand up game, also as far as i know Shotokan practices non contact and that is alot different you will find to full contact, you need to do a few classes in a contact MA to learn how to take a hit and give a hit

judo and or LOTUS

Jujitsu or judo would mesh well with your karate training. Brazilian jujitsu would also be excellent.