Ryan Hall is an American black belt and instructor in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and a professional mixed martial artist currently competing in the featherweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is known for a number of competitive achievements, ranging from Mundial and ADCC victories to dozens of Grapplers Quest championships. He is the winner of The Ultimate Fighter Season 22. He holds notable victories over former UFC Lightweight and Welterweight Champion BJ Penn, former UFC Lightweight Title challenger Gray Maynard and Artem Lobov.

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Yeah, I've competed in boxing, judo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, MMA.

What do you think is the best martial art for defending yourself against an untrained opponent?

There's so many different factors, but let's say for instance, okay, most fights I've seen are one-on-one.

The fights we hear about are an ass whipping, like 7 people versus 3 people.

And okay, the more variables you add in, it gets very, very difficult.

I would say the best fighting style is using your brain.

Well, avoiding the fight, but I would say intelligent, it's just like investment.

Now, I know nothing about investing, which is why I don't do it.

But let's say, for instance, Warren Buffett is looking at a stock page.

Now, I'm speculating because I don't know Mr.

Buffett, but I do have some understanding of how the world works.

So I would say that some days he looks at the page and says, aha, there's a good investment here.

And other days, regardless of his skill in investment, he says, there's nothing to do, the best thing to do is wait.

But you're Warren Buffett, tell me the best investment.

Yeah, the best investment today still sucks, and I'm not gonna make it.

Talk to me next week and I'll see what's out there.

So next week we're gonna invest some money, maybe.

And then he'll make the read as he sees it.

So let's say for instance, you walk into a room and your goal was to kill everyone in the room.

And you are armed, but you walk in to 50-50 Jitsu and you're gonna shoot everybody.

But for whatever reason, it's bring your gun to the gym Tuesday.

And everyone else is sitting there polishing, they're fully loaded, again, rounding the chamber, safety off, weapons hot, all that good stuff.

And you see everyone else is armed, what do you do?

Yeah, you come back in on Wednesday when no one's armed, then you shoot us all, it'd be great.

So, it's that, being the best tactical shooter, you could be as ninja as you want.

There's too many of us and too few of you.

Could you make it out of there in like some sort of boondock saint's awesome luckiness and manage to get everybody?

That's like Floyd Mayweather against 3 people.

Seriously, anybody that tells you differently has never fought an untrained person because regular people can't fight for shit.

So when Floyd literally cripples the first guy with the right hand, the other 2 guys, unless they're really serious, are probably going to go, uh-oh, and then hesitate.

So if you think about it, though, 4 people, 5 people, 3 people, ah, let's say it's 1 on 1, but Floyd's minding his own business and getting snuck over the shoulder as he's sitting there ordering a drink at a bar.

So I would say that when it comes to the physical expression of how to best defend yourself, the most important thing is situational awareness and understanding what's going on around you because you could be the world's greatest ninja warrior and still run yourself into a lose-lose situation.

Yeah, sure I could if he let me hit him, but I don't think I would come within spitting distance of him if he didn't want me to.

I would have no teeth before I even tried.

But if he sits there and lets you hit him, he is a man, he is mortal.

So basically under the right circumstances, anyone can win.

Under the wrong circumstances, anyone can lose.

So I would say that understanding that is the step 1 to being able to be an effective strategist who can read a situation.

Should I fight for 4 seconds and run for it?

And when you take into account the physical expression of everything and you want to, let's say for instance, the most, the best things for defending yourself in real life, I would say probably wrestling or jiu-jitsu.

Probably jiu-jitsu really in my opinion, but for fighting I would say other things.

If I wanna be able to beat up more than 1 person, now it implies that I can wrestle.

Or I can, because regular people can't wrestle for shit.

You could pick them up and slam their head on the ground or something horrible.

But let's say you're a great boxer and someone tackles you.

Could a regular person tackle a good boxer?

All right, could a regular person sucker a good jujitsu guy?

But it also really comes down to the mental and everything like that.

But basically, if I had to pick 1 art and everyone knows nothing, I would pick Jiu-Jitsu.

But in my opinion, Jiu-Jitsu at a high level involves wrestling.

Yeah, like you said, grappling is this bigger thing that involves wrestling, Judo, everything.

That's like you take an Olympic level wrestler and you let him lean on top of


Speaker 0: Yeah, I've competed in boxing, judo, wrestling, jiu-jitsu, MMA.

Speaker 1: MMA, yeah. What do you think is the best martial art for defending yourself against an untrained opponent?

Speaker 0: There's so many different factors, but let's say for instance, okay, most fights I've seen are one-on-one. The fights we hear about are an ass whipping, like 7 people versus 3 people. And okay, the more variables you add in, it gets very, very difficult. I would say the best fighting style is using your brain. And because- And

Speaker 1: avoiding the fight?

Speaker 0: Well, avoiding the fight, but I would say intelligent, it's just like investment. Now, I know nothing about investing, which is why I don't do it. But let's say, for instance, Warren Buffett is looking at a stock page. Now, I'm speculating because I don't know Mr. Buffett, but I do have some understanding of how the world works.

So I would say that some days he looks at the page and says, aha, there's a good investment here. And other days, regardless of his skill in investment, he says, there's nothing to do, the best thing to do is wait. But you're Warren Buffett, tell me the best investment. Yeah, the best investment today still sucks, and I'm not gonna make it. Talk to me next week and I'll see what's out there.

So next week we're gonna invest some money, maybe. And then he'll make the read as he sees it. So let's say for instance, you walk into a room and your goal was to kill everyone in the room. And you are armed, but you walk in to 50-50 Jitsu and you're gonna shoot everybody. But for whatever reason, it's bring your gun to the gym Tuesday.

And everyone else is sitting there polishing, they're fully loaded, again, rounding the chamber, safety off, weapons hot, all that good stuff. And you see everyone else is armed, what do you do?

Speaker 1: Wait, until Wednesday.

Speaker 0: Yeah, you come back in on Wednesday when no one's armed, then you shoot us all, it'd be great. So, it's that, being the best tactical shooter, you could be as ninja as you want. We're going to kill you. There's too many of us and too few of you. Could you make it out of there in like some sort of boondock saint's awesome luckiness and manage to get everybody?

Sure. I wouldn't bet on it. That's like Floyd Mayweather against 3 people. I would bet on him sometimes. Seriously, anybody that tells you differently has never fought an untrained person because regular people can't fight for shit.

And the other thing is they get scared. So when Floyd literally cripples the first guy with the right hand, the other 2 guys, unless they're really serious, are probably going to go, uh-oh, and then hesitate. But they may not. So if you think about it, though, 4 people, 5 people, 3 people, ah, let's say it's 1 on 1, but Floyd's minding his own business and getting snuck over the shoulder as he's sitting there ordering a drink at a bar. All these different things factor in.

So I would say that when it comes to the physical expression of how to best defend yourself, the most important thing is situational awareness and understanding what's going on around you because you could be the world's greatest ninja warrior and still run yourself into a lose-lose situation. Could I knock out Floyd Mayweather? Yeah, sure I could if he let me hit him, but I don't think I would come within spitting distance of him if he didn't want me to. I would have no teeth before I even tried. But if he sits there and lets you hit him, he is a man, he is mortal.

So basically under the right circumstances, anyone can win. Under the wrong circumstances, anyone can lose. So I would say that understanding that is the step 1 to being able to be an effective strategist who can read a situation. You say, should I fight this 1 out? Should I not?

Should I get out of here? Should I fight for 4 seconds and run for it? And when you take into account the physical expression of everything and you want to, let's say for instance, the most, the best things for defending yourself in real life, I would say probably wrestling or jiu-jitsu. Probably jiu-jitsu really in my opinion, but for fighting I would say other things. If I wanna be able to beat up more than 1 person, now it implies that I can wrestle.

Or I can, because regular people can't wrestle for shit. You could pick them up and slam their head on the ground or something horrible. But boxing would be nice as well. But let's say you're a great boxer and someone tackles you. Could a regular person tackle a good boxer?

Yes. All right, could a regular person sucker a good jujitsu guy? For sure. But it also really comes down to the mental and everything like that. But basically, if I had to pick 1 art and everyone knows nothing, I would pick Jiu-Jitsu.

But in my opinion, Jiu-Jitsu at a high level involves wrestling.

Speaker 1: Yeah, like you said, grappling is this bigger thing that involves wrestling, Judo, everything.

Speaker 0: Oh, no doubt. That's like you take an Olympic level wrestler and you let him lean on top of

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Ryan Hall: Best Martial Art for Self Defense | Take It Uneasy Podcast