Jeet Kune Do

Ever heard of the documentary: "The intercepting fist"? The way of the intercepting fist is the English translation of the Cantonese phrase "Jeet Kune Do" (pronounced as Jee Kuhn-do).

Jeet Kune Do is basically the philosophy followed by Bruce Lee in martial arts. His opinion was that all forms of martial arts had something to offer, but no single one has the answers to all the questions. Therefore, the martial artist should learn numerous styles and assimilate into his own style. Bruce Lee's quest for perfection led him to study different styles of kungfu, karate, jiu-jitsu and even western style boxing and fencing. He was way ahead of his time, and should be considered as the father of mixed martial arts.

Anyway, check out the documentary in Youtube. Speaks volumes about the man himself, his philosophy so far as martial arts are concerned and his missionary zeal for his trade.
Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5 and part 6.

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Modern day mixed martial arts can be roughly be categorized into 3 parts, in terms of styles. There is the so called "stand up fighting" which involves striking. Chief martial arts styles followed here are karate, kungfu, boxing, muay thai, hapkido and taekwondo. The second set of techniques involves throws. Chief styles include kungfu, judo, greeco-roman wrestling, sambo, aikido, hapkido and jiu-jitsu. The third style involves ground fighting, and is mostly based on judo, sambo, greeco-roman wrestling and jiu-jitsu, the latter being probably the most effective.

Normally, strikes and throws are a good option for fighting brawlers and untrained opponents or when outnumbered. However, in a fight between two skilfull fighters, the one with better ground fighting skills (other things being equal) stands a better chance.