When it comes to the question: “Who would win in a fight between an MMA fighter vs Shaolin Monk?” there are a couple factors to consider. Is it an armed or unarmed combat? Is it a street fight or a sanctioned match? Are they the same weight class? How long have they both been training? The list of questions can go on and on.
However if the factors were equal, many people believe that an MMA fighter has a better chance to win.
Let’s look at the reasons.
Advantages of MMA
The difference between a Monk and an MMA fighter is the style of their training.
MMA fighter trains specifically for unarmed combat, whereas the Shaolin Monks have sword training in their routine.
But when it comes to solely unarmed combat, the MMA fighter would have a much bigger advantage over the Monk.
- The training of an MMA fighter consists of learning specific ways to win unarmed fights.
- Skills that MMA fighter learns are in the specific area of winning unarmed fights
- The diet and physical training of an MMA fighter is designed to help him win unarmed fights
When it comes to the Monk, he has other responsibilities other than training for fights. Also his training is of religious nature, has background in certain traditions and focuses on certain ideologies.
So an MMA fighter would stand a better chance than the Shaolin Monk simply for the reason of having more time spent in relevant training in unarmed fighting than the Monk.
Having said that, it’s good to look at some other factors.
Factors to Consider
- The difference between kung fu and MMA is the potential of progress. When you train as an MMA fighter you can reach your full potential after a couple of years and then just start wearing down. However, Kung Fu has many, many years of development and you only get better with time.
- The type of fight is also a big factor to consider. It all depends on whether the fight is taking place standing up or if it’s a grapple, wrestling match on the ground. Because the agility of the Monk is far greater than that of an MMA fighter and he can dodge MMA fighter’s moves as long as he wants (the better he is the longer he will be able to dodge his moves), and not only that but he can deflect the punches. But if the fight gets to the ground, the Monk’s has far less chance to win
- This is considering both are in their prime. But if they hadn’t been practicing in a few years that might be a whole different story. Both of them would probably have muscle memory kick in and they would remember certain learned concepts, but the advantage in this case would probably slightly go to the Monk’s side.
- The style of training for MMA and Kung Fu are totally different because Kung Fu has background in religion and MMA is a product of the American culture which strives to have the fighter go full force from the beginning and end up with lots of blood all around them, many injuries and possibly death.
MMA Fighter Vs Shaolin Monk – Street Fight
Let’s look at who of those two would win against a common enemy. In this case let’s say that this enemy is a common street thug.
MMA could work better if you were to find yourself in a street fight, but still it’s not a guarantee you would come out victorious.
If you were to fight one on one with the attacker, you could stand a good chance if you had a significant amount of training as a professional MMA fighter. That is as long as you’re ONE on ONE. But when his buddies start jumping on you, your chances become very slim. And especially if weapons are involved.
Street fights are not sanctioned in-ring fights. There are no rules in a street fight. In a street fight you need to be quick and neutralize your enemy quickly and effectively.
When it comes to kung fu, there are endless styles and systems of fighting, but whichever you choose you would learn useful and practical self defense techniques that would serve you well in a street fight.
MMA > Kung Fu
Some believe that MMA would be much better in a street fight and the reason for this are the training methodologies. When you train to be an MMA fighter, you do a lot more conditioning and sparring than kung fu.
Kung fu puts focus more on technique and form. One doesn’t exclude the other and in most gyms you’ll find conditioning for those training kung fu. Still MMA puts a lot more focus on direct combat training than kung fu.
MMA training is very real and training is for real life situations. It prepares you for the reality of extreme physical exertion when you’re completely focused on your opponent, your adrenaline is kicking in and you are moving fast and trying to predict your opponent’s next move.
There is a big difference in training styles for kung fu and MMA and the results that you get are completely different. An MMA fighter has a greater predisposition to win a dirty street fight, but that doesn’t mean a kung fu master doesn’t stand a chance. If he is mean, tough, has done a lot of hard live sparring and is mentally tough, I wouldn’t want to fight against him in a street fight.
Conclusion
In the end, it all comes down to the fighter himself. There definitely are better and easier system to start learning but it’s still you and how you have set yourself up in your own mind that will create the final result.
Also the difference between MMA and Kung Fu is that Kung Fu is a collection of fighting systems and MMA is sport, a brutal sport.
So before comparing MMA fighter vs Shaolin Monk, it’s important to understand the differences in training and approach to both of these styles of fighting.
Both an MMA fighter and a Shaolin Monk have their positives and negatives, and both of them have advantages over the other. We hope this article cleared that up a bit and helped you understand how both of these styles of fighting work.
So, based on the information you found in this article, who do you think would win in an MMA fighter vs Shaolin Monk bout?
