For a lay person who is new to the world of martial arts, the terms and arguments used by martial arts experts can be very confusing. Most likely, you will end up wondering which of all the styles known, is truly the deadliest style of martial arts?

Let me first assure you that anyone who claims to know the deadliest style of martial arts is a big brag. If you use your common sense, you would realize that if indeed there was a style which was the deadliest of all, most people would die out on the streets and the field. Not only that, there would also be combative techniques developed to counter such 'deadly' attacks by another group of innovative researchers-cum-fighters.

The truth of the matter is that while certain martial arts moves can injure and kill, there is no style in existence today which can be termed as 'deadly'. If there was, the world would not be a safe place to live in. if you are keen to know which of the many martial arts style was the most effective in a combat situation, you could study the history of this art and find out which of these styles were used in street fights and battle field which can be extrapolated to modern times.

Of course, all forms of martial arts began as a combat technique but how many of them remain as effective today as they were centuries ago? All these arts today are 'diluted' or 'civilized' forms which are governed by various safety rules and principles.

Take the example of karate which was originally created to kill or disable the opponent, can you imagine such a form of art being taught in karate schools in the country today? Most of the potentially hazardous moves have been ruled out to prevent injury or harm to the opponent. While karate might have been created with deadly combat in mind, it may not remain so today.

The 'deadly' image of martial arts which rest in our minds is mainly created by dream merchants of Hollywood and filmmakers of other Asian countries. 'Deadly' martial arts specialists like Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee might have displayed some 'killing' moves on camera, but remember they were movies where the more important aspect was to create a 'dramatic' effect in the minds of the audience.

In cinema, everything is larger than life, to create an impact and increase its box office returns. Display of martial arts skills is no exception. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a memorable movie in this genre but if you get yourself down to earth, trust me, no one can catch a flying bullet or defy all laws of physics and gravity to fly into air.

Another impossibility often shown in movies is an old Asian man killing or maiming an opponent using a technique called 'death touch' or 'dim mak'. Though the movies will want to make you believe that such a death touch is possible, where you simply touch someone at a particular spot and he drops dead, it is a pretty absurd idea.

Think about it. If it was really possible, would everyone not learn and use it? If it was true, many people would learn this and start building defense against it too. Just for the records, you can check out the police records of our country to find how many people died of dim mak!

While there is no 'deadliest style of martial arts' in existence in modern times, there are many extremely effective lessons that can be learnt from schools which teach martial arts so that you could develop your self defense skills in the event you are touched ever by 'dim mak'!