Top Melee Combatants

List is based on overall combat prowess, not just martial arts ability, but also factoring in speed and agility.
Subject to constant change, still needs more research too. Not counting anyone with enhanced abilities that would factor into their martial arts performance (ie superstrength, speed, immortality) Also only including people from the mainstream continuity and timeline
 
Other people I'm considering :  
Council of Spiders
Brothers in Silk
Hellhound
Tsunemoto (Trained Batman)
Lynx

Wrath(Original) (once Batman’s equal)
Talia al Ghul
Katarina Armstrong
Kate Spencer/Manhunter
Shado
 
Exclusions include:
Deathstroke, Zeiss, Jean Paul Valley, all Amazons, Sonia Sato, Ravager, Ra's al Ghul, Sensei, Ripley Jagger, Vandal Savage, Scandal Savage, Karate Kid.

List items

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  1. Cassandra Cain

  Born and raised to be a weapon. She was raised without language or compassion, only violence. She is the daughter of Lady Shiva and David Cain. Because body language is her first language, she reads her opponents and can often predict their moves. She is a natural fighter and can also learn techniques just by seeing them used. Her assassin training was rounded out by Batman who taught her defense as well as at least 127 different martial arts, making her the ultimate fighter. She has received training from the best, including Batman, Lady Shiva, Bronze Tiger, and David Cain. Though she usually does not use weapons, she has shown herself to be skilled at using either 1 or 2 katanas which just ad to the variety of ways she could kill you.

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  2. Batman

  A driven, obsessed, perfectionist. He trained his body to physical perfection at a very young age and is an example of the maximum potential of the human body. He has perfected all forms of unarmed combat, master almost all weapons on earth, and knows every nerve strike and pressure point. He is a combat genius able to utilize his vast arsenal of lethal strikes and modify them to be nonlethal. He augments his combat abilities with acrobatic skill, genius level intellect, and exploitation of his enemies weaknesses. His master of armed in addition to unarmed combat styles give him a versatility that puts him above those whose unarmed skills may surpass his own.

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  3. Lady Shiva

  Martial artist specializing in Dragon and Leopard Kung Fu. She seeks out the top martial artists around the world looking for someone good enough to kill her. Said to be the best assassin in the world. She was trained by O-sensei. She is feared/respected by all martial artist including Batman and Bronze Tiger. She usually fights with unarmed but has shown to be skilled with numerous weapons including Bo staff, Sai, Nun-chucks, and is a superior swords woman to Katana.

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  4. Constantine Drakon

  Short Greek assassin, a killing prodigy, and highly skilled martial artist. His exceptional speed and dexterity allows him to catch arrows from multiple opponents and throw knifes in the blink of an eye. He is skilled enough to defeat Connor Hawke and Mia Deardsen simultaneously. His speed as a martial artist is what sets him apart and puts him in the company of world renown martial artists.

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  5. Richard Dragon

  Martial arts master trained by the O-Sensei. Trained many of the top martial artist. Specializes in Karate and Dragon and Leopard Kung Fu. There are no martial arts unknown to him. Though he prefers unarmed combat, he has shown to have some skill with sword.

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  6. Bronze Tiger

  Bronze Tiger became a martial artist to help him control his rage. He was trained by 2 masters whose martial arts knowledge are unrivaled on earth; first the immortal Sensei, then O-sensei. He is a master in Jeet Kune Do, Hop Kido, Silat, and Savate and there are no forms of marital arts unknown to him. His seemingly inhuman speed in combination with his tremendous strength and skill make him a hard hitting unarmed combatant with no fear of facing more metahumans.

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  7. Connor Hawke

  Martial arts prodigy able to duplicate the skills of others on sight. Trained in Japanese martial arts and blind fighting. His skills are renown enough to attract the attention of the brotherhood of the monkey fist. He was able to defeat their top fighter the Silver Monkey. Shiva has also sought him out to test his skills and nearly killed him. Connor seems to have improved, being able to fight equally with Richard Dragon.

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  8. Silver Monkey

  Top fighter of a cult of martial artist who only want to prove their prowess by defeating the worlds best martial artists. He is second only to Lady Shiva (Paper Monkey) in the monkey fist cult. He is skilled enough that he has beaten Connor Hawk and had the upperhand against King Snake before the battle was interrupted.

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  9. I-Ching

  The blind martial arts master who trained Wonder Woman. He has shown to be skilled enough to manipulate the course of battle even when dealing with experience martial arts Richard Greyson and Tim Drake, causing them to hit each other. Even in his old age his prowess seems not to have declined.

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  10. Black Canary

  Daughter of the original Black Canary, Dinah Lance received training from Ted Grant since she was a young girl. She was already one of the most fearsome martial arts heroes, being able to defeat Cheshire, before Shiva became in teaching her. Lady Shiva recognized her potential and trained her to become and even more dangerous fighter.

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  11. Wrath

  Elliot Caldwell was trained since he was very young by a man whose obsession and perfectionism once matched that of Batman himself, Wrath. Wrath was able to fight Batman on equal footing and his protege, Elliot, has even surpassed his master. Still Batman has improved much over the years and the younger Wrath was not able to defeat him. Nevertheless as an evil Batman-lite, Wrath is a formidable opponent that ranks high on this list.

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  12. O-Sensei

  Master behind premier martial artists, Lady Shiva, Richard Dragon, and Bronze Tiger. Likely the most skilled on the list, but lacks the strength, speed, and durability he once had.

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  13. King Snake

  Father of Bane, thought to be one of the best martial arts in the world. He is a blind master who loves to kill and likes to use darkness to give himself an advantage. He was sought out by Shiva because of his reputation as the deadliest man in the world but he was never able to beat Shiva.

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  14. The Armless Master

  Master to Catwoman and Hellhound, Armless master is a legendary martial artist who's skills are best exemplified by his final fight with Shiva, and by the skill of his best students who sought to avenge their master.

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  15. Iron Master

  The brother of Armless master. Shiva commented that he had great speed, skill, and power but he was still killed at her hands.

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  16. Wildcat

  Former Heavy Weight Champion. He trained many of the JLA and is a very skilled combatant, specializing, of course, in boxing. His strength and courage are greater than most martial artist and allows him to stalemate fearsome martial arts more skilled than himself, including Batman.

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  17. Bane

  The man who broke Batman's back. He is a genius who has invented his own martial arts. He has had years of training and conditioning and grew up in a prison. He is a fierce adversary and has fought against the likes of Azrael and Batman and was successful in defeating Nightwing. He is likely the strongest martial artist in the world and this strength gives him an advantage against opponents even more skilled than he is.

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  18. David Cain

  World renown and internationally feared mercenary in the same league as Deathstroke. Highly trained,and skilled in hundreds of martial arts. He sees the movements of the body as a language of it's own and has multiple attempts to raise killing machines fluent in the language of movement.

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  19. Mad Dog

  Trained since birth by David Cain as one of his earliest failures. Fast and strong, but wild and undisciplined, He was able to stab and kill an exhausted Cassandra Cain

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  20. Marque

  One of the girls raised and trained by David Cain and Deathstroke for their army of assassins enhanced by Deathstroke's drugs. After learning enough, she escaped and would later hunt down Cain and his "daughters" She prefers to fight with daggers.

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  21. Bamboo Monkey

  High ranking member of the Monkey fist cult that was able to easily defeat Dick Grayson and Tim Drake before being beaten by Connor Hawke

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  22. Cheshire

  One of the deadliest assassins in the world, trained in several martial arts thought forever lost and a triple jointed acrobat. Has fought against the teen titans on numerous occasions and has even beaten Deathstroke. Her knowledge of poison is second only to Pamela Isley and armed with her poisoned false nails, she is nearly as deadly as Shiva.

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  23. Dick Grayson

  Son of the legendary acrobatic couple, the Flying Graysons and trained by, raised by, and fought along side Batman since he was a kid. He is skilled in several martial arts disciplines with an emphasis on Aikido, Jeet Kune Do, Escrima, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Wing Chun, Hapkido, Jiu-jitsu, Karate, Savate, Kendo, Ninjitsu, and Tai Chi. He has proven himself against Jason Todd, Shrike, and even has held his own against Deathstroke and Azrael, using his unsurpassed agility to engage opponents much more powerful than he is..

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  24. Catman

  Once able to stalemate Batman, Catman slowly declined to becoming a disgraced joke of a villain. He later would live with lions in Africa where he would regain his confidence and his prowess. He came back after his lions were killed and showed that he was someone to be feared again, taking on and defeating many villains and heroes alike with the Secret Six. He has also shown that he can at least hold his own against Batman yet again as well as other notable martial artists, Cheshire and Bronze Panther

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  25. Tiger

  Protege of Judomaster. Now leader of the elite Japaneses assassins, the Blood Soldiers.

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  26. Jason Todd

  He was the second Robin and received training from Batman. When he resurfaced he received training from masters around the world in a way similar to Batman and also received guidance from the League of Assassins. He has proven his skills against Batman and Nightwing and has been able to defeat Tim Drake and Onyx.

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  27. Natas

  Master Assassin, trained Deathstroke and Oliver Queen.

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  28. Tommy Jagger

  Son of Judomaster. Highly skilled and well trained Checkmate Agent. He defeated both Katana and Bane. His full potential is yet to be seen.

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  29. Onyx

  Former member of the league of assassins, now ally to batman. Sought out by Cassandra Cain as a sparring partner because of her experience and skill as an assassin and her experience with Shiva.

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  30. Alpha

  Young disciplined martial artist who uses prefers to use guns in combat. He has proven that he is able to hold his own against Mad Dog.

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  31. Tsunetomo

  One of Batman's many master who is also an assassin and swordsman whose skills are recognized across the globe.

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  32. Michael Lane

  Ex-Cop put through and physically and psychologically intense training regimen in order to become a fit replacement for Batman. He was the best of the 3 Candidates. He know wears the suit of sorrows as Azrael.

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  33. Shrike

  Started training to defeat Robin since he was very young but did not fight him until he was known as Nightwing. He was trained by the League of Assassins and was skilled enough to defeat Brutale, Lady Vic, Electrocutioner, and Stallion simultaneously. He was also able to defeat Tim Drake as Robin but easily defeated when Batgirl came to rescue Tim. He later joined the League under Nyssa and received further training from Shiva. He is skilled with many blades, but he relies heavily on them and it is unclear how he would fare without them

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  34. Master Haim

  Not yet ranked

  Master of the lethal Hungry cobra strike. He uses it to kill 2 highly skilled swordsmen who attacked him simultaneously. He is skilled enough to catch arrows and help off Batman long enough to use his lethal strike only to find that Batman was one of the 7 people in the world who knew the technique and how to counter it.

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  35. Tim Drake

  Trained at a young age by Batman as the third Robin. He has received some training from Shiva and was able to defeat her sparring with the Bo staff, which he specializes in. It is his exceptional skill with the staff that really puts him higher on the list even though his unarmed skills are not on the same level.

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  36. Wam Wam

  Circle of Six member who was taught Monkey style Kung Fu by Richard Dragon. He joined the League of Assassins and furthered his skills under Lady Shiva. Wam Wam fights unarmed or duel wielding swords

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  37. Kitty Kumbata

  Member of the Circle of Six chosen by Shiva and trained by Richard Dragon. She is a master in Muy Thai boxing. She later joins the League of Assassins under Nyssa, receiving further training from Shiva. Though she has two of the best teacher a young martial artist could ask for her dedication to a single style hurts her.

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  38. Hwa Rang

  Despite his size, Hwa Rang is a skilled and agile Tae Kwan Do master. His incredible strength makes him formidable enough to attract Shiva who made him a Circe of Six member

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  39. Joey N'bobo

  Capoiera expert and member of Lady Shiva's Circle of Six. He went on to become part of the League of Assassins and furthered his training under Shiva

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  40. Catwoman

  Master their and exceptional martial artist. She is a very quick and agile fighter. She has received training from Richard Dragon, Ted Grant, and Armless Master. She was able to defeat Huntress, who was under effects of fear toxin, and Tim Drake. Her agility surpasses even the best martial artists.

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  41. Iron Aron Abromowitz

  Circle of Six member, Ex-Mossad. Fights using Krav Maga.

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  42. Tengu

  Mysterious, skilled martial artist. Relies very heavily on blades but its good enough to use a variety of them. Was a member of the Circle of Six

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  43. Green Arrow

  A tough fighter even before he received training from master assassin Natas; Green arrow is now a strong hand to hand combatant able to best Jason Todd in a sword fight.

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  44. Mr. Terrific

  In peak human condition, being a Decathlon Olympic Gold medalist. He has a black belt in 6 martial arts

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  45. Huntress (Bertinelli)

  Not yet ranked

  Trained by Richard Dragon

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  46. Question (Sage)

  Not yet ranked

  Trained by Richard Dragon

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  47. Renee Montoya

  Not yet ranked

  Ex cop, trained by Richard Dragon

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  48. Katana

  Not yet ranked

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  50. Damian Wayne

  Not yet ranked

  Trained since birth by the League of Assassins and now by Dick Grayson. He is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul and genetically perfect according to Ra's al Ghul.

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  51. Kirigi

  Not yet ranked

  One of the many teachers of Batman

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  52. Black Lightning

  Not yet ranked

  Trained in Martial arts by Batman

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  53. Kobra

  Not yet ranked

  Said to be the deadliest man alive and matchless in hand to hand combat.

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  54. Savant

  Not yet ranked

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  55. Creote

  Not yet ranked

  Highly trained ex KGB

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  56. Asano Nitobe

  Not yet ranked

  Last true master of Ninjitsu

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  57. Freeway

  Not yet ranked

  Pupil to Asano Nitobe

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  58. Gypsy

  Not yet ranked

  Taught martial arts by Bronze Tiger

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  59. Knight (Sheldrake)

  Not yet ranked