Best Style of Striking to Begin With?

Dougall

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So im looking to develop my striking by starting at a local gym, only problem is there is quite a few gyms teaching various styles where I live.
Was hoping to get a few opinions on which would be the most practical to take up.
In my local area there is;
An MMA Gym
A Kickboxing Gym
A pure Boxing Gym
A Kickboxing Gym which focuses a lot on the "Point Fighting/Light Contact" Style
And various martial arts clubs (Karate, Taekwondo etc.)
In the future I could switch between the gyms but which would provide the best basics/fundementals that would allow me to try other styles?
Any input is appreciated
 
Age? sport backgrounds? Purpose? (for mma, self defense, fun...)
 
Age? sport backgrounds? Purpose? (for mma, self defense, fun...)
20, a little background in karate but nothing extensive so id still class myself as a beginner, would hope to compete in MMA or kickboxing in the future if all went well
 
would hope to compete in MMA or kickboxing

Well, there you go... Train KB or MMA.

Obviously you can try other styles, other gyms...but if you want to compete in something, just train it, no reason to start with something else (except Muay Thai, always choose Muay Thai for every important decision in your life)
 
<This7>

Well, there you go... Train KB or MMA.

Obviously you can try other styles, other gyms...but if you want to compete in something, just train it, no reason to start with something else (except Muay Thai, always choose Muay Thai for every important decision in your life)
 
2nd or 3rd option. This is how I see it.

2nd if you're an elite kicking talent and can run circles around everyone with your kicks (also good at avoiding takedowns). Jose Aldo and some others are good examples of this.

3rd if you want to avoid frustration down the road. It'll happen sooner or later. When it happens, pick 3rd, or bypass all that and take it now.

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"A Kickboxing Gym which focuses a lot on the "Point Fighting/Light Contact" Style"

^^^ why would you even list this one as an option?
 
Sign up at the MMA gym, then go to open mat / sparring nights with boxing and kickboxing gyms to get better competition / experience
 
Boxing will give you the best basics for a stand up fighting imo. However sign whatever you can right now and work on these new techniques. Start competing in anything.
 
I have no idea what a kickboxing gym is like. I know that if you go to a boxing gym and are ok getting your ass kicked until you are the guy kicking ass, then you will be a better striker than just about anyone you run up against.
 
Whatever gym has the highest level of instruction and the best fighters. You learn from the best, not from mcdojo's, regardless of the style.

Also, it massively depends on your objectives like Arize said.
 
20, a little background in karate but nothing extensive so id still class myself as a beginner, would hope to compete in MMA or kickboxing in the future if all went well
I'll probably get mad hate for this but... if you already trained Karate then maybe it's best to continue? Many MMA fighters started from Karate (list in my sig) and most said they were happy that they did. Then move on to kickboxing when you're ready.
 
My take is to stay away from boxing at first. Where I trained there were two main gyms in town, a kickboxing gym and a boxing gym. A lot of the kickboxers went on to mma and quite a few had success in pro mma, a few even went and did well in UFC. Not one of the guys from the boxing gym were able to transition, they just lacked the fundamentals necessary to build into mma. The worst thing about the boxing gyms are that they have you put weight on that lead leg, and things like hooks they want you to rotate and throw real tight with good boxing technique, and from a range vulnerable to clinch and knees.

But if you can get some good kickboxing fundamentals in, it is important to train at a pure boxing gym for a while, as long as they don't make you radically change your stance to a more boxing leaning stance etc. My advice would be to train a year or two in kickboxing, then branch out and do some straight boxing training, but also do some training at a traditional taekwondo gym also, assuming there is good talent there. Don't want to be surprised when you encounter spinning techniques as one spinning hook kick can change you forever.

In the "more hands than feet" or more "feet than hands" debate, I lean towards training kicks more. I had 15 muay thai fights and went 13-2, and the guys I lost to were also diverse. The kickboxers I fought who were "more hands" were mostly easy to cut down with low kicks. I also find that training kicks is more applicable to being able to throw good knee-strikes, so you get two benefits by training mostly kicks.

You see a lot of guys who can kick not employ their kicks very effectively, and as a result, kicking, even in UFC, is a bit misrepresentative of its effectiveness. I think the important thing for a kicker is to be very cognizant of when and when not to kick, and if this is not focused on during training, even a great kicker will have issues in an mma fight (takedowns etc). If kicks are properly employed, the risk of getting taken down or countered is not as high as you would think. For example, many would argue that a head kick leaves one "standing on one leg off balance", but a good kicker will tell you they do not feel off balance or vulnerable during a headkick attempt, and objectively, you don't see that many takedowns off a head kick attempt. The problem with punching is you have to be so close to your opponent that he is only one step away from a takedown, while a kick puts them two steps away from a takedown, and that is why good kickers are doing very well in employing their attack, even against good takedown artists.
 
^ Also, my opinion is not to focus on thai style stance and kicks, though that is where my background is. Good kickers in mma kick from a very long distance, are on their toes, and have very good movement around the cage. You need to be able to kick without getting countered. Thai kicks are a bit slower. Kick with the ankle/instep area, and learn to slap inside low kicks with the toes, and throw front snapping kicks with the ball of the foot, not traditional teep kicks. Forget shin kicks to the body, they didn't even work that well for Cro Cop. Go low, or go high. Cung Le's type roundhouses, Machidas, Thompsons, these are fast and effective style for mma.
 
My take is to stay away from boxing at first. Where I trained there were two main gyms in town, a kickboxing gym and a boxing gym. A lot of the kickboxers went on to mma and quite a few had success in pro mma, a few even went and did well in UFC. Not one of the guys from the boxing gym were able to transition, they just lacked the fundamentals necessary to build into mma. The worst thing about the boxing gyms are that they have you put weight on that lead leg, and things like hooks they want you to rotate and throw real tight with good boxing technique, and from a range vulnerable to clinch and knees.

But if you can get some good kickboxing fundamentals in, it is important to train at a pure boxing gym for a while, as long as they don't make you radically change your stance to a more boxing leaning stance etc. My advice would be to train a year or two in kickboxing, then branch out and do some straight boxing training, but also do some training at a traditional taekwondo gym also, assuming there is good talent there. Don't want to be surprised when you encounter spinning techniques as one spinning hook kick can change you forever.

In the "more hands than feet" or more "feet than hands" debate, I lean towards training kicks more. I had 15 muay thai fights and went 13-2, and the guys I lost to were also diverse. The kickboxers I fought who were "more hands" were mostly easy to cut down with low kicks. I also find that training kicks is more applicable to being able to throw good knee-strikes, so you get two benefits by training mostly kicks.

You see a lot of guys who can kick not employ their kicks very effectively, and as a result, kicking, even in UFC, is a bit misrepresentative of its effectiveness. I think the important thing for a kicker is to be very cognizant of when and when not to kick, and if this is not focused on during training, even a great kicker will have issues in an mma fight (takedowns etc). If kicks are properly employed, the risk of getting taken down or countered is not as high as you would think. For example, many would argue that a head kick leaves one "standing on one leg off balance", but a good kicker will tell you they do not feel off balance or vulnerable during a headkick attempt, and objectively, you don't see that many takedowns off a head kick attempt. The problem with punching is you have to be so close to your opponent that he is only one step away from a takedown, while a kick puts them two steps away from a takedown, and that is why good kickers are doing very well in employing their attack, even against good takedown artists.

The long kicking range alone allows fighters like Jose Aldo to simply limp leg out when his leg gets caught from kicking.

That got me thinking about boxers and kickboxers who have transitioned into MMA.

I've noticed great kickboxers/nak muays have had some success transitioning to MMA. Here's a few just off the top of my head (there's probably a lot more). They're all champions in their kickboxing/Muay Thai background.

Robin van Roosmalen
Joe Schilling (on a skid atm)
Tyrone Spong
Alistair Overeem
Mark Hunt
Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke (manage to win an MMA title in one of the organizations)

It's pretty hard to find accomplished boxers who found success. You have Ray Mercer with his single victory over Tim Sylvia. James Toney tried but failed miserably. I can't think of many off the top of my head.
 
2nd or 3rd option. This is how I see it.
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"A Kickboxing Gym which focuses a lot on the "Point Fighting/Light Contact" Style"

^^^ why would you even list this one as an option?

I just added it because there seems to be more guys making the transition to high level full contact combat sports, Raymond Daniels in Kickboxing, Michael Page in MMA etc. I wasn't sure if the benefit of the "Point Fighting Style" being more uncommon and harder to deal with would outweigh some of its impracticality.

I'll probably get mad hate for this but... if you already trained Karate then maybe it's best to continue? Many MMA fighters started from Karate (list in my sig) and most said they were happy that they did. Then move on to kickboxing when you're ready.
I did enjoy studying karate, it was Shotokan so I can see its applications to MMA in Machida, but I really couldn't stand the lack of sparring. I actually did a few competitions, But in class we rarely practiced it, the approach was more a "you lost in kumite? better sharpen up your kata" type of deal.
If i could find a club that allowed me to only train on their kumite nights i would definitely consider it, but all of my local clubs require you to train regularly with them and be a certain rank to practice kumite with them.

Whatever gym has the highest level of instruction and the best fighters. You learn from the best, not from mcdojo's, regardless of the style.

Also, it massively depends on your objectives like Arize said.

Well the guy who runs the MMA gym beat Artem Lobov so hes kind of a legend killer lol.
 
Taking on board everyones recommendations ive decided to mix both the MMA and Kickboxing gym, timetable would look like this;
Mon MMA Striking Class
Tuesday --------------
Wednesday Kickboxing Class
Thursday Kickboxing Class
Friday Kickboxing Sparring
Saturday MMA Open Mat/ Sparring

Also, is there anything anyone would change? More or less sparring, more or less kickboxing/MMA
 
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