Boxing VS Kickboxing

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MMAverick

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Just out of curiosity, why would a person decide to choose one over the other?

I heard a lot of kickboxers say that boxers have weak legs and never utilize anything but their arms, and on the contrary I heard boxers say that kickboxers are necessary that great at striking.

But putting the above opinions aside, which would you choose and why? And if a person were to be contemplating choosing one over another, what advice would you give them to make their choice easier?

Would going into boxing first then transitioning into Muay Tai (and possibly even some ground game, such as BJJ) be someone's best option?
 
If you cant decide between the two. Just go to the best gym in your area. You define whats best is by cost availability of training and your general feel for the place.
You cant go wrong imo with Boxing or Muay Thai.
If the various gyms are created equal allow me to say my preference. Hitting with your hands is the most intuitive combat action I can imagine. At the very least starting with boxing would be a good idea.
 
if it is a quality muay thai/thai boxing gym then go with that. If it is a half assed gym with an unqualified instructor, go with the boxing gym. Most boxing gyms are more legit than kickboxing gyms since there seem to be so much "muay thai" gyms popping up. This depends on your interest though.
 
I have a stubborn, stoic friend who's a real traditionalist (at least in a North American way) and has a somewhat irrational dislike of kicks and kickboxing. I've never fully understood why, but I guess his love for boxing trumps his common sense.

As far as what's best to start in--kickboxing/Muay Thai or boxing, I think boxing is best to start in. In my somewhat limited experience with different kickboxing and muay thai instructors, I've found that they don't offer a very complete perspective on boxing technique. Having to incorporate kicks (and sometimes knees, etc) into striking, it makes sense that the boxing aspect loses some attention. I feel this is problematic because there is much to learn in boxing; many good fighting techniques which are not easy to learn with minimal practice and time. Of course there are nuances to kicking and all that stuff too, but I find using the boxing aspect to be much deeper and thus in need of more dedication. So to sum up, I'd start with boxing and then transition to some form of kickboxing.

I trained seriously for a little under a year with a great kickboxing coach (I never did pure boxing) who was known as a very knowledgeable guy for the boxing part of kickboxing. I learned a lot from him and when I've sparred fellow kickboxers I've often been told that my boxing is very good, It feels like a huge advantage for me.
 
At the gym I have been training at for the past month or so, we are doing boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Wrestling/BJJ. It seems to be important to learn both. Now, of course, it is not uncommon for someone to gravitate towards one or the other more, but at least if say you train both but feel more comofortable with punches than kicks, you are at least versed in kicks and will know how to use them should you have to (broken hand/arm) or how to defend them.

Would I say one or the other is DEF better? No. It is personal pref to which you gravitiate towards, but I think it is IMPERATIVE to at least be familiar with both regardless of what you will use the most.
 
In what context are you asking your question? Because if you mean in general, then you choose whatever you like to do. Be straight up man, instead of beating around the bush and hiding behind words, what are your goals?
I have never heard a kickboxer say such things about boxers, or vice versa. where are you hearing that from? or did you just make that up? Of course boxers don't use kicks, but who would be dense enough to point that out?

Both sports are good. It's all about the quality of the gym you train at though. Sorry about the abrupt comments, but yeah, stop worrying about opinion.
 
I really think starting out in kickboxing other then starting out in boxing and trying to transition into kickboxing is better. But trying to choose one over the other, I would suggest to try out both and see which one is right for you.
 
MMAverick said:
Just out of curiosity, why would a person decide to choose one over the other?

I heard a lot of kickboxers say that boxers have weak legs and never utilize anything but their arms, and on the contrary I heard boxers say that kickboxers are necessary that great at striking.

But putting the above opinions aside, which would you choose and why? And if a person were to be contemplating choosing one over another, what advice would you give them to make their choice easier?

Would going into boxing first then transitioning into Muay Tai (and possibly even some ground game, such as BJJ) be someone's best option?
Click to expand...

I think that sounds pretty good. You will have good hands, which are the tools you will prolly use the most. Then Muay Tai for obvious reasons and some ground work just to cover all the bases. I box right now and sometimes my legs are sore as hell. Your calves get really strong, all that rope jumping. Also, we do squats and lots of running. Boxing doesn't give you the explosiveness that kickboxing though. I think kickboxing is a way better workout then boxing, much bigger muscle groups.
 
Boxing gives you excellent footwork and very strong legs believe it or not. Your punching power comes from the ground, and your legs/toes/feet/hips-pretty much your whole body, don't forget that. You also learn very good defense a good boxing class should be AT LEAST 50% defense and countering.

Kickboxing just seems like a natural progression after boxing, you add more tools to your game. Change your stance up. The Bread and butter are the KICKS, any decent kickboxer has very powerful kicks, by average joe standards. If your gonna do kickboxing, focus on the kicks and knees, because in alot of schools, especially Muay Thai stylists, the "hands" are more of an afterthought. They are used to set up the devastating kicks.

You know what, do both. They are a lethal combination. Focus on the basics, nothing fancy, you will go far.
 
If your going to get kicked in the legs you at least need to know how to defend that. Boxing doesn't teach you how to defend kicks to your legs.
 
I found boxing to be one of, if not the, best martial art to start out with. It teaches you enough on its own to whoop some ass if need be, but it also instills in you the work ethic and toughness needed to survive in most other combat sports. Having trained in boxing for 18 months, I switched over to MT and immediately noticed how much more fluid I was with my hands than the more experienced fighters who had trained twice as long as I had. That being said, I had a harder time with the MT stance and movements because they were slightly different from my boxing roots, and and I had a hard time adjusting to the range when throwing my strikes.

They're both devastating arts, you can't go wrong with either one (or both). My best advice though is to pick one aspect (hands, knees, kicks) and work on that especially hard. I think it's a wonderful thing to have a bread and butter tactic to rely on, something that you're better at than your partners.
 
There are two main points I have hear to answer your question.
Firstly I'd like to say that you Can't go wrong with either Boxing or Kickboxing (Hopefully your on about Muay Thai Style not Like Punches and Karate Kicks that Slap Belt systems on you and focus on staying in shape).

Which brings me to my first point- As it has been mentioned, Boxing is the safer bet as almost everyone Boxing gym you will go to will be legit and turn you into a badass. Since the growth of MMA alot of Muay Thai mcdojo type places have popped up looking to capitolize on the popularity of MT! So boxing is the safer bet as most Boxing gyms are legit.

My 2nd point is basically the same and is the answer to your question.
When choosing either a Boxing or Muay Thai as it is almost universally agreed they are the best 2 stand-up styles, The best way to decide is my going to each Gym and seeing which gym in the area is best for you!! I.e. Which pushes you the hardest, Makes the best fighters and is in your price range.

Im guessing your from the western world so unless ya from Netherlands chances are you'd be better off going with boxing but the best answer is like everyone has said and do both!!
If you only wish to train one then go to both gyms for like a month and see which one pushes their fighters the hardest, That is what I would do!
 
Start with boxing...most people(amateurs) in kick boxing get lost when a guy with decent boxing skills closes the distance.
 
with boxing you more or less learn
-how to punch correctly (with your body behind your punches)
-how to punch while moving
-how to evade and counter punches
-footwork and ringmanship
 
villasenor said:
with boxing you more or less learn
-how to punch correctly (with your body behind your punches)
-how to punch while moving
-how to evade and counter punches
-footwork and ringmanship
Click to expand...

Holy shit....where did you get that picture?
 
If it's a decent muay thai gym, they SHOULD know boxing combinations and countering boxing with boxing as well as good punching technique. In a muay thai gym, we would also do a fair amount of just boxing sparring.

As far as I'm concerned, you should always be able to improve your hands in a muay thai gym, but you can never improve your kicks/knees in a boxing gym.

It all depends on what you want, though. I guess I kind've responded assuming you had interest in MMA, if you just want a sport then do whatever is funner. If I was going to go into either boxing or MT/kickboxing and was planning on sticking with that one forever, I'd choose boxing.
 
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