i believe taekwondo / boxing is the best striking combo

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

Maybe im biased as a very high level taekwondo fighter but i truly believe and have always believed taekwondo is the most under utilized and best striking style mixed with boxing.

I think a lot of fans have this perception that its not as effective as muay thai but i disagree. It all depends on the fighters individual skill level. See pettis vs cerrone as an example of taekwondo beating muay thai. Sure there are bad tkd blackbelts just as there are bad bjj blackbelts or bad blackbelts in any discipline. But at a high level with a skilled fighter i believe its the best style for mma.

Joe rogan once made a very stupid statement that taekwondo is not effective in mma and i believe he should be stripped of his blackbelt for spewing such nonsense. He gave the fans a false perspective of tkd.

Tkd gives you many advantages that other disciplines just can't match. Great movement and footwork is evident. Amazing balance and leg dexterity. Flexibility in the legs too throw fast powerful high kick. Great defensive reactions. And because taekwondo primarily focuses on legs you get big powerful legs that help with take down defence (see ben Henderson as an example).

It also teaches a good variety of techniques so you're not one dimensional. Spinning back kick, front kicks to the face and body, side kicks, head kicks, roundhouse and even spinning hook kicks as edson barboza has shown can be effective.

When you mix a discipline like taekwondo that focuses mostly on the legs and mix it with boxing something that focuses on punching you combine the best of both worlds. You get someone like Anderson Silva in his prime at a high level.

I really think the other things it ads that i mentioned such as balance leg dexterity flexibility etc are really overlooked by the mma community and it adds a whole new dimension to a fighters skillset.

Taekwondo is an amazing base and mixed with boxing i believe its the best striking combo there is.
Thoughts?

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

Also just to mention a lot of the top strikers in mma have taekwondo backgrounds or use taekwondo techniques.

Ill just name a few.

Cro cop
Connor McGregor
Pettis
Anderson Silva
Edson barboza
Joseph duffy

Etc

 

[cevo]

It also teaches a good variety of techniques so you're not one dimensional. Spinning back kick, front kicks to the face and body, side kicks, head kicks, roundhouse and even spinning hook kicks as edson barboza has shown can be effective.

Traditional kickboxing also teaches that, without any limitations to only using kicks and not hands. There's some good stuff in Taekwondo but I wouldn't say it's good as a base. None of the high level strikers in MMA use TKD as their base.

 

[wigglestick]

its definitely effective when I think of good strikers off the top of my head I think of anderson pettis and aldo. 2 of them do tkd so you definitely can't deny that it works the only problem is if TKD is your only skill in striking then your relying on it too much

 

[BonesNose**]

It's not that I'm a Joe Rogan fanboy, but I think even Joe said taekwondo wasn't too serious.

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

Traditional kickboxing also teaches that, without any limitations to only using kicks and not hands. There's some good stuff in Taekwondo but I wouldn't say it's good as a base.

Thats why you learn tkd and boxing. The best of both worlds imo.

 

[$uicideboy$]

[YT]x_nyuuuJjh0[/YT]

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

It's not that I'm a Joe Rogan fanboy, but I think even Joe said taekwondo wasn't too serious.

Dumbest thing hes ever said

 

[GoldenAzazel]

Joe rogan once made a very stupid statement that taekwondo is not effective in mma and i believe he should be stripped of his blackbelt for spewing such nonsense. He gave the fans a false perspective of tkd.

To be fair to Joe rogan, he said this almost 15 years ago when there was almost nobody who used Tae Kwon Do effectively in the mma. He has since said that utilizing styles like Tae Kwon Do is the next step in the evolution of MMA striking.

 

[Malthian]

Effective? Yes. Best? Tough to say.

Lack of effective clinch work and elbow usage might be drawbacks vs Muay Thai in terms of inside striking.

Of course, it's hard to say as styles tend to fit some fighters better than others.

 

[cevo]

Thats why you learn tkd and boxing. The best of both worlds imo.

What does TKD bring that traditional kickboxing doesn't? Kicking with high volume is awful if you're looking to stay on your feet and that's why you see people using mostly hands + regular power kicks that you usually see in Muai Thai.

 

[Harlekin]

Pettis does some taekwondo mistakes in his striking, his straight right has not the power it could have as he doesn't shift his weight into it.

 

[BonesNose**]

Dumbest thing hes ever said

Well, TKD might work against untrained people, but when it comes down to fighting in MMA, then it would seem like TKD's flashiness doesnt make it. Most of the principles will be taken from other sports, the stance, the positioning (in the ring), the technique to strike, etc... There really isn't a thousands of things that really determine and shape the MMA terrain : boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, wrestling, BJJ. Generally fighters always come back on these, more than anything else.

 

[Jukai]

Er, who uses that combo? Even Pettis trains under Rufus, who trained heavily in Kickboxing.

There are a lot of good Taekwondo guys in MMA, and a lot of good boxers. But I can't think of anyone who does both.

 

[cevo]

Well, TKD might work against untrained people, but when it comes down to fighting in MMA, then it would seem like TKD's flashiness doesnt make it. Most of the principles will be taken from other sports, the stance, the positioning, the technique to strike, etc... There really isn't a thousands of things that really determine and shape the MMA terrain : boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, wrestling, BJJ. Generally fighters always come back on these, more than anything else.

Yep, the TKD-stance just isn't suitable for MMA. Leaves you wide open for punches and takedowns.

There are a lot of good Taekwondo guys in MMA, and a lot of good boxers. But I can't think of anyone who does both.

Of course everybody does "boxing", how else would they learn how to punch..? But training the disciplines completely separate would just be stupid.

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

Er, who uses that combo? Even Pettis trains under Rufus, who trained heavily in Kickboxing.

There are a lot of good Taekwondo guys in MMA, and a lot of good boxers. But I can't think of anyone who does both.

Pettis is a 3rd degree taekwondo blackbelt.

How about sherdogs precious goat connor McGregor? He trains Taekwondo and boxing and a lot of people are picking him to beat aldo.

Granted his tkd is not at a high level yet but he has been training it hard lately

 

[cevo]

Pettis is a 3rd degree taekwondo blackbelt.

How about sherdogs precious goat connor McGregor? He trains Taekwondo and boxing and a lot of people are picking him to beat aldo.

He mostly trains kickboxing though, just like every other MMA-fighter.

 

[JoeyJoeJoeJr]

Yep, the TKD-stance just isn't suitable for MMA. Leaves you wide open for punches and takedowns.



Of course everybody does "boxing", how else would they learn how to punch..? But training the disciplines completely separate would just be stupid.

Uhh no. Many fighters train hands from muay thai or kick boxing. They don't all train boxing lol.

Training multiple disciplines is not stupid at all. Thats a stupid statement to make. Look at cung le when he was younger. Trained multiple disciplines including tkd and was absolutely a beast.

Look at connor boxing /tkd. Is he stupid too?

 

[Baba Ghanoush]

Meh. I think Muay Thai is a much more effective base for striking.

 

[GoldenAzazel]

He mostly trains kickboxing though, just like every other MMA-fighter.

Of course he trains kickboxing too. This is MMA. The point that the pro TKD people are trying to make is that people like Pettis and Conor wouldn't have made it as far if they trained kickboxing alone, and TKD is a huge part of their success.