Is striking more difficult to learn or master than grappling?

[BJJ_Rage]

grappling by far.

how many times do you see strikers outgrapple grapplers? weve seen countless times ex grapplers knocking the fuck out strkers.

 

[ironkhan57]

Seems like elite strikers need elite hand/eye coordination and timing which is more associated with the major sports and is relatively harder to come by, especially when combined with elite athleticism. Elite grappling requires high level athleticism and dedication but virtually no hand/eye coordination and doesn't require elite athleticism. I would say there are fewer people in the world with the elite striker package.

That is an understatement, my boy whose Russian and Ukrainian is a really good boxer and a really good grappler. He was one of the best strikers in the gym despite being known as a grappler and had won numerous tournaments in bjj.

A bjj instructor who I use to train with, was a purple belt in bjj, and decided to focus on striking for a while and became one of the best in the gym. Same with a guy who did judo before transitioning to bjj and then muay thai. And he was one of the best muay thai fighters in that gym.

It really isn't hard to become one of the best strikers in your gym or in your division you got to spend a lot of time on striking not just mma you got to spend most of your time on boxing and muay thai if you want to be a really good striker. It may take a while but you can get their.

 

[DorianGray]

It probably depends on the person. Everyone is different. It took me much longer to be a great grappler (judo/bjj) than it did a great striker (boxing/Muay Thai).

So much time and energy spent on training when your username implies you'd be more inclined to stab someone

<Lmaoo><45>

 

[ewww21]

Excluding GSP, I've never seen a guy with a striking background become an elite level grappler.
I've seen hundreds of grappling based fighters become elite level strikers... I mean every champion nowadays has a wrestling base.

Exactly lol. The best strikers become champs because they have the grappling background to not fear being out grappled.

 

[I WILL CUT YOU]

It took me less time to be a better grappler and striker than you, bro.

Ha so you think bro. Maybe you should meet my sensei:

Spoiler

Bring it boiiiii

 

[PD4838]

On your first day in a Jiu-Jitsu class you learn a submission hold.

Your first boxing class you do pushups and learn how to stand.

Not sure where u learned BJJ but no you learn defense long before a submission holds. Shrimping, closed guard, grips, ect . I'm muay thai I was hitting bags day one , so different experiences I guess

 

[I WILL CUT YOU]

So much time and energy spent on training when your username implies you'd be more inclined to stab someone

<Lmaoo><45>

 

[JJSBUR]

Coaching and trainers. High level wrestling and grappling coaches are everywhere, in America, pretty much every town with a College has at least one decent wrestling coach. High level training in grappling arts is readily available to almost all fighters, walk into pretty much any gym and you'll find BJJ and wrestling coaches with a lot of competition experience or a good lineage behind them.

The same isn't true of striking. There's almost no high level kickboxing or Muay Thai coaches in North America. Most of the so-called kickboxing coaches on this continent can't even teach their fighters to throw a proper round kick since they don't know what it looks like. We do have good boxing coaches though which is why the level of boxing in MMA has gone up a fair amount.

I guess it depends on what you call high level.

In high school most wrestlers only face two or three good people in a fifty match season by good I mean have an understanding of the sport. In college half the guys it seems like don't have an understanding and the other half do but there is then a huge number of skill level with the guys that do.

 

[Dana_is_your_GOD]

Ha so you think bro. Maybe you should meet my sensei:

Spoiler

View attachment 421099 View attachment 421101

Bring it boiiiii

 

[JJSBUR]

That is an understatement, my boy whose Russian and Ukrainian is a really good boxer and a really good grappler. He was one of the best strikers in the gym despite being known as a grappler and had won numerous tournaments in bjj.

A bjj instructor who I use to train with, was a purple belt in bjj, and decided to focus on striking for a while and became one of the best in the gym. Same with a guy who did judo before transitioning to bjj and then muay thai. And he was one of the best muay thai fighters in that gym.

It really isn't hard to become one of the best strikers in your gym or in your division you got to spend a lot of time on striking not just mma you got to spend most of your time on boxing and muay thai if you want to be a really good striker. It may take a while but you can get their.

Ben Askren is better at folk style than I think most people realize even though that is what he is known for. I don't think he can learn how to strike.

 

[beastman]

grappling by far.

how many times do you see strikers outgrapple grapplers? weve seen countless times ex grapplers knocking the fuck out strkers.

Especially when they are concerned of being taken down.

 

[GranNaniwa]

It’s hard to compare because there aren’t a lot of high level strikers transitioning into MMA. Elite boxers, muay thai fighters and kickboxers can make money in their own sport so they don’t have to transition into MMA unless they really want to. That’s why we have a lot of Olympic wrestlers and judokas in MMA but no Olympic boxers.

On the other hand, high level wrestlers, judokas and BJJ practitioners often have to transition into MMA if they want to make money competing and most MMA fighters that we consider high level strikers either come from a grappling background like Jose Aldo and Rampage or they came up through MMA like McGregor and Overeem. Comparatively very few started off doing striking at a professional level like for example Cro Cop.

 

[aerius]

I guess it depends on what you call high level.

In high school most wrestlers only face two or three good people in a fifty match season by good I mean have an understanding of the sport. In college half the guys it seems like don't have an understanding and the other half do but there is then a huge number of skill level with the guys that do.

Guess I should clarify a bit. A lot of MMA gyms have coaches or fighters who are doubling as trainers who have experience on the national level or thereabouts. There's more NCAA champions & All-Americans than I can remember in MMA along with many of the coaches & trainers that helped get them there, you can find one of those guys in pretty much every major gym and even some of the gyms that we've never heard about. Sure they're not all Yoel Romero or DC level but they're all pretty darn good and know how to shoot a proper double and turn the corner on a single or convert it to a crotch lift. They can teach all the proper fundamentals & concepts to put together a solid wrestling/grappling game.

We don't have that in striking. As I noted earlier, most striking coaches, even some at top gyms can't even teach a proper round kick. That's like a wrestling coach who doesn't know the difference between an S-grip and a Gable grip or a boxing coach who can't teach a proper jab. The good striking coaches & trainers are very few & far between, for an MMA fighter to find one of these guys and get good is a small miracle.

 

[funksoulbrother]

On your first day in a Jiu-Jitsu class you learn a submission hold.

Your first boxing class you do pushups and learn how to stand.

My first day in bjj we only learned side control escapes

 

[pick999]

Striking is much more difficult to learn.

and most fighters will never master it.

the summertown slap

 

[Fantasy]

Grappling is a much more natural thing for the human body than striking.

 

[Buff]

Not sure where u learned BJJ but no you learn defense long before a submission holds. Shrimping, closed guard, grips, ect . I'm muay thai I was hitting bags day one , so different experiences I guess

My first day in bjj we only learned side control escapes

Roger Gracie had his academy about 10 minutes from my house in Kilburn when it was still there.

I did 3 months. Was too expensive to justify with my chef hours. Only madre 3 classes. Learned 2 subs and a reversal.

 

[Blayt7hh]

Yes it’s easier to become a compotent grappler than striker. Mastering either one requires a ton of discipline

 

[JoshR86]

You roll 6 days a week for hours.

In striking One hard sparring session and your good for a week.

 

[dmwalking]

I’ve noticed that a lot of grapplers in the UFc never really get good at striking. But strikers can often quick learn takedown defense and at least some submission defense.

It seems like KO power and striking IQ is something that fighters either have or they don’t. Why is it so hard for grapplers to successfully integrate striking into their game? Does the “most fights end on the ground” mentality prevent them from realizing the full potential of striking?

I’m wondering what a fighter with the boxing of McGregor and wrestling of Cejudo (or judo of Ronda Rousey and kickboxing of JJ/Holly) would accomplish in the UFC.

I'm thinking it depends on the person.

But we have wrestlers who have become the best strikers in MMA history (Jon Jones, TJ Dillashaw) and there are strikers who can't handle the ground very well at all.

Considering how many pure strikers come to MMA and lose due to the ground, I'd say it's harder to learn grappling than striking.

Meanwhile, a mostly pure grappler (Maia) has successfully gotten two title shots. Colby mostly a grappler. Usman is mostly a grappler. Khabib. Tony started as a wrestler. RDA started as a BJJ black belt. Woodley started as a wrestler. DC, wrestler. The list goes on.

Striking is easier to learn than grappling. If it were the other way around, we'd have more champs with striking as their foundation.