Kyokushin or Boxing pros and cons

Somehero

White Belt
Joined
Nov 11, 2015
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Hello everyone,
I'am blue belt Kyokushin and have fought some rookie competitions before.
However now i'am moving to a new place due to a change in my workplace. So going to the Kyokushin dojo will be less easy than before. Near the new place there is a gym which offers what they call "MMA training" but it is not really MMA actually it has different training lessons which are boxing, muay thai, bjj,.. once registered you can participate to any lesson as you please. However according to my schedule i would only be able to attend boxing lessons.

So my question is what would be the pros and cons of leaving Kyokushin and starting boxing? I know there is no one who is better than the other. I'am just asking so i don't have bad surprises and can make a choice while aware of all options. Knowing that i also lift weight 2 to 3 times a week.

The problem of Kyokushin is that it will be far, i had some personal troubles with my Sensei(it kills the motivation a bit) and to be honest i'am tired of the technical part. What i like in boxing is that it is straight to the point. What demotivates me from changing to boxing is that i already have a background in Kyokushin, i'am supposed to get the yellow belt next September, i'am 27 so i know i'am getting older to start a new art from beginning. In Kyokushin i'am going to do some competition again on January. In boxing it would be certainly be long until i'am at the level of starting to compete.

Also what would be the long term difference on the health? Is is true that boxing can leave brain damage after a long time? Will it heavely damage the face? No punsh to the face was also a reason why i choosed Kyokushin on the first place. However as times goes by i love boxing more and more and feel that i really want to try it before i'am too old, in the other hand i still love Kyokushin.

So would i'am still able to compete in boxing? What is the benefit and drawbacks from it? and same for Kyokushin. The technical part is boring now, but i think once i get older and not able to compete it will allow to continue having something to progress, however in boxing there will be nothing left...
 
Best advice I can give is forget literally everything you just said to us and go to a boxing gym and see if you like it. If you like it, do it. If you're not convinced to do it all the time, then don't do it.

You're over thinking it, you can still compete at 27 and no, you likely won't get any serious brain damage so long as you're training smart and not getting into gym wars every day.

Or find a kickboxing gym and get somewhere in the middle. It's really up to you, try not to overthink everything, because when you have a firm plan in your mind about something - that's when it becomes tedious to stick to. If you like boxing, you'll do it, if you like it enough to compete, then you'll train hard enough to do it - just trust yourself.
 
Don't worry about your belt grading. I can say from experience that I've left multiple belts grading when I've switched - I never gave to much of a shit about it. I don't think you should either - experience/ability are as clear as day no matter which style you opt for or what new instructor you get. Also if you have personal issues with an instructor it's always best to find a new instructor - something more important than what style you choose is the temperament/ability/character of the person instructing you - also saying that from experience.

Don't worry too much about age. I left kyokushin nearly 1.5 years ago to start training Kudo at 26 and basically had to start from white belt again.

The best advice is above. Go check out a boxing gym and see if you like it. If you don't then perhaps you should stick with kyokushin. Or maybe you should find something to your liking locally.

If you want to compete I'd recommend boxing - Kyokushin takes a lot longer to get good at whereas styles like boxing, kickboxing or MT will get you results much quicker.

There are health consequences in training boxing or kyokushin and most martial arts. Boxing might be more severe but if you train smart it shouldn't really be an issue. If you feel it is - just switch to something else. You won't really know until you actually spend a few months doing it.
 
If you want to compete I'd recommend boxing - Kyokushin takes a lot longer to get good at whereas styles like boxing, kickboxing or MT will get you results much quicker.

I know you are very experienced in kyokushin judging by your posting history. I love the thread you made about the different kyokushin styles of fighting.
So I am interested to know why you said the above.

Why getting good at it takes longer than muay thai and kickboxing? Let's put boxing aside for the time being.
Given the limited use of striking with the fists in kyokushin and the bigger variety of the other 2 arts, especially muay thai, I find what you said hard to understand.
 
I know you are very experienced in kyokushin judging by your posting history. I love the thread you made about the different kyokushin styles of fighting.
So I am interested to know why you said the above.

Why getting good at it takes longer than muay thai and kickboxing? Let's put boxing aside for the time being.
Given the limited use of striking with the fists in kyokushin and the bigger variety of the other 2 arts, especially muay thai, I find what you said hard to understand.

I was experienced in Kyokushin but I no longer do it. I switched to Kudo (karate/judo) & uechi ryu - eventually I'll probably look to dabble in Judo separately as well at some point, again just to be better at it (can't fit all 3 in at the moment).

Muay thai & kickboxing curriculum/syllabus wise is a lot more simplified and more sport-centric. As they are also very sports focused disciplines - techniques & teaching is designed to be results based - i.e. you're only learning things that you can actually apply in sparring or fights. Most of your time in class is spent warming up/stretching, hitting pads/bags and then sparring generally.

Kyokushin curriculum/syllabus wise has a lot more content than kickboxing & MT. Of course kyokushin competition doesn't have as much variety as MT (clinch & elbows) but in terms of actual curriculum/syllabus content that you have to learn to grade - Kyokushin has a larger amount of content to learn than kickboxing/MT.

There are a lot of kata & techniques (content) to learn in Kyokushin. Remember there are many techniques that aren't actually used in competition that you spend time learning/repeating in kihon because they are a requirement - all the open hand strikes, all the blocks (uke), all the stances, all the random techniques (morote uchi uke etc) etc.

I think in kyokushin competition you're only making use of about 25% of all the content you learn. That's one of the major reasons I left kyokushin training because there is a lot of stuff you're forced to learn but have no idea how to apply as no-one uses it in competition.

Add that to the 26 kata you're required to learn (uechi ryu has 8, goju 12) as well as those in ura, plus the other 75% content you learn & do repetitions of but never actually use.

That's why it takes longer to get good at Kyokushin and quicker to get good at MT & kickboxing.

In simple terms - there's a lot of useless stuff in kyokushin that you are made to do - whereas in MT & kickboxing most of what you learn is applicable to sparring/fighting.
 
I was experienced in Kyokushin but I no longer do it. I switched to Kudo (karate/judo) & uechi ryu - eventually I'll probably look to dabble in Judo separately as well at some point, again just to be better at it (can't fit all 3 in at the moment).

Muay thai & kickboxing curriculum/syllabus wise is a lot more simplified and more sport-centric. As they are also very sports focused disciplines - techniques & teaching is designed to be results based - i.e. you're only learning things that you can actually apply in sparring or fights. Most of your time in class is spent warming up/stretching, hitting pads/bags and then sparring generally.

Kyokushin curriculum/syllabus wise has a lot more content than kickboxing & MT. Of course kyokushin competition doesn't have as much variety as MT (clinch & elbows) but in terms of actual curriculum/syllabus content that you have to learn to grade - Kyokushin has a larger amount of content to learn than kickboxing/MT.

There are a lot of kata & techniques (content) to learn in Kyokushin. Remember there are many techniques that aren't actually used in competition that you spend time learning/repeating in kihon because they are a requirement - all the open hand strikes, all the blocks (uke), all the stances, all the random techniques (morote uchi uke etc) etc.

I think in kyokushin competition you're only making use of about 25% of all the content you learn. That's one of the major reasons I left kyokushin training because there is a lot of stuff you're forced to learn but have no idea how to apply as no-one uses it in competition.

Add that to the 26 kata you're required to learn (uechi ryu has 8, goju 12) as well as those in ura, plus the other 75% content you learn & do repetitions of but never actually use.

That's why it takes longer to get good at Kyokushin and quicker to get good at MT & kickboxing.

In simple terms - there's a lot of useless stuff in kyokushin that you are made to do - whereas in MT & kickboxing most of what you learn is applicable to sparring/fighting.
Hmm...I found all the forms and non sparring specific technique gave me great solo training workouts and sharpened my sense of body mechanics, plus strengthened my physicality in a way that just repetitious competition techniques didn't.

Maybe I look at that stuff as I don't need to figure out how to "make this work" but overall conditioning, learning mechanics and focus to pinpoint areas of improvement.

I'm curious how your Kyokushin wasn't helpful in the transition to Kudo? I came from a Judo background into striking full contact TKD/Kickboxing and back to Judo so Kudo seems like the logical combination of the two...Though some of the Combat Sambo competition has everything Kudo has but minus the helmet and the ground Ne Waza time..

Expand on your view, I'm interested in a training and actual sparring perspective.
 
Kyokushin pros
Die like a man

I do know its a topic that everyone worries about, esp. being new to the sport. But I think it depends on your coach. If you train under a good coach you would be able to defend yourself properly. Yes you could lose, but not get "beat up". I've been training for 5 years, and competing for 3. I've yet to be knocked out or concussed. I feel its because my coach taught me well to focus on defense along with my initial first time paranoia of brain damage. I've competed so far only in MT/KB, so maybe its slightly different. In terms of "face damage" it would be a messed up nose, its not broken, but the inside is kinda messed.

This is something you'll have to find out on your own, it is a competitive sport, but there's no pressure to compete, do make sure you don't end up in a shit gym full of gym heros, that's the number one way to get brain damage.
 
Hmm...I found all the forms and non sparring specific technique gave me great solo training workouts and sharpened my sense of body mechanics, plus strengthened my physicality in a way that just repetitious competition techniques didn't.

Maybe I look at that stuff as I don't need to figure out how to "make this work" but overall conditioning, learning mechanics and focus to pinpoint areas of improvement.

I'm curious how your Kyokushin wasn't helpful in the transition to Kudo? I came from a Judo background into striking full contact TKD/Kickboxing and back to Judo so Kudo seems like the logical combination of the two...Though some of the Combat Sambo competition has everything Kudo has but minus the helmet and the ground Ne Waza time..

Expand on your view, I'm interested in a training and actual sparring perspective.

I think it really depends on your goals. Personally I enjoy forms/kata - but the only pre-requisite I have is that I'd like to know the why and be able to use it. Forms have their place especially when you age.

The sad truth is that full contact martial arts are very difficult to consistently train long term - they cause wear/tear on our body especially those that are sports focused. I mean it's quite glaringly obvious although all of us at times don't acknowledge it. I mean take the sherdog stand up forum (predominantly mma, mt, kickboxing and kyokushin posts) - how many older guys are here? The majority of the posters in here are in the 20 to 35 age bracket. There's quite a high probability that when most of us hit our 50's we won't be doing martial arts anymore - or at least the full contact one's we enjoy now.

That's one reason why I'm learning uechi ryu which is more geared to the longer term and kudo (more sports focused) - so I can enjoy both while I'm still able.

Personally I ask myself should a martial art that's primarily geared towards self defense inflict wear/tear on it's practitioners (from training) to the point it's difficult to maintain practice later on in life - surely that goes against what the goal should be. Or does the point where that occurs signify that the art is no longer a martial art but something else. I think some styles of Karate have actually done a pretty good job of finding the sweet spot between full contact & long term training. Personally for me at least uechi ryu hits that spot.

Sorry went a bit off topic.

In regards to Kyokushin - the only thing that was actually helpful was the body conditioning & kicks. Everything else was a disadvantage especially the range at which you spar in kyokushin. The shorter range in kyokushin where you don't punch to the head was a big problem for me in kudo at first because there's no head punching in sparring you don't learn basic defensive techniques - like parrying, moving your head, moving head off centre, slipping etc. Also the range in kudo is different which changes the timing and your ability to throw and land kicks or even punches.

I think if I had done Muay Thai or even kickboxing the transition wouldn't have been as bad although I wouldn't have had the conditioning I do to take shots but then I think what's the point of all that body conditioning because all it takes is one punch to head and lights out.
 
Back
Top