Learn Grappling or Striking first?

[DannyT]

Open discussion guys. I'm yet to join a gym, and I'm wondering which would be better to learn first. I like striking, as I've always been a striking type guy but I've heard grappling first also has many benefits. I'm looking to compete in MMA in the future if this has any help .

 

[jlagman]

Do which ever you enjoy more, that way, there's a better chance of you staying dedicated.

 

[DannyT]

Do which ever you enjoy more, that way, there's a better chance of you staying dedicated.

Honestly though, I actually don't mind. I am open minded to this, and whatever benefits me more, I'll stay dedicated to.

 

[jlagman]

The "one that will benefit you more" is the one you train hard in.

 

[TheMadHatter]

train either one first its not too big of a deal, whichever you train first you will probably prefer more in a fight

 

[bubkusjones]

I'm in the same boat. Best thing I've figured I could do was go and try a class of each, and see what I click more with off the start.

You say you've always been a striking fan, so that may be the choice for you. Do you have any past training with any martial art?

 

[Jirugi]

First, consider your body type. Second, I truly think it takes longer to get good at grappling than it does striking. In striking, distance and footwork allow more room for technical error (even if you're fighting a bigger, taller, and more skilled opponent). In grappling, you are often in extremely close proximity. Against a bigger, taller, more skilled opponent there is literally no room for technical error. You'd be better off running imo. Finally, it really depends on you personally. What do you like/understand more?

 

[kdawg32086]

From my experiences, grappling has been a lot harder for me to learn than striking. For others, the opposite might be true. I'd say if you want to be successful as an mma fighter, start with the one that is harder for you to learn. Being well rounded is extremely important, so you want to develop good skills in all areas. Otherwise, you end up like Houston Alexander or Dustin Hazelett. I've seen a couple teammates who weren't well rounded struggle in the cage because of it. At the top level of MMA, both are necessary but for me, but recently, it seems like high level grappling translates a little better into MMA.

 

[DannyT]

train either one first its not too big of a deal, whichever you train first you will probably prefer more in a fight

Yeah, I've never been a ground-type guy. All fights I've been have just been blows really, but that's natural right? I know ground work is extremely important in MMA, and is also much harder.

From my experiences, grappling has been a lot harder for me to learn than striking. For others, the opposite might be true. I'd say if you want to be successful as an mma fighter, start with the one that is harder for you to learn. Being well rounded is extremely important, so you want to develop good skills in all areas. Otherwise, you end up like Houston Alexander or Dustin Hazelett. I've seen a couple teammates who weren't well rounded struggle in the cage because of it. At the top level of MMA, both are necessary but for me, but recently, it seems like high level grappling translates a little better into MMA.

I would've thought grappling was more important in MMA as a lot of it comes from takedowns and submissions. Yeah, grappling is harder, but again, it's natural to strike rather than to take to the ground. Natural to everyone imo, not sure which to learn first - either easier option (striking) and get very good at it or harder option (grappling). My Plan was to train Muay Thai, then after a while slowly add in some BJJ once my fitness is better. (currently Bulking until next week so have had no cardio for about 11 weeks).

First, consider your body type. Second, I truly think it takes longer to get good at grappling than it does striking. In striking, distance and footwork allow more room for technical error (even if you're fighting a bigger, taller, and more skilled opponent). In grappling, you are often in extremely close proximity. Against a bigger, taller, more skilled opponent there is literally no room for technical error. You'd be better off running imo. Finally, it really depends on you personally. What do you like/understand more?

What do you mean by body type? Big or Small - height-wise or bulk-wise. I'm quite short, 5'8'' but I'm relatively bulky imo (still needing much more work on bulk though) for my age (16). I like and understand striking more, but I will never neglect the importance of grappling eventhough it's hard.

I'm in the same boat. Best thing I've figured I could do was go and try a class of each, and see what I click more with off the start.

You say you've always been a striking fan, so that may be the choice for you. Do you have any past training with any martial art?

It's quite hard to decide huh? Well, I've had a trial lesson on Krav Maga, and they were doing ground work at the time. Eventhough it was quite hard at first, I picked it up quite quickly. Eventhough I'm not going to learn and practise Krav Maga, I think BJJ would be somewhat similar. So I'm stuck in a dilemma right now. Haven't had any past training apart from the Krav Maga lesson and 2-3 years of Kung Fu when I was younger. Most probably the reason why I like to strike.

The "one that will benefit you more" is the one you train hard in.

Haha, I guess so, but as I said, I'll train equally hard in both.

 

[Jirugi]

@ Danny:

As far as body type goes..I meant if you are short and bulky you may like grappling more, or if you're tall and lanky you may like striking more. It's really subjective. All I'm saying is that a certain body type could facilitate your choice in a particular art. It doesnt really matter though.

 

[Polopolo]

I'm in the same boat as you. I have yet to start training at a school but I'm planning on taking both, MT and BJJ(gi) or CSW(no gi). Honestly, I prefer MT but there's value in learning both, especially if you're going to compete. I plan on taking 1 MT class and 1 BJJ/CSW class per week. Point being, there's no reason you can't start out with both. Personally, I don't think I'll ever compete in MMA but I may compete in either MT or BJJ tourney's.

 

[DannyT]

@ Danny:

As far as body type goes..I meant if you are short and bulky you may like grappling more, or if you're tall and lanky you may like striking more. It's really subjective. All I'm saying is that a certain body type could facilitate your choice in a particular art. It doesnt really matter though.

Oh right. I guess I'll just have to decide then or take them both.

I'm in the same boat as you. I have yet to start training at a school but I'm planning on taking both, MT and BJJ(gi) or CSW(no gi). Honestly, I prefer MT but there's value in learning both, especially if you're going to compete. I plan on taking 1 MT class and 1 BJJ/CSW class per week. Point being, there's no reason you can't start out with both. Personally, I don't think I'll ever compete in MMA but I may compete in either MT or BJJ tourney's.

Yeah I may do that aswell. I may take 2 BJJ lessons, 2 Muay Thai lessons and 1 SanDa lesson a week. Although it may be alot to handle at first, I think my conditioning will soon reach a level it was at before .

Thanks for the help.

EDIT: BTW, what does gi or no-gi mean? Kinda nooby here .

 

[Keej613]

EDIT: BTW, what does gi or no-gi mean? Kinda nooby here .

Gi: You train / practice / compete while wearing a gi

No Gi: You train / practice / compete without wearing a gi
(you wear shorts and a t-shirt or grappling shorts and a rashguard, etc)

If your next questions is What's a gi? :

These guys are wearing gis. (It's short for "judogi" or "dogi".)

 

[Keej613]

As for the original question, I think a lot of people are over-analyzing it.

You could just go to a school which has a program that teaches both simultaneously.

That way you'll get a taste of bother and either decide to continue that way, or you'll realize that you prefer one to the other and decide to focus exclusively on one style, or you'll realize that you're extremely passionate about both and decide to switch to a school (or to two schools) that give specialized training in the respective styles.

I personally started Muay Thai with the intention of transitionning into MMA but, doing Muay Thai for a bit and attending a handful of BJJ / grappling / wrestling for MMA seminars and classes, I realized that stongly preferred striking. So that's what I stuck with.

Like someone already pointed out, it's not a question of one over the other. The one you're best at is obviously the most useful to you. So it's really up to you to decide what's best for you.

 

[MisterTrep]

some people say that every fight start standing up. so you should at least get the basics of stand up before going to the ground.

now I don't know how fit you are, but IMHO before fighting in any discipline, the most important asset you can have is your conditionning.

from my personnal experience, striking classes are more straight forward and will push your cardio a little bit more as you will punch and kick non stop, and do some speed drills and skipping ropes.

While a grappling class, like Jiu Jitsu for instance, you will spend more time listening and watching your coaches explain the complexe techniques of the ground game.

don't get me wrong i'm not saying grappling isnt a good work out, but I think striking classes will push your conditionning more, and in my opinion everybody should start with conditionning.

 

[DannyT]

Gi: You train / practice / compete while wearing a gi

No Gi: You train / practice / compete without wearing a gi
(you wear shorts and a t-shirt or grappling shorts and a rashguard, etc)

If your next questions is What's a gi? :

These guys are wearing gis. (It's short for "judogi" or "dogi".)

Oh right thanks.

As for the original question, I think a lot of people are over-analyzing it.

You could just go to a school which has a program that teaches both simultaneously.

That way you'll get a taste of bother and either decide to continue that way, or you'll realize that you prefer one to the other and decide to focus exclusively on one style, or you'll realize that you're extremely passionate about both and decide to switch to a school (or to two schools) that give specialized training in the respective styles.

I personally started Muay Thai with the intention of transitionning into MMA but, doing Muay Thai for a bit and attending a handful of BJJ / grappling / wrestling for MMA seminars and classes, I realized that stongly preferred striking. So that's what I stuck with.

Like someone already pointed out, it's not a question of one over the other. The one you're best at is obviously the most useful to you. So it's really up to you to decide what's best for you.

Haha, I'm the type that likes to analyze things thoroughly. I like things to be right and I start getting paranoid when they aren't.

But yeah, I do prefer striking so I may start off with some striking, then slowly ease myself into grappling. Cheers a lot.

some people say that every fight start standing up. so you should at least get the basics of stand up before going to the ground.

now I don't know how fit you are, but IMHO before fighting in any discipline, the most important asset you can have is your conditionning.

from my personnal experience, striking classes are more straight forward and will push your cardio a little bit more as you will punch and kick non stop, and do some speed drills and skipping ropes.

While a grappling class, like Jiu Jitsu for instance, you will spend more time listening and watching your coaches explain the complexe techniques of the ground game.

don't get me wrong i'm not saying grappling isnt a good work out, but I think striking classes will push your conditionning more, and in my opinion everybody should start with conditionning.

Again yeah, that's what I thought. I think I'll just follow my original plan and start off with Muay thai and San da (4-5 times totally a week) and then slowly ease myself into grappling once my fitness/conditioning levels are better. Thanks.

 

[dugforeva]

train at which ever gym is closest to you.

 

[SKizzit**]

While its almost been proven that grappling is more effective for mma, I'm not really sure which is better for self defense. It is good to learn to take a hit.

I started in striking and the vast majority of my training is in striking, but I recently started going to a BJJ gym two days a week. I know its not much but I like my schedule right now and I personally think its better to get the striking down then go to grappling (as long as your young). That way you will be used to getting hit and grappling (while certainly painful sometimes) won't seem as bad.

 

[cobrahead1030]

i was kinda in the same boat, and decided to start with striking (boxing) simply because i found a local school that i really like, and they've got some good people there to learn from...i'm also gonna spend a month studying MT in thailand this summer

consequently there are guys i train with now who grapple during open mat sessions and know what they're doing, at least enough to show me a few things, and get some experience with it...so i'm not completely inept on the ground

eventually i wanna go to a bjj school and focus more on that...but currently i've decided to focus just on striking for the most part, and i can't say i regret the decision at all

it can also boil down to what schools are around you and how you like them, i really like the boxing place i go and that has a lot to do with why i'm focusing on that...if i'd hated it there, i may be at the bjj place across town instead

 

[theTJB777]

Do both.