Muay thai or Boxing

[Grappler20016]

I have been wrestling for 2 years now 5 times a day I would like to get in MMA later in life and I'm looking to pick up a striking art. I would either go for boxing or Muay thai because that's the 2 gyms I visited and really liked.

I know for MMA I should train in a mma gym ,but I know absolutely nothing about striking and I would rather have some understanding of it before I get into MMA. What would benefit me more Muay thai or boxing?

 

[Replay19]

Muay Thai has bad boxing, and boxing has no muay thai kicks.

Go figure!

 

[Paradigm]

Well, wrestleboxing seems to be a popular style in MMA and seems to go together well. I guess if you happened to be a wrestler that wasn't afraid of fighting off his back, wrestling and MT would be interesting to see.

 

[PivotPunch]

I'm a boxing fan and prefer kickboxers, MT fighters and MMa fighters who use their hands. But you oibviously need to be aware that you will need to train MT or at least "MMA standup" where elbows, kciks and knees are allowed because thats what MMa is.

If you do boxing then it's additionally it isnt UFC 1 and you will train MT (in it's widest meaning: kicks, elbows knees, punches) at any rate.

If you do boxing then it surely can help, how much depends on your style and how comfortable you are with using your hands and with kicking, kneeing and elbowing and it can maybe give you a base but it's additionally.

If it's just one thing you wanna do then it's obviously MT because you need all those things but if you have the patience and want to do it then you can obviously go for boxing first and do full rules afterwards.

if you go to a MMA gym afterwards then you will do "MT" (or even really MT) there. If you wanna have a broad base do MT now and you could still have good hands for MT or you box and you will be most likely better with your hands but need to learn kciks, elbows and knees from scratch at the MMa gym

 

[Grappler20016]

I guess what I wanted to confirm that one would help me more than the other when I transition to MMA, but I realize that it comes down to preference one will make you good overall and give you more tools the other will give you fewer but sharper tools to use.

 

[StopDucking]

I have been wrestling for 2 years now 5 times a day I would like to get in MMA later in life and I'm looking to pick up a striking art. I would either go for boxing or Muay thai because that's the 2 gyms I visited and really liked.

I know for MMA I should train in a mma gym ,but I know absolutely nothing about striking and I would rather have some understanding of it before I get into MMA. What would benefit me more Muay thai or boxing?

The "I'm going to do A and do B before doing C" logic doesn't make any sense. This is 2016. If you want to go into MMA, go straight into MMA. Don't waste your time with other martial arts only to find out later in life that you've picked up bad habits because what work in boxing/muay thai don't necessary work in MMA. Why learn, unlearn and relearn if you can just learn?

The sooner if you pick up a martial art, the more you can maximize your potential. It has always been that way, in any sport.

There are a lot of reputable MMA gyms with competent coaches nowadays so "MMA striking sucks" is no longer an excuse.

 

[FadeLess]

Im a boxing guy myselfe so im gonna say... both ... cause obvious is obvious kind of thing.... just do it all f*cker and stop dueling on it !

 

[Paradigm]

The "I'm going to do A and do B before doing C" logic doesn't make any sense. This is 2016. If you want to go into MMA, go straight into MMA. Don't waste your time with other martial arts only to find out later in life that you've picked up bad habits because what work in boxing/muay thai don't necessary work in MMA. Why learn, unlearn and relearn if you can just learn?

The sooner if you pick up a martial art, the more you can maximize your potential. It has always been that way, in any sport.

There are a lot of reputable MMA gyms with competent coaches nowadays so "MMA striking sucks" is no longer an excuse.

This is actually a pretty good point but it still seems like most guys still have some sort of a base...even in 2016.

Who is someone prominent that has only trained MMA as their only "art" that you can think of? It's not like we haven't had a couple decades of fighters coming along at this point.

 

[fluffball]

This is actually a pretty good point but it still seems like most guys still have some sort of a base...even in 2016.

Who is someone prominent that has only trained MMA as their only "art" that you can think of? It's not like we haven't had a couple decades of fighters coming along at this point.

Rogan loves to infinitely point out that the younger fighters are in this camp. Rory McDonald, Holloway, etc.

As someone with a very strong background in a specific style, I totally agree that you should go straight into MMA. The advantage I have in kicking because of TKD and TSD over these incompetent MT kickers I fight is because I "wasted" many many years training inefficiently.

Think about Ronda's Judo, she spent what like 20 years or something developing only that? So ya it's devastating, but her striking is abysmal after only a couple years working on it.

It's basically a pure numbers thing. How many years did Machida dedicate to achieve his karate excellence? A hell of a lot more than people like Hollaway have been training at all. People with strong TMA backgrounds tend to spend like 10, 20 years in that sport, and then switch to MMA.

 

[StopDucking]

This is actually a pretty good point but it still seems like most guys still have some sort of a base...even in 2016.

Who is someone prominent that has only trained MMA as their only "art" that you can think of? It's not like we haven't had a couple decades of fighters coming along at this point.

Look at the best MMA fighters of today. They all started training in various disciplines at a young age and are all well-rounded. And their versatility give them a tremendious advantage over fighters who, on paper, outclass them at one aspect of MMA.

Jose Aldo, who went pro at 18, is basically a pure modern MMA fighter with a small background in BJJ who is most famous for his striking and eats wrestlers for breakfast.

Demetrious Johnson and Jon Jones, who only wrestled in high school, had no problems grappling with the Olympians Henry Cejudo and Daniel Cormier.

If we go back a bit in time, there is that karate guy named Georges St-Pierre who has no wrestling credentials, yet double-legged D1 wrestlers on the regular.

And then you have the best MMA fighter ever, Fedor Emelianenko, who is a pure product of combat sambo, a mix of judo and small-gloved boxing which looks a lot like MMA.

 

[roventu]

Think about Ronda's Judo, she spent what like 20 years or something developing only that? So ya it's devastating, but her striking is abysmal after only a couple years working on it.

that's a little harsh...

Spoiler

J K

 

[j123]

that's a little harsh...

Spoiler

J K

10/10 boxing, would KO PBF within 20 sec

 

[Coconutwater]

Man, I've gone back and forth on this a few times, but I think the biggest criteria is how legit or experienced the teachers are. It makes little difference if you have an MMA school taught by a mediocre instructor. So all things being equal, the MMA school would be ideal, although even then, some "MMA classes" don't really teach the nuances of the striking game and are used more for situational sparring, for instance, like being pinned up against the cage. Again, it depends on how thorough the curruculum and who teaches it.

Back to the original question between Muay Thai and boxing. I'd say do the Muay Thai, even though I'm doing only boxing now and think boxing overall is a more useful chunk of the MMA game. The reason being is that too many good boxers can get thrown off by a simple low kick and suddenly they lose composure.

 

[II Muchetto II]

Boxing for Mma is probably better if you have all the conditioning that goes with it and are taught how to defend against kicks.

Just straight boxing at a pure boxing school, probably not as useful as Muay Thai on the whole for mma stand up.

It's a tough one to choose when it come pacifically with mma stand up in mind. Probably get good benefits from either.

As others have said, I would go the the school with better instructors with the best reputation.

The "best" art in the world isn't worth learning if being taught by someone rubbish

 

[rmongler]

Lahg kicks and cleench work are the very good weapons for a wrestlelar.

 

[j123]

Lahg kicks and cleench work are the very good weapons for a wrestlelar.

wrasslin' is better for a wrestlelar though.. that mooo thigh is 3rd world commie nonsense to a true freedom lovin patriotic 'merican wrestlelar.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

I would assume if they are a good MMA school they would have boxing and MT classes...

Never really heard of a good gym that does strictly "MMA"

 

[j123]

I would assume if they are a good MMA school they would have boxing and MT classes...

Never really heard of a good gym that does strictly "MMA"

?

Spoiler

I'm just kidding, technique at these places are terrible. More of a commercial gym for gym bros, looking for something extra.
I will not lie, their facilities are awesome, fresh, clean, AC, great floor space. Hell the Tapout training centre's cardio room and apparel store, both are bigger than most gym's I've been to, mine included.

 

[fluffball]

I had a Tapout gym open up in my city, looked totally amazing through the big picture windows showing off their expensive area and equipment. It closed in like 4 months or something. If you're going to open a semi-fraud MMA school, Boston is pretty much the worst possible place to do it. We've got Sityodtong, Peter Welch's boxing, Florian's school, etc.

 

[j123]

I had a Tapout gym open up in my city, looked totally amazing through the big picture windows showing off their expensive area and equipment. It closed in like 4 months or something. If you're going to open a semi-fraud MMA school, Boston is pretty much the worst possible place to do it. We've got Sityodtong, Peter Welch's boxing, Florian's school, etc.

lol

I remember a striking "instructor" being a typical bro meathead who was clearly grabbing teaching material from youtube. 1,2,kick. The punches looked like a strange mix of a hook + wide grip bench press. It was a big class too, so that saved him from exposing himself with detailed instruction to everyone.