Which is harder to learn, striking or grappling?

Harder to learn?

  • Total voters
    192
  • Poll closed .
grappling is a vague term that to me encompasses standing-cage-grappling, top control, jujitsu, and wrestling.

.....even tho i think mastering striking like a barboza is crazy difficult and takes years of repetition....
..grappling has far more "schools" to master.....making it more difficult imo. just my 2 cents. could be wrong.
 
TheLuckiest said:
Striking is inherently more difficult if you look at what makes you a good striker. Much of what a makes a good striker a good striker are natural gifts such as quickness, durability, coordination, and reflexes. It isn't that you can't improve those things, but just that it involves a lot more attributes than grappling does. Plus, getting hit in the face and still being able to strike is harder than grappling, thus why 90% of the time when someone is rocked, they immediately shoot for a takedown or clinch up. Defensive grappling and stalling is easy to learn and can be drilled constantly. Sparring too much can be a detriment to your health in a big way.

My grappling experience introduced me to a ton of guys who have crap vision, poor reflexes, and aren't what you would consider "tough", but they get into that flow state on the ground and force you to operate at their pace, plus, they don't have to worry about getting tagged in the face or GNP, so they are calm and care free.
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Interesting post. With grappling you can "spar" all the time and get better in a "live" sparring situation. Striking you have to watch the sparring unless you want to get beaten about the head constantly, so its more challenging to learn in that respect.
 
elbowsandwiches said:
grappling is a vague term that to me encompasses standing-cage-grappling, top control, jujitsu, and wrestling.

.
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sure...an amazing submission specialist might suck at actually taking someone to the ground,and reverts to pulling guard.
 
Id say striking, some guys just never get used to getting hit.
 
I think a lot of it depends on how flinchy you are. I've seen a lot of tough guys try sparring but can't get a grasp on striking because they flinch, turn their head, etc. Neither came easy for me. I was fat and out of shape when i started BJJ which was a lot of the problem.
 
TewPoint0 said:
Striking is a bitch. First day in kickboxing gym and my instructor had a pro fighter knee me in the body 200 times. They wanted to see if i'd come back. I did, but I was terrified.
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God I can relate to that ^^ There are some real sadists teaching kickboxing and muay thai. But never to the point where they actually hurt you, just rough you up a bit. And I feel I came out way better on the other side from it.
 
Striking for me.
I get pissed of when someone punch me in the face.
Even if they are just light jabs.
Don't like getting tapped either, but that doesn't feel as much personal.
 
I find grappling harder but it could be because I started grappling a long time after I started striking and because I'm already a good striker its hard for me to get interested in JiuJitsu and be a novice again.
 
Looks like it's 60/40 in favor of striking. A lot the posts explaining how it's harder to do it intuitively make sense.
 
Striking is harder to learn if your surname is Gracie.
 
TheLuckiest said:
Striking is inherently more difficult if you look at what makes you a good striker. Much of what a makes a good striker a good striker are natural gifts such as quickness, durability, coordination, and reflexes. It isn't that you can't improve those things, but just that it involves a lot more attributes than grappling does. Plus, getting hit in the face and still being able to strike is harder than grappling, thus why 90% of the time when someone is rocked, they immediately shoot for a takedown or clinch up. Defensive grappling and stalling is easy to learn and can be drilled constantly. Sparring too much can be a detriment to your health in a big way.

My grappling experience introduced me to a ton of guys who have crap vision, poor reflexes, and aren't what you would consider "tough", but they get into that flow state on the ground and force you to operate at their pace, plus, they don't have to worry about getting tagged in the face or GNP, so they are calm and care free.
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I see a lot of guys where I train have trouble learning striking because they are scared of getting hit in the face. Good on you for making that point. I think it plays a major factor in why guys tense up when they are trying to implement techniques against another human being. Grappling doesn't have that initial roadblock.
 
ilfirin said:
I've seen more strikers become good grapplers than I have grapplers become good strikes. But I'd argue it boils down to how easy of a time you have learning new things.
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I think I disagree, but I'm not sure. UFC champs with a grappling background (background in jiu jitsu or wrestling before UFC) are: Werdum, Jones / Cormier, Lawler, Dos Anjos, Cruz (not an extensive background, but some as a kid), and Demetrious Johnson. Mind you, that's every champ except for Conor McGregor. And they are all effective strikers. Aside from Cormier, they all are legitimately very good at striking.

You can be an effective striker with power and without top-level technique. Can't do that with grappling.

If it were easier to learn grappling than striking, you'd expect the champs to be former strikers who are in the process of learning grappling, not vice versa.
 
I started in striking (boxing, karate), so for me personally grappling was a little more difficult. When I started BJJ, i was like a fish out of water. haha. That being said, repetition overcomes ignorance.
 
Footwork is difficult to pick up imo, I spent time standing in the same spot when I first started to spar.
 
There is a reason that boxing is called the sweet science and that's just one small aspect to striking. Like most have said, striking is harder to get used to--getting punched in the face, the liver, etc--and it's a lot harder to actually spar compared to grappling. That's why Holly vs Ronda went the way it did. Holly had enough grappling experience to survive the ground and get back up where as Ronda just got laid the fuck out.
 
HHJ said:
I wouldve thought that to be the case but it wasnt with me...grappling was so much more instinctual...that even if i couldnt beat people in grappling i could at least make a go of it without being taught. Striking,it took forever....i rarely ever saw punches coming,and the punches i did through would be too predictable. I had to learn to feint,to land anything,and that takes alot of time.
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That's what I'm saying. It's easier to get in and go with grappling. Not saying you'll be pro right away, but beginning grappling is a lot less nuanced than striking in my experience. Your physical tools seem to mean more, and you can do decently with grit and determination.
 
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