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Neither are easy..,but striking is much harder...per every BJJ BB I have ever spoke with!
I'd say grappling, you don't really see good level strikers turn good level grapplers. But we've seen guys like Hendo & Page go from one dimensional wrestlers to dangerous strikers...or BJJ phenoms like BJ & Gonzaga develop success with their striking.
For the hobbyist I think it splits down the line, some people are naturally gifted at being able to throw punches and some people struggle with the grappling thought process, or vice versa.
Yeah I'll give you that, but GSP had some exposure to grappling when he was 16-17 so it's not like he was totally foreign to the concept when he made his mma debut. Hendo was maybe early mid 20's when he started consistent training in striking and ended up being one of the more dangerous guys on the feet in his division.I can think of a striker that turned into a top level grappler...GSP.
I think grappling usually will take longer to learn to a high level
BUT
I think everyone can learn to grapple, but not everyone can learn to strike. Speed, body type, reflexes, coordination, and most other aspects of athleticism are much more critical to excelling in striking than grappling. Plus, not everyone can handle getting hit.
So it takes longer to get good at grappling techniques than striking techniques...
but many (most?) people just cannot ever be good strikers, whereas anyone who puts the time in can become a good grappler.
They're each easier and harder than one another in different respects. So the question is meaningless unless you narrow it somehow.
You can quibble with it, so long as you ignore the word "usually" in thereThis ^^^ is probably a better answer than mine, overall.
(I'd quibble with the first statement, though. It seems a few guys, at least, have come from zero grappling experience to being world class in a relatively short period of time. I don't think that happens very often in, say, boxing.)
Agree fully with the rest.