I agree with you for the purposes of MMA, but as separate sports they have the potential to help and hinder each other… I’ve found myself standing too square in boxing, and too sideways in MT before, which is fine when you have to deal with leg kicks and takedowns, but just… awful when you’re in against a real good fast boxer and you can’t kick him, or when you’re too side on and having your leg tenderized
Yeah Mickey is right, you can end up pretty confused if you start both of them at the same time. If you decide to train both MT and boxing on-top of your BJJ i’d recommend doing 6 months regular boxing first and then adding MT to that.
Yeah, training overload is one thing that weighs in my mind. I already train BJJ, then if I add both Boxing and Muay Thai, I wouldn’t want it to be crammed and just end up being a bad striker.
Do MT first. It is going to be better for you in the long run. The kicking will serve you better in MMA AND will increase your conditioning as well as leg strength and speed. A good MT coach will have good hand drills along with clinch, knees and elbows. Everything you need for MMA.
After that then boxing can help with things like head movement, angles and some punch combos but it will not give you a good overall striking base for MMA. It will be easy to add boxing to MT than MT to boxing.
Yea, since your boxing coach would be your MMA coach, there’s less to worry about crossing over. That is, unless he switches purely into boxing mode. Such as practicing something like bob and weaving and ducking by bending at the waist could turn your face pretty ugly.
I’m biased here, but IMO kicking is a necessary part of a good striking arsenal, and ignoring it is a big waste. Lots of MMA fighters are skilled in boxing only, and kicks can really pepper them up. Learning how to defend against those is a must. Also, your clinch will become more dangerous with MT.
On the other hand, boxing will maybe suit your needs better at this stage. Learning basic punch defence and a way to close the distance with strikes is probably what you want now.
Kfighter, are you Corey Kuropas on sherdog? This reminds me of a thread I saw over there.
Either way, I have little to contribute since I agree with pretty much everyone and I’m just sitting here nodding my head. That said, I’d like to share a recent experience I’ve had in regards to cross training boxing and kickboxing.
For the last few months, I’ve been working pretty hard to improve my straight boxing. I’ve been practicing sitting more on punches, lots of head movement, angling, etc. And if I may say so myself, I’ve been doing pretty well. A lot of those things have been coming together. Unfortunately, as I noticed when sparring the other day, I can’t kick anymore.
The headway I made in those areas are pretty reliant on my improved boxing stance. I’m more sideways and more crouched, which makes it really akward to throw and defend against kicks. When I throw them nowadays, it’s really akward and off-balance unless I revert back to my kickboxing stance. When I’m in my kickboxing stance, most of the improvements that I’ve made to my boxing disappears.
Now I’m sure that I’ll eventually find a happy middle ground, but this has really thrown me through a loop. It’d probably be even worse for you if you’re really new to striking.
just thought i’d share some experience… in my muay thai gym i’ve noticed that guys who come in from a boxing background often adapt very quickly, they tend to need only some basic leg kicks and clinch training to do pretty well. I dont think it is as simple as saying ‘do mt its better for mma’. although it gives you more tools, it takes longer to learn to use them.
…maybe try them both for a couple sessions and whichever one suits your body type/current standing style best run with that to get some basics down. but they both need gaps filling to work in mma anyway there isnt a de facto style as some people may suggest
Thank you for the input everyone, it’s really appreciated.
I’m not totally new to striking. Before MMA, I competed in Kickboxing (American Rules) and Boxing. But ever since I started BJJ/grappling years ago, striking has taken a back seat, and is terrible now.
I’m just trying to figure what would be better. Just work my Boxing solely, or work Boxing along with Muay Thai to give me a more diverse arsenal.
Hey guys. I just wanted to thank you all for the excellent information, view points, and ideas.
I think I’m gonna try to do both for awhile. If it seems too much, I’ll cut back, but I’m confident that I’ll be able to train in both and not get confused.
There are some muay thai coaches that will focus a lot on heavy punch and low kick combinations (European style) , which in general are safer and more useful in MMA. On the other hand, if your coach leans towards more of the Thai style ( thai style clinch knees/pummeling ,punches used to set up kicks as oppose to kicks to set up punches, counter kicks, and very basic hand work with little head movement) it may not be as useful in MMA.
Yup, Thai clinch is completely useless is MMA.
WTF? are you some kind of idiot? ‘Pummelling’ as you mentioned (I take it you mean the wrestling drill) is extremely useful in MMA! The Thai clinch is especially good in MMA also, if for no other reason then because few people seem to have any defence to it at all.
search for Marcus Davis v Ben Saunders, or Rich Franklin v Anderson Silva… those are the two best thai clinch examples I can think of.
and Sang: please liver kick him
[quote=Sang;2318627]Yup, Thai clinch is completely useless is MMA.[/quote]The way lots of people do it for MT rules is an invitation to get repeatedly and easily taken down in MMA.
[quote=MMAMickey;2318981]WTF? are you some kind of idiot? ‘Pummelling’ as you mentioned (I take it you mean the wrestling drill) is extremely useful in MMA! [/quote]No, Thai ‘pummelling’ is fighting for double neck-ties, not double under-hooks.
I thought they’d be pummelling for a plum clinch, I was just making sure he wasn’t thinking pummelling meant striking like Sirc
[quote=PointyShinyBurn;2318994]The way lots of people do it for MT rules is an invitation to get repeatedly and easily taken down in MMA.
No, Thai ‘pummelling’ is fighting for double neck-ties, not double under-hooks.[/quote]
It’s almost like MT has to be modified for mixed martial art competition, who woulda thought?