Customized Martial Art for Boxer

[JHcKcq]

Hello,

I've been boxing for several years now. Lately I got bored and decided to try something that involves the whole body. Something, where I would be able to make 1 amateur fight and where I can use my advantage: boxing.

Muay Thai came into my mind, but according to some YouTube videos, Muay Thai focuses more on kicks.

Another idea was K-1. It looks very interesting, but there are no gyms in my area, that explicitly focus on K-1, only Muay Thai or Kickboxing.

Another option is MMA. My concern here is, that I would need to study a lot in order to succeed in this diverse style.
Is it necessary to master all major styles (Muay Thai, Grappling etc.) for being somehow successful in MMA (on a low level)? Or is it enough to study the basics of kicking and grappling, and during a fight focus mainly on boxing?

Thanks.

 

[Holmejr]

So much of this comes down to you as an athlete and fighter.
If I hear you correctly, you want to train to sports fight and not necessarily combat self defense.
Muay Thai is a great art, yes it incorporates kicking, but it also incorporates elbows, knees and throws/sweeps. It doesn’t have a ground component, but modern Muay Thai does teach take down defense.
BJJ is the most common MA of ground fighting. There are others grappling styles as well. As you can see in pro MMA, a good kick boxer/Muay Thai fighter with excellent take down defense holds their own quite well. On the ground it’s really efficient and effective.
MMA (schools) is a jack of all trades, but not necessarily a master of any one thing. You learn aspects of kickboxing, grappling and boxing.

I’m 66 years old, but if younger I’d probably go MMA as a compliment to my Eskrido de Alcuizar training. But I’m primarily combat self defense and get a decent work out oriented.

You really need to visit schools and observe beginning to advanced classes. Ask pertinent questions of the instructors.

 

[Christopher Adamchek]

So much of this comes down to you as an athlete and fighter.
Do you train primarily for the sporting aspect or the self defense aspect?
Muay Thai is a great art, yes it incorporates kicking, but it also incorporates elbows, knees and throws/sweeps. It doesn’t have a ground component, but modern Muay Thai does teach take down defense.
BJJ is the preferred MA of ground fighting. But as you can see in pro MMA, a good kick boxer/Muay Thai fighter with excellent take down defense holds their own quite well.
MMA is a jack of all trades, but not necessarily a master of any one thing. You learn aspects of kickboxing, grappling and boxing.

I’m 66 years old, but if younger I’d probably go MMA as a compliment to my Eskrido de Alcuizar training.

This comes down to where you want to go.
Competition Sport, combat self defense or just a good workout?

Great answer

If you have any interest in weaponry a push dagger is a great way to blend boxing and bladework together

 

[lklawson]

Hello,

I've been boxing for several years now. Lately I got bored and decided to try something that involves the whole body. Something, where I would be able to make 1 amateur fight and where I can use my advantage: boxing.

Muay Thai came into my mind, but according to some YouTube videos, Muay Thai focuses more on kicks.

Another idea was K-1. It looks very interesting, but there are no gyms in my area, that explicitly focus on K-1, only Muay Thai or Kickboxing.

Another option is MMA. My concern here is, that I would need to study a lot in order to succeed in this diverse style.
Is it necessary to master all major styles (Muay Thai, Grappling etc.) for being somehow successful in MMA (on a low level)? Or is it enough to study the basics of kicking and grappling, and during a fight focus mainly on boxing?

Thanks.

Amazon.com

Peace favor your sword,
Kirk

 

[drop bear]

Do one and find out.

Look I would suggest MMA and do a 12 week fight camp.

 

[skribs]

I'm not really sure what your question is. Do you want to win an amateur boxing fight, or an amateur MMA fight? I would take classes towards whichever goal you have.

At the very elite level, boxing is a min/maxed game of punching. It revolves around punching and not being punched, with absolutely zero care given to elbows, knees, kicks, clinch, or any sort of grappling. Anything else that you learn is going to have slightly different fundamentals because of those other threats. You can learn more about punching in different environments. But if you want to maximize your effectiveness in an amateur boxing match, you're going to do that by boxing.

Muay Thai has kicks. It also has knees, elbows, and the clinch. I would assume different schools focus on different things. You can look up on youtube highlight reals of knockouts from all of these things (or sweeps from the clinch). So you would still use your punching. You could still use your punching in those fights. You would just need to adapt your punches to a world where elbows and kicks are allowed. Or, in the case of MMA, grappling as well.

As to that. If you want to compete in MMA, you will need to be comfortable in MMA. If you don't know how to grapple, then you're probably going to lose against every grappler, unless you can KO them with one punch. You'll want to have some idea of how to deal with kicks as well. How much is right is something you'll learn while you're sparring and competing.

 

[Buka]

There's no shortcuts in boxing.

Ain't no shortcuts in other fighting styles, either.

 

[MTguy]

Are there any Muay Thai gyms in your area. The idea that there are no punchers or punching in Muay Thai is silly and wrong. I'm at work but I will explain later. The Dutch rely heavily on punch kick combinations and historically the nation that have given the Thais a run for their money. Alot comes down to difference in scoring. As I said, I'll come back and explain or make a new thread about misconceptions of Muay Thai with video examples.

 

[Ironbear24]

It sounds like you want to go into kickboxing to be honest. Being a boxer for as long as you have you already have a deep understanding of range and footwork, which is honestly one of the most important things when it comes any sort of striking or hybrid art.

 

[Thunder Foot]

Hello,

I've been boxing for several years now. Lately I got bored and decided to try something that involves the whole body. Something, where I would be able to make 1 amateur fight and where I can use my advantage: boxing....
..... Or is it enough to study the basics of kicking and grappling, and during a fight focus mainly on boxing?

Thanks.

You said boxing for several years. To better understand your question, what level of boxing did you compete at? Are you a casual, or did you frequent tournaments and have a good amount (over 20) of am fights already in boxing? I ask because boxing is relevant in most combat sports, so you're be able to use it in many places. But boxing changes based on the sport you're in. For example, you're not going to just step into Muay Thai thinking that you already know how to box because punches can be and often are used differently in MT.

 

[windwalker099]

I've been boxing for several years now. Lately I got bored and decided to try something that involves the whole body. Something, where I would be able to make 1 amateur fight and where I can use my advantage: boxing.

You might try something entirely different like "taiji," depending on the teacher, focus, and method.

Worked with people who boxed finding what's called "push hands" useful in giving them different ways to deal with clinching.

Taiji can be, depending on the teacher, not so much about a style or method (i.e., technique) more of a way to study and refine movement that can be applied to anything.

That said, "Chen" style taiji is quite different from "Yang" style or variants , in both method and function. For various reasons, it might not be a good first choice, should you decide to try taiji.

If you've been boxing for a while, you should know how to fight. When entering events outside of boxing, you might just need to be exposed to what they do to understand how to prevent them from doing it. Adapt as needed using what you already know how to do.

Good luck