Hello, first time poster here! (Don't beat me up) I'm looking to take up some form of martial arts. I went to a kickboxing class (geared towards MMA, it's a MMA gym) and I was planning on going to a BJJ class next week, the hope was to learn both, get fit and maybe compete down the road. I've been undecided on whether I should go with MMA (I.e Kickboxing and BJJ to begin with), or just go with boxing. I've an uncle who's an ex pro, he bought me my first set of gloves and would love to see me get into it.. it runs in our family, I've been told I could be a great boxer, even the kickboxing instructor mentioned it. There's a Boxing club about an hour away and they have guys competing for Ireland (I'm Irish), it's in the same city where I go to college so it'd mean 9am start and waiting until 7/8 at night for boxing on most days. The MMA gym is maybe 45 minutes drive for me. I'd like to compete at some point, but for now I just want to get involved and get fit. I managed the kickboxing class fine, I was sweating but so were the other guys, so I'm not completely out of shape but I haven't been active recently. I'm 170cm same reach but I have broad shoulders, I also have short legs.. The boxing seems to be a higher standard but the MMA gym is still very good. Should I go with boxing or MMA?
Honestly whichever you enjoy doing more. If you enjoy them both, do both. If you think you could be a good pro boxer (which I can't even begin to describe how hard that is) then by all means try and make a career of it providing you're also oung enough, ideally still a teenager. At the end of the day, see what you enjoy more and keep going. You'll not last long in either if you don't have passion for it.
I'm 22, I'm applying for Law Enforcement so it's really just to get my fitness up - the training obviously gets you fit but it also gives me the routine I need and it's something to work towards. It would actually work out if I wanted to do both but I think that would end up being too much, it's 6 hours of boxing, 5+ of BJJ and 3 of kickboxing, while also balancing college and a part time job on top of it all. The problem for me is I don't know why I'm thinking 'maybe boxing'.. I mean the gym is great, the people are very helpful, good overall atmosphere but I'm still thinking boxing might be for me.
If your thinking of training to help your law enforcement job, then MMA had more carry over, wrestling and pinning will help your arrest skills, Boxing to may help too, but not to the same extent. If your doing it so you can connect with your uncle, then there's easier ways of doing that with less risk of brain damage. Try both and see what you actually enjoy.
Yeah. I'd say MMA is better for being a cop. Your uncle can still hang out with you and hold pads whenever he likes. It's not MMA fighters can't box at all.
What deadpool and Pip said if it's to help with being a cop. I never wished I had boxing training to help me smack a suspect who was fighting me, I managed that fine without, but more grappling training will help, or at least not hinder you. People are slippery when they don't want to 'assist you with enquiries', and better ways to twist them up always helps, as the job training is utter pants. Good luck!
I'm doing it more so for fitness, it's just a good reason to get started, I hadn't really looked at it in the sense of helping my career but it's a very good point. My uncle lives in the UK, I only really see them once or twice a year but it'd still be nice to keep the 'tradition' going, my grandfather boxed, he boxed professionally, his son boxed (but now plays pro soccer/football) and I'd like to try my hand at it. I could however see where BJJ would come in handy compared to boxing..
Picking up boxing will be easier and faster than MMA for obvious reasons. A few months boxing makes a huge difference in most dedicated people, especially with cardio etc. MMA because it includes the different ranges etc. is going to take more dedication, which is fine if you've got the time. Something to consider though, especially trying to start a new career, are the potential injuries. Injuries in boxing are relatively contained to a short list. MMA opens up that list quite a bit and a lot of the potential hazards could be career ending for a new recruit. So be careful either way but if you just want to get in shape for the new job, I'd recommend a few months of boxing to cut the slack out of your routine in the safest way possible. You're gonna get trained in proper suspect submissions and stuff anyway so keep that in mind. Much better to be paid while training than paying to train. Later on, MMA might become a better choice once you've got some time on the force. And a lot of cops box and do MMA etc so you might even find a crew on the inside you can train with. I've trained with a few police and they tend to be really cool and stick together in my experience.
If you have no exp then you will be over your head in mma your best doing a few arts alone for a few yrs
They have beginning MMA classes, just like any other art. Sorry, but this is incorrect advice. A good school will not have beginners over their head in MMA.
I dunno, whilst a lot of places have specific beginners MMA courses, my own school you have to wait until you have some fundamentals until you can join the MMA class. Although that said our MMA class isn't too beginner friendly. It's a hard class with a high energy usage.
