[Hamburger Legs]

I'm currently training BJJ, and would like to add some sort of striking into my game. I originally come from Tae Kwon Do, so I have SOME striking under my belt, but I've never really used my hands before(I don't consider the hand work I did in TKD to be solid technique). I was debating on taking either muay thai, or boxing. I think I'd be better at muay thai being that I already know how to kick, and I like to use my whole body; my only concern is that I won't get my hands up to where they need to be like I would with boxing. Not sure if that's the proper logic to use in this scenario, so I thought I'd tap the sherdog forums knowledge base.

So my question is: Having no striking background to speak of, should I take muay thai or boxing to add to my bjj game with eventual hopes of doing some amateur mma fights?

[2swole]

thai if you don't know anything. but in your case if you did tkd a few years, i'd prob go for the boxing, and just maintain the kicks you have on your own time.

[Vovchanchyn Fan]

My opinion would be to take boxing for about 1 year to establish your hands, footwork and angles. After that switch to Muay Thai for another year and make a few changes (little bit different stance, etc), learn to integrate kicks and checks and you should be ready for amateur MMA standup.

I say boxing first b/c I think it will teach you a tighter foundational framework (in my experience usually crisper footwork, angles, economy of motion and of course hands) to work within - integrating MT like elbows, knees and kicks still fits pretty well within the foundation that boxing establishes and will round you out from there.

[Hamburger Legs]

Originally Posted by Vovchanchyn Fan

My opinion would be to take boxing for about 1 year to establish your hands, footwork and angles. After that switch to Muay Thai for another year and make a few changes (little bit different stance, etc), learn to integrate kicks and checks and you should be ready for amateur MMA standup.

I say boxing first b/c I think it will teach you a tighter foundational framework (in my experience usually crisper footwork, angles, economy of motion and of course hands) to work within - integrating MT like elbows, knees and kicks still fits pretty well within the foundation that boxing establishes and will round you out from there.

See, this is what I was thinking, but I've never done a striking art before, so I thought maybe my thought process was off. My hands and footwork are horrificly bad right now, so I think that boxing will help me most, then move to MT after I get my basics of boxing down. What you say makes the most sense to me, thanks a ton.

Any other opinions on this matter? So far I'm agreeing with what I'm reading .

[legshot420]

take some boxing first then advance to muay thai.

[IrishArabSword]

I've trainned in both Boxing/Muay Thai. When it come to your hands Boxing is the way to go. Then once you take Mauy Thai you can't work on your knees,Elbows(which is same mechanics as throw pucnhes), then your legs. My Advice, Go TO A BOXING GYM, not A MMA gym which has boxing Trainers. Go TO A MUAY THAI GYM, not a gym with Muay Thai As one of its classes. Trust me, Amatuer Boxer's beat the shit out of amatuer Thai fighters. But Pro Thai Fighters Break your legs, no matter what style of fighting you take.

[killer_kicks88]

it can really depend, my teacher is from the duke roufus school...and he has great hands...see, not all muay thai gyms you go to are gonna be straight up "all you learn are kicks and knees and elbows and no good punching"...cuz if the school you're going to for muay thai has a teacher who has cross trained (very likely)...then you're set...cuz it's a lot nicer to build a relationship with one teacher than it is to do art A for a while then switch to are B...i would focus on thai boxing...provided your teacher has good hand skills...most of them know good footwork, but you have to ask for it to be taught it

[superc0ntra]

Boxing has better hands than MT but lacks the kicks so I'd go for boxing to get the fundamentals and then switch to MT. Just be sure to get a gym that won't change your boxing hands just to fit the traditional MT style

[krellik]

Both boxing and muay thai have obvious benefits. Just starting out you cant go wrong with neither, at one point you need to round out your game for mma anyway.

[ACR4V3N]

I'd say muay thai