Boxing/Kickboxing - Pros & Cons

Hello everyone,
I am considering taken up a striking art. My two main choices are boxing and kickboxing. Can someone please tell me what are the pros and cons for each style. I want to have good striking ability. I have heard that boxing enables u to have a great foot work (what is that?).

I have a judo background and just started gracie jiu-jitsu with Renzo.

The striking art is mainly for self-defense puropses, but maybe one day i can adapt it to MMA. What would you guys suggest based on the pros and cons of each art. Thanks!

Thanks JRS3. I dont know what style he trains in for striking.

Any other opinions?

I would choose kickboxing. The knees and elbows would be more applicable to NHB if that's what you want to do later, and it doesn't create as many bad habits as boxing, in terms of stuff that you don't want to do in NHB. Not to mention the obvious fact that if a boxer braks a hand he is in trouble, but if a kickbaxer breaks a hand, he has more weapons left to use.


Although kickboxing won't make you as good at punching as boxing will, the kicks, knees, etc will make up for it. Saying "look what Goodridge did did to Bernado" is misleading, since Bernado was more of a boxer than a kickboxer anyway. Plus, keep in mind that you're asking the question on the Boxing forum, so there is a bias for boxing here.

So the boxing makes you fluid? The best hand skillz come from boxing right? But this is just for self-defense at the moment. It is to supplement my judo and jiu-jitsu. If i move into mma in the future, then I would study kickboxing and add the kees and elbows. But is boxing a good way to get into striking?

nobody hits harder than a boxer, IMHO. but for street, its better to use knees and elbows and keep your hands intact. if you're a good judoka, that will also be your main weapon on the street.

in the end, to me its a matter of finding a gym where you like the people, like the training, they can owrk within your goals, and its convenient to your schedule and location.

it depends on the fighter and what style.dutch fighters usually have great footwork and balance,and are good punchers as well.
thai's have whats percieved as bad foot work or balance but they don't.under their rules/style the movement will be negated by the leg kicks,slow you down and kill u in the clinch.if they stood like boxers,their legs would get torn up.
the dutch have a good blend of both worlds.
watch rob kaman or ernesto hoost and you'll see what i mean.peter sugarfoot cunningham was a kickboxer that moved like a boxer and was able to pull it off.

Boxing 6 mths at the least and then move into kickboxing whilst maintaining the boxing.

why dont u train both? they compliment each other very well. Kickboxing(im guesing you mean muay thai) will give you great kicks knees and elbows, but the hands are so-so, and its footwork isnt the quickest. Boxing on the other hand is the really the only thing you sould consider if you want nice hands and footwork. what i did was ge a good base in kickboxing and then started boxing, its helped alot



Judoka,


Dude, first of all spend at least a year or so working your BJJ with Renzo, not all of us are that lucky to have someone like Renzo Gracie to be our teacher (I'm a Team Renzo student too BTW)

You already are a formidable opponent. Keep in mind that if you cover and clinch and work your throws on soneone you may kill them if you're not careful!!! I had someone throw me once, my head missed the mat and I was out for a while. Throws are devastating, and if the fight goes to the ground you can handle yourself against an untrained opponent. You've already got SD skills if you are at least a green belt in Judo. What's your rank?

If I were you I'd go with boxing, but stick with the BJJ for a while first, working with Renzo will have tremendous rewards!!!!!!

Hey 1groovyunit:

Thanks for the compliment. I am 1st kyu in Judo. One rank below 1st degree Black Belt. I train in Olympic Style Judo, not the McDojo Judo. LOL. I was actually considering taking Muay Thai Boxing with Kru Phil Nurse. Ever heard of him?

I will definatley stick with Renzo. After one day of his class, my groundwork in Judo went up to the next level. This 2nd degree black belt told me that, and he is very good. Only problem is, I can only train 1 time per week in BJJ. I have to wait for the winter vacation and next semester to train more. Thanks for the comments.

Kicks work best when two kickers fight. That's because of the distancing involved. For self-defense kicks are OK if you are good at it, and not many people are.

When you fight for competition, the distances are usually too close to make kicking worth the effort it takes to become good at them.

If you're already good at kicking then that is ok, but if you're not, then stick to boxing.

well the shoes make kicking on the street alot easier than kicking in the ring

You are right Jason, but he's saying that he wants to eventually adapt to MMA. Depending on how long "eventually" is, learning curve, age, agility, etc., I would still suggest boxing.
You want to be able to strike quickly and if you get too close, as for knees and elbows, you should be working on submissions.

If it was purely self-defense, then I'go with MT because of the knees and elbows alone, not even so much the kicks.

A guy I train with is a really good boxer, but he is having an extremely hard time picking up kicks and knees due to his boxing background. I would go with kickboxing to start off, then if you still want to improve your hands supplement your training with boxing lessons.

yeah, that's what I was saying. Do kickboxing for six months or so, and if your hands aren't coming along, mix in some boxing.

Most BJJ compliments their art with MUY THAI.
While WRESTLERs with BOXING.
Why is this???

because in wrestling and boxing alot of the stances have most of your weight on the front foot. Also, many wrestlers aren't comfortable breaking their balance to throw kicks.


BJJers take Muy Thai because all the MMA people tell them to. MT isn't any better or worse than international rules kickboxing, kyokushinkai, etc.

wrestlers dont wanna be on their back, kicking risks this.

BJJers dont mind, and caught kicks lead to armbars and triangles.

Thanks for all your comments. I have decided to do Muay Thai with Kru Phil Nurse. I visited his class last nite and i love the way he teaches. I will do boxing later to get my hand skillz, but for now I will do Muay Thai. Thanks.

Hey im back! LOL. Haven't thought about striking for awhile. I stopped goin to Phil's class in MT cause I wanted to focus all my time on Judo. But now i am considering boxing as my striking art. Do you guys know any good cost-effective boxing gyms in NYC? Will training 1-2 times a week be OK? Thanks.