Should I do boxing before MMA?

Question

So i went to an MMA gym for about six months, and started to become pretty good, mostly on the ground. I was never much of a striker even though I have fast hands. I just threw a few jabs to get them off balance and then take it to the ground.

But i had to stop for about 5 months, but now i'm looking to start up again.

but I'm wondering if I do boxing full time before getting back into MMA, will it help me a lot as a mixed martial artist?

I've heard it's incredibly important to have a 'base art' before jumping into MMA, and that all the top tier fighters have a base art.

Anyone have any advice?

Answer 1

You should be well-rounded in everything before you hit MMA. It is good to know ground tactics, boxing will only make your game even better. Why not?

Answer 2

Always take boxing first it's part of your skill sets and evaluations with serious MMA teams when you go to join one any way and WTF do you mean boxing before MMA?  MMA isn't a single art.....geeze........yet another well informed MMA fan.....why me?

Your skill sets are all seperate arts hence Mixed Martial Arts like judo is one art, jujitsu basically the same thing, but yet another different art, then Muay thai is yet a sperate art.  All three of these would make Mixed Martial Arts and/or the techniques borrowed from all three.

MMA .......the single set universal art? ........cough.....cough....cough.  I guess if you well informed lemmings say so.

Better yet learn your "multi art terminology" and a little Japanese ( Nihongo ) as well as the aspects of what you want to do before just jumping right into the one universal art of MMA.........hehehehe.

Answer 3

I would think it would help you a lot. Plus, if you have much experience in ground grappling already, why not work on your stand up?

Answer 4

You should definitely do boxing. I personally think that you need to work on each aspect of MMA individually. Simply going to MMA classes is going to make you a Jack of all trades, you won't have an expertise in any one field.

If you look at the top fighters today, they have expertise in at least one field. Somebody mentioned GSP but he has a black belt in Kyokushin and practised it for a decade, plus he is a brown belt in BJJ. Anderson Silva is obviously a top class kickboxer but also have a black belt in BJJ. Machida is a black belt shotokan champion but is also a BJJ black belt and has trained extensively in catch wrestling and MT.

Answer 5

You can do them at the same time. When I go to my MMA gym,

I don't even take actual MMA classes. I just do BJJ, wrestling and boxing on different days.

Answer 6

my coach says some people don't need a base art. he points to GSP. all he had was a little karate. so if your really athletic you may not need one. B. J. Penn says that you do. how ever in the future it will not matter the future fighters will be as good at one art as the others

Answer 7

Like you said, you need to find a base art! In the book Mixed Martial Arts: The Book of Knowledge  by BJ Penn, he explains how his base is BJJ and he doesn't stray far from that because staying comfortable in training plays a huge role in your own success. The only way to know what your base might be is to analyze what you feel is coming more fluently/ naturally to you. You can't have some stranger from the internet, who doesn't know you from a hole in the wall, tell you what YOUR base is. Good Luck!

Answer 8

Its better to know how to punch and kick effectively before going

to MMA.

Answer 9

i think any extra training helps

Answer 10

Boxing is a good option.

Might as well do Kick boxing and get better overall.

Muay Thai is perfect for it. 8 limbs!