Is boxing the best art for purely self defense?

I would argue yes. In a boxing gym you will focus 100% on effective stuff (sans the speed bag). Footwork, how to throw effective punches with intensity. And most importantly, you will learn how to take a hit in the face and deal with it. There's also great emphasis on conditioning, getting stronger and more durable and increasing your cardio. All essential for fighting, whether in a ring or on the street.

You dont see that in karate, Taek Won Do, Krav Maga etc gyms majority of the time. Either there's too much emphasis on useless shit, like karate parries, katas or the highly unsafe and ineffective punches just to mention a few examples. Or not enough emphasis in conditioning the body. Or the lack of meaningful sparring. If youve never tested your techniques against resisting opponent, you have no idea whether they will work or not.

As a young teenager, I did about 3 years of Shotokan Karate. I was naive, I thought I could fight. We even did sparring, but lo and behold, every time we sparred it mostly "devolved" into kickboxing instead of the karate we were taught.

Wrestling and BJJ are very effective against a single untrained opponent. But in a self defense situation, what would a BJJ practicioner do against 2 or 3 guys? Run away, most likely. What if you cant? What if theyre faster than you? Or what if you, a wrestler, do a double leg on your attacker and then his friend comes to soccer kick you in the dome? You'll lose, or worse. What if you pull guard against your attacker as a BJJ roller, and he pulls out a knife? You'll probably lose, or worse. What if he has a dirty needle in his pocket? You can never know what youre up against.

Kickboxing and Muay Thai, great arts. But if youre out there in your tight jeans after a beer or two, you can't kick or knee properly. What then? I know for a fact that most kickboxers and MT guys lack decent boxing. I'm not talking about Glory or Lumpinee champs. Talking about the average practitioner. The average is not a pro fighter.

Submitted March 27, 2021 at 02:36PM by ChadThunderschlong https://ift.tt/3sy1Avg