Say you had the oppurtunity to train with a Gracie student only one day a week due to your schedule (out of a possible three days of BJJ), or you could start boxing as much as you wanted. Which would be make you more of an effective MMA fighter?

Given I don't know of any dedicated MMA schools here, would you train boxing first, or just do one day a week of BJJ and strength train the rest of the week?

Why not do both? Train with him one day a week, and box the other days...

... do you mean Western style boxing, or kickboxing?

Western, and I can only afford one at the moment. Given my schedule for now it would suck to pay the full monthly fee at 3 classes a week and only make it to one.

So which would you pick?

due to blows to the head, boxing is really dumb if you like your brain

Boxing - here's why: you'll need it, it is important, and you can train it more often based on your current schedule. After a while, when your schedule allows, you could always pick up BJJ or whatever (Sambo, CSW, etc..) later on.

To me, it's a no-brainer - more time in the gym = more learning and more practice. Do whatever you can do the most of.

Boxing..for overall conditioning, being able to hit what you aim at with power and accuracy, foot balance/footwork, agility, etc...also the ability to take a punch without freaking out/shutting down.

Doesn't really matter unless he is planning on being a pro/fighting. Being knocked out is what causes the brain damage. If your trainer lets you spar that hard, then they are a bad trainer IMO.

Boxing is the answer. BJJ is the more important art to know in order to fight in MMA but one day a week = fuck all. If you train 3 days a week it will still take months until you have any significant skill. So one day a week....you are looking at a year+ before you are able to use it well at all.

Unless you wrested in college or something...

No previous wrestling experience, unfortunately. Although I can sprawl and tangle around with my bud who was a state champ wrestler. Eventually he winds up kicking my ass though. I can't believe the diff in what he considers wrestling moves to what we both watch in MMA. He is amazed how diff they are, even guillotine (rear naked choke?) etc.....He has showed me all the moves and they are totally different. Arm bars vs Kumoras (sp?), etc...

The BJJ school is actuall a judo dojo most of the time, which I have no interest in, it's only 3 days a week when Royce Gracie's BB Student teaches (Bruno something or other), but like I said...schedule don't allow it. I took a few classes before my schedule changed and was hooked but I can't do it for reasons stated above. Another BJJ member put me in a light kumora and my delt almost ripped in half...I was amazed, and intrigued. It fuggin hurt.....bad.

Boxing it is I guess. thanks bros, but unfortunately I am quite used to be being blasted in the head without "freaking out" lol, plenty of street of fights though I have absolutely no prof boxing training or conditioning. I am mostly a juiced up weight lifter with a bad temper that needs an outlet, and I love to fight so I want to learn more. I will never be professional, I just want to smack bitches down and have something to do during the day.

What are your aspirations? Boxing will teach you some bad habits if you want to be an MMA fighter. I started as a boxer for a little over 4 years before going to MT and BJJ. In boxing most of the exchanges would occur within a 1ft distance from the opponent. But in MT you would likely clinch and throw knees or even elbows. And in boxing some of the defensive moves and styles such as bobbing, parrying or using the philly shell will get you crushed in MT. Muay thai incorporates more striking options and thus I believe it's a better backbone even for self defense. Boxing is still quite solid though.

BJJ instruction can be expensive so you want to get your money's worth and once a week won't cut it. Unless it's a three hour training session you are probably best off choosing boxing.

any proof? I cite Dr. Daniel Amen's book "making a good brain great".

he has a whole chapter on blows to the head.

While on the subject. What would be the best style to learn for simple, fast, effective, and cost effective self defense. Say you had 3 months of classes 3 times a week what would you recommend a person who has had only streetfights and no formal fighting teaching.

Blows to the head = brain trauma, obviously.

That being said, the difference between a KO and a regular blow IS ALSO brain trauma--an excessive amount. The brain bounces off the back and front of the skull with enough force to shut down certain parts of the CNS temp (this is the most widely-held explanation).

As a result a subdural hematoma forms, which is what is actually believed to cause the damage. A buildup of these over the years is what causes the conditon known as being 'punch drunk'

Since KOs and blows that 'rock' a fighter are the most traumatic by def. it stands to reason that they cause most of the injury. A KO, for example is a minor concussion, which is obviously going to cause a small subdural hematoma to form etc. Any sparring done should never, ever involve a KO or even a rocking blow. There is no reason for this.

Now, the average onset of 'punch-drunk' symptoms is 16 years into a boxing career (http://www.about-dementia.com/articles/about-dementia/dementia-causes/dementia-brain-trauma.php)

In fact, the incidence of brain damage is amateur and professional boxers has been shown to be low:
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17503873&ordinalpos=9&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum)
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=8000819&ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVAbstractPlus
In fact all of the studies I have seen that show that boxing causes brain damage are done of professional boxers. The volume and intensity of head strikes from just training a few days a week to boxing professionally is fucking enormous.

Is it good for the brain to just train boxing? Probably not. Is it something to be worried about? Nothing I have seen indicates this. You might as well stop head-banging as not box a few days a week.

If you are worried about weapons, then find a good Krav Maga school. There are a large number of Krav schools that have turned into cardio kickboxing, so be careful. Make sure they do hard training and have a legit certification from an Israeli organization.

If you just want to be able to brawl or kick someones ass, then Muay-Thai or Boxing is your best bet. With boxing, you could explain to your trainer that you are worried about self-defense, and he will probably be able to adjust the training to this to some degree (Dirty Boxing). As a supplement to this, you could buy Bas Rutten's self-defense video and practice those techniques with someone a little.

Self-defense is a tricky matter as you can't prepare for all the various scenarios that may take place. The best defense is avoidance of the situation. But I think bjj is the best self defense as most won't be competant on the ground so you can easily impose your will. But this isn't as helpful against multiple assailants. I would carry a weapon for self defense and thus train using it.

Weapons are a hell of an equalizer in an SD situation.. Gun-fu if you can carry in your state/country.

http://www.kahr.com/PA-1_9mm_pm.html

That's going to beat any unarmed, sword, or staff technique pretty reliably... seems to be disallowed in most fighting tournaments for some reason though. (pussies)

Since you aren't advanced on any striking or grappling style to complete with something now,in order to get MMA education and thinking that BJJ you would practise once week, you should go with Western Boxing for sure.Western Boxing isn't going to teach you how to punch only but is the root for All the striking styles.You will learn how to stand,walk,dance,parry/block a blow hit and further be a striker.Most good kickboxers, thaiboxers that achieved to stand out were those that had good boxing'roots'.I'm amateur boxer And doing some kickboxing that's why talking assuredly.

I would either start out with BJJ (or other groud work) or Muay Thai (Boxing, Kicks, clinch, etc.). Mostly leaning more toward BJJ probably.

Old thread, sorry, but I had to set the record straight:

BJJ is judo. Or rather, it is a school of judo. Jujutsu is an art where you learn the kind of things that BJJers usually mock (anything standing up). The Kimura lock is from Judo (where it is called ude garami), and named by Gracie after a famous judoka named Kimura who beat Helio Gracie in 1951.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armlock#Kimur...u_ude-garami.29

If it was down to 2 days of judo vs 1 day of BJJ I'd take the judo. If at some point in your life you can get to the BJJ stuff, the vast majority of your knowledge will cross apply. If you're not trained in either or other forms of wrestling/grappling currently, *anything* will improve what you're doing.

Just thought I'd let you know. I know that the BJJ thing is a huge fad, but no reason to let that fad cloud your mind. Also, that this person was a student of some Gracie doesn't make him god- so make sure to watch a class, participate in a free first class, talk with the other low- and mid-rank students,

That depends on the extent to which the Judo school does newaza sparring IMO. For some of the more traditional/sport Kodokan schools, this would be poor advice for a burgeoning MMA fighter

"sparring" in judo? Judo does not do sparring, they do randori which loosely translated means "play". Just terminology so don't worry about it too much.

IMO, judo is very good training. A judo person just has to get on the inside and will usually beat a boxer or other distance fighter.

Yeah, I'm not.