Boxing, Kickboxing, Or MMA( Mixed Martial Arts )?

[Tai]

Whats the best one to take out of three of them. Can someone explain the pros and cons of each please. Serious answers please

[JohnnyN]

If you're looking to a become well-rounded fighter, than MMA is your obvious pick. If you're training for the sake of having fun, getting in shape, and learning to kick ass then you'll have to consider the different atmospheres of each gym.

Fighting gyms come in 2 flavors: 1) the crappy fat-camp gyms where the trainers probably only had a few amateur fights and nothing more. These gyms probably suck the most and cost the most. 2) The real legit gyms where former champs are training new and up&coming champs. These gyms are a bit too serious since the guys always spar hard like all the time.


Boxing - very tough and demanding physically. you will be sparring with guys who train 5 hours + daily. The pros are that you will be in super good shape and have lightning fast reflexes. Boxing gyms are also the cheapest in my opinion and there are plenty of former boxing champs walking around.

Kickboxing - Gym atmosphere is a bit different with half of the people competing and others just doing it for fun. More girls are in this category than any other. Kickboxing is also more popular than boxing for white people and college guys making a late start in martial arts.

MMA - These gyms are hard to describe. Some of them are kickboxing gyms that offering BJJ classes. Others are open gyms where MMA guys come and teach different disciplines throughout the week. The atmosphere is friendly but sparring can be rough at times. Grappling however is never as rough as boxing/kickboxing.