How much can Boxing Sparring help you defend yourself ?

[Dakuwaqa]

Best not to go to ground but that's the way a lotta fights go anyway so it's worth being prepared, but honestly you shouldnt even be looking for a submission as a beginner anyway, just concentrate on the energy management and getting either a really tight guard or a really stable mount and learn how to apply your weight. Vast majority of the time an untrained dude gonna empty their tank very quickly struggling to either hit you or get out from under you and gonna start looking for a way out.

The problem is that you aren't taught how to defend punches in guard

Pulling guard 'is way too dangerous' we've seen many black belts get KOed in guard in MMA.

If you're on top then yes you'll have a good chance at controlling things. Problem is BJJ practitioners generally aren't great at takedowns.

I honestly think mastering 2 takedowns and basic takedown defence is gives you 'much better bang for you buck'

[Citizen Koba]

... testicle grabbing, biting, finger snapping, head stamping ...

Jiujitsu works great if your opponent sticks to the rules of jiutitsu. There are no rules in a street fight. Best tactic is to stay firmly on your feet and knock him TFO as quickly as possible. That's where boxing training comes into its own.

Difference between sport jujitsu and jujitsu for self defense - bear in mind BJJ was developed specifically as a form of street fighting before it ever took off as a spectator sport as a foundational element of MMA. And yeah you train to protect yourself from bites, to,isolate their limbs and to protect your balls and eyes - or at least if you don't you should start looking for a gym or instructor that does.

Now of course that ain't to say you're not far better ending it before it ever goes to ground but it takes either a lot of training and natural talent or a real lot of luck to reliably knock someone out And even if you are one of the few who can do that what you gonna do when you get swarmed and someone thinks to tackle your legs? Exactly what I did to this dude who'd one-punched two of my mates... took his legs out then ****ed him up - although granted he did get his revenge on me a couple weeks later. Dude hit like a freaking lump hammer.

[Clegg]

If you say so bro

I wouldn’t recommend BJJ for self-defence as I think fighting on the ground ‘is the last place you want to be’

Concrete, clothes, punches, scratches, other people around would make it very difficult to effectively pull off a submission as a blue belt.

You want to end the fight ‘as soon as possible’

Mastering single and double leg takes downs and sparring ‘so you used to someone swinging at you’ is a much better idea.

But whatevs bro you do you

I get where you're coming from. If you're stepping to somebody looking to hurt them quick, boxing>BJJ. However if we're talking about self-defence in terms of somebody attacking you, BJJ can be better in some situations. Because sometimes you can't keep the fight off the ground even if you want to. I once had somebody quickly grab and trip me. I wasn't expecting it, they jumped on top of me but I swept them and had top position to punch down and their friend had to run over and save them. If you ever get sucker punched, your head might not be clear enough to swap punches and grabbing and going for a choke can work better.

If your opponent fights fair then boxing ftw but BJJ goes a long way vs all the bums and punks around these days.

A lot of people saying judo is good and I agree. But just personally, I found judo harder to get into as an adult. The sparring is more rigid than boxing or BJJ, and I didn't feel I was picking the technique up so well. But maybe just my experience, think it would've been more enjoyable if starting as a kid.

[TMLT87]

I used to knock around with a guy who took up judo. He practised for a while and passed a couple of gradings. Then I heard he got into a fight with some fat guy outside a pub. My mate grabbed the front of the fat guy's sweater, stepped back and yanked on it as hard he could, hoping to use his body weight to unbalance the guy and toss him down to the pavement. The fat guy's sweater stretched but he didn't budge. My mate lost his balance and fell over. The fat guy in the baggy sweater then proceeded to kick the **** out of him until bystanders intervened.

Nothing is fool proof especially if you're dealing with size differences. I think your mates main mistake there was using his judo as the first weapon. In that situation it should be a back up for if fatty survives the initial punch(es) and breaks through boxing range to try and grab you. Just grabbing someone without any set up like that is risky especially if they're bigger.

[War Room]

If a average guy sparrs on a weekly basis how well would he be able to defend himself in a street fight ?

Depends on how good you are. If you suck and continue to suck, well you might get whooped. If you progress like I did, you'll never lose. 90% of street fights I had after boxing was me landing 1 to 2 punches and it was over. Hardly ever grappled or fought on the ground. A friend owned a mma gym so I did a tiny bit of mma there, more of as a use for prevention than offense. If you're on the ground, you're doing it wrong.

I never sparred on a weekly basis either. I think sparring can easily be overdone. Once a week is too much imo. There was a gym that showed up to the local shows and they sparred 2-3 times a week. Their fighters were never exceptional, but they fought strong and had good tempo for all 3 or 4 rounds. Pretty sure they lost more than they won because they were more crude than not.

[Citizen Koba]

The problem is that you aren't taught how to defend punches in guard

Pulling guard 'is way too dangerous' we've seen many black belts get KOed in guard in MMA.

If you're on top then yes you'll have a good chance at controlling things. Problem is BJJ practitioners generally aren't great at takedowns.

I honestly think mastering 2 takedowns and basic takedown defence is gives you 'much better bang for you buck'

You should be, either controlling their arms, blocking or wrapping yourself that close they can't get any leverage on their strikes is foundational - at least the way I was taught. Before anything else the top priority is to stop em causing you fight ending damage.

I would agree that there ain't enough emphasis on takedowns though especially at beginner level , it was always an edge I had with my judo background.

I ain't gonna weigh in on which would be the most efficient way for an absolute beginner to prepare themselves for a real fight because there's just too many variables.. Neglect any aspect, striking, takedowns or groundwork and it could easily get you fkd up... Conversely though any training of any sort at least gives you a better chance than none at all.

Ha ha honestly you really want to maximise your chances of surviving an encounter unscathed? Take up running...

[Dakuwaqa]

You should be, either controlling their arms, blocking or wrapping yourself that close they can't get any leverage on their strikes is foundational - at least the way I was taught. Before anything else the top priority is to stop em causing you fight ending damage.

I would agree that there ain't enough emphasis on takedowns though especially at beginner level , it was always an edge I had with my judo background.

I ain't gonna weigh in on which would be the most efficient way for an absolute beginner to prepare themselves for a real fight because there's just too many variables.. Neglect any aspect, striking, takedowns or groundwork and it could easily get you fkd up... Conversely though any training of any sort at least gives you a better chance than none at all.

Ha ha honestly you really want to maximise your chances of surviving an encounter unscathed? Take up running...

Absolutely

I've never been in a fight and I used to go out to parties 2 or 3 times a week

Sometimes 'knowing how to fight' puts you at more risk because you're more likely stand your ground rather than trying to deescalate the situation

[Dakuwaqa]

I get where you're coming from. If you're stepping to somebody looking to hurt them quick, boxing>BJJ. However if we're talking about self-defence in terms of somebody attacking you, BJJ can be better in some situations. Because sometimes you can't keep the fight off the ground even if you want to. I once had somebody quickly grab and trip me. I wasn't expecting it, they jumped on top of me but I swept them and had top position to punch down and their friend had to run over and save them. If you ever get sucker punched, your head might not be clear enough to swap punches and grabbing and going for a choke can work better.

If your opponent fights fair then boxing ftw but BJJ goes a long way vs all the bums and punks around these days.

A lot of people saying judo is good and I agree. But just personally, I found judo harder to get into as an adult. The sparring is more rigid than boxing or BJJ, and I didn't feel I was picking the technique up so well. But maybe just my experience, think it would've been more enjoyable if starting as a kid.

Good post

I agree with everything.

When I have kids I want them training from young!

[ShoulderRoll]

If it's REALLY a street fight then Filipino martial arts are good. Get out a knife, or find a makeshift stick-like object.

They'll teach you angles of attack and defense with weapons right from the start. And eventually those same angles are translated to empty hands.

[Citizen Koba]

Another point that may be worth raising is that there's fights and there's fights... most young man scraps ain't about dudes fighting to the death or to really fuck each other up, or at least don't start that way.

90% it's a few bruised egos or imagined or real insults, or some dude wanting to impress a chick or some other silliness. Now I ain't saying it's guaranteed but both from a safety and legal standpoint striking is almost always escalatory.... hit someone and it might be a swift W and they back down but if they don't you suddenly made things a whole lot more serious . And if you're caught on camera - which is a high probability these days then all of sudden you're much more likely to be seen as the bad guy.

Not only that if you're someone who can hit hard enough to KSTFU then you also running the risk of doing em serious - maybe permanent damage. Controlling em and stopping em hurting you until they calm down or just run outta steam has the advantage of being - on the whole - much more controllable and has less chance or causing unintentional damge that could land you in jail.