Is Boxing And Judo A Good Combination?
Is boxing and Judo a good combination? Boxing and Judo is a good combination. It will make you a complete fighter. You will be competent in all aspects of fighting (striking, takedowns, submissions). Boxing and Judo will give you many effective ways to end a fight and will allow you to choose where the fight takes place, standing or on the ground.
More Knowledge = Better Results
The more weapons you have in a fight the better. As not all techniques are suitable depending on the situation. For example if you a pure boxer and your attacker tackles you to the ground, no matter how good of a boxer you are you will not be able to use your boxing skills while you are pinned to the ground. However if in addition to being a great boxer you were also a skilled Judoka you could easily use your Judo techniques to reverse your opponent, or submit them.
During a fight your opponent will present you with opportunities to counter and end the fight. The more techniques you know the more counter opportunities you will be able to take advantage of. For example if you only know Judo and your attacker is standing with his chin in the air and his hands outstretched not protecting his jaw you will not be able to utilize the most effective counter in this situation which would be a punch to the jaw. However if you also were a skilled boxer you could quickly capitalize on this opening and end the fight.
You may not always use a lot of tools in a fight. However the more tools you have at your disposal places you in a more optimal position to control and win a fight as you will be prepared for any situation.
Importance Of Striking
All fights start in the standing position. The most common form of fighting is at least one attacker throwing strikes. If you want to be an effective fighter you need to know how to defend against an attacker trying to knock you out. Judokas are not used to opponents attempting to punch them in the face. This new reality may cause Judoka’s to panic and they may not be able to effectively use their Judo. Also Judokas may accidentally stand in striking distance without realizing it due to lack of experience.
By learning Boxing alongside your Judo you will be comfortable defending against and throwing strikes. You will understand distance, knowing where your opponent can hit you and when they can’t. An opponent throwing strikes will not unnerve you and you will be confident to use your Judo when your opponent gives you an opening.
Importance Of Ground Fighting
Here is a Suloev Stretch performed by Zabit Magomedsharipov to get the submission win UFC 228
Bakari Akil conducted a study to find out what percentage of fights go to the ground by watching hours of CCTV footage to determine the results of street fights. He found that 42% of fights ended up with both people on the ground while 72% ended with at least one person on the ground.
As it is extremely common for fights to end up on the ground if you want to be able to effectively defend yourself you need to be competent in ground fighting and wrestling. Boxing does not teach any wrestling or ground fighting and therefore boxers are susceptible to being wrestled to the ground and then either being knocked out or submitted. By learning Judo you will be become an expert in throwing attackers to the ground, keeping them on the ground and submitting them. If you know Judo and you end up on the ground in a fight you will be able to quickly defeat your opponent.
Ability To Choose Location Of Fight
A great advantage of learning boxing and Judo is the ability to decide where the fight takes place. You can decide to stand and strike with your opponent or you can choose to take the fight to the ground. There are advantages in fighting in the standing position and on the ground. If you do not want to hurt your opponent it is often best to use grappling techniques and take your opponent down before submitting them. It is not possible to use striking to win a fight without causing physical damage to your attacker and there have been many cases where people have died from being punched in a street fight after hitting their head on the ground.
If you are facing multiple attackers it is dangerous to take the fight to the ground as you can be swarmed by a group and be kicked in the head with no way of defending yourself. If you are facing multiple attackers it is best to keep the fight standing and use striking techniques to keep your attackers at distance.
By learning boxing and Judo you will be a well rounded fighter who is comfortable fighting in all scenarios.
Ability To Compete In MMA
If you want to compete in MMA you must be a well rounded fighter. In early MMA matches you would see style matches where a boxer would fight a wrestler, a karate guy would take on a Kung Fu fighter. Those days are well and truly over with MMA athletes now training in a variety of martial arts.
Striking and grappling are both fundamental aspects of MMA. Based on UFC states on average 2.5 significant strikes are landed per minute, 3 takedowns completed per match 17% of fights end in submission and 30% end in a knockout. If you do not know how to grapple and strike your opponent will take advantage of your weakness.
Fortunately a combination of Judo and boxing will teach you all the fundamental aspects of MMA. There have been a number of highly successful MMA athletes who have used Judo and boxing to win championships, including Ronda Rousey, Fedor Emelianenko and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
How Do You Fight Against Judo?
How do you fight against Judo? The best way to fight against Judo is to stay away from the clinch and use strikes from distance. Judo relies on being close to your opponent to throw them to the ground. You can effectively fight against Judo by being out of reach. Judo does not teach strikes so Judokas are susceptible to being knocked out by strikes.
To fight against Judo you need to strike from a distance. Punching and kicking from the outside is your best option. An effective strategy is to wait until a Judoka attempts to grab a hold of you and as they are leaning in throw a flurry of punches. Judokas do not practice against strikes so they will often attempt to establish a clinch by grabbing you with their arms down and chin the air. This will give you a great opportunity to throw a combo of punches.
Judokas are not use to being punched. This will make it easier to defeat them using strikes as their body is not conditioned to being punched. A Judoka is much more likely to become flustered and panic after being punched.
To utilize their Judo throws a Judoka must get very close to you and establish grips. If you can prevent a Judoka from getting close to you they will be unable to defeat you in a fight.
How Do You Defend Yourself Against A Boxer?
How do you defend yourself against a boxer? The best way to defend yourself against a boxer is to manage distance and use grappling techniques. You want to be completely out of punching range or pressed against a boxer’s chest to ensure they can’t punch you. When you are clinched you want to use grappling to take the boxer to ground, pin and submit or punch them.
A boxer’s Kryptonite is a wrestler. We saw this in the early UFC matches where high level wrestlers such as Mark Coleman and Mark Kerr were able to overwhelm strikers by shooting double legs, pinning them to the ground and striking them until they couldn’t continue. Boxer’s do not know to defend against takedowns. Wrestlers are experts at taking down wrestlers who are skilled at avoiding take downs. This makes it incredibly easy for a wrestler to throw a boxer to the ground. It is made even easier because of a boxer’s tall stance giving a wrestler easy access to the legs.
Once on the ground boxers are helpless. They do not know how to get back to their feet. They do not know how to defend against submissions. They can not mount any offence as it is impossible to generate significant force in your punches when you are pinned on the ground. Wrestler’s practice everyday pinning other wrestler’s who are experts at getting back to their feet. Pinning a boxer is incredibly easy. A boxer will widely flail in an attempt to get back to their feet but this will only make them more tired and give the wrestler an opening to sink in a submission.
Conclusion
Being an expert in one aspect of fighting will give you a large advantage over an attacker in a street fight. However you will be susceptible to being beaten in areas of fighting which you are a novice in. To increase your effectiveness in combat you should strive to be a well rounded fighter. By learning boxing and Judo you will be a more complete fighter who is proficient in all aspects of hand to hand combat (striking, wrestling and submissions).
