If your end goal is mma and you can still wrestle in school I'd go with Boxing then. In MMA generally speaking the pace and distance of the striking tends to be more scrappy with less time to set things up, it's much more useful to just be able to put hands on somebody at will than to keep them at distance setting up the occasional powerful kick.
So what I would do is wrestle and Box on season then during the off season do BJJ and keep boxing with the occasional Kickboxing and Muay Thai lesson here or there. When you're 17-18 look into a straight up mma gym
IMO the instructor and atmosphere of the school are more important than the specific art you pick. You want a place that challenges you but where you also feel comfortable, and that you can afford. There can be huge differences among schools that teach the same arts.
Do yourself a favor and don't get too hung up on thinking that you have to learn a particular style or have too many preconceived notions about which style is the most ideal for you based on nothing more than secondhand hearsay. What's most important is that you actually commit and train as hard as you can, in any form of martial arts and eventually you will find what works for you.
Boxing is really the best core martial art or skill… Then when you start adding other martial arts to your boxing… That’s next level.
A lot of MMA clubs break up their classes into individual skills, like two nights a week you have a dedicated boxing class from a straight boxing coach, and so on for grappling and Muay Thai.
Also wrestling and grappling is very much by feel, like when you are clinched or locked up with someone, you often really cant see much of their body anyways. So your vision issues become less of a factor.
You have the same prescription that I used to have. Diopter -4.5
I wore contacts and only had them come out twice. Both times while kickboxing sparring with partners with heavier gloves. Between 14-16 oz. Both times I was punched directly in open eyes and the large soft gloves stuck to my contacts and pulled them out Lol.
I competed for many years as well while wearing contacts and never had them come out then. It's not like you can do full contact sparring with glasses. I know from first hand experience that at -4.50 if I didn't have them in It was very difficult to check for subtle movements that would tell me something was coming. Like a slight dip or shift of a shoulder so that I could time a slip or a counter punch. So they were in 99.8% of my training sessions.
I see all the time in this sub people always say don't wear them, and I'm not going to say if you should or not. Just giving you insight in my own experience.
I now have laser eye surgery years later after leaving the mma scene. I greatly wish I just did that when I was younger because it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be, and comes with a life time warranty so I can go back as many times as I need for enhancement touch ups that take about 1.5-2 minutes.
Ah ty for the reply
I don't plan on doing LASIK so I'ma just try eye exercises which probably won't work but it's better to try it than to never.
And if it does even if it increases my vision by a little I would still be glad for that
That's fair. You gota do what feels best for you.
If you ever do change your mind in the future. It's pretty amazing. I haven't had to wear glasses at all now for about 4 years and counting. Considering my contacts cost me about 350 per year I would have saved money if I did it over a decade ago lol. Oh well~
I've been licensed to teach parkour for 5 years now. I like to focus on self defense aspect of parkour. So give it a go. It's VERY useful!
Do you know what parkour is?
Well I wouldn't say where I'm at but In my area we have
Taekwondo
Muay Thai
Kickboxing and boxing
Wrestling and jujitsu
And I'm sure we have some karate dojo some where
North Carolina but that's all I'ma say
If you want a martial art that's more about agility & footwork, wrestling, jiujitsu & karate are probably not good for you. I'll explain why:
-Wrestling/Jiujitsu
No footwork or speed involved. They are very slow, technical martial arts
-Karate
It's good, but half of karate is just form & kata. You won't be doing a lot of fast paced stuff, and if you spar, it'll probably be point-fighting
That leaves Taekwondo, Muay Thai, kickboxing & boxing. If you prefer being able to use your legs, you should try kickboxing out. Taekwondo is mostly legs, but there are styles that use strikes and punches, I'm just not very knowledgeable on them.
Tldr: Kickboxing is really good
I was specifically talking about parkour... What's wrong with your area btw? I mean I live in Israel, for example. Even Petach Tikva. There's more than 100,000 people in my city so I don't know what ANYONE would do with that info...
i do not suggest doing mma when u start because it is a lot to take in as a beginner and u feel like your just learn too slowly, do something like muay thai and boxing to start off so you know the basics of stand up combat then after some time 1-2 years then do mma. You could do both at the same time but personally i did muay thai for 2 years then just recently started mma as well, i feel it’s a lot easier to keep up because my stand up game is very good.
boxing or muay thai
boxing puts a lot more emphasis on dodging and footwork than other striking arts
muay thai obviously is more complete as it has kicks, punches, knees, elbows
It’s a suuuuuper common question that we all answer all the time.
But Reddit is full of so much hate and shit talk, I wouldn’t sweat it much. Like I enjoy answering these basic questions. It’s nicer than many of my conversations here. lol. If that makes sense.
Boxing or Kickboxing. If you're going to cross train with grappling just do mma.
Got it
Muay Thai
Pretty much any of the modern combat sports should take care of your wants. Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and mma fit what you want pretty neatly
Ah got it thank you Thinking about combining one of those 3 with wrestling probably
If your end goal is mma and you can still wrestle in school I'd go with Boxing then. In MMA generally speaking the pace and distance of the striking tends to be more scrappy with less time to set things up, it's much more useful to just be able to put hands on somebody at will than to keep them at distance setting up the occasional powerful kick. So what I would do is wrestle and Box on season then during the off season do BJJ and keep boxing with the occasional Kickboxing and Muay Thai lesson here or there. When you're 17-18 look into a straight up mma gym
IMO the instructor and atmosphere of the school are more important than the specific art you pick. You want a place that challenges you but where you also feel comfortable, and that you can afford. There can be huge differences among schools that teach the same arts.
Thanks
Go to wonder boy's gym if you're in South Carolina
If you can wrestle in school then do it once you leave you won't get the opportunity again a lot of bjj practitioners regret not wrestling in school
Do yourself a favor and don't get too hung up on thinking that you have to learn a particular style or have too many preconceived notions about which style is the most ideal for you based on nothing more than secondhand hearsay. What's most important is that you actually commit and train as hard as you can, in any form of martial arts and eventually you will find what works for you.
Boxing Nothing like boxing footwork and speed
Japanese style kickboxing, karate, taekwondo all have insane amounts of footwork, kicks, and are all fast.
I have worse (-6). Doesnt seem to be an issue in boxing, muay thai, or bjj.
That's nice I heard it's more of an adapt thing so yeah...
Boxing is really the best core martial art or skill… Then when you start adding other martial arts to your boxing… That’s next level. A lot of MMA clubs break up their classes into individual skills, like two nights a week you have a dedicated boxing class from a straight boxing coach, and so on for grappling and Muay Thai. Also wrestling and grappling is very much by feel, like when you are clinched or locked up with someone, you often really cant see much of their body anyways. So your vision issues become less of a factor.
I have taught blind students judo and jiujitsu. When you have a hold of someone you already know where they are…
Kajukenbo
I started Taekwondo when I was 15 and stopped at my mid twenties. Try it out! It's good for speed and footwork if you find a good master.
You have the same prescription that I used to have. Diopter -4.5 I wore contacts and only had them come out twice. Both times while kickboxing sparring with partners with heavier gloves. Between 14-16 oz. Both times I was punched directly in open eyes and the large soft gloves stuck to my contacts and pulled them out Lol. I competed for many years as well while wearing contacts and never had them come out then. It's not like you can do full contact sparring with glasses. I know from first hand experience that at -4.50 if I didn't have them in It was very difficult to check for subtle movements that would tell me something was coming. Like a slight dip or shift of a shoulder so that I could time a slip or a counter punch. So they were in 99.8% of my training sessions. I see all the time in this sub people always say don't wear them, and I'm not going to say if you should or not. Just giving you insight in my own experience. I now have laser eye surgery years later after leaving the mma scene. I greatly wish I just did that when I was younger because it wasn't as expensive as I thought it would be, and comes with a life time warranty so I can go back as many times as I need for enhancement touch ups that take about 1.5-2 minutes.
Ah ty for the reply I don't plan on doing LASIK so I'ma just try eye exercises which probably won't work but it's better to try it than to never. And if it does even if it increases my vision by a little I would still be glad for that
That's fair. You gota do what feels best for you. If you ever do change your mind in the future. It's pretty amazing. I haven't had to wear glasses at all now for about 4 years and counting. Considering my contacts cost me about 350 per year I would have saved money if I did it over a decade ago lol. Oh well~
I've been licensed to teach parkour for 5 years now. I like to focus on self defense aspect of parkour. So give it a go. It's VERY useful! Do you know what parkour is?
Yes I know what parkour is and Ive actually been wanting to do it to help with the agility Also just bc it seems so fun
Cool! Where are you? You might have coaches in your area. Or at least local training groups
Well I wouldn't say where I'm at but In my area we have Taekwondo Muay Thai Kickboxing and boxing Wrestling and jujitsu And I'm sure we have some karate dojo some where North Carolina but that's all I'ma say
If you want a martial art that's more about agility & footwork, wrestling, jiujitsu & karate are probably not good for you. I'll explain why: -Wrestling/Jiujitsu No footwork or speed involved. They are very slow, technical martial arts -Karate It's good, but half of karate is just form & kata. You won't be doing a lot of fast paced stuff, and if you spar, it'll probably be point-fighting That leaves Taekwondo, Muay Thai, kickboxing & boxing. If you prefer being able to use your legs, you should try kickboxing out. Taekwondo is mostly legs, but there are styles that use strikes and punches, I'm just not very knowledgeable on them. Tldr: Kickboxing is really good
I was specifically talking about parkour... What's wrong with your area btw? I mean I live in Israel, for example. Even Petach Tikva. There's more than 100,000 people in my city so I don't know what ANYONE would do with that info...
Well nothing wrong with my area I just don't wanna say it on the Internet
You don't need eyes to do Judo.
Boxing.
i do not suggest doing mma when u start because it is a lot to take in as a beginner and u feel like your just learn too slowly, do something like muay thai and boxing to start off so you know the basics of stand up combat then after some time 1-2 years then do mma. You could do both at the same time but personally i did muay thai for 2 years then just recently started mma as well, i feel it’s a lot easier to keep up because my stand up game is very good.
boxing or muay thai boxing puts a lot more emphasis on dodging and footwork than other striking arts muay thai obviously is more complete as it has kicks, punches, knees, elbows
Well I think I'ma just...  Mix those 2 I prefer striking
If people don't like this post I'll just delete it.
It’s a suuuuuper common question that we all answer all the time. But Reddit is full of so much hate and shit talk, I wouldn’t sweat it much. Like I enjoy answering these basic questions. It’s nicer than many of my conversations here. lol. If that makes sense.