What's Harder: Striking or Grappling?

What’s harder.. striking or grappling? BJJ or Muay Thai? Wrestling or Kyokushin? Sambo or Boxing?
Today we find out…

Big thanks to Hometown Martial Arts in Raleigh, NC for letting me come train!

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[davidhutchens]

As someone who does both Grappling is harder at the beginning and it gets easier but striking starts easier and gets harder

[lamertofargaming]

Harder to train is grappling, harder to compete or spar is definitely striking.

[theondono]

I think the problem is that they have very different curves.

Striking at the beginning feels way easier, you’re pretty much standing up, and with some basics you can do okay, but progress is steeper the further you go.

Grappling is way harder at first, you’re *drowning* in new stuff, postures, positions, traps, … but once you get over the initial hump, the progress is much more linear.

Switching to grappling also has the added benefit of not having to explain the boss why I have swollen lip before a meeting 😂

[faylmusic]

I used to think that striking gets more injuries and switched to Judo. I never had so many injuries before

[rico]

I would also say defensive grappling is way easier than offensive grappling, but for striking it’s the opposite.

[tronbonn]

Answer is: Yes.

Training both is extremely helpful especially if you find an art in each which is open to incorporating the best of others in its space and not rigidly held to its “foundations” beyond the beginner level.

I find that MT and Judo go extremely well, with the fun nuance that because of the MT stance (orthodox) I am opposite in Judo (kenka yotsu) which is hard to learn when the instructor insists I’m not left handed 😅. MT is great to start since it covers all lead in distances up to the grips/clinch then Judo starts from there for the takedown and submission.

[makaiev]

grappling has a quite a steep learning curve... striking learnning curve is more like a rollercoaster

[BMO_Creative]

Sparring partner "When i say I'm new, I'm horrible at it" Sensei Seth "Perfect" LOL

[abcdefgcdefg]

Its crazy to me that Seth doesn't have more subscribers with amount of work and passion he puts into his content. If you are a fan of martial arts, you should be subscribed to Seth because he gives all martial arts their fair representation

[TheElbowMerchant]

I had a better, more innate understanding of striking earlier on in my martial arts/combat sports journey, but I've grown to really love the intricacies of grappling. All I know for sure is that striking was my first love, but getting better at grappling has been extremely gratifying as I've gotten older.

[primarchK]

Striking hurts way more. Grappling is far more complicated, and takes forever (at least for me) to learn
Great vid !!!
Thanks much

[Outdoors-tyhp]

The fact they have hitmonlee on the wall makes them the best gym around, I don’t even need a free intro class. Sign me up.

[Atius]

I think it's personal preference and what you're built for. Grappling comes naturally to me even though I spent most of my time striking. I also have an easy time gaining strength, but a harder time building cardiovascular endurance.

[cronosxxxmatrixx]

Grappling is way harder if you have a relatively thin frame, and striking is harder if you have a relatively bulky frame but this also comes with natural power so i’d say overall grappling is harder

[taylorjohnson]

Your definition of your grappling is spot on. I too feel like I’m naturally an okay wrestler. But technically I feel like a baby reading the dictionary.

[brutalbohemian]

Glad you dig the murals there! I painted large mural and the bathrooms! Would love to do more gym murals!

[lewislewis]

For me personally I think striking is more easier to learn than grappling because it’s kinda easy to practice basic striking techniques all you need is a bag /shadow boxing.

But for grappling all you can do is practice falling down, moving around the floor and get back up. You need someone else or a dummy to practice on.

But what really important is which style you enjoy more because if you like it you pick it up better.

[danlewis]

Both disciplines can be very complex, both can lead to injury. Both require strenuous physical exertion and mental toughness.

So I guess I would say the most difficult thing to do is the thing that comes least naturally.

Great video Seth!

[MrCBTman]

I’ve practiced several different arts, but I think the hardest on the body was probably Judo. When I was a teenager, my Judo club moved from the rec centre to a warehouse in the industrial section of town. The straw tatami mats on top of those cement floors made the surface we were falling on roughly equivalent to being thrown with force onto kitchen tile. One of my fellow students’ moms was a paediatrician. She saw this and pulled him from the class. I also remember seeing very serious injuries in competition, like when one of my friends was drop-seo-nage’d onto his head and suffered pinched vertebrae and a concussion.

[nikolab.]

Injury-wise, the ones from training striking were mostly bruises for me. Wrestling however almost dislocated my left shoulder. Looking at it from that angle, I'd say grappling is harder.