How good is BOXING for street-fighting, self-defense? (compared to bjj, other martial arts)

My thoughts on using boxing for street fighting. What are the pros and cons.

[EnriquePage]

Knowing how to throw a punch, and how to stand my ground when outnumbered saved my neck several times when I lived in a rough neighborhood, so I'm extremely thankful for boxing!

[kencarey]

Retired police officer here. I have seen many, many fights in my 30 yrs on the beat. They have all been stand and punch until someone goes down. I was a defensive tactic instructor and taught officers to protect their weapon and stay on their feet at all cost. I definitely feel boxing and the knowledge of how to keep from being taken down would be them most realistic self defense

[MishaElRusito]

Boxing is definitely better than BJJ because you do NOT want to be on the ground in a street fight, he can have buddies. But that's only if you are 100% sure that those guys don't have weapons like knives. In that case, it's way better to have a pepper spray and run. If you just have two drunk guys who are trying to prove a point, boxing is better, you can knock out each of them with one punch. BUT you gotta be careful with punching in the head because the guy can fall down and hit his head on the concrete and just die (happens a lot), and you will go to jail. So be careful with that.

[reachvictoria]

I used to be a cocky street fighter that had lots of luck on my side. Wrestled a bit in school but nothing major.
Then I took boxing for 6 months. I’ve been in one fight since then and it wasn’t even close to fair. I felt bad for the guy even though it was what it was. If nothing else, boxing taught how to effectively fight with my hands to the point I try to find every way possible of avoiding a fight so I don’t hurt someone. Same attitude when you carry concealed...your days of mouthing off and looking for trouble have to be over.

[chamchamal]

The very first thing that %95 of people are doing during the street fight is throwing punches ! A Good boxer reacts straight away, and then the power of punches that boxers are generate almost as twice stronger as and faster than someone who never trained or boxed at all .

[jaymarcase]

When in a self defense situation, I want to get out of it as quickly as possible and I don’t know of anything quicker than a jab, cross combo or a jab, cross, left hook. Most people on the street won’t even see them coming and when you throw them you will be balanced so that you can run if needed.

[jiminator]

Dont forget about the dark arts of boxing (sneaky elbows and trips, groin strikes, knees, headbutts, holding and hitting). These things are illegal but make no mistake, they are part of the pro game and should be studied at some point in your boxing training

[finhyland]

Geoff Thompson a UK Martial artist and a bouncer who worked in one of the roughest city's in England and has black belts in Karate, Judo and also trained in Muay Thai, Jiu jitsu and boxing said what got him out of trouble 99 per cent of the time was basic boxing and preemtive tactics.

[inhometraineroakville]

I have been in street fights before and there's no question that Boxing works and very well. I also train in Wing Chun which is in the same realm as Boxing if you understand it. Every street fight will begin with someone either trying to shove you or punch you, usually with a big swinging punch. Either way Boxing training will help you with that. A lot of people say that 90% of fights end up on the ground. But what they don't mention is that 100% of fights start standing up.

[MishaElRusito]

Guys be careful with street fighting, at least in Russia the laws are strict, if you drop the guy and he dies from hitting the concrete with his head, you'll go to jail even if that's self defense. Idk the laws in the US but I'm pretty sure you'll get time as well cuz it's use of deadly force if you are a boxer. Happens a lot. Guys die not from the punch, but from the fall. So my friend was telling me that when you knock a guy out and he is about to fall, it's better to hold him up to soften the fall hahahaha funny but it can keep you out of jail and safe his life. Or just hit the body, it's safer.

[lucasporter]

The best part of boxing training for me was knowing how to cut off a ring with positioning and footwork. When I was a bouncer that knowledge of position and dictating the movement of the other guy was way more valuable than any 1-2 I learned.

[zachariasjames]

Boxing is the most practical striking art for street self defense, second is muay thai.muay thai is better for sport fighting, in a street fight you want to end it as quickly as possible, leg kicks are meant to wear an opponent down most of the time not finish them, and in the street you'll be most likely wearing shoes and restrictive clothing

[raminhosaini]

Thank you so much. Look I am 21 and I have been traumatized last year with a man who wanted to attack me for no reason ( I think he was drunk) Anyway, I was so scared and I could not defend myself. I run away and luckily there was a hotel nearby where I could wait safely. But the moral of the story is that I could not defend my self, since than I am more afraid of people and even a long time of eye contact is intimidating me. I mean I am a short guy (160 cm) and gay. I hear a lot of insults coming towards, almost everyday. I want to defend myself and was desperately looking for a self defense, I think that boxing is great to start with. Thank you so much for you video.

[tristanstadtmuller]

Feel how hard a boxers knuckles are. I met Mike Tyson and he fist bumped me. Tyson’s knuckles are as hard as concrete.

Also, the physics in a fight makes a huge difference. Boxers use their mass in their punches. This is why they wear hand wraps and gloves. The physics behind a boxers punch could cause serious damage not only to their opponent, but also their own hands. I did my research paper on boxing when I was working on my BA for my physics class.

In karate, they really on velocity for their punches. Your opponent will feel a sting, but there isn’t power in those punches like a boxers.

Another good thing about boxing is that it teaches your body to hard up! Get used to being punched. You can also use boxing at your job if you have a drunk customer who gets violent with you. Dance around the customer, block his punches with your open palm. Wear him out and you can subdue him easier. Boxing is really good cardio.

[boxingwithben]

I fully agree. Mobility, footwork, head movement, knowledge of range, situational and surrounding awareness are the most useful attributes that a Boxer will have an inherent knowledge of in a street fight.

[bigredupsideyourhead]

I agree. Boxing definitely translate very well to a real street fight. Like you mentioned I've e heard of boxers who knock out not one but several guys at once.

[BradYaeger]

Boxing is an art dedicated soley to willfully standing in punching range and trying to knock the other guy out. And you not only train to do it, you also do it for real. A LOT. You not only learn how to hit and when and where to hit, you learn how to BE hit and still keep going. That is pretty hard to beat when it comes to most street fights and a lot of self defense situations. I know plenty of martial artists that have spent years and years training and never been hit full force in the head or body even once.

[shemwonders]

I had a fight in my birthday if all days last year and I’ve been doing boxing since 2015. My friends haven’t been officially trained. It was 3 of us and 4 turning into 7 of them. I didn’t get hit once because I slipped and rolled like there was no tomorrow (they both got hit several times) and floored 2 of them. All you need is boxing in a street fight. You hit fast and with power most people aren’t trained to expect that kind of skill in a street fight.

[sukottoshinobe]

I would like to think I am a pretty well experienced street fighter. Throughout my teens and 20s was constantly getting arrested for getting into fights at parties and bars and ran around with a rough group of guys. After being in so many fights and witnessing 10 times more I have seen so many so called “masters” or “black belts” that would get destroyed in fights against guys that knew just a little bit of boxing and some were really legit black belts that we knew and from around the area. I’m sorry but in real life karate, Kung fu, etc. will get you killed in a street fight or real situation. MMA, wrestling and/or good old boxing should do more than help anyone in real situation. and you can’t beat experience. If a person has never sparred or been in a real fight they will get destroyed by someone who has been in dozens of fights. Seen it in real time in real life situations 100 times at least. The Bruce lee move never comes and if it’s attempted, usually fails painfully. Learn foot /head movement and accurate punching and you can even fight more one person at a time. And this is the street here most street fights go down normally not one person but a guy that is confident because he has other people there. In my experience I was always fighting a guy that had at least two or three friends there that sometimes I had to fight all of them which is not fun. Being on the ground no matter how good of a wrestler you are is not a good place to be when you’re fighting more than one person. Boxing has saved my ass literally dozens of times. Head movement, you’ll beat 99% of average joes and worst case still be able to run

[stealthmonkeyG]

Fascinating perspective. Street ready reflexes makes sense, and especially the idea that boxers deal with the closest thing to a simulated attacker on the street