If you are thinking of taking up a martial art you may be wondering what is the best one to suit you.

With so many different styles of martial arts it is difficult to say what one is harder than another. Sometimes it can be an individual can adapt to a martial art better than someone else.

It doesn’t matter what style of fight it is, the grit and determination remains the same and no martial art should ever be considered easy as it wouldn’t give any sense of achievement, especially if you have just spent 5 years gaining your black belt.

So,

What is the easiest martial art to learn?

Their isn’t necessarily a martial art that is considered the easiest but every martial art requires different strengths and skills in various areas. We have gone through some of the most popular martial arts on how the compare with each other.

Boxing

It may seem crazy but boxing could be considered one of the easiest to learn as of its simplicity of just punches. However, with that said it can be the toughest to master and require the most dedication to perfect the techniques. Boxing also requires an extremely high level of fitness to consistently keep you boxing correctly. As soon a you get tired and gas your hands drop, your reactions get slower and your punches get less effective.

If you ask anyone who has been boxing for years, you can sure bet they will still want to improve on certain areas, as you can always get better. For instance, when you see a post fight interview of a professional boxer, even when they win they still sometimes say their flaws.

Boxing still could be considered one of the toughest sports as no one would like to be punched around by Anthony Joshua for 12 rounds, that is even if it would go that far.

Kickboxing

The style is very similar as in boxing but with kicks, making it a lot more complex. It requires the same amount of fitness as in boxing but kicking takes a lot more energy than punching as your legs are larger muscle groups. When you are fatigued in training you will find it much harder to throw continous kicks as opposed to punches. That is why kickboxing fights have a shorter time scale to boxing. It either has 12 X 2 minute rounds in full contact or 3 x 3 minutes in K1.

Kickboxing can be much more diverse as it has punches and kicks which allows it to have much more of a variety in training.

Read our article ‘What are the levels in kickboxing?’ here.

Jiu-Jitsu

Many say it is quicker to become a lawyer than to get a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu as their is plenty to learn. Jiu-Jitsu is one of the fundamental martial arts in MMA as it is extremely effective when it comes down to the grappling. Each move needs to be executed perfectly and in the correct position in order to be effective. Jiu-Jitsu doesn’t require the same level of cardio fitness compared to other martial arts but it does require a lot of physical strength as your opponent is constantly resisting you.

To learn more about Jiu-Jitsu read our article ‘BJJ: Gi vs No-Gi’ here.

MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)

In MMA, it requires a very high level of skill to make it as a fighter as you need to be experienced in at least 2 martial arts. You need to be able to punch and kick as well as being able to grapple on the floor. Many would consider this to be the toughest martial art especially with the fact only small 4oz MMA gloves are worn, but In other ways it could be a lot easier than other combat sports. As much as mastering every martial art style would make the perfect fighter, in reality this is not very feasible. When a MMA fighter goes into a fight, they would know what there opponents strengths and weaknesses are so they can plan their training to win. In MMA you can also submit if you feel you have had enough, of course you wouldn’t want a limb broke but giving up the fight is something you wouldn’t necessarily see in other combat sports. Professional MMA bouts have 5 minute rounds so it requires an extremely high level of fitness.

Muay Thai

Muay Thai could certainly be regarded as the hardest martial art on earth as their is nothing easy about it. Many Muay Thai practitioners fly to Thailand to train with the experts as it is the home of the sport. Muay Thai has more to learn than in kickboxing as knees and elbows are allowed, so you will need to learn how to defend and attack with these strikes. Muay Thai requires a very level of fitness and conditioning and If you have ever been to a Muay Thai class you will probably agree that your legs come out feeling like lead. This is down to the constant heavy kicking and kneeing on the Thai kick pads. Like in any sport, beginners will start off learning the basics and progress as time goes on.

Final thoughts

It doesn’t matter what style of martial art it is, any contact sport is going to be hard and challenging. It might seem daunting at first the thought of getting hit but your be surprised how enjoyable it becomes. All martial arts and combat sports are about always pushing yourself and testing your ability and the trill of sparring really does do that.

If you are keen to take up martial arts and feel sparring and contact isn’t for you, don’t worry as there are many non contact martial arts classes

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