I've been taking Wado-Ryu karate for 2 years now, and I've also learned a bit of helpful moves from watching my friends fight and TV (lol, I know all the risks with learning from TV, but it has worked). I've also considered learning boxing, and eventually move on to San Da after I accrue more speed and experience, but I just have a question. I don't punch karate style (the corkscrew motion), so my punches tend to be more power oriented, yet i am still able to control them. However, I am worried that taking boxing might affect my control during sparring. Has anyone ever taken both full contact boxing and semi-contact karate, and if so, is there any control issues that I should know about and hopefully rectify?
lol... boxing and semi-contact karate... your sparring will be really messed up. My generic advice is to wait until you are first or second degree black belt before cross-training in boxing. However, you probably won't listen to that advice and will take some boxing anyway. There is no reason why you can't learn both from karate and boxing right now... however it really could become a struggle to integrate them in a way that you can still keep learning. My biggest concern is about the time spent in each. Say you train four times a week, is that then going to be two times boxing and two times karate? Instead of four times in boxing or karate? It might be better for you to stick with one or the other, say you stick with karate, then instead of cross-training, go to boxing workshops once in a while and get in the ring and do some boxing sparring a few times a month. Just get some boxing experience. When you have a foundation built in karate (say black belt or higher) first, then when you cross train in boxing you can learn better because you will only be learning the new stuff instead of trying to learn everything all at once.
lol you were right about me still going with boxing. However, I do understand that boxing may interfere with my karate. I talked it over with some people, and I'm probably going to end up just giving up point sparring due to the liability it may cause... but I still do continue with karate, 2 times a week, and once to twice a week for boxing. i need karate, which to an extent, can help with blocking in boxing. i guess i'll see how it goes lol... hopefully i won't accidentally hold my fist to my chin in kihon kumite and get knocked in the nose.
I do both boxing and kararte. I'm at about an average stage in both, been doing boxing for longer. When it comes to sparring in karate i am very heavy handed and do get told about this alot. But the boxing does help with your footwork and movement.
