Hey so I just started training krav maga which is a self defense training utilising a lot of counters. However as it is self defence not martial arts it doesn’t have competitions. Ill never be a pro but would like some sort of amatuer competitions. I was wondering if krav maga has enough crossover with kickboxing to allow me to stand a chance. I would be without my primary combos of jab, cross, bollocks. But I was thinking that most of the standard kickboxing moved are in there. Aim a bit higher and bollocks kick becomes solar plexus. Looking for some sort of competition in the future when. Should I crosstrain kickboxing or would I do ok with krav minus eye gouging and ballkick.
If you want to compete in a particular ruleset, the best way is to train for that ruleset. Your Krav may teach you some cross over skills, but if it's genuinely good self defence training, those skills will be out of context in a kick boxing tournament. There will of course be shared attributes, so being fast, fit, flexible etc all help. Personally I'd be inclined to choose one or the other, and be honest with yourself about why you are training. The main thing is to find the thing that motivates you and keeps you training, and if competition does that, then go for kickboxing
I don't know a lot about Krav Maga but I do know that the only "sport" aspect of it is demonstration-based competitions in Israel. Nothing like kickboxing (or boxing for that matter). Somebody might know more, but I've considered Krav Maga in the past. Not only could I not really find a good local instructor, it just doesn't have what I crave (real boxing). It would be cool if there was a sport aspect, but I've never found it beyond the demo stuff.
I have trained in both systems and my advice is to spend a few years solely doing kickboxing; you will develop a better stand-up skillset, you will likely be much fitter, and you can fulfill your desire to participate in competition than starting with Krav Maga. A lot of KM is sloppy kickboxing with a sprinkling of bad jiu-jitsu. Your training centre may be an exception to the rule but KM is, in my opinion, better as a vehicle for delivering techniques under specific conditions than it is for developing good fighting techniques. Do kickboxing first to learn how to kick, punch and clinch well - then do KM to learn how to kick, punch and clinch in simulations of real-life fights.
Depends how driven you are to compete. I train with people who compete regularly on the International circuit and they are training for it all the time. They supplement with conditioning work obviously, but they train in class 4/5/6 days a week. So like I say, be honest with yourself about what you want. Personally I think Van Zandt is correct. Get a good grounding in kick boxing (or similar) first.
My intentions are primarily self defence for the street. But I would like fighting in amatuer places for fun never pro.
Doing them simultaneously will negatively affect your skill unless you are lucky enough to find a KM coach who is also an excellent kickboxing coach (see my earlier post about most KM having bad technique). I would recommend that you spend your formative years of training at a good kickboxing/Muay Thai gym, regardless of your plans to compete, before starting KM.
