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Every martial art is incomplete.

Yeah, I said it. Every single martial art has a gaping hole that, if ignored, leaves you exposed and vulnerable. At first glance, this sounds completely made-up.

It sounds like I'm stretching the truth a bit, right?

Today, we're going to take a closer look at the performance gaps that are an inherent part of every martial art.

We'll also look at several martial arts systems and discuss why they're important. Finally, we'll look at martial arts cross-training—how boxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu complement each other.

The Performance Gap Hidden in Every Martial Art

Martial arts are effective.

They're detailed, highly structured systems built on rules. That's also the problem, though. Martial arts today are designed to address specific issues in specific contexts.

Don't believe me? Take a look at this table.

So here's the thing.

• Striking-based systems like Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Boxing—these are all designed to create concussive damage via blunt force trauma, coup-countercoup injuries, and mechanical trauma to the body. They work best at long, medium, and clinch range, but they're vulnerable to grappling-based systems like wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, or Judo. These striking-based systems work best in a one-on-one setting, but they can be adapted to work in a multiple-opponent setting.
• Grappling-based systems like Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Judo work best at clinch, close, and tight ranges, but they're vulnerable to striking-based systems like Kickboxing, Muay Thai, or Boxing. These grappling-based systems rely on slams, strangles, and joint locks and work best in a one-on-one setting.

Specializing in one means you're vulnerable to the other.

Why Cross-Training Builds a Strong Foundation

Cross-training is the key.

By cross-training, you can use the strengths of one martial art to cover the weaknesses of another.

What does that mean?

• If you're a Boxer, Wrestling gives you strong takedown defense. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gives you the power you need to control, strangle, or break your opponents.
• If you practice Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, kickboxing will allow you to control the distance, reduce takedown threats, and deal damage.
• If you're a Judoka, Muay Thai will give you the impenetrable defense you need to walk down strikers and close the distance.

Can you see what's happening?

The Benefits of Cross-Training

Cross-training comes with several obvious and hidden benefits. Let's take a look at these and explore the obvious and hidden benefits.

Cross-training: obvious benefits

• Increased skill development: If you're learning multiple martial arts, you have more knowledge, skills, techniques, and experience you can draw on. It takes more time to develop these skills, but it compounds quickly, giving you the know-how you need to use them in a variety of situations.
• Improved stamina and control: Your gas tank in one martial art (e.g., taekwondo) is not immediately transferable to another (e.g., jiu-jitsu). Martial arts intensity and pacing vary; if you're a grappler playing a control-based game, where you hold your opponents down, that's going to require adjustment. If you prefer a movement-based game as a striker, you'll need to be prepared to make the appropriate transition. This adaptation requires a certain amount of stamina and energy.
• Ironclad defense: Cross-training produces well-rounded fighters. This isn't just an awareness of the techniques in each; cross-training gives you an advanced ability to problem-solve in innovative and creative ways. The strike/takedown dilemma is a prime example: if you're in an MMA fight, is your opponent going to strike or fake a strike and go for a takedown?

Let me show you what I mean.

Cross-training: hidden benefits

• Mental agility: Imagine getting thrown with harai goshi, falling, rising, and instantly exploding into your opponent with a blast double. When you cross-train, you train your mind to connect techniques from multiple martial arts. In time, you learn to connect your striking with takedown defense, your throws with submissions, and your pin escapes with submissions and strikes.
• Adaptive performance: Believe it or not, there's a significant degree of overlap with martial arts. For example, all of the footwork used in boxing—L-step, shuffle steps, pivot, and switches—can be used in grappling contexts (e.g., Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and Wrestling) to gain an advantage or amplify defense.
• Injury prevention: Experienced Judokas know that when you're getting thrown, you breakfall. You do your very best to avoid posting (locking out) your hand. Why? Because you're much more likely to break your arm. If the majority of your martial arts experience is focused on boxing, you're missing the information you need.

Here's what this kind of agility, adaptability, and injury prevention looks like in action.

This isn't a comprehensive list.

However, single-discipline practitioners don't have access to these benefits. Let's take a look at the benefits of each of these martial arts disciplines.

Striking and Kickboxing for Space Management

What are the core components of striking?

Most fighters don't really get it. They think they do, but their performance says otherwise. Corey Sandhagen breaks down the macro-level skills needed in high-level striking:

1. Strikers depend on their vision (primarily)
2. Striking is a battle for space (distance) and position (regardless of the martial art)
3. More space = more reaction time
4. Good space management improves defense structure and amplifies offensive opportunities
5. Ironclad defense depends on your position relative to your opponent's
6. Rhythm is a striker's ability to make or take space
7. Stance dictates which targets are available and when

Here's the best part about striking arts.

Striking arts develop skills essential to all martial artists, especially when combined with wrestling and BJJ. Skills like stance, footwork, guardwork, and head movement translate directly into other combat sports like Wrestling or BJJ.

Wrestling for Takedowns, Pins, and Control

Wrestling is the ability to choose.

It's a takedown art that allows you to dictate where the physical fight takes place. You decide where, when, and how the fight will progress. In wrestling, the goals—connection and control—lead inevitably to a takedown. The steps involved in both Wrestling and Judo are as follows:

1. Stance: A good stance is a defensively sound structure, a shield that enables you to absorb and distribute force. The better you are at maintaining your stance and staying in position, the easier it will be to establish connection and control over your opponents.
2. Motion: Does movement break your stance? It shouldn't. Your movements should be fluid, allowing you to adapt to and flow with your opponents while maintaining your stance.
3. Grip and contact: When it comes to moving from connection to control, you're looking for grips that allow you to transition. You want to move from the grips of opportunity to control grips that enable you to destabilize your opponents.
4. Off-balancing: With control grips in place, you can now off-balance your opponents; as you break their stance and force them out of position, they're unable to stop your takedowns or prevent the pin.
5. Takedown: With your opponent's defensive structure broken, you're now in a prime position to attack. Now it's time to pursue the closest takedown, putting your opponent on the ground and keeping them in a state of vulnerability.

What's the goal?

Control without submissions: as a wrestler, you should be able to corral, control, and pin your opponents; you should be able to increase their work rate and decrease their stamina. Successful wrestlers will excel in these five areas—controlling their opponents as they move through each of these five stages.

BJJ for Ground Fighting and Submissions

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has traditionally focused on: Position before Submission.

Today, Jiu-Jitsu has changed.

High-level gyms emphasize a new paradigm: Position, Control, Submission.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is made up of a series of principles, rules, and techniques. These pieces enable a smaller, weaker person to defeat bigger and stronger opponents. Like Wrestling, the goals are simple:

1. You turn opportunity grips (e.g., one-on-one wrist control) into control grips (e.g., underhook, wrist control).
2. Off-balance your opponents, forcing them out of position, while taking a dominant angle, and initiating your offense.
3. From there, you move your opponents into a strong control position (e.g., rear mount with a body triangle), where you can initiate your offense at will.

Here's a key detail about grappling.

While striking is based on vision and your ability to see, your grappling depends on proprioception, your body's innate awareness of its own position, movement, and action in time and space.

Combining Striking and Grappling in One Routine

Many fighters are confused.

They seem to believe that combining striking and grappling is really just about learning multiple martial arts disciplines separately. It's as if they think that studying each of these martial arts separately means they're automatically integrated into a single skillset.

That's not how it works.

According to John Danaher, there are actually four new skills that you'll need to develop if you're trying to integrate striking and grappling into a unified skillset.

1. Shoot boxing: A seamless integration of striking and takedowns. Takedowns are immediately more dangerous when striking is involved. A well-placed knee can easily counter a mis-timed double leg. Getting to the takedown is almost entirely dependent on striking setups.
2. Clinch boxing: Striking from an upper body clinch. This is difficult to master, as it requires athletes to incorporate techniques from Greco-Roman, Freestyle, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, and Muay Thai disciplines to address very specific problems in the clinch. According to Danaher, the ruleset in MMA forces athletes to significantly modify these skills, adapting them to the point that clinch boxing surpasses each of the individual disciplines.
3. Fence boxing: The integration of takedowns and striking from the cage/fence. This requires a variety of skills, including defending strikes and takedowns, maintaining balance, standing back up, preventing the back take, and more.
4. Grapple boxing: A merging of striking and grappling that requires athletes to keep their opponents pinned, create openings to attack their opponents, and advance their position. It's an essential skill that helps athletes know when to rely on their striking and when to rely on their grappling. Like the other three skills, Grapple Boxing requires such heavy modification that it's moved beyond grappling or striking.

What does this mean?

True integration of each of these disciplines requires something extra. It requires athletes to identify and develop the new skills that are needed. Skills that are dependent on the ruleset each athlete is under.

Safe Training Practices for Multiple Disciplines

The usual safety rules apply here—warm up properly, use protective gear, and choose your training partners carefully. These rules are standard operating procedure; other rules need your attention.

Which rules am I talking about?

Intensity.

It's common for Muay Thai fighters to average 200 to 300 fights over the course of their careers. Most MMA fighters average 50. How are they able to fight so often?

• Are they tougher than the rest of the world?
• Do they have training secrets that we don't?
• Maybe it's because they've been doing it since they were kids.

It's none of the above.

It's actually their intensity. Muay Thai fighters work hard—heavy on the heavy bags, heavy on drills, heavy on mitts, but light and playful in sparring.

Take a look.

See what I mean?

This kind of playful touch sparring—it's more effective than hard sparring because you get a significant amount of training volume. It's safe for you to take risks without the threat of brain damage or injury.

Now contrast that with this kind of sparring:

Ouch!

Structuring Cross-Training Schedules

You'll want to balance your training and recovery days. It's essential that you focus on training that minimizes the risk of damage or injury.

Add in time for recovery.

You'll want to create a training schedule that prioritizes rest, mobility, plenty of good food, and proper sleep. Build a structure around your student's goals. If students are active competitors, they should be doing more sparring, rolling, and rounds—at a lower volume.

If they're focused on self-defense, focus on fewer rounds and prioritize scenario training and combat readiness.

Build Your Skills Across Disciplines With Martial Arts Cross-Training

Why? Because every martial art is incomplete.

Cross-training is the key.

By cross-training, you can use the strengths of one martial art to cover the weaknesses of another. When you layer multiple martial arts, you create a complete system for your students—one that's free from any dangerous gaps or problem areas.

It's a straightforward way to build adaptable, mentally agile students who are durable and injury-resistant. It's not a pipedream, it's reality, if your training is structured properly.

What does this mean?

True integration of each of these disciplines requires something extra.

It requires that athletes identify and develop a whole new set of skills that transcend any one discipline. If you're running a gym that offers cross-training, you'll need a curriculum and training plan.

Tools like Gymdesk make it easy to create training plans, track student performance and progress, schedule classes, and manage memberships.

Not sure where to start? Request a 30-day free trial of Gymdesk, and we'll give you the step-by-step help you need to get started.