I want to learn a realistic (kyokushin, MT, boxing) style of martial arts but will I lose my teeth from it?

Question

I want to learn an effective fighting style that spars with "aliveness" (live opponents/movements not role playing attacks) such as Muay Thai, Kyokushin, etc. but around 4 or so years ago I got my braces removed and have had straight, perfect teeth since then. These teeth cost me a lot of money.

Is this something to worry about in live fight training/sparring? Are teeth something that are usually lost a lot of times while sparring? Do mouth guards provide suffiecent protection against this sort of thing?

Also, don't suggest anything like American Karate (which is actually bastardised Tae Kwon Do), Aikido or Chinese MA. I would hate to learn a style that doesn't prepare you for a real fight by teaching you slow motion poses that don't work. That would be a waste of time and money. I would rather not learn anything at all than do that. Real sparring is the only way to prepare for a real fight. But then again at the same time, I wouldn't want to lose my teeth like in a real fight

yes this is for self defense purposes btw, but I also see some health benefits from the training invovled so thats why I'm interested. for those two reasons mostly.

Answer 1

kickboxing is great for everything you need it for.....

on the teeth front though..... well, any sport where sparing is involved is going to attract the possibility of getting hurt- such as loosing some teeth.

However, you sound like you really really love this sort of thing so there is no way im suggesting to give this idea up for the sake of your teeth.

I would kit myself out with the best mouthgaurd i could find and i would become especially quick at defensive moves. yes mouthgaurds are excellent but if you receive a particularly nasty roundhouse to the head then a mouthgaurd may not keep all your teeth in the one spot.

apart from this there really isnt anything you can do. You love sparing so you have to take the risk that comes with that.

plus i wouldnt be too worried about the training aspect of things..... i think you have nothing to worry about there cos its a controlled environment.

but a real fight? i dont think anything could guarantee your teeths safety in this situation

Answer 2

Losing teeth actually isn't very common, so long as you wear a mouth guard. How many boxers do you no missing teeth? Probably not many, save those that fight outside of the ring. Don't skimp on the mouth guard, either. You might be tempted to pick up a $1 mouth guard but you're really better off with the $10-20 kits that you can shape to your teeth. Someone also mentioned that you can have a custom mouth guard made. Your old orthodontist might be a great person for you to go to for this.

You should also look into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. One of the advantages of a grappling art is that sparring at 100% is possible without having to worry too much about injuries. If I sparred stand up as hard as I spar when I do ground work I'd probably wind up giving and receiving some serious injuries.

Answer 3

I use the rank requirements as a means and guide for me to go and study something else. Because if I didn't, I'd stay in my same rut and only practice the things that I like. Sometimes, when I'm really feeling masochistic, I look at older rank requirements to find things that I know that I SHOULD have down, but don't, and I practice those, or things that I have not been reviewing in a while and need to review---or re-learn because my body has forgotten them. Am I mastering? No. I have not mastered this stuff yet. Simply memorizing? Yes and no, as I said above. Learn to imitate technique? That's where it starts for me. You have to imitate before you internalize. Applications? Definitely with the Judo. I still have a kyu ranking there. It's hard for me to get too realistic for myself personally with the Taekwondo right now because I'm teaching it. It would amount to me beating my students non-constructively. I'm going to have to find some way of working on my own thing with other Taekwondo black belts or black belts in another strike-type of style as soon as time permits. Or perhaps by teaching I'll end up creating the training partners I am looking for. There's so much to get. I don't think I'm ever really going to get it all. There's work, family, and now health. I did not plan on aging. Sheesh.

Answer 4

Well as a semi pro Muay Thai fighter, I can answer this question.

I have never known of anyone who lose a tooth in my gym. However report of someone losing a tooth is somewhat pretty common in Muay Thai community.

As for mouth protection, it don't always help. I almost lose my front tooth one time when the person pull off a perfect spinning back fist, the mouth protection literally move back and ram against my tooth hard. I thought my tooth was gonna to fall out, to my surprise it didn't.

So if you care so much about your teeth, you may should talk to the instructor and see if he can have certain precaution or something. However beware, it's a very addictive sport and you will eventually want to get in the ring to fight. So you gotta to answer that question yourself.

My suggest; if you're so worry about mess your teeth up, take something like brazilian jiu jitsu, judo, or wrestling. It's mostly grappling so there's much less chance (but NOT absolutely zero) of getting your teeth mess up.

Answer 5

well, combative kickboxing or boxing, muay thai are excellent for sparring.. if you're worried about loosing teeth you can get a special fitted mouth guard from your dentist.. sparring is training and shouldn't be done at 100%.. its meant to help improve your ability not injure your partner.. sparring at 50-75% shouldn't knock anyones teeth out, however there are exceptions to every rule... a face guard can also be used if you're seriously worried about your facial area..

and actually tkd is an amalgamation of Chinese, Japanese, and traditional Korean fighting styles... so i'd say tkd is the illigitamate child of karate not the other way around...

as for aikido, it can be fairly combative if you find an instructor that teaches it so..

and as for chinese martial arts, if you're looking for something combative i'd go with san shou (chinese boxing)

good luck!

Answer 6

Keep your head up and your back straight. Try not to lean forward when you throw a punch. Some Tae-Kwon-Do places call themselves "Karate" but teach Tae-Kwon-Do. Since the arts are so very different (even from different countries) I can't figure out why they want to Dis the Karate name.
Karate is a very practical art that teaches you how to use your body weight, legs, hips, back and upper body all together to throw an amazingly hard punch. It has some locks, elbow work, kicks and alot of pnching. It is a very effective art for practicle self defense (unlike Tae-Kwon-Do).
Go and check out a REAL Karate Dojo and watch them spar. If you just want someone to teach you to kick butt and be a bully then I suggest boxing, but not an Asian martial art.
Be open minded and go visit some real Dojo's and see for yourself.

Answer 7

My Best mate works as a dental technician and I got her to make my mouthgards for kickboxing, she made me the air gaurds wich is the same that footballers use, get proper guards made too, don't by a kit.. These should prevent your teeth being knocked out, but atleast in a worse case scenario if you do lose a tooth it will stay in the mouth guard and not down the back of your throught, so you can get the dentist to put it back in for you..

Answer 8

Well you do not have to worry as they are usually guarded with teeth guard as you see in boxing matches. Or a mask to protect your face in some case like Kudo. Muay Thai is recommended but you need to be tough man, they have classes for getting beaten up. hahahha.... well no pain no gain. All the best my man

Answer 9

wear a mouth guard.
make sure that when they hit you in your jaw you watch if you teeth start to recede, go to the doctor and be like break my jaw it will stop the movement and your teeth will heal other wise you have to spend another crap load on braces. if you can't take your jaw getting broken. quit the martial arts cause a broken jaw is the least of your worries. good luck i hope you continue training

Answer 10

I HAVE BEEN TRAINING IN MUAY THAI FOR SOME TIME NOW AND IN SPARRING YOU WEAR FULL GEAR INCLUDING A MOUTHPIECE. MY INSTRUCTOR STARTED HIS TRAINING IN THAILAND OVER 30 YEARS AGO AND HE STILL HAS ALL HIS TEETH. MOUTH GUARDS DO PROVIDE A SUFFICIENT AMOUNT OF PROTECTION. WHEN WE SPAR IT IS IN FULL GEAR, HEAD PADS, CHEST PADS SHIN GUARDS SPARRING GLOVES AND MOUTH GUARDS. PERSONALLY I DON'T THINK YOU WILL HAVE ANYTHING TO WORRY ABOUT.MUAY THAI IS VERY FAST PACED AND YOU DO HAVE TO ALERT. IF YOU SHOULD CHOSE THIS ART FORM I DON'T THINK YOU WILL REGRET IT.