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RE: The FIRST Steemit MARTIAL ARTS Tutorial - The Most Powerful Kick (Thai Kickboxing)
I've always wanted to start with some self-defense, I've heard Muay Thai may be one of the most successful ones. How hard is it to become good at it compared to Karate and their belt-ranks?
Your series might convince me to start with something soon. :) Keep it up!
Good question! In professional mixed martial arts (e.g. UFC) fighters throw Muay Thai Kicks, Western Boxing Punches, use wrestling to take their opponent to the ground, and use Brazilian Jiu Jitsu once on the ground (more or less). This is because these have proven to be the most effective techniques for those tasks. So it all depends on what you feel like mastering. If you just want to throw punches, western boxing is the most efficient and effective form of striking with the hands. If you want to use the rest of your body to strike Muay Thai is the way to go because they use everything: hands, elbows, knees, legs. Muay Thai punches are very similar to western boxing and in fact they seem to be converging as Muay Thai practitioners adopt western boxing techniques. Muay Thai generally isn't a bullshit racket like most forms of karate, my gym doesn't even use belts. You're either a beginner, intermediate, or you are a fighter. Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling tend to be the same way, which is probably why they are so effective. These practitioners are obsessed with gaining practical skills that work in the real world, so their ultimate metric is that, not how many belts you can buy. With respect to how long it takes, my coach says (and with 6 years of experience I agree) that it only takes a couple of months of coming regularly to learn all the important details of the strikes. As I say in the video, these strikes are highly efficient so they don't have lots of moving parts. The difficulty is actually figuring out how to eliminate an extraneous and unnecessary movements. It takes months to learn, years to master.
Cool, so Muay Thai is kind of like a mix of every fighting sport.
"that it only takes a couple of months of coming regularly to learn all the important details of the strikes"
that sounds good in my ears, I would just want to be a beginner at it, cause compared to most others it would still keep me on my feet vs attackers and I would know how to handle the situation better.
Thanks for the detailed explanation!
Muay thai and western boxing is a great foundation for self defence but you should always remember thay they are mostly praticed as a sport. I would recommend to also look at some disciplines like kali or escrima for some basic techniques using knives and other weapons if its self defence you are after. And dont fall for any fancy defence technics, just keep it basic and incorporate it in to your boxing or muay thai work. For example can you still throw a kick or punch if someone pulls a knife or should you just run etc. As a sport however Muay Thai is great! I have been training Muay Thai and western boxing for the past 10 years and will probably never quit.
I generally tell people that if you want to strike practice Muay Thai, if you want to grapple learn Jiu Jitsu. Jiu Jitsu also covers a lot of wrestling. Arguably Jiu Jitsu is better for real world fights because once you get your hands on someone you can pretty much own them if you're better at jiu jitsu than them. In addition, punching someone in the head can break your hand, so since jiu jitsu relies on chokes and joint locks, you can take your opponent out without injuring yourself. I would recommend just finding the nearest MMA gym near you. Try out the different styles and see which you enjoy most. If you don't enjoy practicing, you won't go to class and you won't strive to improve.