What do you lot think of Muay Thai compared to other martial arts?

[Brave Dave]

I mean personally I think its the most efficient one to learn in any period of time compared to others and in the ring or on the street it shines through as the toughest of the tough.

I may be a bit biased but that is my opinion.

What about you lot? :)

[Joseki]

well every one has their view, some take years to find an art that suits them so its great that you found yours, some people will not agree (one being me for all ats have something to offer) i think that for me ju jitsu is (again thats my view) for i did thai years ago and found that it just did not suit me.
But have fun training and dont get hurt.......to bad.

[hongkongfuey]

Each to their own art, although I do agree that Muay Thai is one that builds up a good fighting ability very quickly. Some arts take many years to attain a similar level of proficiency.

[YODA]

As a standing, unarmed art for the young fit & healthy then Muay Thai is an awesome art!

I consider it my foundation in the standing ranges (unless weapons are involved by either party).

[Brave Dave]

Ahh yes Joseki, you are right about different arts suiting different people but I was talking to an Ju Jitsu guy and he said that it was only after several years of learning the art that he felt he could use it very efficiently on the street.

Muay Thai is such an art that after a relatively short amount of time it can be used effectively where ever.

[Joseki]

true but it depends on the style if it is a japanese style then yes it will take years and on but most modern ju jitsu systems are just self defence now take dave turton hes a 7th dan in combat ju jitsu and lots more (40+ years training) and has come up with street combat (or practical self defence) that you can learn in mins than years, plus a lot more like the british combat association and on and on. but then again try wing chun they say they are the best for self defence.

[Patrick Bateman]

Is it the art or the practicioner that is effective in a short space of time?

[aikiMac]

Originally posted by Brave Dave
I mean personally I think its the most efficient one to learn in any period of time compared to others and in the ring or on the street it shines through as the toughest of the tough.

I may be a bit biased but that is my opinion.

What about you lot? :)
The quickest martial arts to learn, insofar as my experience goes, are western boxing and muay thai. If you consider "kickboxing" a separate martial art than I'd add it to this list of quickies.

Ultimately when two people fight it's two PEOPLE fighting. Arts are intangible. It's not possible for one martial art to fight another martial art. For this reason I wouldn't say that one martial art is always better than another martial art.

[Kwan Jang]

-Some good points have already been raised so I won't bother to repeat those. MT's strength is it's simplcity and directness. Many other systems teach hip rotation, balance, and body control through use of static basics because of tradition. MT uses dynamic teaching through contact which is much faster and more practical for beginners. IMO, MT is overall the most effective for striking of the martial sports. It also translates well for self-defense/combat pretty well, though the qualifications that Yoda/ Dave brought up are valid.

[Combatant]

I too will try not to repeat any of the above.

What I feel is the best thing about MT is that we train how we fight. Apart from shadow boxing, we either hit something or someone. When we shadow box we are fluid and natural. One thing I dont understand in karate and similar MAs is kata. A karateka will not fight like that in a real fight or he WILL lose. A karateka (sorry if spelt wrong) as most fighters will be light on his feet. We on the other hand practice mainly on thai pads for working on tecnique and power and fluidity.

Also, (i'm nearly done) we use all our natural strongest weapons even in competition.

We keep our hands up by our heads for protection not by our waists.

We dont block heavy kicks with our arms..........coz thats just stupid.

Guess im biased to. These are just my reasons for liking muay thai over any other striking art and if I had the choice then I would combine with ju jitsu, judo, vale tudo and any other grappling art.

[natxanadu]

Surely Muay Thai is a Martial Sport rather than an Art

[YODA]

Originally posted by natxanadu
Surely Muay Thai is a Martial Sport rather than an Art

Care to expand on that?

Sporting Martial Art fits better I would say :D

[Sweeet]

I look at Muay Thai in practical 'whole life' sense as being an art that can be extremely effective, but is only worthwhile if you need to be extremely effective against *other MAists*.

Muay Thai is somewhat of a 'Trump Card' for other arts because of its, efficient, somewhat simplistic manner, and to a greater extent it's brutal conditioning. In this regard, it is far superior to many other arts in terms of toughness and pure effectiveness.

For everyday martial artists, who simply need self-defense, or many of the other benefits of MA, there simply is no point in MT, IMO. Simply because the conditioning is only really useful against the toughest of competition - other martial artists, and if you're not a ring fighter, then what is the point of beating yourself up on a daily basis (shin conditioning, is the prime MT example) to prevent getting beaten up? Other arts can accomplish that objective perfectly well without all the unnecessary conditioning.

Conclusion to roundabout ramble: MT is useful for ring fighters, those concerned about facing other artists, and those who don't mind 'beating themselves up' on a daily basis to be the toughest of the tough - at the price of pain, desensitization, and being a feeble, decrepid, old guy :p

[stump]

Where the hell does this stereotype of every retired thai boxer being barely able to walk come from???

Are you saying the conditioning a thai boxer undertakes is of no use in a proper fight where you are likely to have someone seriously trying to punch your lights out? Compare this to the compliant training of many (most?) arts that claim to deal in "self defence"???

I know what I'd put my trust in more!!!

[Trent Tiemeyer]

MT is probably the one striking art you would want in a 1 on 1 unarmed streetfight. However...

There are many variables in a streetfight, multiple opponents, ambushes, weapons, etc. You need to crosstrain for these instances.

[Sweeet]

Are you saying the conditioning a thai boxer undertakes is of no use in a proper fight where you are likely to have someone seriously trying to punch your lights out? Compare this to the compliant training of many (most?) arts that claim to deal in "self defence"???

My point was really very simple. Muay Thai works, and conditioning works. Just that, for normal self defense situations, the conditioning isn't necessarily necessary. And, it definitely has it's down sides. That's it, that's all :)

[stump]

Persona;;y I'd rather stack the odds in my favour and throw in some conditioning...it certainly won;t hurt (well it will if you know what i mean ;) ) and it might just be the edge you need.

Re crosstraining - I completely agree MT on it's own is of limited value.....but a lot less limited in value than other traditional martial arts when it comes to self defence

[Sonshu]

I slighly disagree with ya there bud - sorry for not posting all - work has been a mare.

MT on its own is a great art as the basic boxing dynamic is there and on the street you can win easy against drunk jo avarage with a simple cross or jab.

However what MT does not teach is if the streetfight is in a packed bar. This is what many arts do neglect but MT is a great art for basic street type stuff outside club etc.

The conditioning is a great aspect as I have lost a lot of my fitness I had at 16-18 when I was doing more kickboxing type stuff. This as you know I am looking to get back with my MMA stuff but MT is a great art.

For simple brawling type stuff I would not prefer MMA stuff as it covers the fundamental basics of most things, clinch work at a bar, knees for dance floor, floor fighting if you **** up, basic jab cross for openers, stamina work and sweeps etc.

Its a good art but the sporting aspect of most arts does not cover a huge amount of adapting it to different outside of training situations - still a good hard cross that connects sorts most things if gloves are not on!