what kung fu can one use against muay thai?

[ltindiandaeng]

I live in Thailand and often hear people talk about how many times Chinese kung fu fighters have been beaten by muay Thai fighters here.Is this because the Chinese fighters cannot use some techniques,or are the Thai fighters just better fighters? Are any Chinese MA styles effective against muay thai?

[Red Rum]

A lot of it is about the fighter rather than the art.
Muay Thai guys are constantly drilled and tested in ring format etc

In that kind of format (competition, spar etc) a MT guy will always win

Yet styles like wing chun and preying mantis have good striking ability at certain ranges which are more effective at street level

I train both MT and wing chun (WC more than MT) and find that a lot of stancework and balance learnt in wing chun help overcome MT clinches and help nullify a lot of strikes (knees etc) that come in

Like I said before, if you have the mentality of art vs. art you are going to struggle. There are plenty of rubbish WC schools and plenty of rubbish MT schools. If you go with the wrong one, it doesn't matter what style you learn!

[ltindiandaeng]

Yes I agree.Years ago I went to wing chun school and was not impressed.There was a black belt instuctor there who worked with me in law enforcement and though he did very well in tournaments he was constantly getting beat up on the job and in bars,so I had a dim view of wing chun but now I believe the problem was that the school and instructor were not very good.The head instructor was a pretty tough guy himself but I do not think he was a very good teacher.

[akio123]

I believe their is no best Martial Arts style but different skill level...

[Red Rum]

Very true.
This is very apparent when you watch cage fighting

Most of the guys train BJJ and MT or boxing

Yet some win and some don't. If the styles of MT and BJJ were rubbish, you would have people flailing around like idiots

Wing chun and MT are very separate arts. Yeah sure they both employ elbows and clinchwork, but overall they use different types of energy, different types of movement, different stances and different power

Wing chun vs. MT will never produce the same winner everytime

If there was a best martial arts style, everyone would be training that!

[Eagleye]

nothing really, the arts themselves are very different. Muay thai gets straight to the point and teaches/trains you how to strike most effectively, efficiently , and most powerfully using all your limbs even your head.

[Eagleye]

Wing chun vs. MT will never produce the same winner everytime

10/10 times the MT guy drops him with a straight as the WC guy comes in or starts throwing with his hands down.

[Tom Yum]

10/10 Times The Mt Guy Drops Him With A Straight As The Wc Guy Comes In Or Starts Throwing With His Hands Down.

..........lol

[ltindiandaeng]

Thank you for the replies. i have much to learn.Reason I ask this question is I live in Thailand where many people do musay thai,of course.I was an unarmed efensive tactics instructor for many years in law enforcement in New York,but I am no great martial artist and now even less so as I am 54 years old and suffer from bad knees,heart problems,etc.Most of what I learned of fighting was from experience on job and in military,and I won most of my fights but I have also lost and sometimes badly.Now I have a farm in a small village.As everyone knows there are food shortages everywhere,and as a result people here are getting their rice crops and others stolen.This is a matter of survival for farmers here as elsewhere.it is a heartbreaking thing for a family whose whole life depends on crop to have it stolen.

I used to work out with sticks and heavy bag at my home and people saw this and were interested.Now I have a small school,more like a club,and teach local people.It is a lot of fun and a diversion from drudgery of daily work,but it also has practical purpose for farmers.Problem is here many people have guns,but as a foreigner,even though I live here,I cannot.Even though everyone has knives and machetes,it is illegal to carry them for protection.Farmers can only carry sticks when protecting their crops.This is reason for my intereest in escrima and also in defending against muay thai.

I apologize for length of this posting thank you

[Tee Sok]

Your post is interesting, ltindiandaeng. I have lived and worked in Thailand in 2005 but I surely didn't experience all that you have. I thought guns were not easy at all to get in Thailand, while I saw that you can very easily get knives and machetes. Drugs are a very big problem there, also drug wars between gangs and the police/army are a very serious thing.
Personally I never go to places where most tourists go and where you can have "farang fun" (discos, bars....) and I never go there at night. I saw that violent facts often occur there and elsewhere at that time, that's why people avoid riding their motorcycle after 10pm (especially girls) and I have often been warned by locals about this. That's a thing that always struck me since being on the road at night is the most normal thing in the West.

[ltindiandaeng]

Yes Tee Sok you obviously know about Thailand.I am the same way regarding travelling at night.I used to live in Pattaya which has a very high crime rate.Now I live where there are no tourists and no bars so this is not an option anyway.However there is a big problem with alcohol here,as all over Thailand,and most of the violence upcountry is alcohol related,or involves local mafia,which doesn't usually involve foreigners.Guns are not so easy to get legally,but they are very cheap and available on the black market.

[Tee Sok]

I agree with what you say about alcohol, that's especially true with cheap Thai whisky among youngsters and elders alike.
I didn't know about the situation in villages, that's just too bad. That must be because of the scarce police control there.
And too bad the media doesn't talk about it, I only heard about facts that happened in cities or tourist attractions.

You are doing a good job by the way. it must be a rewarding one, teaching people how to defend themselves and how to survive, and even to keep them away from drugs and a bad lifestyle. Being with Thais is usually great fun so I guess it's going well.

[ltindiandaeng]

Hello Tee Sok.Yes you are right about it being fun.I like working with these people because as you say they are fun to be around.As you know muay thai here is serious business and for many it is their livelihood and training is all day every day.People I teach are working people,mainly farmers,and they are tired after working all daay so I try to make classes fun and interesting,though as you pointed out is serious as far as survival goes.They do have good attitude though and are respectful and not concerned with their egos as often happens in western school.

Also true about police.They are paid almost nothing so it is inevitable there is corruption,although I myself have never had a problem with police here.I am also a businessman,having a small farm,so I was advised by Thai people here very quickly that business disputes are often settled with bullets,especially by the jao phors,sort of like godfathers or dons,so it is good to keep in mind when doing bvusiness here.

[akio123]

^_^

we have the same situation here in the philippines...corrupt liders and the gun and violence problem..

[Red Rum]

10/10 times the MT guy drops him with a straight as the WC guy comes in or starts throwing with his hands down.

Tell that to the MT guys I've knocked out

Nothing is ever clear cut

Last week I seriously injured a MT guy because he lost his temper (he couldn't get a clean shot and was getting frustrated) and tried to a low push kick (aimed at my groin). I blocked with my knee and he broke a bone in his foot

Stuff happens. Yet after the many times that I have outsparred or won against a MT guy, it does not mean that WC is better than MT

I have had my fair share of knocks and blows from the guys I train with. I am sure that if I went up against the best MT guys in the world I would be knocked out on a second