muay thai sucks???

[GRACIEAUSTIN]

Don't kid your self. You need to go train Muay Thai at a real good school otherwise you are pissing in the wind, knida like training Kung fu when you could be training Thai Boxing. Or Jiu-Jitsu or both

[terry]

Not a lot of people can afford the $150 per month it takes to enroll at a Gracie Academy and then afford another $150 per month it takes at a Muay Thai academy. I'm guess thinking specifically of the situation at Fairtex in San Francisco.

What I've seen is that at Ralph's some of the better fighters from Fairtex cross train and offer Muay Thai classes there in Ralph's school. It definitely saves money, and the training gets hard core fast. But you also don't get the individual time with a Thai trainer like Bonkerd, Johngsanan, Enn, Sakasem or Ganyao that you would at Fairtex. I think it's a good idea, but if you have to prep specifically for a Muay Thai fight you should be spending 6 days a week at Fairtex.

T

[BlackSnow]

Originally posted by terry
I have no interest in getting into the political hot potato of comparing which art is best. But for me, I think Muay Thai is pretty good. True, it is limited in that it has only 120 odd techniques, and most people only use about 20 of those. But when you look at the training method, you'll realize that they produce fighters. Those guys hit hard, are in shape, are relaxed and can move, get hit and keep their composure.

I'd like to share a couple of anecdotes about Muay Thai (all from people I know personally):

1. A 4 month beginner that we considered stiff and uncoordinated stood toe to toe with a karate black belt and got the best of him.

2. A 14 year old with 1.5 years of Muay Thai under his belt was matched up with a Shaolin black belt that came into our class. The Shaolin guy's meditative postures and steam iron-like breathing were certainly impressive. But when we put on the gloves and had him fight with the boy he got his head handed to him. Several times before we took pity on him and started drilling.

2. A 2 month private student of mine in Muay Thai was attacked by a doberman, turned and kicked the dog to death with one single Thai kick. (I told him he was lucky. But you GET lucky when you train well.)

3. Four 3 months students in Muay Thai got caught in a riot between two opposing teams at a football game. These guys threw 16 Thai kicks and knocked down 16 football players before making their escape.

4. A 3rd year Muay Thai student (a middleweight) compared techniques with a karate black belt. The Muay Thai maintained that a low kick can be good for self-defense. The karate guy maintained that a low kick was just a bad kick. So the Muay Thai guy suggested to the karate guy to try it out on his left thigh. First, the karate guy kicked the Muay Thai guy in the leg. Slight discomfort. When it was his turn to return the favor, the Muay Thai guy, afraid of injuring the guy, asked to put some kind of a pad for him to hold. The karate guy suggested a telephone book. Well, the Muay Thai student Thai kicked the phone book and broke (a compound fracture no less) the karate guy's femur in the process.

Muay Thai is also a good nucleus to grow from. You can take a Muay Thai guy and work with him on Greco, silat or judo throws, and he'll probably be able to get in the position to do those throws pretty quick. If you teach him some stick fighting he'll pick it up because he's used to hitting hard, taking pain and flowing--and he'll probably have some timing. If you teach him to grapple he'll pick that up because he'll be used to paying his dues and workin' his ass off. All in all, I'd say it is a pretty good art to have for a base--even if what you want to do is blend it later on. It is certainly not the only art out there, but it is worth taking a look at.

T

A 2 month private student of mine in Muay Thai was attacked by a doberman, turned and kicked the dog to death with one single Thai kick. (I told him he was lucky. But you GET lucky when you train well.)

This one is bullshit! you don't have to practise Muay Thai for kicking a dog to death, that's really bullshit, it has absolutly nothing to do with any martial art, This is really a BAD example for promoting Muay Thai!

[GRACIEAUSTIN]

We train both, we always have the bags & pads ready. Before we fight we crank it up a knotch.