muay thai or JKD??

[jaydogg72]

I need help...

I have a very good JKD teacher named Bud Thompson that teaches near my home in Whittier, but my only problem with his school is that you are not allowed to spar for 5 months.

I also have a very good Muay Thai school near my house that I used to train at years ago, I trained there for 2 years, full contact 3 round matches.

My question is which school should I go to now, my goal is self defense. What do you guys think? BTW I am also a blue belt in BJJ.

[Fiery Ermine]

Depends...

You're going to have to sample the training and see if you're going to get out of it what you want. I would expect that JKD would help you put together what you've learned in Muay Thai and BJJ, but the quality of the JKD is really dependant on the instructor.

I've trained JKD and Muay Thai concurrently. I've trained BJJ and JKD concurrently, but I always train JKD. I consider the other arts supplemental, but I really like my JKD instructor.

Opinions may vary.

FE

[Monkey]

You said self defense so let me tell u about something Ive been thinking about.

Looking at the history of Muay Thai, it started out as full contact no rules fighting with no protection, but the rules started changing over the decades because of various things.

Too many fighters got their groins smashed and kneecaps busted, the fight would be over before it had really begun and there would be no match to watch, so they disallowed knees to the groin, kicks to the groin, strikes to the groin and knee stomps. Eye gouges were disallowed because once a fighter had fingers stuck into his eyes hes pretty much blinded so he couldnt fight properly. They disallowed fighting on the ground because their Thai boxing skills became almost useless there. And lastly they made the fighters wear gloves because so many fighters were dying after taking a bare knuckle beating.

So you can see the logic in what Bruce Lee used as the most dangerous tools and skills to have in a real fight: Eye jabs, punches to the head, groin attacks (hand, knee, foot), and knee attacks (like his leading shin/knee kick), and obviously ground fighting is a very important aspect of real fighting because there will be no ref to get everyone back on their feet.

All the above rules contribute to how Muay Thai fighters fight today, from the overuse of elbows and knees and head kicks (due to the fact that these are the most dangerous weapons they have left that the are ALLOWED to use), down to their lack of grappling skills. I believe if they had no gloves they would do a lot more punching and less elbowing.

This all affects their on guard position, as it is plain to see. They keep their elbows up, always ready to elbow. They have their legs apart to allow easy high roundhouse kicks, and they have their groins wide open. They tend to have their knees bouncing to the sides a bit too so that they can launch those knee attacks to their opponent's ribs, from the clinch. But those guys are unbelievably tough, obviously because they take such beatings. But how much can you strengthen your jaw, your eyes, your groin, your kneecaps? And what about on the ground? It goes out the window. Thats why all those ground fightings have been eating all those kickboxers and such for breakfast in UFC and all that sort of stuff. But you know all that.

But that's all sport at the end of the day, but since you said SELF DEFENSE, I would not recommend that you do Muay Thai. I would recommend that you do some research into various aspects of comabat and keep in mind with each of them the limitations that they have.

[Jack Knife]

Bud Thompson, if I'm correct, is a student of Dan Inosanto. I've read an article on him, and it seems like a good school to check out. He's got a good mix of Jun Fan/Kali. I don't know much else about him, but I'd be more inclined to go to his class.

[thekuntawman]

if the bud thompson is the bud thompson that also teaches kuntaw, i would recommend him. muay thai is a good fighting art, but most people who teaches it is teaching little more than a workout and bunch of combinations instead of the fighting arts of muay thai. but i know the teacher of bud thompson and i know that his training was hands on.

i am just one of those guys who would only recommend a teacher who has fought rather than one who just knows technique.

now, if the muay thai man was actually a fighter, not just a "certified" instructor, it will be harder to decide, you will have to see who teaches the style you like better. but i have little faith in "certified" mauy thai trainers, i am sure you will find more here than in thailand itself.

[Ern-Dog]

Just ask.

Go to Mr. Thompson ask tell him your background in Muay Thai. Let him know that you know the risks that are assumed when you spar full contact because you've "been there and done that." Have him contact your Muay Thai instructor if he still thinks that there might be a problem, I'm sure your MT instructor will vouch for you. Good luck.

[likuid]

isn't your training intended for long term? What's the rush to spar. It sounds like you've been out of it for a while. Getting yourself back in fighting shape might do you some good, instead of just jumping in the ring. Don't get me wrong, I can't judge, I'm sure you'd be OK if you started sparring right away, but look at it as an opportunity to focus on conditioning and training...