few questions

[akreola]

i am completely new to martial arts, and i was looking at jkd, seemed like a good one to start off with. im not really a child anymore so i feel i finally have the discipline to stick with something. but i used to work with a guy that taught thai boxing and told me its great for physical fitness and practical self defense. but its really hard to get yerself into the physical condition to do the reps. just lookin for a few answers. thanks

[Khun Kao]

MuayThai is arguably one of the best martial arts for fitness programs you can sign up for. Its a total body workout.

However, I would hesitate to say its "great" for self defense. Don't get me wrong, MuayThai has a lot of essential tools for self defense. The in-fighting of MuayThai is downright deadly! The problem is that it is very rare to find a program that actually teaches MuayThai from the self-defense perspective. Most programs teach MuayThai from the ring-sport perspective.

Training for the ring sport is going to make you a very effective fighter, but it does not train you how to deal with weapons, multiple opponents, or variances in terrain. Don't misunderstand, there ARE some programs I've run into from time-to-time that I honestly feel do a good job of teaching MuayThai for self-defense, but they are an extreme minority.

What is really important for you to do is rate the importance of two key things:

FITNESS
SELF-DEFENSE

If fitness is your primary goal, then MuayThai is arguably the best there is! If self defense is your primary goal, you might want to do a little more research into what else is available to you. You may still find yourself coming back to MuayThai, but at least you will have had the opportunity to see what else is being offered and make a more educated decision.

[akreola]

ah well thats a great response, thankyou very much.

[Dpendleton]

Well I think that muay thai is great for self defense.

[cowpaste]

I agree with Khun Kao. Muay Thai is mostly taught as a sport, not as self-defense. Even as self-defense though, it still doesn't defend against common situations like ground fighting. Perhaps something more suitable would be Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).

[WildWest.]

I agree with Khun Kao also. MT training is excellent for self defense, but it does not train you in self defence sense for the reasons he mentioned. It does teach you excellent balance and how to hit simply and powerfully. But self defence is a bigger picture than sport training so, in my opinion, cross train with a self defence style and learn how to deal with environments, how to breakfall, how to deal with more than one opponent etc etc.

[akreola]

ah cool. thanks for the great info guys

[Khun Kao]

Here's the thing about MT training & Self Defense....

In many ways, I feel that MuayThai training for sport is superior for self-defense than most arts that supposedly that have Self Defense as their primary goal.

MuayThai trains you to attack & defend against someone who is coming at you with bad intentions. There really isn't much "holding back". You learn to read & react to at full speed. You will develop the vision and timing to react quickly to situations and attacks.

Other arts that tout self defense as their primary goal unfortunately don't always train under these same circumstances. They are also working with techniques that due to their nature, are too dangerous to practice at full speed & strength, and with bad intentions.

All of sport MuayThai's aresenal is trained under realistic circumstances all the time. Not necessarily in sparring (full power elbows & knees in sparring is asking a bit much), but in MuayThai's realistic pad drill exercises.

So if a MuayThai practitioner were to find himself in a dangerous situation, their superior fight training may very well be enough to overcome the lack of self defense "scenario" training or knowledge.

For instance, let's say someone throws a sucker punch at you, or swings at you with a bottle (common bar or club tactic). A MuayThai practitioner should have the type of vision and reaction time to avoid, block, and counter. I'd go as far as saying that a MT practitioner could deal with *SOME* deadlier weapons or scenarios as well simply due to the style of training, but at the same time you really have to take the trainings deficit's into account.

You may be have the reaction time to avoid the slash of a knife, but that doesn't mean you're prepared to disarm them. You *may* have the timing to hit someone before they aim and fire their gun at you, but then again, maybe not. And you're definately not bulletproof.

So MuayThai offers a mixed bag for those who are serious about self-defense. The actual fight training is superior, but there are many weaknesses that have to be accounted for....