switching from tae to thai

[djsess]

I trained in tae kwon do for about 4 years and was fairly dedicated but the tornaments and sparring left me pretty
unfufilled so i'm swiching to mauy thai i've seen the fight's
and heard the training's pretty hard i've been training about
3 to 4 hours a day (not sunday) what can i do to prepare for
the transition

[Great Sage]

Good move...

The first thing you will notice is how under-conditioned you are, both physically and mentally. Four years of Tae Kwon Do will not prepare you for the brutality of Muay Thai workouts.

I never joined a Muay Thai gym, but I have worked out with Muay Thai fighters and sparred Muay Thai fashion. Off the bat, I noticed how well-conditioned the MT guys are and how hard their kicks were. The mechanics are slightly different, but adjustable.

Most TKD guys don't have sufficient knowledge of punching, elbows and clinch, so you will be in for a surprise. I did boxing, so it was a little easier for me to adjust. But overall, you will have an enjoyable and enlightening experience. Enjoy.

[gregimotis]

The hardest adjustment you'll have to make is to leave TKD behind and adopt MT kicks and stances

If your training acouple hours/day already, you won't have too much trouble with Muay Thai - though that depends on the instructor, of course.

I started with TKD and took up MT later and I like it much better. I like the emphasis on sparring, the pad work etc much more than the TKD emphasis on kata and drills.

People will talk all day about 'this art is better than that one... is not... is so'; but at the end of the day, it's just what the individual likes that counts. You like to spar and compete, you should like Muay Thai.

[swagman]

Having done TKD

years ago, this biggest obstacles for me were the mental ones, trying to accept that kicking with the shin instead of the foot is better and more effective in many situations, and that most roundhouse kicks above the waist are counter productive, and that you can still kick someone when stood toe, to toe.

My advice is to give it a go, most importantly with an open mind, and then stick with it, there's a great new set of skills to learn.

[Damian Mavis]

I train TKD and Muay Thai currently and my best advice is to stick to straight Muay Thai while learning it. Down the road when you are advanced in Muay Thai you can start to learn to incoporate what you know from TKD that might give you an advantage. I think it's really important to get Muay Thai down pat before mixing it up a bit. I trained Muay Thai for 2 years before I started adding to it and in my fight I was able to effectively use a little TKD to help me win but only because I was doing ok in the Muay Thai department.... without that I don't think it's possible to use TKD techniques effectively.

Damian Mavis
Honour TKD