Muay Thai for self-defence?

Thanks John.

When you think about it violence is just another form of communication, with words representing the physical. like all forms of communication the words alone only represent around 10% of the over all message. But, I want take this to far off topic.

thnxs 4 da info guys! i'll keep it in mind!

Muay Thai is a great choice for self-defense. But be careful! The risk of injury in Huay Thai is high, relatively speaking.

"Muay Thai for self-defence?"

This is a question I ask myself quite a lot, were told at our classes that were being taught to go toe to toe and knock someone out or out point them, and self defence might be something different.

However the benefits for self defence are clearley there to see, excellent fitness, explosive power, agression and close quarter striking and throwing.

I think I understand what our coach is saying as long as you defend yourself sensibley and dont approach a self defense situation like you would a ring fight, then Muay Thai could be your best friend.

Also Muay Thai has rules and if your training a lot you'll get it ingrained in your head not to kick to the balls e.t.c (40 press ups for us!) and you might not immediately think to do this in a self-defense situation (when it might be qite a good idea!) .

I think the best form of self defense is to identify a possible flare situation early and avoid it. Whether that be avoiding dodgy areas at certain times or try not to antagonise you're random idiot and his mates

P.s

It does lack gound fighting skills!

IMHO, you'd be better off if you continue practicing Shotokan. Thai boxing will hurt your body, you'll lose the fine karate techniques, you'll definitely lose the snap leg kicks, and you'll have problems with the roundhouse kick.

I went the other way around, from muay thai to Shotokan. And it feels good. I move way better than other students, I got awareness, and soon I'll be competing although I'm yellow belt. But I can't imagine which of these karate techniques I use now would help me in muay thai.

Why did I say that you should stay at Shotokan? Well, it develops character more than any other karate school, so you might not want to let that go so easily. Sooner or later you'll start winning fights before they even happen. And muay thai is a whole new brutal bloody painful story...if you really want contact, consider Kyokushin. You can use karate techniques there. But, Shotokan -> muay thai is a bad way to go, and you won't get much out of it, IMHO.

"And muay thai is a whole new brutal bloody painful story"

not sure i like the word brutal, makes us sound like thugs

I'd imagine you would have beter judgement in comparing the two arts since you've done both, the only comparison i could make is with sparring with former karateka in a muay thai environment some (not all) still revert back to their karate stances every now an again wich are very side on and this makes them very vulnerable to low leg kicks, I noticed (some) tend to drop their hands also on occasion, this would be ok in the street but not in the confined space of the ring. but then again id get out pointed to timbuktoo and back in a karate tournament!

In my opinion i think it would be an easier crossover going from Muay Thai to Karate but i suppose it all depends on the individual.

Muay Thai would be an excellent MA for self defense. But many others are too. Personally, I think it depends on the philosophy of the school more so than the art itself. I'd stick with one that puts more of an emphasis on self defense as opposed to competition.

I gotta disagree with this post.

I find competition and self defense totally different.
Heres some reasons:
1) Self defense has no rules
2) There are no refs in competition
3) There is an adrenaline rush involved in SD, more than in competition
4) SD can take place in any situation (not just an open mat)
5) In competition, you can not use a weapon (definately would change the situation)
6) In competition you shake hands with your opponent afterwards, and get a trophy
7) In SD, who knows how many opponents there will be
8) On the streets, you may not see the opponent coming
9) SD you have to try and hurt the oppponent. To much competition can lead to a habit of not hitting as hard as you can
10) In SD, it does not end after getting tapped on the head

Sorry I should have been more specific on this one. I shouldve made an emphasis on light-medium contact.

What style do you do Leo?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating a total disregard of any kind of sparring/grappling. There are schools out there of many different styles that concentrate more on winning tournaments. I did Kajukenbo for a time. That was designed exclusively for SD. We did a LOT of sparring and grappling. There were also a small group of folks that would enter some TKD competitions. On the other side, many universities in the U.S., have TKD teams. These teams have scholarship athletes that train exclusively for competition. The ultimate goal is to get to the Olympics. They do not practice SD or many of the traditional curriculum of other TKD schools. That said, it may be a good idea to look at a few schools and get a feel for the direction they go.

See I like focusing on sparring for SD, not competition. However, if you like competition as a sport thats cool too. People train for different purposes.

Sorry, that was Scottish Jujitsu Association (SJJA). I always get the names mixed up.

Drop there hands? The pain invovled taking a good low MT kick can crunch a guys will to fight and drop him to his knees. MT is a very powerful sd skill, standing up it is a very good striking art, in the war form it has good grappling techniques, though it really only clears the way for strikes.

MT is a good sd art, stressing CONTACT!