Both Muay Thai and boxing are martial arts from which you can benefit from. They share similarities but also share important differences between each other. So, if you are wondering what is the difference between them, keep on reading!
Muay Thai is a martial art where you can gain lots of advantage on the range and separation of your opponent, such as front kicking. However, a boxer is more dangerous with his hands than a Muay Thai fighter because in this case, punches don’t add points.
Another great difference between these martial arts is that boxers, through good footwork, can easily avoid punches, but they lack training on other parts of their body, apart from their hands. Muay Thai focuses not only on hands, but also on feet, elbows and knees, therefore, you can say that Muay Thai includes some elements of boxing.
Boxing vs. Muay Thai in self-defense
Both martial arts, boxing and Muay Thai are great for self-defense. However, boxing will probably get you to defensive competence faster in most situations, comparing to Muay Thai. Boxers will also be able to focus on spacing, timing and reading the opponent for the use of their hands fast. Muay Thai, on the other hand, will teach you how to read opponents who can kick competently.
In addition, as The MMA Guru website says, boxing will allow you to get more proficient in self-defense in a short term, which is about six months of training. Nonetheless, both martial arts have various degrees of difficulty so we cannot say which is more difficult than the other. However, Muay Thai involves all striking points through kicks, elbows, knees and punches and boxing involves striking with the hands, footwork and cardio training.
Some experts in both martial arts consider that Muay Thai takes longer than boxing to learn because of the different types of striking involved when in boxing it is just one. And, of course, you would also need to learn how to defend yourself from all of those types of strikes.
How to choose between learning Muay Thai or boxing?
If you are wondering which martial arts you want to learn you should make a decision based on which one is more appealing to you personally. Which defensive system do you like the best or if you like to kick, throw in some knees and elbows or just punch away?
Another detail to consider is that in Muay Thai you will not be seeing a lot of evasive footwork going on. This is because Muay Thai fighters need to stand tall with their feet more or less planted on the ground so that they can deliver or defend against kicks. However, even if a boxer can defend him or herself very well (they can slide, roll and dance around in ways that Muay Thai fighters cannot), Muay Thai fighters can defend themselves against a wider range of attacks.
You should also know that if you are considering learning martial arts for fitness or weight loss, both of these disciplines are great for that purpose. You can achieve strength and condition your body whatever option you decide to go for. Nonetheless, both in boxing and Muay Thai you need to focus on skills and techniques to be good at it.
How to use boxing effectively in Muay Thai
If you are a Muay Thai fighter, there are ways to incorporate boxing technique in your fighting and training. We gathered some tips offered by Ben from Muay Thai pros that could interest you if this is your case.
“Adding a solid boxing skill set to your Muay Thai game can radically improve your Muay Thai and make you a much more dangerous fighter”, they say, adding that you would need to modify several things to make this merge effective.
One of the things you can achieve in Muay Thai from boxing is a more variety of combos that will add fluidity to the fight and leave your opponent wondering what just happened. You can also try to set a Thai fighter off his or her game by landing hard punches that will allow you to add kicks, knees and elbows.
“If you want to effectively use your hands (boxing) in a Muay Thai fight and you come from a BOXING background, you have to modify your boxing habits significantly to make them work for you. You can’t just walk into a Muay Thai fight and start fighting like a western boxer — you’ll you eat a non-stop barrage of kicks, knees, and elbows”, Muay Thai pros say. They also add some tips for using some boxing in Muay Thai:
- Keep defensive head movement to a minimum
- Lean back from punches
- Keep punch combos short
- Keep hands high
- Do not tuck in elbows like a traditional boxer
- Don’t over twist hips and feet when throwing punches
- Keep body straight when body punching with the right
- Do not only just punch
- End punch combos with leg kicks
If you want more detail (and there is a lot of detail) about these nine tips, head over to Muay Thai pros blog and read more about them. They also have information on Muay Thai counters to watch for if you box in a Muay Thai match:
- Watch for Teep (a straight front kick) when moving forward to engage in punches
- Watch for leg kicks to lead leg when throwing punch flurry
- Watch for a lead arm or rear side elbow when the opponent shells up
- Watch for straight right forward knee when you punch
Can you use Muay Thai in boxing?
Now, if you are wondering if you can do the opposite we just explained, which would be using Muay Thai in boxing, the answer is that it will not be very effective and Muay Thai is not really going to help you become a better boxer. Also, if you are a beginner you could get confused with all of the differences in nuances and stances and end up not being neither a good boxer or Muay Thai fighter.
Many practitioners believe that the best is to get rooted in one martial art before branching out and adding more knowledge to your fighting. And if you are boxing and learning Muay Thai, be sure not to throw some kicks during a fight!
So, which marital arts is your favorite, and out of the two mentioned in this post, which one do you prefer and why? Have you combined boxing and Muay Thai and what benefits do you believe you have gained from it? Tell us below in the comments!
