powerof0ne

Most people with any sense that I have talked to leave GKR after they experience other styles of Karate. I mean c'mon now...GKR is known as the "door to door karate sales people"...

Wish I could say I did You're a lucky person to have him as your instructor for long.

Back to the original question...YES, you can "low" kick someone to the thigh/calf/etc. without hurting yourself. Just train, train, and train! Do some shin conditioning, pad works(thai pads), and bag work. Toughen up your shins and get some conditioning..learn how to do the kick right. I won my very first fight by a leg kick ko so I can tell you from my own experience that yes, this kick does work. I'm a southpaw and often against orthodox opponents so I'm able to leg kick o the person's inner thigh pretty easily with my left shin/instep. Once you get beter it doesn't matter if you're southpaw or orthodox because you will have a good lead leg kick and after enough time it won't matter what stance you're in(southpaw/orthodox).

I would say just work on conditioning your shins and checking the dtae/roundouse. Or Avoiding it...don't get in the habbit of looking down at your opponents legs unless you want to get punched. Look them in the face and get used to using your pereferal vision. Once you get your checking skills down you can actually check with the top of your knee and knee your opponent's shin..but this takes some skill/timing. You have to get used to avoiding whip kicks to the thigh, spinning hook kicks to the thigh/calf(ala andy hug), and a different type of leg kick that can go across both of your thighs(loy). The latter two are usually done by more proficient kickers though...

The elbows aren't padded in all Muay Thai fights in the USA anymore, but this USED TO BE the case.... In the Muay Thai gyms I trained in we didn't wear headgear and when I trained at Master Toddy's I never wore headgear..I think this depends on the gym you train in and your skill level. Unfortunately for the most part a lot of gyms focus too much on the basics..which is ironic for me to say since I come from a karate background. What I mean by this is that I was taught more advanced strategies/techniques at my first gym but came back to it 2-3 years later and it was just all basics because I guess most of the fighters weren't doing that well and the only one that still was after I left relied on the basics. I personally think that advanced techniques should still be learned to go up the ladder...to each is own, though.

Yes, there is a difference in quality to a point. Fairtex isn't a bad brand and can usually be received quick within the USA...I'd reccomend Twins, that's my preferance and Thaismai is ok but I don't think it's as good as it used to be(even though I still have a lot of thaismai gear). Windy is another one and I like Inter a lot...FBT is decent too. A lot of it is the same and I've heard a lot of rumours/stories that a lot of the companies rip off ideas from eachother. Just use some common sense because sometimes you are getting ripped off and other times you aren't. I wouldn't buy any Aries gear, for whatever it's worth.

Most of my Muay Thai training is under the MTIA and we tend to bow and are taught to do at least the wai kru if not the ram muay if we're going into the ring. The bowing isn't as strict as it is in Karate but it is usually done when entering the gym, leaving, and at the end of the class. Saying "sawadee krap/kaa" when bowing. Doing the Wai Kru after a drill..never seen that in any gym I ever trained in, that would be interesting A lot of gyms claim to teach Muay Thai(in my area) but don't, they're teaching more of a style of kickboxing with something similar to a muay thai roundhouse/dtae and maybe even a tiip/front push kick but with lots of boxing and hardly any knees...and probably hardly, if any elbows actually done in sparring or in the ring. One such gym which I give praise to claims to teach "Eurasian Kickboxing" which is fine by me. When I first started Muay Thai here in Tacoma a certain gym tried to impress upon people that they taught Muay Thai but all of their fighters but one always fought with shin pads on, never with knees allowed, and certainly not with elbows. Another gym not too far away teaches "muay thai" but the instructor from what I know only has a karate and kenpo background and the only Muay Thai "instruction" he has had is from a former person I used to train with(that isn't instructor certified). Then you have people certified in JKD under Chai Sirisute that can't tell me what camp they're under. Now do n't get me wrong I have nothing but respect for Sirisute's skills but I have personally talked to two certified instructors under his organization that didn't know what I meant from what camp they're under(I'm always curious about martial art history) and then they got offended and questioned my credentials and told me my former instructor isn't even in the USA anymore which he is and has been for at leat the last 10 years. Anyhoo to make a long story short if you're training at a Muay Thai gym that doesn't keep the traditions of wai kru/ram muay/no bowing/no thai terminology/no prajiat/mongkol wearing in the ring then it's probably not really Muay Thai but more of a "kickboxing" style with some Muay Thai influence. You guys that train in gyms without any of this that want to try to act like you train in Muay Thai and stroke eachother's egos go ahead but that's not what it is..and I'm not saying that it isn't less or more effective then Muay Thai but it isn't Muay Thai. Peter Aerts doesn't claim to be a Muay Thai stylist but many people call him Muay Thai.

You do know this isn't accurate, right? Unless you're calling krabri krabrong and lerdit muay krabrong and muay lerdit... Muay Chaya and similar arts did not come before krabri krabrong, enough said.